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Mir-12: Viral Marketing for Singularity?

February 1, 2009 / Robbie Smith

mir-12

Once again, YouTube has led to a rabbit hole that seems to go deeper and deeper with each day. A video was uploaded to the site, supposedly a Russian news clip reporting on an assassination attempt on a scientist, as well as the the subsequent shooting of the would-be killer. The newscast points viewers towards an organization named Mir-12, which is believed to be behind the attack. Upon visiting the Mir-12 website, players discovered a blog documenting the actions of Mir-12, a â€œglobal communityâ€ attempting to uncover a Russian conspiracy concerning an island where Soviet weapons testing took place during the height of World War II.

Mir-12â€™s founder, an American student, roundly denied any knowledge of the scientist prior to January 16th, the date of the incident documented in the video, and states that the assassin, Natasha Norvikov, was nothing more than a friend helping to uncover the truth behind the mysterious island and the Russian government cover-up. Researching Natasha, players have found more information on the active young woman who had accounts on Flickr and Facebook. Mir-12â€™s most recent update includes a link to Natashaâ€™s photography work, also discovered and submitted to the site by players.

So, what does it all mean? As one intrepid blogger has already uncovered, Mir-12 seems to be a viral marketing campaign for the upcoming Activision video game Singularity. Some research into Mir-12â€™s Twitter account shows that certain followers of the Mir-12 Twitter-feed were employees of the DDB Ad Agency, and DDB has worked with Activision in the past. This discovery, coupled with the Singularity trailers, make the coincidences in plot seem much lessâ€¦ coincidental.
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Skynet Research Wants You!

February 1, 2009 / Robbie Smith

terminator_salvation

A recent trailhead discovery could prove very exciting for Terminator fans as it appears to be the beginning of a viral marketing campaign for the upcoming Terminator: Salvation film. Skynet Research has little more than a message claiming that “Skynet Research is Coming,” and registration for e-mail updates but the legitimacy of the site as more than a fan creation is helped by the privacy policy, which links to the website of non other than Warner Bros., the production company behind the Terminator films. There are still three months before Terminator: Salvation hits the big screen on May 22nd, which is plenty of time to give fans a chance to take part in John Connorâ€™s resistance.

Hopefully, more comes of this web site, and when it does, ARGNet will provide updates, so keep watching this site for details.

HIM Wins Arte France CinÃ©ma Award at Cinemart

February 1, 2009 / Michael Andersen

Image courtesy of Scott Macaulay.

Lance Weiler just got back from his trip to Rotterdam for the International Film Festival. At the festival, Weiler’s upcoming transmedia project HIM (produced by Seize the Media) won the Arte France Cinema Award.

The Arte France CinÃ©ma Award is given out every year to the best CineMart project. The winner receives 10,000 Euros towards financing the development of the project. Filmmaker Magazine noted that director of Arte France CinÃ©ma Michel Reilhac remarked that the award “acknowledged the visionary nature of Weiler’s project and noted that it speaks towards the type of new thinking about audience and platforms that will be necessary if our world of specialty cinema is to survive in the coming years.”

Congratulations to Lance Weiler and everyone at Seize the Media.

Puppetmasters wanted, Geppetto need not apply

January 27, 2009 / Jonathan Waite

job_opportunity Our roving reporters regularly scan the blogs and news sources that make up our digital world, and this morning, staffers Marie Lamb and Michael Andersen found two unique opportunities for aspiring game designers in Los Angeles and New York City. If you are someone who wishes to work in the exciting field of alternate reality game creation, these might be a stepping stone in the right direction!

First up, a craigslist ad from a company called Urban Interactive, who is advertising for an “Alternate Reality Game Writer for iPhone (NYC).” The ad talks about a new product called Urban Sleuth, which is described as, “a platform that allows anyone to create alternate reality games, ranging from simple treasure hunts to full-blown storytelling adventures that incorporate improv actors, local merchants, flash mobs, etc.” It also reveals that a new ARG will be launching in March called The Analog Resistance, and lists the cities of Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago as locales affected by the game. Specifically, they need help writing missions for events taking place in Manhattan, and the ad suggests that owning an iPhone or iPod Touch would be helpful.

The ad triggered a spark of a memory for me, and as I looked back in my cluttered inbox, I did find a game tip from last month that we weren’t able to follow up on which relates to this ad. The email, from Nick Tommarello, further describes The Analog Resistance this way: “It’s the ‘Amazing Race’ meets The Game (with Michael Douglas).” Sounds altogether cool and wonderful!

The second job opportunity isn’t a paying position, but an internship at Studio 33 in Los Angeles, according to this posting at internweb.com. There are quite a few positions available to those who wish to intern at the start-up, including Production Office Management, Web Series production, Alternate Reality Game production, Website Development and Maintenance, Sponsorship & Advertising and Marketing. The hours are flexible, and students may be able to use this for college credit. The start date is listed as “immediately” and the internship runs to the end of April, 2009.

So what are you waiting for — get out there and make a great game!

Game Preview: The Big Plot

January 26, 2009 / Jonathan Waite

thebigplot So many game tips, so little time! We’ve seen a steady stream of email come in through our contact form this past week, and within the tips comes word of The Big Plot. While it doesn’t appear to have launched yet, we did look through the trailhead web site and a press release for interesting bits, and here’s the summary:

The story will be “dispersed in more than seven cities, across several media platforms and among a
cluster of actors.”
The game will utilize many recognizable social networking sites, including Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, BlogSpot, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn. Yes, even LinkedIn.
The game designer is one Paulo Cirio, and in the release he is describing this “multi-platform, multi-[channel] and cross-media form of storytelling” as “Recombinant Fiction.” Great, just what we need, another label to remember. But I digress.
The narrative will be a “romantic spy-story” featuring four key characters: Mark Savin, a Russian pilot; Brian Steiger, a trained psychologist; Vanessa Pinney, a Canadian journalist; and Paul Hampel, the spy and businessman from parts unknown.
Keeping track of the game might be easier than having to check up on characters through their various social site profiles — there are many RSS feeds available for subscribers, including character-specific feeds.
The content on the site is covered under a Creative Commons license, which allows for the sharing and remixing of content so as long as the end result is attributed to the source material. Sounds like user-generated heaven!

If there’s a clear indication as to when the game will start, I couldn’t find one, so I guess it’s wait and see, Good thing there’s that handy RSS feed to help us keep track of when the game goes live!

Monsters vs Aliens Invades the Superbowl

January 25, 2009 / Michael Andersen

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the new alternate reality game promoting DreamWorks’ new animated film, Monsters vs. Aliens. This article announces an update of gigantic proportions.

Since our last article, players discovered the existence of Dr. Harold Filkenheimer, an eccentric and ethically flexible researcher at DARGenetech International with a quirky sense of humor. The comical Dr. Filkenheimer carries a grudge against Jeffrey Freedman, and he needs our help to discredit the gullible conspiracy theorist. On Superbowl Sunday, Harold Filkenheimer is going to activate the Abstract Recrimination Generator (or A.R.G.) to “use our most devious black ops skills to create a mass media propaganda campaign to turn the tables on those who would accuse us of problematic things.” Apparently, he will need the “l33t sk1llz” of those skilled with A.R.G.

Dr. Filkehnheimer sent a coded message to players instructing them to “[c]ommence the attack against top secret conspiracy on 1st fish February 2009 convincing public truth all part campaign marketing evidence we planted to discredit him Super Bowl 43.”

According to an article on the Variety website, DreamWorks purchased a 90-second 3-D advertisement for Monsters vs. Aliens during the SuperBowl. In preparation, DreamWorks is giving away 150 million pairs of glasses at 28,000 retail locations. You can also request a pair of glasses by calling 1-800-646-2904. Will the extended trailer lead to something else? Only time will tell. So grab your chicken wings and be on the lookout for something suspicious during the Superbowl.

Go Steelers!

Editor’s note: The aforementioned support of the Steelers is the view of the author and is not in any way representative of the views of ARGNet. ARGNet supports both teams, especially the Cardinals, because everybody loves a Cinderella story. 🙂