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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » GAME: Push, NV
Push NV - A Failure on Many Levels
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cabalagent23
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Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 99

 		Push NV - A Failure on Many Levels
OK - let me start by saying that I like Push Nevada the TV show, I really do. It's quirky enough for my tastes and think it could have really been something good given a fair chance, which it didn't have. But, I can't express enough my disappointment with Push as an online game/contest. I refuse to call it an ARG because it isn't one and obviously was never intended to be one. The only reason it garnered any attention from the ARG community, in my opinion, is the money and the belief among many veteran ARG'ers that their experience would give them some advantage in winning the contest. Unfortunately, this was a misconception from the start as the rules clearly stated that the prize could be won without ever going online, dooming the online content to irrelevance from the start. Many of us, however, unrealistically clung to the belief that there would still be an attempt by the producers at providing some form of cohesive, engaging and immersive online presence. Sadly, that never developed. Let's recap what we were given:
1) The PushTimes website: probably the best effort of the entire show but still it often presented inconsistent information as far as dates, addresses etc and was primarily used only to re-state the weekly clue for those not smart enough to deduce it from the multiple hints in the episodes. I know, I can hear people saying, "The inconsistencies mean something - don't forget they said it all has meaning." All I can say is don't hold your breath for it all to make sense. The PushTimes did provide one small instance of actual online interaction with it's personal ads but ultimately even they were disappointing in their canned responses and total irrelevance to either the plot or contest. All in all, this site represented very little work and excitement from a supposedly professional web development team.
2) Enochonline.com: I have a problem with the premise of this whole site. First of all, he managed to "hack" into the PushTimes site and they never did anything about it. How realistic is that? (I know - it all has meaning, right?) Second, enoch's whole theme was "Information wants to be free" but he consistently withheld information from us, in the form of names, facts, etc. Of course, enoch's site was used to present the few Flash-based "puzzles" and games we were given, such as the audio sorter etc but even these were extremely disappointing, at least to anyone who had any previous exposure to the great puzzles and Flash programs in earlier ARGs. As someone who has experience designing and implementing this kind of online content, take it from me that this stuff was hardly innovative or challenging. In fact, if Ben and company paid someone very much to develop this stuff, they ought to get their money back. Even though the site was updated daily, it never provided anymore than a few minutes of diversion, at least for me.
3) SkatePush: What a joke. At first, there was a site saying come out and skate (with pictures showing an active skate park, even though one of them showed the name of a well-known Seattle skate park - what amateurs!) at the same time there was a link to the actual company that supposedly built the park. Unfortunately, that site said the Push park wouldn't be built until sometime in the future! Midway through the game the PMs finally made an effort to fix this inconsistency but it was much too late and just made the whole thing even more unbelieveable.
4) dmvf.com: Useful for what, two episodes? What time they put into that site!
5) Watermark, Highwater Trucking, Slo-Man's, Chamber of Commerce, Versailles Casino, etc: What a waste these sites turned out to be. Yeah, they could suddenly become very important in this final week but somehow I doubt it, based on the "not needing the internet to win" part of the rules. I particularly found Enoch's claims about getting into the Highwater trucking site and finding a manifest document before it went back to an "under construction" page insulting and disgusting. I mean, how lame was that. And Watermark, the CofC and Slo-man's - boy those sites were convincing, weren't they? I've checked them every day just to see the great new stuff. Wink
6) Push Toyota and Sprint-Push: Meaningless advertising revenue generating for the show.

So I ask you - is that an ARG? You'd be hard pressed to convince me of it. Any good PM team could have developed everything they presented us in a week or two without any real effort at all. In my opinion, it falls far short of any ARG game I've been involved with and doesn't come close to meeting Ben Affleck's promise of delivering a groundbreaking and innovative show that would utilize the interactivity of the internet. Not only was it an failure as a TV show (whether you like it or not, cancelled after four epsiodes is an abject failure) but was also a very poor effort at online entertainment as well. While I enjoyed the discussions of what is going on in the show's mysterious plot and the amusing arguments over whether the clue was red or orange, if it wasn't for the money, it hardly would have been worth mentioning on ARG boards at all. Now that the only part I was enjoying - the show itself - is doomed to end, I, for one, can't wait until it's over.

PostPosted: Sun Oct 20, 2002 8:13 pm
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bill
Unfettered


Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 614
Location: Tampa

 		I have to say I agree with you on this. The immersion factor was zip.

I posted a bit of a rant on my own website regarding how they even managed to botch a clean ending. They've posted revised rules that give themselves permission to play the game out online and still decided to take the easy way out and list the final six clues without any attempt at making it fun.

They should have made it a sweepstakes and foregone any pretense at making this a game of skill.
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Bill
http://deaddrop.us/
Dedicated to Alternate Reality Gaming

PostPosted: Sun Oct 20, 2002 8:22 pm
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