Tag: swag (Page 3 of 4)

Aporia Agathon Sends a Mask: It Fit Jim Carrey Better

March 24, 2008 / Michael Andersen

I got a package in the mail today with a mask inside, and like any sane, rational individual, my first reaction to receiving a mysterious tribal mask in the mail was to attempt to put it on. Sadly, my id didn’t go on an uncontrollable rampage, and my skin is most decidedly not green. However, I did receive a few more clues about Aporia Cross-Media Entertainment’s upcoming alternate reality game, codenamed the Aporia Agathon project.

Shortly after Aporia CME launched a puzzle trail for LagTV, the show’s hosts released a video on YouTube asking for players to post YouTube videos about the Aporia Agathon Project. Along with a few others, I submitted a video. Yesterday, I received a rather large package in the mail containing a Philippine “dragon mask” and a letter from the puppetmasters. The letter noted that “[t]his game’s development began in mid to late July of 2007 with a large portion of the development time dedicated to creating a back story as a basis for our narrative. We are trying to take familiar elements of stories and create a unique approach for our audience to enjoy.” The letter finished with the poem We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar.

If you’re kicking yourself for not submitting a video, it’s not too late — according to ACME’s blog, there is still time to enter, and while you may not receive a mask, “the message of appreciation will remain the same.” If you’re interested in receiving an innocuous mailing around the time of the game’s launch, you can submit your contact information to Aporia’s submission form. So keep your eyes peeled for completely normal looking mail, submit a video with your guesses, and be on the lookout for easter eggs. S…er, that is, the Aporia Agathon Project, is coming this summer.

Click Here for a Flickr pool of the package.
Click Here to view the Aporia CME video challenge

Harvey Dent campaign swag!

March 23, 2008 / Jonathan Waite

It wasn’t long after the latest stage in the Dark Knight alternate reality game went live that we began noticing reports of cool swag delivery — staff writer Michelle Senderhauf got one in the mail, as did our associate editor, Marie Lamb, and a friend of the site, Brian Enigma. I received the ARGNet package a few days ago, and in the package was a T-shirt and a folder which contained postcards, bumper stickers, buttons and a letter. It’s always a treat to receive treats from game developers, so I thank those out there who are responsible for sending the package up to Canadia. So, um… does this mean that the campaign will be heading above the 49th parallel sometime soon? Inquiring canucks want to know!

I Was Blind… so they sent me broken headphones?

March 19, 2008 / Jonathan Waite

A note from FedEx on Monday alerted me to a delivery attempt during a time when I wasn’t available to receive packages. After some careful thinking, I figured that the package was one of the Harvey Dent press packages that some others have been receiving. The next day, as I arrived home, I saw not one but two packages waiting to be opened. It was like my birthday, except without all of the feeling old and stuff. And while one of the packages was, indeed, a Harvey Dent swag explosion (more on that tomorrow), it was the other that has me scratching my head. For you see, unlike the tidy folder that held the Dark Knight promo material, the other package contained… broken headphones. Broken headphones wrapped in a single sheet from Monday’s “The Guardian”.

For a few more pictures, and the rest of the details, read on. Maybe you can help us figure out this mystery!

Save the world at the 2008 Beijing Olympics

March 2, 2008 / Geoff May

FINDTHELOSTRING – No, there’s no “lo” string, nor a string named Thelo – but there is a lost ring..somewhere..and we need to find it, to save the world. Apparently. By August 24th.

On Leap Day, I received a package via FedEx, which was followed quickly by reports from others who received similarly couriered packages from “T.L. Ring” in San Francisco, CA. (Could T.L. Ring be “The Lost Ring”?) The package itself was quite curious, filled with a number of items forming a mystery begging to be unravelled.

First off, there’s a large poster advertising the 7th Olympiade in Antwerp, Belgium. Two things stand out — the year 1920 (the package originated from 1920 Olympic Way), and a short message written on the back: It’s a secret someone has been keeping for a very long time.

Next up, each package contained three photos — old photos of locations related to the 1920 Olympics. When all of the pictures from the discovered packages are taken into account, there’s quite a variety, and it seems the three photos people got are fairly random. However, on the backs of these photos are written our call to arms:

March 3, 2008
Find her…

March 4, 2008??
Find the others…

March 5, 2008??
Find him…

March 11, 2008??
Find the secret…

August 24, 2008
Save the world.

Help Us Find the Properly Gifted Fellows

February 9, 2008 / Jonathan Waite

Ah, trailheads. They come, they go, some are memorable, and some are forgettable. And some come in pretty wooden boxes. No, I’m not reminiscing about the kick-off to the original Sammeeeees game, I’m taking about a brand new game that seems to be originating from Germany. On Friday, I was pleasantly surprised to find a parcel card in my post office box — I wasn’t expecting a package, but I am always a bit excited to find one waiting for me. Handing the card to the clerk, she exchanged it for a plain brown padded envelope.

Nothing too strange here — the postmark reads “Briefzentrum 60” — so I was eager to peek inside. Once I got out of the cold air and into the warmth of my vehicle, I tore open the end of the envelope, to find a small, flat wooden box inside.

Sliding open the top of the box revealed two pieces of paper. On one, a message, seemingly written on a typewriter: “To execute these commandments you’ll have to find the properly gifted fellows.” The other, a punch card, was riddled with rectangular holes, and had “THE FINAL MILL INC. SERIES AAB” written in ink on the back. We have pictures and more information about the campaign after the jump, for those ready to travel further down the rabbithole.

The Mailman Cometh

November 6, 2007 / Jonathan Waite

Today was a great day for getting mail. The newest Rolling Stone magazine arrived, as did the December copy of Macworld. Also, nestled between a CAA membership renewal notice and a flyer for a grocery store, was an inconspicuous package addressed to ARGN… from ARGN. ‘Weird,’ I thought, ‘I don’t remember sending myself a package.’ And then it hit me — we were being RABBIT HOLED!

Quickly, I flipped the package over and pulled the easy-open red tab. Inside, I found a DVD, a newspaper headline clipping, and a ripped picture of a fairly attractive woman. After scanning the contents (and the postmark) I went for the DVD and stuck it into my trusty laptop. The name of the disc, My DVD, revealed nothing of use, so I played it, and what I saw shocked and amazed me:

Yes, that was a scary looking guy, hitting a fence. And yes, that was a puzzle piece that flashed on the screen near the end of the video. Okay, so maybe it’s not as shocking and amazing as I might have previously stated, but it’s still a mysterious, ominous video that’s worth watching. Is this the lovechild of The Human pet and the Golden Jigsaw? Probably not, but it’s still something that has us curious about what’s to come.

So, how do we go forward from here? My guess is that we will have to wait until more people receive similar packages — Sean C. Stacey of Despoiler got one, and is going to be posting a message shortly about what he got. If anyone else out there has more information, be sure to send us a quick note (via the contact form, perhaps?) so that we can provide an update later in the week.