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 Forum index » Updates » Press and Other Analysis
Guardian - Just who is playing ARGs?
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Mikeyj
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 		Guardian - Just who is playing ARGs?
Keith Stuart in Technology section 26/07/07
Can't find an online version so will scan or transcribe shortly.

From the title of the article I assumed that it would be about ruggedly handsome, sophisticated researchers with a flare for self-description. But no.

Article starts with Bourne Identity and then mentions Beast and Ilovebees, focusses on advertising efforts using ARGs. Apparently they turn a market into a community and apathy to this approach is creeping back (illustrated by contrasting Iris with Ilovebees). I quote the last paragraph as I didn't like it the most:

Keith Stuart wrote:
We're too clever, too tired of being told what to think and do. But advertisers aren't going to give up. In the coming advertising environment it won't be you playing the game, it'll be the game playing you.


Hasn't he ignored so many lovely things in order to come to this conclusion?
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 1:47 pm
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jamesi
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 		Online version.
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 2:02 pm
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colin
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 		Is it supposed to be objective reporting or an opinion piece?

PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:50 pm
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jamesi
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colin wrote:
Is it supposed to be objective reporting or an opinion piece?


If it was supposed to be objective, I read it as "blah blah blah." IF an opinion piece, I read it as "bitch, moan, complain." Either way... Rolling Eyes
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:46 pm
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Mikeyj
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 		I think it's supposed to be opinion, but yeah blah, blah, blah. Doesn't Aleks Krotoski who also writes for the Guardian have a much more positive relationship with ARGs?
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 8:15 am
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chippy
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 		I think its a good post. Don't know about Bourne, as I never saw it, but he does raise an interesting question - for those games that are sponsored, just how much will we be willing to put up with?

If the big ARG's are run by advertisers, they will probably be smart about it. Will we be conned? We don't want to be conned. Sometimes we might accept a bit of subtle advertising (i.e. blog post, "oh i played with my ds today") to get a decent experience out of it.

What the gamesblog was saying, to me, is that, like the majority of commercial entertainment that is powered by adverts, the advertising pays for the entertainment, and the advertising directly influences what appears.

This then is how the game will start playing us, as it will start being influencing (all advertising is to a degree) - and it's the community of players that are the attraction to them. They want that level of absorption in their products. The post is saying that advertisers are going to have to be more clever in their strategies.
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:09 am
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Mikeyj
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chippy wrote:
I think its a good post. Don't know about Bourne, as I never saw it, but he does raise an interesting question - for those games that are sponsored, just how much will we be willing to put up with?

If the big ARG's are run by advertisers, they will probably be smart about it. Will we be conned? We don't want to be conned. Sometimes we might accept a bit of subtle advertising (i.e. blog post, "oh i played with my ds today") to get a decent experience out of it.

What the gamesblog was saying, to me, is that, like the majority of commercial entertainment that is powered by adverts, the advertising pays for the entertainment, and the advertising directly influences what appears.

This then is how the game will start playing us, as it will start being influencing (all advertising is to a degree) - and it's the community of players that are the attraction to them. They want that level of absorption in their products. The post is saying that advertisers are going to have to be more clever in their strategies.


True, but it does give the impression that the raison d'etre of an ARG is advertising rather than simply being a tool that some advertisers use. It also assumes susceptibility of the community to the advertiser, rather than the community playing the ARG for the sake of the game.
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 10:31 am
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Illuminant
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Mikeyj wrote:
It also assumes susceptibility of the community to the advertiser, rather than the community playing the ARG for the sake of the game.

Which, bearing in mind that he's talking about Bourne and Iris, seems a pretty fair point, doesn't it?

I was fairly unhappy with the article when I read it, but having thought about it further, it seems to me that he's making a fairly clear point: merely having an ARG (or a sub-ARG "extended experience") attached to a product is no longer enough to guarantee "cool". Rather, ARGs are just another tool in a marketing portfolio, and people are getting a little tired of it.

Obviously this is subjective, but I don't believe that ILB's main purpose was shifting units of Halo 2 - they knew that if they created something really special, the sales would come. Does it strike anyone here that the same creative integrity is going into projects like Bourne or Save My Husband?

The article was unduly one-sided, but it contained (IMHO) a particle of truth: our favourite art-form is coming ever closer to the mainstream, and that means that some unimaginative ad execs will exploit it for a quick buck, and that we, the players, are going to have to get used to the fact that the "don't do the same thing twice" principle which spurred the development of the ARG in the beginning is gone now. We are going to served up the same thing again and again, and we're going to have to decide whether to get involved - and some people will, because there are always new players coming in who weren't around for the last game.

True originality, and the continuing evolution of the art-form, are going to be the responsibility of the grassroots designers and the talented few who make a career out of it. That is what the article should have said: Bourne is the relatively dull tip of the iceberg, but there are some cool things happening down there in the dark...
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 4:57 am
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jamesi
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Illuminant wrote:
our favourite art-form is coming ever closer to the mainstream, and that means that some unimaginative ad execs will exploit it for a quick buck


I'm picturing Dale Sprague and Jeanine Salla, hand in hand, staring out into a dirty, ad-infested world as a timewasting viral site is thrown at their feet. The camera pans over and zooms in, as we see single tears falling from their eyes.

That's right, I just imagined the first ARG PSA. Razz (or rather, the first PSA for ARGs, as I guess WWO could be considered an ARG PSA... but I digress...)

Link for those who haven't the slightest clue what I'm drawing inspiration from.
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 1:17 pm
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Keef Stuart
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 		Hello - I wrote the piece in the Guardian and certainly didn;t mean it as an attack on ARGs in general. It was definitely a look at how they're being exploited as marketing tools and how this explitation is set to evolve as more companies clamber aboard the bandwagon.

The piece was actually heavily subbed as I write FAR too much! I'm thinking of posting an expanded version of the original article on the Gamesblog section of the Guardian's website which should provide a more exhaustive (and possibly exhausting) argument.

Thank you for reading though, and I've enjoyed reading the comments. Aleks is definitely the ARG expert in our team, but I was moved to chip in by the Bourne situation.

Keef

PostPosted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 10:19 am
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Varin
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 		Hi Keef! Welcome to Unfiction. Smile
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 12:57 pm
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Illuminant
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Keef Stuart wrote:
I'm thinking of posting an expanded version of the original article on the Gamesblog section of the Guardian's website...


I'd be really interested in reading that, Keef - make it so!

Oh, and welcome to UF Wink
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 5:59 pm
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Mikeyj
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Keef Stuart wrote:
Hello - I wrote the piece in the Guardian and certainly didn;t mean it as an attack on ARGs in general. It was definitely a look at how they're being exploited as marketing tools and how this explitation is set to evolve as more companies clamber aboard the bandwagon.

The piece was actually heavily subbed as I write FAR too much! I'm thinking of posting an expanded version of the original article on the Gamesblog section of the Guardian's website which should provide a more exhaustive (and possibly exhausting) argument.

Thank you for reading though, and I've enjoyed reading the comments. Aleks is definitely the ARG expert in our team, but I was moved to chip in by the Bourne situation.

Keef


Hiya Keef - it would be great to see the full version and hope you don't mind my comments Embarassed . There was an interesting article in yesterday's G2 about advertising aimed at kids (I think skittles was one of the examples, and Polly Pocket) where there is an interactive site with puzzles, or they're using Habbo and Bebo to promote the products. Somewhat akin to what Mind Candy have been hinting at for their kids project, though I believe that the aim is to be more educational...it'll be interesting to see whether they get external advertisers on board. It's not clear yet what the product is going to be, or whether it'll be the puzzles themselves.
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:21 am
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