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2006 Alternate Reality Games White Paper the IGDA Alternate Reality

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2006 Alternate Reality Games White Paper the IGDA Alternate Reality 2006 Alternate Reality Games White Paper - IGDA ARG SIG 2006 Alternate Reality Games White Paper The IGDA Alternate Reality Games SIG http://igda.org/arg - 1 - 2006 Alternate Reality Games White Paper - IGDA ARG SIG Foreword Welcome to the 2006 Alternate Reality Games SIG Whitepaper. This is the first paper from the ARG SIG, and provides a full introduction to the genre as well as a wealth of practical and analytical information on design methodologies, business models, and current and recent games. The ARG industry is consistently producing multi-million-dollar games for tens of thousands of players at a time, and generating interest across the entertainment, broadcast, and advertising industries. In the last few years, successful games have received widespread recognition, winning awards from the gaming, media and broadcasting industries1,2,3,4,5. As well as these critical success, there are already several businesses with long-term sustainable revenue streams. Although new to many people, Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) are still far short of achieving their full potential, each new wave of games bringing major new innovations and increased understanding of what works and what doesn't. We hope you find both inspiration and real practical help in this paper, and look forwards to playing the next wave of ARGs you come up with. Disclaimer This work was created and written by volunteers on behalf of the community at large. The white paper content is based on the individual input of the contributors, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the companies at which the individuals work. There may be inaccuracies and information that has become outdated since this white paper was originally written. The information was obtained from publicly available sources. This information is intended strictly for informational purposes. If you include it in a business plan or any business process, you are responsible for its use and any successes or failures resulting from this report. If you feel we’ve missed something, we apologize! Reproduction of this document in whole or part may be done without written approval but must reference this document as a source and display the following URL as the location to obtain the full report: http://igda.org/arg/whitepaper.html Regards, Adam Martin Editor, ARG Whitepaper Chair, IGDA Alternate Reality Games SIG 1 The Beast: Best Idea of the Year, The New York Times Magazine, 2001; Best Website of the Year, Entertainment Weekly, 2001; Best Promotion of the Year, Times Magazine, 2001 2 I Love Bees: Game Developer's Choice Award for Innovation 2005; International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences' Webby, 2005 3 ReGenesis: Gemini for Best Cross Platform Project 2006; Rocky Award for Interactive Television, 2006 4 Perplex City: Vanguard Innovative Game Award 2006 5 Art of the Heist: Best in Show, MIXX, 2005; EFFIE 2005 - 2 - 2006 Alternate Reality Games White Paper - IGDA ARG SIG Credits Editors • Adam Martin, Lead Network Programmer, Codemasters • [email protected] - http://protopage.com/a-d-a-m • Brooke Thompson, Cross Media Entertainment Consultant • [email protected] - http://giantmice.com • Tom Chatfield, Editorial Assistant, Prospect Magazine • http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk Contributors • Andrea Phillips, ARG Writer, Mind Candy • [email protected] - http://deusexmachinatio.com • Brooke Thompson, Cross Media Entertainment Consultant • [email protected] - http://mirlandano.com • Bryan Alexander, Director of research, National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education (NITLE) • [email protected] - http://b2e.nitle.org/, http://nitle.org/, http://infocult.typepad.com/ • Christy Dena, Cross-Media Entertainment Researcher, School of Letters, Arts and Media; University of Sydney • [email protected] - http://www.Cross-MediaEntertainment.com • Nova Barlow, Research Manager, Themis Group / Playerbase Solutions • [email protected] - http://www.themis-group.com - 3 - 2006 Alternate Reality Games White Paper - IGDA ARG SIG Table of Contents Foreword...............................................................................................................................................2 Disclaimer........................................................................................................................................2 Credits...................................................................................................................................................3 Editors..............................................................................................................................................3 Contributors..................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction.......................................................................................................................................... 6 What is an ARG?............................................................................................................................. 6 ARGs and MMOGs......................................................................................................................... 6 Antecedents to Alternate Reality Games..............................................................................................8 ARGs in Fiction...............................................................................................................................9 ARG-like Games............................................................................................................................11 Performance Art.............................................................................................................................11 Literary Hoaxes..............................................................................................................................12 ARGs and Politics..........................................................................................................................13 Types of ARG.....................................................................................................................................15 Introduction....................................................................................................................................15 Promotional....................................................................................................................................16 Grassroots...................................................................................................................................... 17 Productized.................................................................................................................................... 18 Single-Player..................................................................................................................................18 Educational/Training..................................................................................................................... 19 Current & Recent Games....................................................................................................................21 Introduction....................................................................................................................................21 Catching the Wish..........................................................................................................................22 EDOC Laundry..............................................................................................................................22 Last Call Poker...............................................................................................................................23 The LOST Experience................................................................................................................... 24 Ocular Effect..................................................................................................................................25 Omnifam........................................................................................................................................ 26 Orbital Colony............................................................................................................................... 27 Perplex City................................................................................................................................... 27 ReGenesis ..................................................................................................................................... 28 Studio Cyphers ..............................................................................................................................29 Who Is Benjamin Stove................................................................................................................. 29 Methods and Mechanics..................................................................................................................... 31 Exposition...................................................................................................................................... 31 Interaction...................................................................................................................................... 33 Challenges......................................................................................................................................36
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