You are standing in an open field
west of a white house,
with a boarded front door.
There is a small mailbox here.
 
 
[What do you do?]

Next year, Smoking Gun Interactive, an independent video game studio which was founded in 2007 by the creators of the award-winning Company of Heroes, will release the first in its new graphic novel series, “X.” The initial installment was written by none other than Douglas Rushkoff, who you may remember from his columns in such publications as the Guardian, Discover, and the Daily Beast; from documentaries like The Merchants of Cool; and from being mentioned on BoingBoing approximately every twelve minutes. Rushkoff is no stranger to the digital age, being known for coining terms and concepts such as viral media (or media virus), digital native, and social currency, according to Wikipedia.

X – Page 2 (image courtesy Smoking Gun)

A special preview of the graphic novel began to roll out yesterday, located at Exoriare.com and if you look closely, you may be able to spot a wee rabbit hole embedded in the graphics. Hey, if we located it, it can’t be too hard to find! Smoking Gun promises more interactivity to come.

“One of our main goals as a studio is to constantly innovate in how we tell our stories”, said Smoking Gun CEO and Creative Director John Johnson. “Our perspective is, if you can interact with it, then it can be part of the experience we deliver. And if you cannot interact with it, then we will evolve it to the point where it can be part of our universe. There are no boundaries to where we can go or what we can accomplish.”

The novel’s subject matter lends itself well to the world of ARGs, incorporating elements of science fiction, alien invasion, and vast conspiracy. So far, we have not yet spotted an attractive brunette in distress, however.

As a small, scattered group of people stumble onto the truth, they find that they are too late: every great power on earth has already aligned itself against humanity. The war is all but over.  Their struggle to discover the truth will lead them into a massive conspiracy that predates humanity itself – from the world’s most ancient sites to the global centers of power.

For those few brave enough to resist, reckless enough to see, and foolish enough to fight history itself, the war has never been over. For those few, the struggle will not be complete until the old prophecy has been fulfilled[.]

Have you seen the recent videos “leaked” to the web featuring Seth Green and his temper? Apparently, he was mugged outside of a video production studio. We saw some discussion of this after a tape of the parking log “security footage” also surfaced, and while we thought the comments about it being a “hoax” or “prank” were probably somewhat on point, we never suspected it might be related to a promotional campaign for a popular candy product. But then, we’re kind of dense that way. Thank god for this morning’s email from Sarah on behalf of the Nestlé Butterfinger Team!

All of us at Butterfinger are big fans of alternate reality games. We’re totally in awe of their creativity and amazed at the devotion and passion they inspire in ARG fans. In fact, we were so inspired we decided to create our own “lite-version” ARG. And since we’re Butterfinger, we’ve developed an irreverent, clever take on an ARG–a humor-based adventure at DudeWheresMyBar.com starring the inimitable Seth Green, and centered on the recent theft of his vintage Butterfinger bar.

Since the ARG community inspired Butterfinger to create this game, we wanted to tell the unfiction team about it personally, and hope you will try it. Our game is intended to appeal to both dedicated ARG fans, looking for a light-hearted laugh, as well as casual game players. We hope you will experience DudeWheresMyBar.com and have fun with it. Plus something cool about this ARG Lite – a grand prize for the winner – a real, solid-gold Butterfinger bar worth $10,000.

Stay tuned for updates on the game. In the meantime, we’d love to send you a supply of Butterfinger as a small token of our thanks and appreciation for the inspiration you’ve given us, so please email us your mailing address.

Enjoy the game “Dude, Where’s My Bar?” – We look forward to hearing what you think.

Angry Seth Green
Image courtesy DudeWheresMyBar.com

Aww, that part about being an inspiration makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside, just like whenever we eat a Butterfinger! Unfortunately, the second half of the previous statement just made us feel a little bit dirty, too. First one is free, guys!

Speaking of which, we left in the quote the part about them offering us some free product because Michael Andersen scared us recently with the story about the FCC FTC cracking down on bloggers who post product reviews without disclosing if they’ve received any free gifts from the company producing the product. We’re not exactly sure that this applies to us but we are pretty sure we have insufficient funds to pay any such potential fines, so we’re erring on the side of caution here. On the other hand, if the FCC FTC wanted to go ahead and pass some “Net Neutrality” regulations, we’d be perfectly happy to spew superlatives in a positive review of the Commission itself. If it helps them to decide, we can also offer them discreet but strategic “wardrobe malfunction” events on a personal basis. Just sayin’.

Anyway, surf on over (does anyone “surf” the “intertoob” anymore?) to DudeWheresMyBar.com and help Seth Green solve all of his problems! There could be a solid gold Butterfinger in it for ya! Hope you have good teeth.

For more information on the campaign, check out the press release.

If there’s anything that will bring us out of a blue monkey funk months-long bender, it’s an invitation to a party! At least, we assume the following mail drop is for a party because we Googled “Hermaeus” and found out it has something to do with celebrations in honor of Hermes involving boys and gymnasia. Hey, waitaminnit….

The Cardinal Case
7pm
October 17th
New York City

---

Secrets stole I, treasures too;
I invite you to pursue.
How to win my worthy gifts?
I am one of many shifts.
This Hermaea worth shall prove
And the chaff from wheat remove.
Will you my fond pageant see
And earn this purloined property?
Place to place, we’ll celebrate.
Kindly, gentles, save the date.
~Selma

Invitation – Click to Enzoomify

While it’s absolutely conceivable that this message has something to do with the Catholic church or certain creatures traditionally feathered in crimson, some of the Twitterati claim it’s really the next chapter in Prototype 161. Then again, it’s been so long that those guys surely must be in full production mode by now. What’s the standard shelf-life of a prototype anyway?

Regardless, we’re looking forward to the free plane ticket we expect to follow shortly, except this time not addressed to “Space Bass.” Hey, did we mention we live on the opposite coast from NYC, you blatant teases?! *shaking fist*

Invitation Cover

What is the letter on that sticker, anyway? I? S? F? YUZZ? The world may never know.

If you follow the LG15Today Blog, you’re probably already aware that the Maddison Atkins ARG restarted the other day but rather than just a new chapter added to the story, this time around marks a reboot of the entire plot. Maddison Atkins was an interactive, episodic video series along the lines of Lonelygirl15 that originally launched in 2007, produced by Jeromy Barber, centered around the titular character and her friend Adam, and their experiences related to some unexplained local murders or something. We’re not sure if any kidnappings were involved but if there are this time, we might be persuaded to help with a rescue attempt! Rowr.

ARGs are notoriously un-replayable so this reboot intrigues us. From comments we’ve seen around the blogosphere, it appears that the characters and settings may be the same but the storyline will not necessarily depend upon the previous history. Could Jeromy be the next J.J. Abrams of alternate reality gaming? How about the first, then (because those Lost experiences were kind of, well…)?

Since we’re already breaking new ground here, we decided to hit the Puppetmaster himself up for some hints. Here’s what he had to say:

Hmmm Exclusive Tips… I do know that people are already passing up opportunities to progress the plot. It’s not something they can just watch, and waiting has its consequences. They have to interact to uncover what is next. To be absolutely honest, there’s a drop out there right now that the fans might miss if they don’t hurry up …. I don’t know if that’s what you were looking for, but there you are.

Sounds to us like a call to action! Check out the new videos, follow Maddison on Twitter, and head over to the Unfiction thread to discuss developments, if you’re so inclined.

Are you a werewolf? Hey, thanks for asking! Nope.

Oh, was there more? You thought we wouldn’t be insulted and hurt and crying a little on the inside when you sent us a dog biscuit in the mail? What do you take us for: cold, heartless, automatons? Jiminy Christmas, that was the subject of our last post, for crying out loud (which we are, now. Jerks)!

Dog Biscuit, with Sticker

Informative!

Dog Biscuit

Crowdsource That Shit Challenge: Identify that brand of dog biscuit! Comment here with your guesses.

Package

*Waves at ARG Netcast*

If we learned anything from The Beast, it was that Mechas are people too, they’re just better than us. Except for when they’re lonely and pathetic like our new friend 011iver (pronounced, “Oliver”). 011iver sent us a postcard because he’s looking for a date! Unfortunately, while we like robots just fine, we are not exactly robosexual if you catch our drift.

[R]obots need love too! -011iver

Postcard Reverse – Click to Embiggen

Luckily, 011iver’s friend “Tim Scribbles” (note: not his pr0n name) has hit upon a foolproof idea to find love for his cybernetic buddy…a World Wide Web Home Page delivered direct to your Browsing Machine via the Magical Intertubes! Oh, is there nothing that cannot be done by the Information Superhighway? Our hacked credit card account responds with a plaintive, wailing, “Noooooooo!”

Postcard Obverse – Click to Enlargenate

Just for the record, the name of our site is Despoiler not Deflower. Bzzzt!

But we also like kittens. Dingdingding!

As reported on this week’s ARG Netcast (Episode 88), we received the following tip from the Pleasant Valley High School Drama Department, which appears to be putting on an interactive murder mystery play on May 16th. Anybody live in or near Iowa?

Someone has been messing with our poster and created this awful one. Can you help us find out who?

Poster – Click to Enlargenate

The poster includes a link to the blog of a small-town reporter who already appears to be following this mystery somehow. And her blog links to what might just be the most hilarious choice of in-game sites evar, an online escort service! We have to wonder if the Pleasant Valley Faculty is aware of this particular part of the marketing strategy for this play and, if so, we’d like to shake their collective hand. After we stop laughing.

The latest package to arrive at the Despoiler campus definitely wins a prize for the most enigmatic. In fact, if we hadn’t already been aware of an ongoing discussion at Unfiction about this new campaign, we would have had exactly zero ideas how to title this post. Parodoxically, no title at all might have represented less fail than was realized here just now.

Hmm, a dictation recorder with a sticky note taped to it reading, “Play me.” Pause for a moment to ponder the double-meaning. And seeing as how the device came stocked with working batteries, what did we have to lose?

The tape itself is marked (in what appears to be a distinctly European hand) “1/1.” Other packages received by ARG community members have been inscribed with “1/2” and “2/1,” although an argument raged for a time about whether or not the one was in fact a letter A or V, or maybe the two was a Z. Arguing is fun!

Near as we can tell, the woman – a novelist or former novelist – suffers what they technically term in the medical community as “Crazytown,” and a handful of antipsychotic meds she rattled off in the interview just “made things worse.” If it weren’t for her accent, we could swear we dated this woman at one point.

Speculation has it that this may be related to the book Therapy, written by Sebastian Fitzek and published by St. Martins Press. Where do we go from here? You know, baby, we’ve been trying to find out but we’re still some way from knowing. Transcript of the audiotape after the jump.

Man: May I offer you some tea?

Woman: Oh, thank you, no. My five minutes would be over before I got around to got around to drinking it.

M: As you wish. So… tell me about yourself.

W: I’m a novelist.

M: Famous.

W: Not unless you’re interested in children’s books. Most of my readers are age six to thirteen. I sell a lot of copies overseas. Japan was my best market but it’s all in the past.

M: In the past?

W: I… haven’t finished a book for years.

M: So when was your last book published?

W: That was five years ago. After that, I started another project, a children’s book of course, I thought it was going to be my best yet. It almost seemed to write itself but I never got further than the first couple of chapters.

M: Why was that?

W: Health problems. It happened very suddenly. I was hospitalized.

M: What was wrong with you?

W: To be frank, I don’t think anyone really knows.

M: How long were you in the hospital?

W: Forty-seven months in all. I was locked in a room and topped up with pills for nearly four years. I barely knew who I was, let alone what was going on.

M: And the… diagnosis?

W: Haven’t you been able to make a guess by now?

M: What medication were you on?

W: Pretty much everything. Truxil and Fluspirilene but mainly Flupenthixol.

M: And… none of them helped?

W: The symptoms got worse. Even after I stopped taking the medication, it took weeks to find my feet. In my opinion, that’s proof enough that drugs aren’t the solution to my particular condition.

M: What’s different about your condition?

W: I’m a novelist.

M: So you said.

W: It’s probably best if I give you an example.

###EOF###

Who knew an Alternate Reality Game could have three different titles at once? Well, only everyone who has ever tried to figure out what to call an unnamed campaign during the first few days of its run, that’s who!

Back in our day, ARGs didn’t have titles, they just poked you in the eye with a sharp stick and you were HAPPY for the nostalgic remembrance constantly afforded to you for the rest of your life by that scratchy ol’ eyepatch you’ve had to wear ever since then, not to mention the unending ridicule. Kids these days just don’t know how easy they have it….

Hi there. You might be able to help us with something. It seems that Josh Garcia’s blog, reprinted in copies of The Joshua Files: Ice Shock contains another, coded message. And we’ve noticed that the Ice Shock book trailer on [YouTube] isn’t quite the same as the one we’re showing on our site for The Joshua Files. Maybe you know some people who could work out what’s [going] on? We’d appreciate [your] help. If Josh and his friends are in danger – we need to know!

Astute observers of ARGNet in recent months may have already heard of Ice Shock – a sequel to the first in the Joshua Files series, Invisible City – and its promotional ARG. The book was released yesterday by Scholastic Books and UK-based author M.G. Harris blogged today about the campaign.

Checking out her links led us to the following video trailer via the Joshua Files site:

Four weeks, twelve websites, and one mystery wrapped around Josh’s murdered godfather and Gabi’s need to escape her own father’s killer. Could Gabi somehow be Josh’s godsister? Is she, by any remote chance, an attractive brunette? Maybe Josh’s blog will shed some light on the situation. Or perhaps clues may be found in, and call us crazy on this one, Ice Shock the book? We guess if you get stuck, you can always resort to the meta-site, which happily promises upcoming “[r]umours, hints and news about [the ARG.]”

Have at ye!

P.S. [B]rackets are [fun]!

Welcome to the Brotherhood

To celebrate the upcoming release of the sci-fi RTS title “Perimeter 2: New Earth” the makers of the game – KDV Games studio has launched an ARG based on “Perimeter” Universe.

The title of the surreal ARG is “The Brotherhood”. Throughout the game players will face original puzzles and learn more about the game universe, as well as access gameplay videos, parts of the soundtrack and more.

So begins our latest tip from Russian game designers KDV Games and unfortunately the KDV Blog doesn’t provide any assistance. However, a little googling helped us out with some background on Perimeter 2: New Earth, which is a sequel (surprise!) to the well received original Perimeter, dubbed an innovative real-time terraforming strategy game by Gamespot, and was first released in 2004 according to Wikipedia.

The Brotherhood website is deeply mysterious, in that it provides little in the way of quick information.

The Brotherhood is a unique social structure, an alliance of wise and honorable men. It has been established by a group of specialists from various vields of science and esoteric knowledge. We are united by our goal — development of Mankind in all possible directions.

Oh great, it’s a bunch of brainiacs on the Nerd Patrol. Click the link to apply to join The Brotherhood and to be classified with arbitrary labels through online testing if you’re into that sort of thing (apparently, we’re a “Mystic”). Just don’t let them try to sell you a copy of Dianetics.

Oh and if you get stuck immediately on the first challenge, like we did, check out the discussion at Unfiction for help. As the Man says, “Follow us and we will show you the way. We will guide you into the future.”

Video trailer for Perimeter II after the jump.