ARG Netcasts

ARG Netcast, Episode 55: ARGFest 2008 Preview

Jonathan Waite — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:08:46 +0000

It’s Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction, Despoiler), it’s Jonathan Waite (ARGNet), and it’s returning panelist Michael Andersen (ARGNet). It’s the latest news on some of the hottest games. It’s a full blown preview of ARGFest-o-Con 2008, complete with a blow-by-blow synopsis of the Saturday discussion panels. And it’s here, now. Welcome back to the ARG Netcast.

Show notes coming soon!

Subscribe to the ARG Netcast feed through this link or via iTunes. Contact us at our special netcast email address, netcast@argnetcast.info with your tips, suggestions, concerns and submissions. Call us on the ARGNet voicemail at 630-274-5425.

ARG Netcast, Episode 54: Another Trip Around the ARG

Jonathan Waite — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 02:55:48 +0000

Guess who’s back? Back again? Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction, Despoiler)is back, tell a friend! Jonathan Waite (ARGNet) is back, Jackie Kerr (Intellinuts, ARGNet) is back, Celina Beach (ARGNet) is back. Na na na na na.

Show notes coming tomorrow!

ARG Netcast, Episode 53: Rise of the Independents

Jonathan Waite — Sun, 04 May 2008 04:27:21 +0000

All hail the indepenents, or so say co-hosts Jonathan Waite (ARGNet) and Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction, Despoiler). Joining them for this spirited discussion on labyrinths, rogue cops and what it takes to be an independent puppet master is Celina Beach, writer at ARGNet and all-around cool chick.

Emails from our topic discussion

Jason Chrest, CEO of Aporia Cross-Media Entertainment:

Thanks for the interest in life behind the scenes. I wanted to address a few of the questions you had regarding how things tick(ed) back here.

Propping open the curtain for a few I decided it would be best to address three projects I have publicly worked on and contrast each of them for you. The focus of this response will be on budgets, time commitments, number of staff in each game, obstacles we face and various gems that help us be who we are.

With these three games that I can openly discuss, I have had a good variety of experiences from the grassroots/independent perspective. My first game was a catastrophe even though I still love the concept I had for the game. The level of experience I had with the genre itself was absolutely minimal, thus I had no idea about the amount of time required of me to produce a good product. I was overwhelmed by the amount of work (10-12 hours per day 7 days a week for I believe it was 5 weeks) and the stress caused me to alienate a huge player base (unfiction.com). The cost of the game was minimal at the time ($10/mo with a hosting plan at 1and1.com with a free domain registration) as I only had domain hosting/registration costs to worry about. I did, however, have a “grand prize” for players ($.99 for a toy car + shipping to Canada) suggesting to the players that they would win a brand new Pontiac Solstice which I neglected to point out was a brand new toy Pontiac Solstice. My major obstacle with this game was the fact that I had no idea what I was doing or an appreciation for how rewarding pulling off a successful game would be.

It took me a little while after that game to decide to begin producing my second game, Ny Takma. With Ny Takma I reached out to an experienced player base and pulled in individuals who were interested in helping to create the game. We had started with a particular launch date (3 weeks of planning time) and went through a large number of changes to the original story before we launched. The staff for Ny Takma was a decent size at about 7 I believe, but we only had 3 individuals who made major contributions to the development of the game. For the 3 of us we each spent between 4 to 10 hours per day, 7 days a week for 3 months total creating the story and acting out the various characters. The 3 of us worked diligently as we all had too much pride in what we were doing to let it fail because we didn’t work hard enough. Two of us have/had full-time jobs during the development which made our work days between 12 and 18 hours, the other individual was located in Australia and was a full time student who had the opportunity to do a good bit of graphics work while at school. One of the largest obstacles we faced in the creation of the game was our proximity to each other, the distance and only being able to communicate electronically proved to be a challenge at times. The budget for Ny Takma was small, but it potentially has a larger cost. For me I felt the need to archive the main website for the game so I retained hosting beyond the initial running time for the game ($10/mo for nearly 24 months now with $10/yr domain renewal). I do have other websites running on the hosting package so I can claim to offset that cost.

Now before I get into the Aporia Agathon Project which is still in development and has not launched yet, I wanted to clarify some points with Aporia Cross-Media Entertainment, LLC. Aporia CME is a small development group with no permanent full-time employees. I created the business with desires to build it into a larger entity with goals to create entertaining experiences for corporate entities. It has allowed me to work on several smaller projects as a consultant (primarily helping create storylines for proposals) while building up our own identity. I use the term “our” as even though Aporia has no full-time employees it does have a few people under its banner such as Jessie Greene who has recently become successful in her own adventure at LagTV.com. The other staff members come and go as needed. They are put under contract for paying jobs and others volunteer for projects such as the Aporia Agathon Project. Even as the manager/CEO of Aporia Cross-Media Entertainment, LLC I have to maintain a fulltime job, though I do enjoy the extra income from the consulting jobs.

The Aporia Agathon Project is something that I personally feel is a major project for myself and Aporia CME. The success of the game is something that can contribute to Aporia becoming a self-sustaining entity without the need for its management to have other full-time jobs to support it. The budget for the game is fairly modest for the scale we are trying to build the game to. The hosting costs have been covered at approximately $500, the masks that we sent as a reward had an undisclosed cost while the shipping for them was approximately $100. Other expenses for materials to ship at launch time have been and will be accrued in the upcoming months. There will be more expenses throughout the game as we have plans for live drops, live event activities, and other things. This budget has come solely from the pockets of our development staff who have all volunteered their time on the project. We have opened the game for sponsorship of events, swag, and other expenses. The expenses for covering the staff would be tremendous if they had not volunteered as we would be paying a minimum of $10/hr for labor expenses depending on the duties performed by the individual.

The staff is relatively large, especially if you consider the number of actors. Beyond my personal contributions we have a lead writer, an actor/writer, two programmers, a video director, a research specialist, a consultant for our interface, two beta testers, and several actors. That’s 11 individuals working diligently on the project. Some are contributing significantly more time than others such as the writers and researcher. The major contributors would total 4 who together put in around 80 hours per week (total) working on the game (primarily the creating the story, websites, and such). These contributors would be paid a minimum of $20/hr if their services were not volunteered ($1600/wk since August 2007 – approximately $83,000 worth of labor by this August). We still have a casting call coming for some more actors, another budget expense incurred by our lead writer.

There are a number of potential obstacles with this game. The major obstacle is the fact that it is funded solely out of the staff’s pockets, limiting much of what we would love to be able to do. One of the obstacles for Ny Takma was the inability to interact with other staff members face to face, this is much less of an obstacle for us this time around and has even been a positive as it has helped us find individuals (such as the actor for Diego and the lead writer) who are amazing at what they do. Other obstacles remain budget related as we have not found a steady individual to handle our graphics (we could hire that out if we could afford it) and other specific programming needs would be much easier if we could hire someone.

With the diversity of the staff we have we have been able to create professional looking websites for much of the content within the game. We have been able to look at the game from a number of angles allowing us to pick apart fallacies with individual thinking on several approaches which have been considered. Each of the staff members and actors we currently have on board, plus those who had to leave for various reasons, have contributed tremendously and are individually the gems that are going to ensure this game is the best we can possibly make it.

jan Libby, creator of Sammeeeees I and II:

hey guys

so happy to have you and the netcast back this week! woohoo!

okay, so… funding indie args.

a great resource is the archive section of many indie games on unficiton. i would look at various games and check out the elements they use for great ideas about free resources.

free was key for me for Sammeeeees since i did not have a ton of money for the ARG, but i did spend a bit.

ONLINE

websites

i used blogspot (which is free) for both Sammeeeees and Sam II. i picked it for several reasons. the biggest reason being there are no ads or banners that would take you out of the “storyworld”. (you can remove the side banners) it’s also very easy to use one account for many, many different pages. (which made organizing so much easier) for Sam II i used blogspot again for the above reasons and also because i wanted to create a place where the players would enter the story and create their own “cells” (if they chose to) and blogspot seemed the best pick since it is so user friendly and it wouldn’t require a huge amount of skill for someone who wanted to participate.

social platforms

i used myspace for my character pages. it was, for me, a great way to have a place where the players could check in with individual characters and since myspace is really a spot for self expression, i thought it was a perfect avenue to flesh out a bit more of each character’s personality for the audience.

i also used the very free flickr as a way for the audience to receive visual information as well as text with characters.

livejournal was used during Sam II. i picked this for several reasons. the first reason being that i felt we needed to move into a new space with the new storyworld. livejournal is also a great place for character’s to express themselves. i also moved here due knowing that many players were not myspace friendly.

emails

i cruised the web and found endless resources for free email. i selected each one based on what i thought each character would select. (all had different reasons for the various emails)

podcasts

i used gabcast. it was simple to use and free.

video

youtube was chosen for both. at the time it was not only the easiest to use but also most dependable. (and again with some of the youtube pages i had yet another place for the characters to interact with audience and to express themselves and move along our story)

ingame forum

i used proboards because they were free and easy and best of all suggested by players to in-game character.

(i’m sure i’ve forgotten some platforms but you get the idea - my online world was free)

OFFLINE

(cost for Sammeeeees)

i did most of my storyworld creating and organizing offline. to plot out the storyline and puzzles i use storyboards. these boards are created on foam core with index cards and vis a vis pens. cost 30.00

the props and supplies for Sammeeeees, including the ancient Spoocheeeee disc and snake, the boxes for the rabbithole, and the mailed puzzles, cd, book (the Day He Died by Lewis Padget), candles and costumes for seances, the way translator for hooooo pssssst puzzle , happy’s tin hat, flowers, lights, box and key for piece 5, mini video cassettes and various costumes. cost 160.00

i did not pay the actors for either Sammeeeees or Sam II.. but i did feed them at every meet-up or shoot. cost 200.00

i had sammeeeee t-shirts for the core players and the cast members. cost 480.00

fed-ex and snail mail for t-shirts, puzzles, disc piece to london, and rabbithole. cost 120.00

in-game phone calls cost 10.00

(so about 1000.00)

the time that it takes to create, design and plot out an ARG is something to seriously consider before you dive into this genre of storytelling. i spent a year and half working on Sammeeeees before i launched. i would say i spent maybe 20 to 30 hours a week during that time. as i got closer to launch the time i spent went up considerably… to about 50 hours a week for the last month. after launch it was 24/7. (i did have friends and family assist me at times with mailings, creating props, holding lights, etc.) i was lucky because my part-time job at the time was in public relations writing and i managed to scoot thru my work while writing character emails and posting puzzles. i also saved a ton of money by using my work fax machine, copier, paper, and scanner. the game ran from the end of September thru mid December of 2006. so, time is your biggest expense. this is something all first time PMs should seriously consider. once your game world is “live” you and your team are responsible to take it to endgame. if you cannot make the time commitment needed, i would find another way to tell your story. but i must say that the experience of creating an ARG is totally worth all the effort. there is no other genre of storytelling/gaming that is as rewarding.

hope this info is helpful!

xoxo
Jan
(labfly)

ARG Netcast, Episode 52: The Return

Jonathan Waite — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:06:16 +0000

After a bit of a hiatus (unintentional, we swear), co-hosts Jonathan Waite (ARGNet) and Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction, Despoiler) are back with a jam-packed episode of the ARG Netcast series! On this episode: The Dark Knight, Find the Lost Ring, indy ARGs and Battlestar Galactica.

News Items and Links From Discussion

The Dark Knight alternate reality game has ramped up in the past month. On March 13th, Geoff May of ARGNet reported on real-world rallies for Harvey Dent, as Dentmobiles rolled into various locations across the U.S., which caused quite a stir in at least one city. Also, just last week, there was another swagfest live event in the vein of the Joker cake extravaganza, this time involving bowling alleys. We’ve got the details in our discussion today.
The Lost Ring continues to gain worldwide momentum after launching earlier in the month. The campaign has gotten players involved in finding ancient artifacts called the omphaloi, with one being stolen as part of the plot of the last few days. You can jump into action by reviewing the excellent resource at olympics.wikibruce.com.
Congratulations go out to World Without Oil, as they won the Web Award for Activism at this years SXSW festival. You can listen to the team from WWO as they talk about their experiences in episode 27 of our netcast series.
Speaking of SXSW, Brandie Minchew of ARGNet was at the event, and was fortunate enough to be in the audience for two ARG related discussions.
The new Aporia Cross-Media Entertainment project, Aporia Agathon, was in the news two weeks ago for sending ornate tribal masks to players that contributed to a YouTube video contest. The masks were accompanied by a note starting that the project would be launching in July 2008.
Six to Start, a new venture that involves the Hon brothers, formerly of Mind Candy Design, has partnered with Penguin Books to launch a campaign called We Tell Stories. The stories, in this case, are well-known novels, but they are told in slightly different ways. You can read more about the first story, a retelling of “The Thirty-Nine Steps” by John Buchan, in a story by Michael Andersen at ARGNet.
Over at the Despoiler blog, my co-host Sean C. Stacey has been hard at work in delivering news of the latest trailheads and game tips. In the past week there have been three new and exciting posts, including information on The Rivard Project, Faceless Invasion N.Y. and The Hope Ranch Foundation. You can read more at despoiler.org.
While we’re on the topic of new games, Licorice Films, who you might remember from MeiGeist, is set to launch their new project The Sky Remains any day now. According to the metasite at theskyremains.com, this new venture combines interactive narrative, social networking, geocaching, alternate reality gaming and Hewlett Packard’s Mscape technology.
And finally, amid the usual pile of bills, invoices and department store flyers that usually pollutes the ARGNet snail mailbox, an unusual and unexpected package arrived containing a set of headphones — broken, according to the documentation accompanying them — with the words I WAS BLIND scratched into electrical tape holding the top together. This is a new immersive experience by Dog in a Dress Media, and it might be related to a camera being found in a DJ’s bag in the UK, but perhaps not. Judge for yourself by clicking this link.
The New York Times Article on Find the Lost Ring
The Christian Science Monitor article on Find the Lost Ring
The LA Times article on The Dark Knight

We’re away… but we’ll be back soon!

Jonathan Waite — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:12:00 +0000

Hey faithful listeners!

I know that it’s been a while since you’ve heard from the ARG Netcast crew, and some of you might be wondering where we’ve been. Well, it’s all my fault, really. I had a few work-related tasks to finish up in the past three weeks, and I’m currently on vacation with my family, so finding time to record has been tough. However, we are coming back soon with new episodes, and I do have a clip show in the works that should be ready by sometime this week.

Stay tuned, and thanks for your continued support!

ARG Netcast, Episode 51: McARG!

Jonathan Waite — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 06:21:13 +0000

Hi, and welcome to the ARG Netcast. May I take your order? So… that was one Jonathan Waite (ARGNet), a side order of Geoff May (Wikibruce) with a serving of Michelle Senderhauf and Marie Lamb (ARGNet, World Without Oil) and one Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction, Despoiler) to go? Oh, you’d also like a Nick “Mapmaker” Poulos added to the order? No problem… please drive through to the first window to pick up your order!

On the menu today: Eldritch Errors finally makes a statement, of sorts; The Dark Knight hopes that you believe in Harvey Dent enough to meet up with Dentmobiles in various U.S. Locales; Find the Lost Ring packages arrive with the hopes that a McDonalds-sponsored ARG becomes the universal language delivery model for the Summer Olympics in Beijing; Red Loyola, a student project, launches; Find the LOL String, an inspired variation on the classic LOL Cats meme; Marie has a new Mac Pro, and boy howdy is Jon jealous; Michelle <3 Johnny Depp, but not as much as Mappy <3 Skype on a Mac; lots and lots of ARGs that start with the letter L.

ARG Netcast, Episode 50: LIVE ARGfest-o-con Announcement

Jonathan Waite — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 06:13:50 +0000

In this special edition of the netcast, we take it to the streets and join up with the people we record this show for — the listeners. Regular panelists Marie Lamb (ARGNet), Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction, Despoiler) and Jonathan Waite (ARGNet) are joined by newcomers Dave Tennenbaum and Daniël van Gool, as well as some faithful listeners, to discuss the official unveiling of ARGFest-o-con 2008 plans! You can read more about ARGFest at ARGfestocon.com.

Afterwards, we tread into a few news items, including the current situation concerning Eldritch Errors, the resurrection of The Dark Knight ARG, the mysterious mailings leading us towards Find the Lost Ring and the swirling rumors about a new chapter in the Year Zero ARG.

UPDATE: ARG Netcast, Episode 50

Jonathan Waite — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:41:33 +0000

The Skypecast is having technical issues, so we’re making this week’s recording a conference call instead. We are going to run it as a conference call, so if you’d like to be invited, find me (argjamesi) on the Skype network and send me a request through a chat. The call caps out at ten participants, so we may not be able to get you in, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

Further update: We couldn’t even get the conference call to work properly, and have rescheduled the live chat to 5 pm CT (6 pm ET, 3 pm PT, 11 pm GMT). We will hve a link up shortly for the new Skypecast room.

Another update: The new Skypecast room is located here. If you aren’t able to connect right away, try again — it might take a bit of time to connect, given our troubles from earlier.

PROMO: Episode 50 - LIVE ARGfest-o-Con Discussion

Jonathan Waite — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:41:59 +0000

We have finally figured out how to conduct a live, online town hall discussion that can be recorded for a netcast episode, and what better topic to talk to the masses about than ARGfest-o-con 2008? The official announcement regarding this year’s festivities will take place this Sunday at 1 pm CT (2 pm ET, 11 am PT) via Skypecast!

You can participate in the live discussion by joining us — but you must be a registered Skype user, as far as we understand the inner workings of the system. We are looking forward to this, though, so come one, come all!

While you wait, you can check out things at the official ARGfest-o-con web site.

ARG Netcast, Episode 49: Players With Spy Gear

Jonathan Waite — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:54:08 +0000

It’s a two man show as co-hosts Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction, Despoiler) and Jonathan Waite (ARGNet) welcome special guests Denny Vaccaro and Jake Sapir from the Providence Radio show to the discussion. On the table this week: Eldritch Errors and SXSW.

News Items of the past two weeks

You Suck at Photoshop — it’s not just a catch phrase, it’s an ARG! The viral video series we talked about on episode 48 has continued to gain momentum with another video in the series and, of all things, a connection to a World of Warcraft player. If you want to get in on this one before it gets entirely too weird, check out the thread at the Unfiction forums, or search for the videos on YouTube.
Rebecca and Martin McDowell are missing, and you should care because they seem to be two characters in a new game at locatemyfriends.co.uk. Players at unfiction were emailed, so it’s pretty clear that this is a work of fiction and not some sick, twisted social experiment gone awry.
New and noteworthy discussion items that have popped up over the last little while include The Conspiracy 08, Ketsui Chan, Limpotrade and The Gate Reaction. Add these to ongoing games Eldritch Errors, 48 Hours in Purgatory, Trinstod, Project Ophiuchus, the Gardner Project and Tom Tooman, and you’ll agree that the ARG genre is overflowing with good, quality projects to get involved in.
A thoughtful puppetmaster was kind enough to send ARGNet a nifty wooden package containing a note and a punch card, which seems to be coinciding with magazine advertisements in German magazines. The game leads to vanvelsenmeer.org, and in-depth coverage can be found at patmo.de, our German-language friends in the ARG news business.
World Without Oil has been nominated for a prestigious SXSW Web Award, to be given out at the SXSW Interactive festival in less than a month’s time. We wish to congratulate the crew behind the socially conscious experience, many of who joined us for episode 27 of the Netcast series.
Finally, Brandie Minchew has reported at ARGNet about the development of a new radio show at Grinell College in the great state of Iowa, USA. The hour-long weekly show focuses on Eldritch Errors and can be heard around the world through their Internet stream. Show hosts Denny Vaccaro and Jake Sapir join us today to discuss their show and the goings-on with EE.

Topic Discussion

(1) EE/Providence radio show — we talk with Denny & Jake about what it takes to start a radio show, how they prepare for the weekly broadcast, what kinds of listeners they are hearing back from, and what’s happening with Ms. St. Feline and the folks at Sentry Outpost.

(2) SXSW - it ain’t just a four letter, um, word. The festival kicks off in three weeks, and we dish on the people you must see if you plan on attending.

ARG Netcast, Episode 48: Solved!

Jonathan Waite — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 05:22:39 +0000

It’s puzzle solving time as the netcast gets a bit silly this week. Host Jonathan Waite (ARGNet) is joined once again by Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction, Despoiler) and Brooke Thompson (Giant Mice, Eldritch Errors). Be sure to catch our zany news items of the past two weeks, and stay tuned for an in-depth discussion about the fine line between ARGs and hoaxes.

News Items of the Past Two Weeks

After the US release of the Cloverfield movie, the viral campaign seems to have slowed drastically, perhaps so the architects may direct more effort toward the newly-discovered Star Trek campaign. The trailhead site can be found at NCC-1701.com and was found subtly linked from the official movie website at Paramount.com.
Aporia Cross-Media Entertainment (ACME) announced its upcoming effort, the Aporia Agathon Project with a video trailer and clues released via the web and tips to certain ARG news sites. The genre-blending campaign is slated to begin this summer.
The Harvard Business Review, as part of its annual “Top 20 Breakthrough Ideas” issue, published an article by Jane McGonigal, in which she argued for more Alternate Reality Gaming in the workplace. Except, like, where your boss would know about it this time.
Book 3 of Eldritch Errors, the ongoing Lovecraftian ARG created by GMD Studios, kicked off in earnest with a series of live events in Sacramento, California; New York City, New York; and Austin, Texas. Yah, R’lyeh!
ARGNet has a new iPhone edition, which is not only pimp-stylin’ but also style-pimpin’. Browse to ARGn.com on your iPhone or iPod Touch, you lucky bastard, and watch it magically pimp your shiznit!
Some random guy named Steve Peters pointed out an excellent short story, featuring a mention of Alternate Reality Gaming. Written by Tim Pratt of Escape Pod, it’s entitled “Artifice and Intelligence,” and is available in transcript and podcast forms.
Fundi Technologies is at it again. The makers of Deus City recently launched their sophomore effort, “Conspiracy Asylum File Zero.” Surf over to the meta site at conspiracyasylum.com and get started.
Viral Marketing may be getting sneakier but is our marketers learning? A recent web video series called “You Suck at Photoshop” was revealed as produced by an online marketing company known as Big Fat Brain, when they used a classic ARG technique to provide a clue in the fifth episode to a fictional website where the main character was employed. We are trying to reach Big Fat Brain for comment as to whether this was an intentional meta-reveal or a horrible, gory accident, with blood everywhere and rats chewing on eyeballs and GOOD GOD WHAT IS THAT
An old story we once called “401WTF” was recently resurrected (for us, anyway) as “Nowheremen.” A self-labeled “Social Reality Game,” the promotion surrounds a web-series about a missing gentleman named Derek, the first episode of which premiered on January 22nd at nowheremen.net. Clues to Derek’s whereabouts are strewn about the internets in true Web 2.0 trans-media fashion.
And finally, a brand new game launch this weekend, Project Ophiuchus was launched via strangely misdirected emails to various ARGonauts referring to the end of the mysterious “Phase 11.” Intrepid players have already discovered an enigmatic code in the source code of the website, projectophiuchus.com.

Links from the topic discussions:
Anti-Hoaxing Strategies and the TINAG Fallacy
Launching Strategy: Birth Your Alternate Reality in an ARG Community

ARG Netcast, Episode 47: Isn’t It Ironic?

Jonathan Waite — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 04:07:30 +0000

In episode 47, we manage to talk about a very successful recent monster movie you might have heard about before launching into a tornado of discussion regarding the mainstream press. Returning to chat with host Jonathan Waite (ARGNet) are Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction, Despoiler) and Brooke Thompson (Giant Mice, Eldritch Errors). Don’t miss this one — it’s a roller coaster ride!

News Items of the Week

The big news of the week is the release of the long awaited film Cloverfield. The buzz about this movie started with a mysterious trailer in the summer of 2007, and since then the film has been the subject of blogs and mainstream media features, due in part to a series of enigmatic web properties. With the U.S. release of the film, it’s unclear whether the online campaign will continue or not.
Sean C. Stacey reported on ARGNet that an upcoming project is in the works by the team behind Deus City. A video, entitled “Conspiracy Asylum File Zero”, can be found on YouTube and is a hint of things to come. Sources say that the project will launch in early February.
Jan Libby, best known for her work on the Sammeeeees games and with Lonelygirl15, is developing a project to be released in spring. Brandie Minchew of ARGNet caught up with Libby, who revealed that the Writer’s Guild of America strike has affected a television show she was developing, but this other project has been picked up by a production company.
A new online game has been developed to run concurrently with the new season of the BBC’s Torchwood. The Doctor Who spinoff involves operatives which work for the mysterious Torchwood Institute, and the game involves players as active participants who get to take on the role of an agent trying to get onto the Torchwood team. Alas, the game seems to only be accessible from the UK, but lucky Brits can jump right in on the action from the show’s website.
The Gardner Project, the game which is tied in with the Sarah Connor Chronicles, has a new puzzle which involves punchcards as clues. The puzzle is still unsolved still has unsolved elements, so if you think you can help, head over to the Unfiction forums to lend a hand.
Players who obtained cell phones as part of the most recent Dark Knight event have received text messages since the 14th which lead some to believe that the game will restart soon. The messages are being sent out by someone at Why So Serious, presumably the Joker himself.
Many new games have popped up, including possible ARGs related to bands Panic at the Disco and 65 Days of Static. Also new and noteworthy are 48 Days in Purgatory, the Whitechapel Foundation and Assassin Diaries. You can read more about all of these emerging projects at the Unfiction forums News & Rumors and Chaotic Fiction sections.
Finally, Heroes Evolution, the game formerly known as Heroes 360, is continuing, despite the fact that its parent television series Heroes is not currently running new shows, thanks to the aforementioned writer’s strike. For those interested, check out the story so far at www.nbc.com/Heroes/evolutions/.

Links from the topic discussions:
ARG IGDA SIG web site
ARG IGDA SIG discussion list - January

ARG Netcast, Episode 46: A for Effort

Jonathan Waite — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 03:17:59 +0000

Listen up, class! We have a special presentation today — here to discuss the latest news on alternate reality gaming are Jonathan Waite (ARGNet), Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction, and Despoiler) Brooke Thompson (Giant Mice, Eldritch Errors). After the news, they will be talking to you about how your efforts mean more to ARGs than your abilities, so pay attention!

(Also, as a fun diversion, for every time Jonathan says “et cetera”, drink a shot of your favorite beverage!)

News Items of the Week

On December 31, ABC TV launched a new interactive game for its popular drama Lost. While the game known as Find 815 isn’t a sequel to The Lost Experience, the alternate reality game that came out in 2006, players are still enjoying the chance to learn more about the Lost mythology. The viral marketing isn’t limited to the game, as billboards advertising for fictional Oceanic Airlines have been popping up worldwide.
What is this Game is a new promotion that is bills itself as both an ARG and a contest. The campaign is tied to What is this Movie, a film being released by Staff of the Magi production, and the grand prize is a cameo role.
QU13E is back from a long absence from the ARGosphere. Originally launched in late 2005, the game was resurrected on January 1st with cryptic messages and images.
Book three of Eldritch Errors has apparently begun with a new post at The Wall of Dreams, an in-game web site. The game originally launched eight months ago and has included unique mail items and memorable live events.
Details emerged this past week about new projects from companies in the UK. Six to Start, a new venture that involves Adrian and Dan Hon of Perplex City fame, is working on a project geared for 14-19 year old participants, while Channel 4 is sponsoring educational ARGs.
The Winter X Games is using alternate reality gaming as a way to connect with their audience with a campaign called Buttermilk is Alive. The narrative deals with the idea that scientific phenomena is causing irreversible changes to a mountain popular with winter sporting enthusiasts.
Michael Andersen of ARGNet has written an article about updates to the 401WTF game. Originally designed as a tie-in for Room 401, a thrilling TV series on MTV, the game has now led players to nowheremen.net and the buzz has extended to such sites as Alice Taylor’s Wonderland blog.
A new ARG that involves pictures from the future can be found at enitechlabs.com. The speculation is that the game is connected to the upcoming premiere of FOX TV’s “The Sarah Connor Chronicles“, which is set in the mythology of the Terminator film franchise. Players have seen their input used in the game, including suggestions for locales to photograph.

Links from the topic discussions:
The Secret to Raising Smart Kids - Scientific American
Paradox in Game Theory: Losing Strategy That Wins
- New York Times
MySpace Is Said to Draw Subpoena in Hoax Case - New York Times
ARG Article - Escapist Magazine - Unfiction Forums
Suicide over MySpace hoax could put PMs in legal trouble - Unfiction Forums

ARG Netcast, Episode 45: A Look Back at 2007

Jonathan Waite — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 23:38:39 +0000

It’s the end of the year, and just as many other media outlets are doing, we are presenting our views on the year that was 2007. Episode 45 is packed with discussion by returning panelists Marie Lamb (ARGNet, World Without Oil), Geoff May (WikiBruce, ARGNet), Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction, Despoiler), Brooke Thompson (Giant Mice, Eldritch Errors) and host Jonathan Waite (ARGNet). Have a safe, happy New Year’s and we’ll talk to you again soon in 2008!

Episode 45: Best and Worst of 2007?

Marie Lamb — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 17:19:48 +0000

This week’s netcast will be a year-end review of all the good, bad and ugly that we can find time to talk about.

What were your favorite ARG moments of 2007? The games/puzzles/live events that made you go, “Oh, yeah!”? What were the duds? What news ticked you off and what made you dance with glee? We want to know!

Send us an email at netcast@argnetcast.info, or leave us a voicemail on 630-274-5425, and your picks for the best and/or worst of 2007 might just be on the netcast.

ARG Netcast, Episode 44: That Special Relationship

Jonathan Waite — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 21:11:07 +0000

Happy holidays! Here’s our gift to you — a stirring, fast-paced discussion of recent ARG news featuring Jonathan Waite (ARGNet), Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction, Despoiler) Brooke Thompson (Giant Mice, Eldritch Errors) and Brian Clark (GMD Studios, Eldritch Errors).

News Items of the Week

The Cloverfield viral campaign launched a widget this past week that seems to measure the networking effect of the ‘word of mouth’ spread of information. People can post the widget on their own blogs and web sites and the idea seems to be to track the buzz that the game-which-is-not-a-game is receiving. See the Cloverfield Clues blog for more details.
Jane McGonigal has posted on avantgame.blogspot.com that she needs help to find the next great puppetmasters. She is looking for people who are bilingual, preferably those who can speak both English and Japanese or Mandarin Chinese, and the job includes a lot of creative responsibility, including public performance. If you meet these requirements, head over to her blog to see how you can apply.
Nathan Cade, a new game that has popped up recently, follows in the footsteps of previous games that begin with a suspicious email that leads into various instant messaging interactions. Players have been assigned codenames which suggest that the puppetmasters are attempting to create two teams, which is causing frustration with some of the player base.
According to Aleks Krotoski of The Guardian Games blog, Alternate Reality Gaming was the biggest disappointment of 2007. Her arguments are based on the number of people playing ARGs, as well as the demise of Mind Candy as an ARG developer. I’m sure that this might come up later in our discussion, so stay tuned.
What is this Game, a promotion for a movie called What is this Movie, will begin on January 1, 2008. Part of the Terms of Service include a section about cheating players, in which the puppetmaster team warns against decompiling the Flash elements.
Sean C. Stacey of Unfiction wrote an interesting article about the relationship between puppetmaster and player. This will be one of the feature discussions on today’s netcast.

ARG Netcast, Episode 43: Sir, Your Cake is Ringing

Jonathan Waite — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 07:20:30 +0000

Yo! It’s another episode of the ARG Netcast, and today’s superfreaky show features Jonathan Waite (ARGNet), Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction, Despoiler) and Brooke Thompson (Giant Mice, Eldritch Errors). The down low on the convo is this: J. Marcus Xavier is one bad muthatrucker, the Joker send a calling card via cake, Chain Factor is wildly addictive, and it takes a lot of effort to stage a live event. Word.

News Items of November

It has been revealed that Red Monday, an alternate reality game that showed up in early October, is a promotion for a new audio drama series. The first episode of the five part post-nuclear story is available for free, but subsequent parts will cost you. It also appears that the game is continuing, but is 99% finished, with only one puzzle remaining. The game found itself embroiled in a bit of controversy in November when J. Marcus Xavier, the creator of the game and the audio drama, showed up at a podcasting symposium and handed out mysterious red envelopes to slightly bewildered attendees. We’ll talk more about this incident in our topic discussion today.
The Dark Knight ARG expanded in late November with a multitude of new web sites and an interesting mission from the Joker that involved cakes and cell phones. All indications are that the recent additions to the game point to a larger, more complex ARG that will compliment events taking place in the film, which is still months away from release.
Numb3rs, a crime drama on CBS, featured alternate reality gaming in an episode that aired in early November. The episode included references to a game called Chain Factor, which is a highly addictive web game that can be found at chainfactor.com. However, the Flash-based puzzle game is not what it appears to be on the surface, as players have discovered secrets within the site that point towards a more robust transmedia experience. The site currently has a hidden countdown that will expire minutes after we stop recording marking either the end of the campaign or the beginning of the next stage of game play.
Deus City has wrapped up after a more than a year of existence. The game, which often blurred the line between reality and fiction, concluded with a thirteen part narrative that detailed the end of the Time Communications project, according to Michael Andersen of ARGNet. Adam Brackin, one of the project creators, plans to release his dissertation based on the game in late spring 2008.
Tom Tooman, a game that first showed up on our radar in early August via a Despoiler alert, is the official ARG for the ABC television show Jericho. In mid-November, ARGNet received a tip from a source close to the game confirmed that the game was linked directly to the show, and has hinted that more will be in store for players and viewers alike.

ARG Netcast, Episode 42: Live from Pasadena!

Jonathan Waite — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:09:43 +0000

As we previously announced on the ARG Netcast web site, Episode 42 is a special behind-the-scenes chat with members of the 42 Entertainment company, who were celebrating the official opening of their new offices in sunny Pasadena. The panel discussion includes Krystyn Wells (42 Entertainment), Brooke Thompson (Giant Mice), Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction, Despoiler), Jackie Kerr (Unfiction), Steve “Dr. Awesome” Peters (42 Entertainment), Michelle Senderhauf (varin.org), rose (Unfiction), Mike Borys (42 Entertainment), Marie Lamb (ARGNet), Geoff May (ARGNet, wikibruce.com), Susan Bonds (42 Entertainment), Alex Lieu (42 Entertainment), Brian Enigma (Netninja) and Jonathan Waite (ARGNet).

More robust show notes will follow, once I beat this flu. Needless to say, the discussion is indepth and entertaining. Also, be sure to catch the special outtakes at the end of the netcast, courtesy of Mr. Stacey.

Important News about Episode 42

Jonathan Waite — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 05:58:18 +0000

Hi! While we’ve been on a bit of a hiatus this month, we’re busy behind the scenes with exciting news and a unique opportunity for all of you ARG Netcast listeners out there. This Saturday, we will be taking the show on the road to sunny Pasadena to celebrate the opening of the new 42 Entertainment offices! The show will feature returning panelists, new speakers and distinguished guests and should be available for download on Monday. Your task (if you choose to accept it) is to send us your questions and comments so that we may use them in the show.

Email us or send us a mp3 recording at netcast@argnetcast.info. Send us a voicemail at 630-274-5425. If we get your message by Friday, chances are, you’ll be on the air!

ARG Netcast, Episode 41.2: Boys Night Out (Topic Discussion)

Jonathan Waite — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 06:26:09 +0000

This is the second half of the epic Episode 41, and this half is all about the topic discussions. Jonathan Waite (ARGNet), Geoff May (WikiBruce) and Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction, Despoiler) start a discussion on what motivates people to play ARGs, move on to answering an email from Six regarding WHOIS information, and finally end up with another returning segment, “Who Should Do an ARG”. All in all, it’s a robust, fantastic chat — one we’re sure you’ll enjoy.

ARG Netcast, Episode 41.1: Boys Night Out (News)

Jonathan Waite — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 18:23:30 +0000

Episode 41 was so ginormous, we had to split it into two parts, so here is the news portion of the netcast. Jonathan Waite (ARGNet), Geoff May (WikiBruce) and Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction, Despoiler) chat up a number of interesting topics (zombies, anyone?) while bringing back the Puzzle of the Week segment for the Zetria Atrian game.

News Items of the Past Two Weeks

On the last episode of the netcast, we talked briefly about the live event that took place for the game Eldritch Errors. The spooky details of the three day extravaganza, which took place in the radio-free mountainous region of West Virginia, can be found at Sentry Outpost, the in-game forums. This event marked the end of Book 2 of the ongoing alternate reality game, and behind-the-scenes information can be found at schmeldritch.com.
After days of patiently watching a Jack-o-Lantern candle diminish, WhySoSerious, the Dark Knight alternate reality game, updated with a message from the Joker asking players to go out and find 49 different locations across the country by following simple clues. This revealed a new picture of the Joker and led to RorysDeathKiss.com, where players can upload photographs of themselves in clown makeup at major landmarks.
To promote the upcoming season of “Bones” on Sky One in the UK starting November 8, multiple window displays in the UK contained a rather spooky victim of the Silver Skeleton Killer–a skeleton with a single silver rib, sitting in a plush armchair. Visitors to TheDeadRoom.com could play along as characters from the show to help solve the mystery.
For those of you waiting for a piracy-based alternate reality game, the wait is over. To promote the release of the video game Uncharted, players are encouraged to head over to sullivanstories.com to help treasure hunter Victor Sullivan follow a treasure map by Sir Francis Drake.
GUINNESS, in conjunction with AMV BBDO, is releasing their new television commercially online through a series of 11 puzzles. In addition to the grand prize golden domino, weekly drawings will award players various GUINNESS related knicknacks. While anyone can play, only UK residents can win.
Zombies are set to take over the ARG world with two new post-apocalyptic projects with television tie-ins. The first, which has a trailhead at falconrockcommand.com, involves a series of interactive websites to promote itself. The second, which begins at lastdaysjournal.com, is more along the lines of World Without Oil, allowing participants to submit their own videos and accounts of a world overrun with the living dead.
Christy Dena of Cross-Media Entertainment has stopped posting on her blog site, but you can still get your cross-media news from her new podcast at UniverseCreation101.com. The podcast focuses on content creation in a cross-media environment, and her first interview with Evan Jones from Stitch Media revealed information on interactive projects for Survivorman and the upcoming CBC television show The Border.
Zetria Atrian and the Sparrow-Clam, a recently launched chaotic fiction mystery we discussed during the last netcast episode, seems to have lost steam due to some very difficult puzzles. Players on Unfiction are lamenting the lack of progress and some have questioned whether the level of player motivation to move the story forward is sufficient in this case. We will talk more about motivation in our topic discussion today.

Puzzle of the Week

The Zetria Atrian puzzles: square0, whispers_0 and lockstone.