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The Minds Behind the ARG Movement

Posted by Zonk on from the i-love-the-game dept.

Gamasutra has up an interview with Elan Lee, vice president of 42 Entertainment. As a highly placed individual within one of the most successful alternate reality gaming (ARG) companies, Lee has his name on credits for titles like The Beast and I Love Bees . Lee goes into some background on the process of creating an ARG, what the folks who work at 42 do, exactly, and a little bit about the present and future of the medium. From the article: "GS: Yesterday, during your talk, you also mentioned the Michael Douglas movie The Game as an inspiration. Where does that fit in? EL: That movie completely twisted my mind. I have this terrible lack of ability to predict the end of any movie. I sit there, completely gullible and taken in by the movie makers. Anyway, I got to the end of that movie, and I was blown away, because I didn't see it coming, at all. And I thought, there's something magical here in the ability to take someone's life and transform it into an entertainment platform. The movie got really scary and creepy; we wouldn't actually want to do that, but on a much smaller scale there are some really fun things there."

16 comments

  1. Finite and Infinite Games by xappax · · Score: 5, Interesting

    For those with a philosophical bent, I recommend Finite and Infinite Games. A very thought provoking exploration of what constitutes a game, and how they blend with reality.

    1. Re:Finite and Infinite Games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Infinite games rock!

  2. I'll admit, I'm biased by DorkusMasterus · · Score: 3, Interesting

    as I write for them occasionally, but I'd reccomend ARGNet and UnFiction (a site I DON'T write for) for those who are interested in this unique game genre. It's growing daily, and there are more games to suit more tastes than ever. Definitely cool stuff.

    1. Re:I'll admit, I'm biased by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If anything, these are good websites to check when you encounter a weird website without knowing what it's about. If it's some sort of a entrance puzzle to an ARG, you can usually find some information on Unforums, and whatnot. Good for demystifying random links people give you.

  3. EA game by nacturation · · Score: 1

    Anyone remember that game Majestic based on the movie The Game? They tried to do this but, unfortunately, having everything automated removes a lot of the surprise factor.

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    1. Re:EA game by lidocaineus · · Score: 1

      Well, if you read TFA, they go ia bit nto what made Majestic not work.

    2. Re:EA game by nacturation · · Score: 1

      I hadn't, but now that I've read it their sole comment was that it didn't work because it had a subscription. That's it. I think it's a bit simplistic and they're possibly ignoring other things that would make it not work because those are things that they can't avoid either. Anyhoo, I was just waxing nostalgic about Majestic a bit.

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  4. This is sad by billsoxs · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    but when I saw the title of this story - all I could think about was pirates..... ARRGH!

    Yes, I know it is off topic.....

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    1. Re:This is sad by slackmaster2000 · · Score: 1

      Pirates say "yarrr", Charlie Brown says "argh." :)

    2. Re:This is sad by billsoxs · · Score: 1

      Yes you are correct they do say 'YARR' but they also say 'ARRRGH' - more R's then Charlie Brown.

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  5. I just lost the game by InsaneLampshade · · Score: 1

    Yeah... thanks for mentioning "The Game" in the summary... i just lost.

    1. Re:I just lost the game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Different "Game"... But now I lose too for the first time in about 6 months! Damn you.

  6. Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Why would anyone want to play a commercial?

    1. Re:Why? by DorkusMasterus · · Score: 1

      Actually, I don't know why your post got modded as flamebait. I think it's a valid question. I love these games (although I have less time to play them lately), and I can tell you that the answer lies in this situation:

      Advertising is a reality. It is really all around us in an ever-increasing way. So, you can either have it force-fed to you in banner ads, commercials, and mass marketers, or you can choose how it is delivered to you.

      First of all, these games, even those as promotions for companies or products, (like 42 Entertainment in the article does,) tend to have only tangential references to the product. For example, even the I Love Bees game which was a promotion for Halo 2, had very little to do with Halo 2, other than it took place in the timeframe between Halo 1 and Halo 2, story-wise. It NEVER mentioned the game, Microsoft, or Bungie. EVER. There were never ads placed in the game.

      It was more like, "play in this space" and we know that as the game is perhipherally related to the product we're trying to sell, that it will be in your minds more than if you didn't play this game.

      So, by virtue of this advertisement being EXTREMELY non-intrusive, and well-put-together in terms of the content and story, as well as the "delivery mechanism", it made you think positively about the product they were selling.

      But again, there really was no selling. It was more of a "getting you to think about Halo 2, without mentioning Halo 2" kind of thing. If I could have all advertisement come to me in such a way, I would do so forever. It's honestly that refreshing.

      For the game "Last Call Poker" which was an ARG promoting the video game "GUN" by Activision, the story had little again to do with the product, excepting that it revolved around the story of a gun, and it's owners, the history of the thing, and that "cowboy culture" kind of thing. It featured a fully-functioning online poker site (free chips of course, to be legal), as well as a robust video storytelling mode. It was web 2.0 all over the place, as well as being extremely fun and social.

      Again, you thought about the product, but only tangentially. It was NEVER referred to in the game. It was just the thing that got this story going.

      So I know that's extremely long, but honestly, THAT'S why people would play a commercial. I'd honestly reccomend checking it out, and if it's not your thing, then totally cool... never play again. But I think once you've tried it, you'll agree that in terms of advertising, it's the best way you'll have seen advertising go since it's inception. Honest.

      (check out www.argn.com or www.unforums.com for information on new games and places to learn more about the genre and how the games are played.)

  7. THE GAME by the+phantom · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Are these ARGs anything like THE GAME? (which I just lost, by the way)

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  8. The ARG movement is for morons... by Schraegstrichpunkt · · Score: 1

    ... choose the PARAM movement!

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    http://outcampaign.org/