I meant to post this last month during SXSW, but life got in the way:



Geneviève Cardin of Baroblik handed the above Guest Check to me after one of my two gaming panels, and I thought I'd post it for interested readers. I don't hear much about Alternate Reality Games and related interactives going on in non-English languages. Cardin is a French Canadian working on some interesting projects--right now, she's doing a billingual (English/French) ARG known as The Rivard Project. She permitted me to keep her email address in the above photo, and she's looking for ARG-makers in the Montreal area, so drop her a line if you can help.

For those without graphics support, here's a list of Cardin's projects:

• www.campussjd.com
• taxi22.canoe.com
• www.unhommemort.com
• www.theamericantrap.com

While in Austin for SXSW, I caught the launch of The All-For-Nots, described by BuzzFeed as "a new web comedy about a fictional indie rock band," except that what I saw on stage was just a band--the comedy occurs offstage, apparently. As explained by a friend of mine at the event, the band's scripted between-gig antics are shot for webisodes, which you can check out on the band's official web site. Not entirely clear on the target demographic for this--I'm going to guess 12 - 24 year-olds (the project is going after both MySpace and Bebo users, which seems around that age range).

I suppose what I saw on stage was a salad comprised of alternate reality bands like The Monkees, Josie and the Pussycats, Jem and the Holograms, and Spinal Tap--a pref-fab band appealing to your love of music (if you like derivative indie-rock), comedy (via webisodes rather than on-stage), and presumably to your wallet as well (merch? albums?).

I kept waiting for something crazy to happen during the band's energetic set, but no. What would have been cool is for them to fire their drummer on stage... anything involving fire, actually. Oh well, will keep my eye on this project, maybe it'll blossom.

Rough notes liveblogged from Jane McGonigal's keynote presentation at SXSW...

The Lost Ring has been in pay for a week, there are already over 100 screen grabs from the game trailer posted to flickr.

We need more alternate realities... the real world needs to be redesigned as a game...

Slide: "A game designer's perspective on the future of happiness"

Research around the subject of happiness... the science of happiness... we've started to see a backlash after a period of happiness study... one area of study looks specifically at what makes us happy and function well... it's been all over the popular press...

There's an amazing parallel between what makes us happy and the core tenets of game design...


Continue reading: SXSW 2008 Notes:  Jane McGonigal’s Keynote

As previously threatened, I'll be kicking off a conversation today at SXSW about how the video games industry might pick up a few useful tips from Alternate Reality Games. The conversation takes place between 3:30pm and 4:30pm in Ballroom E. I'll be joined by Steve Peters of 42 Entertainment, probably Dan Hon of Six to Start, and whoever else wishes to drop in.

The idea for this so-called "Core Conversation" was pitched months ago, so I hope to freshen and expand the topic by identifying some areas in which video games have already adopted ideas and mechanics made popular by ARGs. Looking forward to the chat, hope you can make it.

Liveblogged from SXSWi in Austin, my rough notes from the panel "SXSW 2008 Notes: Stories, Games, and Your Brand."

Dan Hon case study: Cloverfield.
-- More people heard of the marketing than saw the movie (based on informal audience survey)

Rachel Clarke case study: Honda.
-- Puzzles built into posters, web site, game play engages viewers, every time you play the game it takes you closer to the brand

Roo Reynolds case study: Perplex City.
-- PC had a nice collecting element, but a great backstory, bits of everything in it... in my work in virtual worlds, I've been disappointed to not experience this level of depth (although VWs are good at turning people into participants)...

Continue reading: SXSWi 2008 Notes:  Stories, Games and Your Brand

Thanks to Dee Cook and Dan Hon of Six to Start for joining me yesterday on a last-minute SXSWi panel entitled "Cross-Media Cross-Pollination: Mashing Up Video Games and ARGs."

We chatted about how ARGs and video games relate, and how these two game-forms might learn from each other. There were at least 60 people in attendance, many of whom were probably expecting the original panel "ARGs: The Future of Entertainment." Given that we only lost a few people during our panel, and given the number of eyeballs focused on the panelists, I think it was a success. Attendees joined in the discussion during and after the panel--I'm hosting a follow-up conversation on Monday at 3:30pm if anyone at the conference is interested in further conversation about ARGs and video games.

Some poor bastard paid twenty-five bucks to send me a very nicely-produced clue-package for an Alternate Reality Game, presuming I have time to unravel a ball of yarn. Guess what: I don't. Lucky for you, Despoiler already did. I got the exact same package*, so just hop on over there to view the contents.

Dear Mystery-Package Sender,
You missed on three counts.
1) I'm busy running my own company, and don't have time to play your game.
2) I don't pick up my mail as regularly as you imagine I might.
3) I don't publish a news outlet for ARG-related matters. These days, I barely publish at all. So I'm not exactly worth approaching.

Additionally, I got an email from the makers of the game yesterday that almost ended up in my Spam folder, and was ultimately a wasted effort. I didn't care to rummage through the email contents. There's a link to a video there. I didn't check it out.

Clearly, Mystery-Package Sender is shooting in the dark--I wonder who else might have been targeted. Despite my indifference to their game, they still got free buzz out of me. Twenty-five bucks well spent, I guess.

* Update: Ok, looks like my photos aren't the same. All the more tragic I don't have time to scan and post them.

The Austin Chronicle published an article about games and storytelling today, written by Joey Seiler, frequent contributor to Virtual World News. I'm quoted in the article, and while I won't go so far as to say the quote was out of context, it doesn't reflect what I would have said given the context the quote now appears in.

In the article, I talk briefly about extending the Halo game universe across multiple media, but neither I or the article mentions the groundbreaking Halo Alternate Reality Game known as "I Love Bees." As an ARG writer and designer on the award-winning Fallen and Regenesis games, I am well aware of this precedent, I just didn't think to mention it in the interview, although it was obliquely referenced.

My interview, in its original context as an email thread, follows for the record.

Continue reading: For The Record:  Walsh on Writing Alternate Realities

• Oddworld at 10 [GamesIndustry.biz]
  "We're in early stages on a feature film...pre-production stages...but it will still be a while," says 'Oddworld' creator Lorne Lanning as he heads towards 'Oddworld 2.0' business model. Whatever that is.
  (tags: gaming, games, culture, transmedia, motionpictures, business, development)
• Missed Gaming Opportunity on CSI - Gaming and Licensing [PlayNoEvil]
  Fictional game shown on 'CSI' fails to be launched as actual game. Missed opportunity not just for gaming but for transmedial storytelling. Good opening for a "fiction-jacker" to create their own version of the game.
  (tags: game gaming tv transmedia development design culture marketing)
• Human Computer Interaction in Science Fiction Movies
  "This paper presents a survey of different kinds of interaction designs in movies during the past decades and relates the techniques of the films to existing technologies and prototypes where possible."
  (tags: analysis art article motionpictures culture technology design interactivity interface hci reference)
• TV, film and game violence seen as a threat [Reuters]
  "Violence depicted on television, in films and video games raises the risk of aggressive behavior in adults and young viewers and poses a serious threat to public health, according to a new study." Panic on the streets of London!
  (tags: tv motionpictures games culture anthropology psychology study science people groups media society health)
• Video Ads on Xbox Live?
  Uh oh. December Xbox Live update "Added support for Audio Mute/Unmute for video ads." The static ads are already obnxious enough. And yet we keep paying.
  (tags: business advertising advergaming marketing gaming xboxlive)
• The Joker's latest task is a Piece of Cake [ARGNet]
  Movie meets gaming meets baking: Cake with phone number written in icing contains mobile phone. Someone call the Boston Police.
  (tags: marketing transmedia motionpictures mobile arg game gaming game.mechanic food play)
• Cinemassively: "Lost" island lost in Second Life [Massively]
  Interesting blurb about 3D fan-fiction: an homage to LOST's island in Second Life. 277 members. Pity it wasn't an official ABC venture, given SL rents virtual islands.
  (tags: secondlife culture fandom tv transmedia)

• How Game Economies Can Fail to Incentivize Fun [Zen of Design]
  Horrid-sounding Blizzard mini-quests. Blizz could have learned a lot from Puzzle Pirates, where grinding is actually fun.
  (tags: work play worldofwarcraft game gaming game.mechanic design developent economy)
• Independent Games Summit: Daniel James On Making An Indie MMO [GameSetWatch]
  Blurb on IGF 2007 lecture by Three Rings' Daniel James. The post includes embedded video and a link to download. Originally described as "a key hands-on lecture for all those considering making an indie online game."
  (tags: presentation events conference video download gaming mmo people business)
• It's Live! New JCMC on Social Network Sites (danah boyd)
  Journal for Computer-Mediated Communication special theme issue on “Social Network Sites” now available online. List of direct links to a diverse range of articles.
  (tags: article list socialsoftware networks periodicals criticism commentary groups people reference casestudy)
• Anti-social bot invades Second Lifers' personal space [New Scientist Tech]
  Self-centered UK researchers unleash grieferbot on unsuspecting Second Life users: "It looks a bit drunk actually, but it is a great way to get data." Clearly the data is more important than the human subjects here. It's only a game, right?
  (tags: avatar people ethics wtf policy research science psychology place secondlife griefing robots ai software tools socialsoftware culture)
• Wonderland: A strange thing in the post...
  How not to launch an ARG: Alice gets envelope with suspicious contents, washes hands, discards contents. See how well "This Is Not A Game" worked here? And by "worked," I mean "failed."
  (tags: alternate.reality games doom marketing casestudy)