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Credits Posted for I Love Bees

Posted by Zonk on from the that's-zapper-weisman-for-sr-fans dept.

Ryan Barrett writes "Credits have been posted for the I Love Bees alternate reality game. As many suspected, its puppetmasters included Sean Stewart, Jordan Weisman, and Elan Lee, who created the game The Beast for the movie AI. Many of the principle members of Cloudmakers also participated, one of whom was the voice of Melissa. Sean, Jordan, and Elan have founded a company, 4orty2wo Entertainment, to continue producing ARGs. I don't know about you, but I'm very excited."

26 comments

  1. That is one nasty web page by AtariAmarok · · Score: 4, Funny

    That is one nasty web page. It is made to LOOK like an unclosable cross between a popup add and an error message covers most of the material. Fortunately, the web page itself is killable.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
    1. Re:That is one nasty web page by abandonment · · Score: 0

      indeed - the people that actually paid attention to this have WAAAAY too much free time.

      Get a hobby or something people.

      ARG - Annoying, Really, GO away

      --
      Gekido's Lair
    2. Re:That is one nasty web page by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Says the person posting on /. :)

      When will people learn that criticisms about people's hobbies on a geek website that exists purely for the purpose of avoiding a real life is well... pointless.

      But thanks abandonment, really. It's nice to see the newcomers throw out all the old cliches that are known and loved through /. history :)

  2. Sense of relief by centauri · · Score: 3, Funny

    The character of Rani sounded eerily like one of my ex-girlfriends. I was profoundly relieved to learn it wasn't her. It just wouldn't have been fair.

    --
    Don't blame me, I voted for Durga.
  3. Okay, now by Tom7 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Okay, will they fix the web site now? I want to learn about bees!

  4. 4orty2wo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How do you red that? Fourortytwowo? AortyZwo? What kind of a name is that?!?

    1. Re:4orty2wo by Couldn'tCareLess · · Score: 1
      Its liek well l337 u spaz :P

      Ahem

      In other words, the d00ds are growing up and getting jobs in marketing ;)

  5. Excuse me for being out of touch, but... by Captain+Rotundo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    WTF is an "alternate reality game" ?
    Is this anything more than a marketing gimmic?

    1. Re:Excuse me for being out of touch, but... by centauri · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes, it's more than a gimic. It's a stand-alone story, at least in this case. Depending how involved you wanted to get in it, it was also a lot of puzzle solving and detective work. If you went so far as to answer any of the pay phones that were ringing around the country, it was also a fun outdoor activity.

      Many people who played ilovebees are also going to get Halo 2, but the game itself was never actually mentioned. You can follow the completed story and just enjoy it for what it is: a fun, free, science-fiction audio play. It stands on its own, but I'm hoping it will be referred to in Halo 2 gameplay.

      In general, an "alternate reality game" is tries to be an interactive story that involves sending an receiving messages between players and characters, as if the characters and their situations were part of reality.

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for Durga.
    2. Re:Excuse me for being out of touch, but... by FCAdcock · · Score: 1

      No. This is just a dumb marketing excercise. Honestly, why develop websites like this for marketing? A: This is a site I would have probably never visited, and have no intention of visiting. B: I may be dumb, but I didn't get the message, it just looked so bad that I left. C: "Alternative reality?" WTF? Were the creators of this campeign high at the time? With a name like this, and web design like that, I think they must have been smoking something other than Camel Lights.

      --
      --Forest C. Adcock--
    3. Re:Excuse me for being out of touch, but... by Have+Blue · · Score: 4, Insightful

      1) An ARG, as defined on Unfiction, is "A genre of interactive fiction using multiple delivery and communications media." Basically it's an adventure game that is not limited to being on a computer screen.

      2) No. But that doesn't mean it can't be fun to experience (and it was).

    4. Re:Excuse me for being out of touch, but... by Edgewize · · Score: 1

      Well, what is television except for a delivery vehicle for 30-second spots?

      Yes, it's more than a marketing gimmick. It's a self-contained and enjoyable experience for those who choose to play it.

    5. Re:Excuse me for being out of touch, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because of course, you are an excellent writer, actor, and producer of audio drama. Sorry you had to be offended.

    6. Re:Excuse me for being out of touch, but... by Geoffreyerffoeg · · Score: 3, Informative

      It doesn't really refer to Halo 2 gameplay, but it fits into the mythos. The Libary has the full story.

      To summarize the relevant connecting parts, a UNSC ship in 2552 gets a Covenant virus on them, finds a Forerunner artifact just floating in space, and falls through a hole in slipspace. Part of the ship's AI, along with the virus, went back in time and landed on this website; the other part went onto a server on the Earth of 2552. As it turns out, the brain used to create Melissa was from a former Spartan-II and the sister of one of the I Love Bees characters.

    7. Re:Excuse me for being out of touch, but... by centauri · · Score: 1

      Right, thanks for that. I just hope Halo 2 refers back to ilovebees. For instance, one character mentions a rooftop weapons cache in New Mombasa. You can bet that I'm going to be searching rooftops in New Mombasa when I play that level.

      It seems somewhat unlikely that any of the human characters will make appearances, but it could happen. A minor character was sent to New Mombasa. Perhaps he'll be a contact or at least an interesting corpse. Plus, there's a semi-rampant ship AI free on earth. I'd love to see a cat-fight between Durga and Cortana.

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for Durga.
    8. Re:Excuse me for being out of touch, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm pretty sure that Sean already mentioned at the training events (and in chat I believe, though I have to check the logs on Unfiction) that there is absolutely no ilovebees reference in Halo 2...

      It's a pity, but Bungie had the game wrapped up when ilovebees was just starting - so unfortunately no word on them after this game (though it would make a kick-ass book)

      When I am saddened I do this :(

  6. How do you read 4orty2wo ? by AtariAmarok · · Score: 1
    "How do you red that?"

    Looks like it would be "for-ortytwo-woe". Like that old Brad Pitt movie "Se-Seven-En"

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
    1. Re:How do you read 4orty2wo ? by llevity · · Score: 1

      Don't forget the recent game, Driv3r, which is pronounced "Driv-three-er".

    2. Re:How do you read 4orty2wo ? by GTRacer · · Score: 2, Funny
      I htink you misspelled "crap".

      GTRacer
      - I think it was better than 2, at least.

      --
      Defending IP by destroying access to it? That makes sense, RIAA/MPAA. Go to the corner until you can play nice!
    3. Re:How do you read 4orty2wo ? by eamonman · · Score: 1

      Yup, anything is better than 2, which tended to freeze once in a while when I flipped my car over (or maybe let's call it enhanced negative reinforcement for driver safety).

      --
      0- Eamonman Proud member of DNRC
    4. Re:How do you read 4orty2wo ? by MilenCent · · Score: 1

      Or Thir-thirteen-en Ghosts.

  7. reguarding web design by laard · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I find it hilarious that so many slashdotters in this and previous threads criticize the crappy web design of ILB... thats fully intentional, it adds to the [alternate] reality of the game... in the game storyline, the character Dana designed this Ilovebees website for her Aunt Margaret, a beekeeper. Mysteriously everything went screwy from broken images to weird messages and countdowns to corrupt images (try opening a corrupt image in a text editor...). As the story progresses, you learn the site is inhabited by an AI, or possibly more than one AI. I won't retell the whole story, but my point is a lot of the "amateur" feel of the site is quite intentional and ads to the suspension of disbelief for those playing the game.

    Now that its all over, check out the Mission Log for an archive of the radio drama that participants "unlocked" while playing.

    --
    --- If we knew half the things we shouldn't we'd stop wishing we knew it all
  8. congratulations on a better game launch this time by artifex2004 · · Score: 1

    I'm still disappointed that the two games tied to the movie A.I., that were scheduled for release when the Playstation2 was introduced, never shipped.

    They probably would have been related to the ARG a lot more than the movie itself was.

  9. Re:WHat's that? by Geoffreyerffoeg · · Score: 1

    You know, you can, like, stop reading Slashdot if it bothers you so much.

    This was relevant to people interested in RPGs in general. If you still want to read Slashdot, block Games or RPGs from your home page.

    If you don't care about this, why did you waste your time commenting?