Through the LCD clearly

In issue 171 of Game Informer they cover Fallout 3 (which I’ll be covering a bit later), but within the other sections of the magazine rests a very good overview on the history of the ARG. Look out for the issue if you can, years as an EB-Games employee meant peddling an awful lot of subscriptions for Game Informer, but in this case I do so without financial interest.

A quick but not necessarily thorough search did not yield an online archived version of the article, and interviews from the article require a subscription. I’ll give a barebones rundown on the ARG and links for further research.

ARG is not just the noise one makes while stuck in the 405 or 10 but additionally serves as an acronym for Alternate Reality Gaming. Players are fed a series of puzzles, clues, seemingly unrelated websites, interact with actors, and even told to answer payphone calls at appointed times.

Microsoft promoting the 2001 film A.I ran a campaign called The Beast. Participants were meant to follow clues and so forth dealing with the murder of a fictional scientist Evan Chan.  “There were other games that pretended to be real.” Said Adrian Hon,  of Mind Candy (GI 171). “There were other games to use different media. But The Beast was the first to get it really right.”

An ARG should ultimately enthrall a very large group of players, keep them occupied for months, and then through difficult deduction guide them to a product.  Notable ARG projects include the I love bees campaign (Halo 2), Perplex City, Year Zero (NIN album), and of course the Beast.

How does a ARG narrative differ from traditional games or media?
“We first write a story, create all the evidence that would exist had the story taken place, and then throw out all the story and hide all the shards (the evidence) around the physical and digital world.” Said Jordan Weisman of 42 Entertainment (GI #171).

In the course of examining community sites such as the Cloudmakers and the Alternate Gaming Reality Network it becomes apparent players  become deeply immersed and involved in the experience. The community has come to expect even more complex puzzles, ciphers, and challenges and will reward a proper ARG campaign with the kind of participation companies could only dream of before. Take a deeper look at the community and companies involved (AGR.com is a good place to start).

Juard Van Dijkhorst

So as I may have mentioned in passing to several of you my South African trip really illustrated the growth potential for Mobile Content. Africa and several other areas without a developed or readily available internet capability is handicapped when it comes to computing. The average person does not own a computer, have one easily accessible,  or have the experience to as my Uncle may say “Drive” one.
This brings me to my first point, computing technology in it’s current incarnation is out of the grasp of a very sizable chunk of the earth’s populace.

However this is a temporary handicap, perhaps a matter of a few decades or at most a century. Even the poorest of the poor, living in shanty towns, favellas, ghettos, and whatever else you may want to describe as their dwelling areas have ready access to mobile phones.  We’ve built the infrastructure in the last two decades to make mass volume calls and make it easily accessible.

The current leading edge in cellular phone technology is far beyond what we may have here with the I-phone, Blackberry, etc. In places like Japan and Finland the blending of technology is already at work on the next generation on mobile access devices. At some point the functions of laptop, phone, mp3 player, and possibly even TV can through technological convergence be merged and put a lot of eyeballs from under utilized markets onto new products.  I have several ideas on what programming/additional features to roll out for these markets but in the interest of A number one I’m not divulging those via the internet.

My advice though take another look at mobile content, it may not be a widespread market yet. But in 10 or 20 years it will be a behemoth.

So I’m in LA now, I have some stills from the road trip to post (grand canyon at dawn that sort of thing).

Finding housing took longer then I had anticipated but I’m at least for the moment lodging in Studio City/Valley Village.  You can’t throw a rock out here without hitting an aspiring actor (bring lots of rocks!). But what strikes me from a producing standpoint is how spraweled out the city is. I don’t want to know how much petrol (yay for $60 fill ups) and time is wasted going from area to area. “Hollywood” is actually not situated in Hollywood or any one area and traffic here does not lend itself to ease of transit.

I have some posts prepared on ARGs (Alternate Reality Game) and general New Media topics, but having to drive to Glendale for internet access and then having my 16 page job listing die/need replacing has put that on the back burner for a bit. I may also cover some video game topics, specifially in terms of promotion.

I’ve had my first comment spam spree, you can imagine how excited I was with a login yielding six comments… all spam. Time to put some filters in I suppose.

Cheers for now

Juard Van Dijkhrost

I’m back from South Africa, and have a few days to get my things in order, pack, and leave for LA. I’ll be making a road trip out of it, unless I have to hurry and make interviews. It may be slightly off the usual tangent here but I’ll be covering the trip, impressions of the industry there versus perceptions, the job hunt, and so forth.  I’m considering building a mount for my DVX and doing Road diary video posts (assuming I can get to a pc with net access on the road).

Travel: Advice on travel, portability (I bloody well need a laptop!), dealing with security concerns, logistics in remote areas, etc.

Lighting: Cheap and alternative lighting fixtures and technologies, including LEDs, China Balls, and of course ELDs. How to get around budget concerns and pick up used equipment etc.

Independent and Foreign movie venues, a comparison South Africa v. America
Nu Metor v. the Moxie Cinema

And of course I still need to cover the topics on the June 20th  post.