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Palmer and Gaiman and Folds, Oh My!

September 26, 2008 / Michelle Senderhauf

Editor’s note: Links within this article lead to web pages that contain images some may find unsuitable for all audiences — namely, some female nudity. Click the links at your discretion.

A possible alternate reality game to coincide with the release of Amanda Palmer’s new solo album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer? has recently popped up on ARG players’ collective radar. Palmer, of The Dresden Dolls, has recently “disappeared” and pictures have surfaced displaying her in several difficult (and somewhat gory) positions. The pictures were found by an artist blogger in what the she describes as a “rabbit hole”. While the blogger initially dismisses the photos as an art project, she quickly learns otherwise after being contacting by the organizer of an upcoming Amanda Palmer podcast tribute.

A few celebrities were involved in the making of the album, which should make for quite an interesting suspect list should this develop into a full-blown ARG. Palmer’s blog on the album’s website lays out the events which led up to the album’s completion and her subsequent disappearance. Much of this blog focuses on Palmer’s collaboration with Ben Folds, who was the co-producer of the album. Another familiar name on the possible suspect list is Neil Gaiman, who has written the text for the upcoming book, The Big Book of Who Killed Amanda Palmer. If you’re a fan of Amanda Palmer, Ben Folds or Neil Gaiman, you might want to keep an eye on this one.

The album and the book are available for purchase on the Who Killed Amanda Palmer website.

Operation Sleeper Cell: Making the World a Lovelier Place

September 23, 2008 / Michael Andersen

A few months ago, Adrian Hon gathered together a collection of ARG developers with the battle cry, Let’s Change the Game. In collaboration with Cancer Research UK, aspiring game developers were challenged to create an alternate reality game to serve as a fundraiser for a worthy cause: the fight to cure cancer. The winning team would receive Â£1300 ($2600USD) seed money to develop a campaign that would be promoted through the Cancer Research UK website, 600 plus stores, mailings to over 20 million people, TV ads, a dedicated island on Second Life, and hundreds of live events and races across the country.

On January 31, the judge’s panel selected the pitch for “Operation Sleeper Cell” by the development team Law 37. The game officially launched earlier today via an email from Agent Herring. The game, heralded as “the world’s first massively multiplayer game designed to raise money for charity”, is currently centered around two websites: the Operation Sleeper Cell homepage and the We Are Not the Agency page. The goal of the game is to activate sleeper cells represented as squares on a grid in an effort to thwart the nefarious plans of E.V.I.L. through acts of kindness, puzzle solving, and “spreading loveliness”.

If any of this seems a trifle confusing, the development team set up a Guide to Playing. Operation Sleeper Cell raises money by having individuals and teams purchase virtual currency bonds (BND) that can be spent activating squares on the Grid that will enable missions, live events, story fragments, or special operations. Once a mission is unlocked, everyone is free to play. Sponsors can also purchase advertising ‘cells’ for the game’s front page.

With a staff of over twenty volunteers, Operation: Sleeper Cell aims to spend the next ten weeks raising funds for Cancer Research through a lighthearted, comedy spy game that takes place over websites, blogs, Twitter, and real life. The game’s budget is limited to Â£1000 (~$2,000USD), with the staff relying on in-kind donations for any additional expenses. Let’s Change the Game founder Adrian Hon commented on the game, saying that “along with raising money for the vital cause of cancer research, Operation: Sleeper Cell shows that games can be a real force for good in the world. Games are often seen as childish distractions or used as scapegoats – what Law 37 have achieved, unpaid, with Operation: Sleeper Cell is a powerful rebuttal to that.”

Click Here for the thread at Unfiction.
Click Here to purchase BNDs or sponsor the campaign.
Click Here to learn more about Cancer Research UK.

PICNIC 08 is days away

September 21, 2008 / Jonathan Waite

Picnic 08 Logo My oh my, how the time flies. We are on the edge of our seats as PICNIC 08 fast approaches, now only three days away. As we have told you before, those of you lucky enough to be in the Amsterdam area with a few days to kill can still register for this cross-media conference at a discount rate. We are fortunate to have received an invite for the partner/speaker breakfast, and are fairly confident that DaniÃ«l van Gool will be on scene to meet and greet with industry leaders, visionaries and those that will shape the future.

We’ll be bringing you coverage of the event in the next few days, so keep it tuned right here for the latest news on PICNIC 08!

Bungie’s “Superintendent” Returns, For Now

September 21, 2008 / Michael Andersen

In Late May of 2008, “The Superintendent” registered on the Bungie.net forums. The iconic figure was seen wielding his trusty plunger, informing forumgoers to “KEEP IT CLEAN” while giving a big thumbs up.

Numerous iterations of the “KEEP IT CLEAN” message resolved to indicate that something would happen on July 14, 2008 at 10:30AM, Microsoft’s E3 slot. While nothing happened at E3, a countdown ending on July 16, 2008 at 7:07:07AM turned up. When this countdown expired, Harold Ryan, the President of Bungie, posted a letter announcing that Microsoft altered the plans, but that they looked forward to sharing an exciting announcement “when the right time comes”.

The right time is apparently now, as the Superintendent has returned to the Bungie.net forums with a cryptic post. The post includes a transcript from a conversation between the Superintendent, an Urban Infrastructure A.I., and Prowler “Tokyo Rules”, a Comm. Duty Officer.

It’s too early to tell whether this is an alternate reality game or something else. Whatever it may be, the buzz surrounding the Superintendent has been building steadily despite frequent delays, as the icon has been sighted on top Bungie employees at numerous gaming events.

Image courtesy of Tech Artist

Click Here for a walkthrough of the story so far on the Bungie.net forums
Click Here for the discussion at Unfiction

Game Launch: I Am Blind

September 15, 2008 / Jonathan Waite

I Am Blind logo We got a weird call late last week that, at first, I couldn’t figure out. After asking the staff to help decipher, they discovered that the breathy, computer-generated voice was telling us us that we were “alone in the darkness” and instructing us to send our mailing address to [email protected].

Moments ago, we sent our snail mail addy to that email, so we’ll see what happens. While you wait, why not head over to iamblind.org and mouse over the center image, where multiple voices seem to be filling in the blank in the statement, “The last thing I want to see is _____.”

* * *

Aha, a quick update! That email we sent just a few minutes ago bounced back. We tried with two other addresses, fearing that Gmail was the problem, but alas, even an email from my ISP-hosted address came back with an error. Guess we won’t be getting a Christmas card from the I Am Blind folks. Aw, shucks.

ARGNet gets YouTube’d, Twitterpated!

September 15, 2008 / Marie Lamb

ARGNet is pleased to announce our brand-new and shiny YouTube channel, argnetwork. Now playing: “ARGs and Extended Media Experiences,” the first panel from this year’s ARGFest-o-Con in Boston. Due to YouTube upload limits, we had to break it into six pieces, but it’s all there.

The rest of the panels will go up as fast as we can get to them. Attendees can relive the thrill of professional tattooed bodybuilders and black-bearded Grand Inquisitors, and if you weren’t there you can now see what you missed. We will also be moving over the ARG Video Netcasts as soon as possible. Enjoy!

Also, we might as well make our official announcement of the ARGNet Twitter account. Twitter is a great micro-blogging service that works well with announcements. So far, we’ve used it in an unofficial capacity for breaking news and article announcements, but we figure it’s time to make it official. Unfortunately for some, this means the end of the announcement email subscription, which will be phased out by October 1st. So, if you want the latest news on alternate reality games and related items, follow us on Twitter!