unforum

[bloomsen]

ARG Research: New Trends in ARGs

[teufelsdrochk]

Levy on CI:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DOSAf_esws

von Ahn on human computation:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8246463980976635143

McGonigal on ARGs:
http://www.avantgame.com/McGonigal_WhyILoveBees_Feb2007.pdf

Teens and social networking:
http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2009/05/16/answers_to_ques.html

[notgordian]

Re: ARG Research: New Trends in ARGs

[bloomsen]

thanks for your answers!
first of all i have to say that I am sorry for answering so late on your posts. i spent some days at home with my family and didn't have internet access (unbelievable, but sadly true).

i am reading through the ARGs you named right now. As far as I can say Coral Cross "uses" the trend of serious ARGs which also try to make stategies for potential future scenarios. I found some very interesting stuff about Massively Multiplayer Forecasting Games like superstruct from the institut for the future.

http://www.iftf.org/node/2302

As far as I can say I assume this to be a real trend which could integrate us to potentially change our future by "playing a game". what do you think?

What you wrote about NING is also very interesting. Do you know any Game that already uses NING?

I agree with the importance of GPS to ARGs as a see more and more possibilities especially with the iphone. I'm really looking forward to see this technology heavily used in a game.

Do you see any further trends? Or what would you wish to happen?

greetings

chris

[notgordian]

Chris --

Ning has been used as a free platform for quite a few games: Jane McGonigal has used it for Top Secret Dance Off and Cryptozoo, and Maddison Atkins is using it to organize the player community. I see it as another free tool likely to see a lot of use, akin to blogspots and wikis of the past: while it is unlikely to replace the aforementioned services, I expect to see it more. I'm sure there IS more that I haven't seen.

Serious Games are here to stay, in their various forms. I recently read about companies using a point-based "game" system to prioritize e-mail without overburdening employees. Every week, they get 100 points to assign to their messages. The more points you use, the higher the message appears in the recipient's queue. People would save up their points for really important messages. Coral Cross is another step along the path to happiness hacking, one of my favorite expressions, courtesy of Jane McGonigal.

I'd like to see the use of GPS become more ubiquitous. People have been doing geocaching for years, and it's a great way to get people out and engaging the outdoors.

As for other trends, a lot of companies have been coming to the conclusion that the attention generated at a campaign's launch provides the best value, so ARGish mailings are being used as innovative PR mailings. I'm not certain (since this still COULD be a game) but I think the Discovery Channel's Shark Week campaign centering around FrenziedWaters.com is doing just that. The Coraline movie definitely did that, with a series of customized boxes mailed to bloggers, with the contents leading to special features from the film.

As for what I'd like to see, that's a simple answer: more original branded content. GMD Studios' "Eldritch Errors" is a great example, as is "Perplex City"...and there are a number of projects in the works along these lines. In particular, I'm looking forward to seeing what Lance Weiler is putting together for HIM and Yomi Ayeni for Breathe.

Should've waited a post...this would have made a great comment for #1000

[vpisteve]

New trends as I hope to see them include the use of things like Augmented Reality overlays such as is being seen in many new iPhone apps like this one. Not everyone has one, though, so for now, you're limiting your audience by requiring its use.

Then there's my ever-present wish of clues on toast.

Also, I didn't see it mentioned, but an abstract that's a lot more current than the ones mentioned above: Storytelling in New Media: The Case of Alternate Reality Games.

Overall, I see what we now call ARGs becoming what entertainment looks like when its not limited to one platform, or having to live in an invisible box, like most entertainment limits itself to now. Why someone takes the equivalent of a TV show or film, shrinks it to the size of a postage stamp, encumbers it with all the limitations of traditional broadcast and calls it transmedia/crossmedia/newmedia is absolutely beyond me. Most "digital entertainment" today isn't even beginning to scratch the surface of all the ways it has at its disposal to tell a story. Webisodes, the great white hope of entertainment, will be looked at like cave drawings in the very near future.

ARGs will become the Future of Entertainment, full-media experiences that live everywhere. Distributed narrative that you can re-experience, pause, share with friends, just like you can a good book. The challenge is to figure out how to engage an audience and come up with a format that works...the full-media equivalent of the 3-camera shoot, or the novel. Plus, we have to wait a little longer for computing to become truly ubiquitous and standardized.

Oh, also, check out Brent Friedman's excellent blog post, What the Hell is New Media? He really hits the nail on the head, here.

[Crisssy101]

Augmented Realty