Tag: MeiGeist (Page 1 of 2)

The Sky Remains

March 30, 2008 / Brandie Minchew

The Licorice Film team, creators of 2007’s popular MeiGeist game, has a finger on the launch button for their newest project, The Sky Remains, due to begin in April. In partnership with HP Labs, The Sky Remains combines interactive ARG elements with GPS technology and the thrill of geocaching and treasure hunting using mscape (short for “mediascape”), HP Labs’ experimental mobile gaming platform. A list of compatible hardware for mscape is provided on the mscaper site. The game’s FAQ section states that players do not need these devices to participate.

Players of MeiGeist may have spotted some familiar faces in the trailer for The Sky Remains. (ARGNet also has a brief cameo!) The main story arc centers around the “6th Dimension Detective Agency” – with the players taking on the role of the 6th Dimension Agents, of course! The game breaks away from the one-time ARG experience by introducing a “re-playable” narrative. It also offers players the option to follow some parts of the story as a single player. However, collaboration and cooperation among players will be necessary to “discover the deeper subplots,” according to the FAQ. The Sky Remains also invites user-generated content, and the game’s website will serve as a social networking site for players to create and publish their own case files and stories after the initial case file has been solved and closed.

A Multitude of Game Alerts

July 4, 2007 / Jonathan Waite

As the saying goes, when it rains, it pours. While browsing my inbox from the last week or so, I’ve come across no less than four game tips, and in no particular order, here’s what we know:

Frank Sturgis, who has previously worked at Allied Resource Management Consolidation Inc. let us know about some shady business going on at the company, and requests help with “get[ting]into their servers” via the ARGNet voicemail. The first problem we see? Frank Sturgis apparently died in 1993. Players are already discussing things at the Unfiction forums.

Joshua at Triad Genomics dropped two separate emails into our laps — one stating “This is the beginning of the Ancient Word,” and the other giving us a string of numbers (18882015221, or 1-888-201-5221). The one-liner comes from the Popul Vuh, an with Mesoamerican/Mayan connections. Discussion has also started on the Unforums with the first post made only yesterday. The game is a promotion for Christopher Forrest’s novel The Genesis Code, according to the official web site.

A new “augmented reality game” (their description, not ours) has appeared which is connected to the popular MeiGeist ARG which concluded earlier this year. The game, called “Timehole” (according to creator Jon Williams) is a proof-of-concept stereotype that utilizes GPS technology, has a 30 minute gameplay duration, and will start within the next six weeks. You can join in on the discussion at this Unforums thread.

Finally, there is an ARG developing in The Netherlands called They Are Here. The game kicked off with an elaborate staged event in which white tents were set up in broad daylight, leaking steam, while people in biohazard suits moved about the scene (thanks to Lieke Voermans for an excellent recounting at her blog). A short discussion has begun at the Unfiction forums.

Let the summer ARGs begin!

ARG Netcast, Episode 17: Meigeist, Yourgeist

March 20, 2007 / Jessica Price

Meigeist special! Host Jonathan Waite and panelists Marie Lamb, Jessica Price, and Sean Stacey are joined by Meigeist puppetmaster Hazel Grian and Meigeist player Karl Smith for an intensive post-game Q&A session. Read the show notes at the ARG Netcast web site. Subscribe to the ARG Netcast feed through this link or via iTunes.

ARG Netcast, Episode 16: Back to Basics

March 14, 2007 / Jessica Price

One week after the Greatest Show in ARG, panelists Nicko Demeter, Sean C. Stacey, Marie Lamb and Jessica Price join host Jonathan Waite for an hour long look at recent game developments and the fallout from ARGFest-o-Con 2007. Read the show notes (coming soon!) at the ARG Netcast web site. Subscribe to the ARG Netcast feed through this link or via iTunes.

ARG Netcast, Episode 13: You Can’t Handle The Truth

February 18, 2007 / Jonathan Waite

In our last episode before migrating the netcasts to a shiny new web site, we reflect on the many, many emails we received in response to Episode 12. Episode 13 assembles the same panel as last week, which (in case you missed it) includes Jessica Price, Nicko Demeter, Jackie Kerr, Sean C. Stacey, Brooke Thompson and Jonathan Waite. Subscribe to the ARG Netcast feed through FeedBurner or via iTunes.

A Disclaimer, A Discussion
The views expressed in the ARG Netcast do not necessarily represent the views of ARGNet. The opinions offered in the ARG Netcast are those of the panelists, and should not be assumed to be factual reporting for the ARGNet web site. We discuss this for a bit, just to make sure we leave no stone unturned.

Game News

A new Nine Inch Nails game is out in the wild (starting at www.iamtryingtobelieve.com). It may or may not be a 42 Entertainment game. Nicko has been playing and talks about what’s in the water. Head over to the Unfiction forums for discussion.
The Monster Hunter Club summary from molecularr has been published! Also, The Host movie screening was last Monday and included in-game character yumminess!
The Gumshoe interactive radio play has been postponed until Wednesday the 21st of February, due to inclement weather.
There’s a new game called The Wyoming Incident making waves at the UF forums. With 32 pages of threads so far, we’ll need some help from helpful listeners in sorting out the details for the next netcast.
The Vanishing Point post-game chat finally happened yesterday (Saturday), and Jessica was a moderator. She talks about the chat, and Rob from Neowin sends in a special message for the ARG community.
Lost Envelope is a new marketing campaign that Nicko has started… and finished playing, with less-than-awesome results.
MeiGeist had a live event in Bristol. At airtime there wasn’t much to report, but Russell_k at Unfiction sent us a link to his summary post. Thanks Russell_k!

ARG Netcast, Episode 12

February 13, 2007 / Jonathan Waite

Episode 12 of the ARG Netcast series is supersized! Why, you might ask? The answer lies within the netcast itself, with three monster discussions on ginormous topics that found their way into this week’s agenda. So, if you don’t want to hear about how the Receda Cube was found in Perplex City, or how the Deus City creative team has responded to one of their players, or about the true meaning of This Is Not A Game, then stay away! However, for those interested, listen in as the panel consisting of Jackie Kerr, Jessica Price Brooke Thompson, Sean C. Stacey and Jonathan Waite and first-time panelist Nicko Demeter discuss these topics, and more. Note: we’re having substantial problems with audio lately, so we’re sorry for the quality of this netcast, which is not the best. Subscribe to the ARG Netcast feed through FeedBurner or via iTunes.

Game News

Oh joyous day, the Receda Cube has been found! Of course, we talk about the center of attention in the Perplex City game, which officially ended (Season One, anyway) with the discovery of the Cube by Andy Darley, an admired and loved Unfiction forums member (Rand0m). Darley writes about his adventure here, and here. Also, here and here. Finally, here is the end of his tale. He’s a great storyteller. Aside from Darley’s discovery, we dish on how clues might have been given to one particular group and not the overall player base, and wonder why Violet was Combed Thunderclap, and how she knew about quirkyacuity.com months in advance of the site being registered.
Deus City has responded to a player who offered suggestions, help and bug reports by asking her to leave the game, citing Terms of Service violations. We’ve got the details! We also discuss how players might become confused by the gameplay, given that two of the characters in the game are real people.