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[Phaedra]

[OT] Survey...Who should do an ARG?

[angelo]

Good Question!

I think I should... Oh, wait I'm not a corporation.


This will probably be rather dorky, but...

I would actually like to see Lucas Arts pull off some type of Star Wars ARG...

[Phaedra]

[WhiteGulls]

Yeah, a Star Wars ARG would be interesting to see, if pulled off correctly. Other than that... Hmm.

I dunno.

[tarjema]

Space: Above and Beyond

Cancelled before its time, IMHO. Being about interstellar combat and space Marines, there is room for a large crew.

[thunderclap8]

*Warning: Extreme Dorkiness Ahead*

I read a few comic books from time to time, and I'd love to see some sort of ARG drawn from them. Not necessarily the Superman/Batman or X-Men worlds, but some of the lesser known stuff. "Queen & Country" for example, dealing with British espionage type people. Or "Y: The Last Man", a post-apocalyptic tale where all the men but one on the planet died. Though admittedly it'd be hard to find a way for males to participate in that one...

My point is that for a genre like comic books/graphic novels, that produces mounds of quality adult-level entertainment that goes unrecognized, could benefit from something like this.


On another note entirely, I'd like to see a true Alternate Reality ARG. By which I mean one taking place in a world with a divergent history from our own. Come up with your own scenario, preface just about anything with 'What If'. What if Germany won WWII? What if Kennedy wasn't assasinated? What if Halo 2 was the worst video game of all time? In all seriousness the possibilities are endless.

Just thinking out loud. Good topic!

[Astald]

Square Enix
They are a game company that rarely makes a game that is under 50 hours in play time and doesn't have a completely immersive storyline. I think a good majority of the Beekeeper's I've spoken to have played at least one of the Final Fantasy games, so they have a high amount of potential customers in the ARG community. An ARG lending backstory to the next Final Fantasy game would be great. Although, it might be in Japanese. Or else, they could always just pay 4orty2wo to handle it...

[thebruce]

I think the rough part though when discussing fantasy or sci-fi args is finding some way to connect it with our real life. It's alternate reality, yes, and I don't know if all past ARGs followed this process, but I'd think it would have to some blend or merge with our own reality, otherwise it's just like playing a game... isn't the point of an ARG in a sense to blur the lines of reality and fantasy without fully merging the two?

with the beast, it was a murder mystery, and it was information spread over our internet, in such a way that made people feel like they were solving a mystery in the future, which could have hypothetically played out the same way even in that time (assuming the internet was around in the same form) - thus alternate reality. ILB used a time travel to give us a glimpse into the future, so we would interact with characters in our time who could interact with the future - an alternate reality...

I don't think an arg like Star Wars where for some reason we are suddenly soldiers from another time or something would take off well, because then it's just a role playing game, not an alternate reality game. IMO, an ARG needs a foothold in our reality, while mixing it with an alternate reality.

Am I wrong about that?

I'd see a star wars arg being difficult, if trying to be original, without using a time travel 'cop out' in a sense, if it's not written well (long time star trek fans will agree). I mean, how do you write a star wars story, somehow tied to our own reality? I could something about maybe archaeology finding some remnant of that 'long time ago' being the rabbithole, leading to some link between our galaxy and that far distant galaxy, unravelling some huge mystery... that would be kind of cool... but it would take some work to have the same kind of atmosphere in the story as, say, the star wars movies, and keep it pretty ARG-y.

But hey, I might be wrong. I'm not as good a writer as 4orty2wo

[Gestas]

I don't know of any specific companies that I'd like to see do an ARG, but I do think that I'd like to see some specific people as part of an ARG group.
If they were the creative direction behind an accomplished ARG team, I think we'd see some really cool stories/games from:

Stephen King (who else can throw together sci-fi and psychic powers together with such abandon?)

Chris Carter (well, that answers the above question . Something new, or something based around his much-underrated Millennium series would be awesome... but there is another X-Files movie planned)

David Lynch (if we wanted something that would have more questions than answers)

Well, apart from an ARG that finally answers "who is Keyser Soze?" that would be my list. I think they could all craft something that would be able to take place in the present and blur fiction/reality lines quite well. But they would need to be teamed with an ARG group used to the medium, that could make changes as necessary - and I don't know if their urge to control the story would let that happen

Dislaimer: I have never seen "The Usual Suspects" but I threw the Keyser Soze comment in as I've heard it was quite the movie
(I also have to admit that I have become addicted to the idea of a radio serial, and want to hear many, many more)

[Phaedra]

[WhiteGulls]

Serenity. Mutant Enemy could probably get someone to pull of a GREAT Serenity ARG - they have to have it started soon, though, since the movie comes out it april!

[vpisteve]

As my esteemed friend Donkey Oatey and I discussed on numerous occasions.....

Twin Peaks would've provided for a great ARG had the internet been around then.

[Gestas]

I thought some more, and came up with an obvious company type that could do an ARG - somebody supplying IM, like AIM or ICQ. Or a group venture like Orkut - where social groups gather.

I personally wouldn't go for an ARG like that, but I could see a basic ARG promoting a new version of IM software, or maybe a new Orkut-style venture (Orkut is a social networking community where membership is by invite only... I think). Once the ARG concluded, it would basically have established a community to use its product (look at how the Beekeepers are sticking together on LIVE ).

But if somebody wanted, I don't really think there is a limit to what an ARG could promote - didn't The Driver by BMW work, and that was for a new series of cars

The true limit would be whether it was worth using an ARG to promote a product that was already commoditised (like washing machines, or tvs). The product would need to be edgy or cool (imagine an ARG for a new iPod...okay, maybe not), or be high-profile.
Entertainment-related products lend themselves well to ARG advertisement, but I shudder to think of the attempts for the latest basketball sneaker...

[DreamOfTheRood]

Hmm, I think they should do a Halo 3 ARG! And they'd have to start it soon, because Halo 3 comes out on February 9!

*DreamOfTheRood will throw venomous glances at anyone who doesn't understand that he's being sarcastic with this phrase.*[/i]

[tarjema]

CIA/FBI as a recruiting tool. Look at the great minds that have gathered around this one

They could make the scenarios very realistic and relevant. Include foreign language materials, personality and group analysis...

Heck, if they've got a tough puzzle to solve or someone to catch they could dribble out the clues wrapped up in an ARG.

--tag