It started with a long puzzle-filled video projected onto the mist from the Bellagio hotel's fountains in Las Vegas, and it's leading up to the consumer launch of Microsoft Vista. Yes, Microsoft is using an alternate reality game (ARG), again. CNet has the details in Building Vista buzz with a puzzle.
The game is Vanishing Point from 42 Entertainment, run by Elan Lee, who used to work for Microsoft (see my earlier post). The CNet story says:
"This is a puzzle challenge embedded in the planet," Lee said. "There are clues written in water, and clues etched in the skies above cities. To me a very exciting part of this is that this is the first game ever to use the actual Earth as a resource for delivering content."
Lee said one key difference between an ARG and Vanishing Point is the fact that Vista has no inherent story line to link to. By comparison, the narrative of I Love Bees was woven into the larger story line of Microsoft's Halo 2, and Last Call Poker was loosely tied to the story behind Activision's Gun.
And the first prize is the Ultimate Vista: a trip on Rocketplane. The company says:
"The Vanishing Point winner will get a glimpse at the ultimate vista: the view of space my fellow astronauts and I have been privileged to see before," said Commander Herrington. "One lucky player will feel several G's of acceleration on the way up, experience weightlessness for several minutes, before the 'ultimate roller coaster' brings them back to Earth."
