jj abrams | ARGNet: Alternate Reality Gaming Network

4 8 15 16 23 42 — J.J. Abrams really has a thing for numbers. Beginning last week with the opening of the Michael Bay summer blockbuster movie Transformers, theater-goers were treated to a mysterious, home-movie-style teaser trailer for… well, no one knows exactly. All that’s known is what’s believed to be the release date, shown briefly at the end of the trailer: “1-18-08”. Until recently, the trailer was only viewable in theaters, prompting people to bootleg it on Youtube and various locations (to which Paramount responded by forcing removal of the videos). However, it’s now been made available at Apple.com/trailers for public viewing.

The teaser starts off with a guy walking into a surprise party – lots of people, lots of happy, smiling faces, and one surprised Rob, their “main dude”. Rob is apparently going away to Japan, and his friends are giving him a farewell party. Some of his friends are interviewed, recording their goodbyes. Then, without warning, the lights flicker, car alarms sound, and the apartment is shaken. People flock to the television for breaking news about what’s believed to be an earthquake. Soon people head to the roof to see how the neighborhood’s doing. A dull rumble is heard, and everyone turns to the horizon in shock as a large ball of fire erupts and expands in the distance, hurling large flaming debris into the air. What follows is broken audio and video of the panic stricken crowd scrambling to the street, which is teeming with people running away from whatever’s happening. What can only be described as a deep, loud groan is followed by a swirling object, which impact a skyrise and falls to the ground at breakneck speed, destroying vehicles and anyone in its way. It comes to a stop meters from the camera and we see it appears to be the head of the Statue of Liberty. And cut. A final quick line is shown from one of Rob’s friends – “It’s gonna be the best night ever”

From producer J.J. Abrams. In theatres, 1-18-08.

An official web-based scavenger hunt has sprung up for fans of the Mission Impossible series. To celebrate the release of the upcoming third movie, Paramount Pictures has launched a campaign in which players become “agents” who solve a series of missions by seeking out clues hidden across the internet.

The first mission, released this week, led players to a hidden clue in the movieâ€™s Super Bowl ad. A new mission will be revealed each Monday at 5pm PST, leading up to the movie release on May 5th. The clues point to solutions embedded in various partner sites, and yield keywords that hint at aspects of the movieâ€™s plot.

The game is competitive, as players earn points based mainly on how many missions they complete and how speedily they do so. The ultimate super grand prize is a paid trip to the US movie premiere, but a multitude of other prizes will also be given away. The first 15,000 agents who complete the entire game will get a “special prize.” Mysterious.

For this particular movie, a web-based interactive campaign seems natural. The director, J.J. Abrams, is the creator of the television show Lost, which offers ARG-like webpages that expand on the showâ€™s universe.

Players have reported some problems with the game thus far, including difficulties logging in and submitting the completed mission. Technical difficulties also resulted in the first mission launching a day late. Hopefully the game developers will fix the issues for a smoother run in subsequent weeks.

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