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Alternate Reality Games Examined
The Guardian's gamesblog has an interview up with Matt Adams, one of the members of the company Blast Theory. Blast theory was given the "Maverick Award" at GDC 2005 for their Alternate Reality Game Uncle Roy All Around You, which uses mobile technology to insert players into a virtual landscape while traversing real London streets. From the interview: "Games are an expression of the ways in which the virtual interpenetrates our lives in ever more complex ways. Desert Rain took the Gulf War of 1991 as a critical moment in this process: when it became widely understood that the killing itself was 'off screen' and the imagery of war was taking over. Soldiers themselves are taught in increasingly computer generated spaces and have less direct contact with their enemy. And many of them are avid games players. America's Army is a game funded by the US Army to bring in new recruits."
For anyone interested in more information on ARG, check out the ARG Network.
I would have thought this was a made-up word but dictionary.com says otherwise. I'll have to remember to use this when I'm writing my next Star Trek: Voyager erotic fan fic!
Alternate reality has been in development for years. Since the 1st chat room had 2 people in it.
Example:
(ChatGuy) asl?
(ChatGal) 18/f/California
(ChatGuy) kewl, R U hot?
(ChatGal) U no it
(ChatGuy) LOL me too!
(ChatGal) also, i'm rich
(ChatGuy) OMFG so am i!!!1
(ChatGal) btw, if we are the 1st 2 ppl in the 1st chat room, how are we using chat abbreviations that haven't even been invinted yet?
(ChatGuy) wtf
Turk: Let's play Steak. J.D.: What? Turk: Steak. The 1st person to finish their steak is the winner of Steak. -Scrubs
Actually the game is still played today (no, i don't) and from what I see, the parent company is banking quite the profit on it. However, to your original statement, I have to respond by asking if you read the article, or merely scanned for keywords. Just because they employ 'performers' to enhance the experience does not really approach quantifying this genre so broadly, and a more apt comparison would be to the old dinner-party murder mystery games. However, thank you for sharing your emotions about other people's hobbies.
AR was a damn fine concept and one I'd like to see revisited now that we have so much many resources at our disposal.
sig semper tyrannis!
As well-known UK ARGinado Adrian Hon points out in a comment on that article, Uncle Roy is not an ARG in any real sense of the word. ARGN is a much better place to go for ARGs -- think I Love Bees.
Militaries around the world are changing. AA is primarily a marketing tool, but the interest in using commercial video games as training tools is increasing.
And, on the other side, the number of recruits coming in who are already 1337 is increasing. An article on a recent miliatry FPS trial reported that a full 2/3 of the soldiers selected were familiar with FPS.
Those making mods for military-style games are finding their work being favorably mentioned in surprising places, and well, if some you receiving instant messages from warzones may have noted that what's going on often gets described in terms of video games.
Um, yeah, well sort of correct. The teaser episode will start before the end of the month. This is a great chance for new ARG players to get involved from a top quality game from the start. I encourgae you to sign up and give it a try!
You can find the site by simply clicking the URL near my name on this post. It is free, and the game is brought to you by a multitude of sponsors. This is great since you will get a few advertisements as product placements, but not get the feeling like you are getting corporate agenda setting for hours while you play. Currently more than 1000 players are already registered, and the more players the more fun for all!