Tag: perplex city (Page 8 of 9)

Touch Me, I’m Perplex City

pcx.jpgAs reported earlier this week, the Perplex City ARG has recently ignited a few flames of contention within the ARG community with its controversial announcement of what appeared to be a pay-for-play model based around collectible puzzle cards and, more shockingly, the possible payout of a large reward. Indeed, a prize of £100,000 (about $200,000) may be claimed by whomever locates the Receda Cube, Perplex City’s pet McGuffin Device, and returns it to its rightful owners (assuming Perplex City’s ownership of the mysterious cube is indeed rightful).

These developments have brought up plenty of questions, from whether the announced reward is real (it is), to whether players will have to buy puzzle cards in order to continue playing the ARG (they won’t), to concern about whether a large cash reward will end up factionalizing and splintering the existing community of players (maybe, but hopefully not). It certainly seems as if the recent “Group 333” launch managed to cry havoc and let loose the dogs of Meta across the forums, blogs, and news sites that populate the ARG community space. Opinions a-plenty can be found everywhere, many based on little to no concrete information, yet liberally daubed with some speculative glue to hold them together. A recent article posted to the Perplex City Sentinel helped to clarify some of the aspects of the game as related to the puzzle cards, but the best way to find out more was to secure an interview with one of the Perplex City Puppetmasters. Unfiction.com spoke at length with Adrian Hon about several issues related to some of these revelations.

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Perplex City Explodes into Play: Introduces New Concept, Controversy

cubelost.jpgIf you’ve been living in a cave for the last year, and don’t know about Perplex City, now is the time to get up to speed. Sente Kiteway, the headmaster of the Perplex City Academy, has informed us of a missing priceless cultural artifact: The Cube. It’s here on Earth, and up to us to find, for a large monetary reward. Until recently, things have been slow in the coming:

First, just over a year ago, was Project Syzygy, apparently a site designed to gather players and build hype for the game’s start, which ended up soft-launching nearly a year later. The next site to show up was PerplexCity.com, which contained some cryptic pictures and an email sign-up, allowing those who wanted to play an avenue to register. Quite some time later, a video that started yet more pre-game, albeit with more hunting around for newspapers around the world, and ended with a real-life interaction at Abbey Road in London, UK.

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Regenesis Nominated for FITC Award

regenesis.jpgIt was announced today that the Alternate Reality Game Regenesis: Extended Reality has been nominated for a Convergence Award by the FlashInTheCan Design & Technology Festival, which is one of Canada’s largest annual new media festivals. In addition, Regenesis qualifies in the People’s Choice Awards, which are based on voting by the general public. So, if you enjoyed Regenesis, feel free to hop on over there to make your opinions known.

Congratulations go out to Evan Jones and the Regenesis team on this! It’s so great to see more evidence that people are not only taking notice of ARGs, but recognize them as the excellent and innovative new vehicle that it is. The future’s looking better and better, as far as mainstream Alternate Reality Games are concerned.

Speaking of people taking note, The Guardian has published a great article on Perplex City (and Alternate Reality Gaming in general) today. Be sure to check it out.

ARGs in Historical Perspective

radio.jpgAdrian Hon, one of the developers behind Perplex City, has somehow found time in his busy schedule to blog about Alternate Reality Gaming and how it fits into the historical scheme of things. His new entry, The Reality Artificers, places ARGs in the context of the long history of storytellers using framing devices to create more believable stories. It’s an incredibly well-researched and interesting read.

“…ARGs are not a new idea – they are simply the newest instance of an idea almost as old as storytelling itself – of storytellers constructing fictional realities, by deliberately mimicking the trusted information sources of media in order to create more realistic and affecting stories…

“…It is clear that storytellers throughout history have repeatedly and independently discovered that increasing the audience’s belief in a story can provide a more affecting and engaging experience. All of these artificers of fictional realities have used the same strategies: ancient Egyptian stories used fake letters; Welles used a fake news broadcast; the BBC used a fake live documentary; and ARGs use a network of fake news and personal websites…”

You can read The Reality Artificers in its entirety at mssv.net.

“Perplex City” Launches

senteoped-wide-230.jpgAfter much anticipation, Perplex City launched today via their final advertisement in The Guardian, just as promised:

Cube stolen in Deadly Raid
January 16 2004 [267AC] – Iona Rodie

“from the Academy museum last night in a raid which left one security guard dead. Police cheif, Eoin Morgan, described the theft, which took place during the Annual Acadamy Ball as “highly organised and technologically sophisticated.” Fran Mendling, 42, was killed with a neuro-suppressant device, making it impossible to pinpoint the time of death. Academy spokesperson Valerian Reynolds revealed that security cameras and sensors were offline throughout the Ball. She”

www.perplexcitysentinel.com

We won’t spoil it for you, but be prepared for a nice deep rabbithole to explore. The Perplex City universe awaits!

Discussion at Unfiction
Chat in #syzygy
Primer
Perplex City Wiki

International Attention for ARGs

globe.jpgThe last few weeks has seen a marked increase in press coverage for Perplex City, most notably from sources outside the U.S. and England. PC is doing exceptionally well at gaining the attention of news sources around the world, furthering the visibility of Alternate Reality Games as a whole.

Just since the beginning of March, major articles have appeared at CNET (which was syndicated all over the place), Agent Portál (Hungary), La Voz de Galicia (Spain), the Contra Costa Times, and the Libération (France). This international coverage makes sense, as Alternate Reality Games are one of the few things that can truly be played by a worldwide audience. For a comprehensive listing of major ARG press coverage over the past few years, see our Press Page.

It was also noted that multiple film crews showed up at Abbey Road Studios this morning, presumably to catch what was going on with the Perplex City event. Couple that with the numerous recent interviews with members of the ARG community, and you can expect to see even more coverage in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Perplex City is proving itself to be the Game To Watch. If you’re new to the genre, we highly recommend it as the one to get involved with. While you may have to wait a few more days for things to really get going, we have a feeling it will definitely be worth the wait.

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