I have three new year's resolutions for 2007. First, to submit my PhD thesis by Christmas. Second, to make a short stop-motion animation film. Third, to look more closely at the world of Alternate Reality Games. Thanks to documents like the IGDA's ARG White Paper, I think I'll be OK with the last one, but am open to suggestions if anyone can offer advice on the first two.
Only two weeks ago I mentioned that I thought a large corporation would utilise ARG mechanics for the purposes of advertising, to integrate the consumer experience with one of their brands, by the end of 2007. Does Microsoft's Vanishing Point Game count? I know the first clues were peppering the web (starting with the Internet Exporer blog) on 21st December, but don't the last few weeks of December really count as 2007? No? Sigh, ok.
For those utterly lost, let me back up a second. Vista is Microsoft's new operating system. It's coming out very soon. They've got to promote it to the millions of people around the world who already have a Microsoft OS on their computers. In order to build intrigue and expectation in this media saturated landscape (to a population who arguably doesn't need it), they've pulled a bow from their marketing quiver which has proved hugely successful at driving word-of-mouth for one of their products in the past. Microsoft have (once again) commissioned the company 42 Entertainment to create the Alternate Reality Game (heretoforth referred to as an ARG) Vanishing Point to drive sustained and active interest in their new OS.
I can't even begin to describe what happened in 2006 for the ARG community. I can only humbly direct you to ARGNet, which lists some of the incredible places where ARGs cropped up, including The Lost Experience (promoting the ABC drama between series), edoc laundry (on this blog, on fashonistas' backs and in an episode of CSI:NY), lonelygirl_15 (challenging the content of YouTube), Perplex City (here, and in cities across the globe). Hell, we could all be involved in an ARG right now, caught up in the ludic spray which surrounds properties. We just don't know it yet. In the meantime, Microsoft wants us to play around Vista.
According to cnet,
Vanishing Point is a hybrid game--part alternate-reality game, or ARG, part traditional sweepstakes--that's actually a marketing vehicle for Microsoft's Windows Vista. As a lure, Microsoft is giving away a $220,000 suborbital flight on a four-seat plane that can reach altitudes of up to 330,000 feet and that provides several minutes of weightlessness.
Previous ARGs created by 42 Entertainment integrated the ARG storyline into the final product (e.g., I Love Bees into Halo 2), but there's no main character in Vista. Instead, Vanishing Point centres around a character called Loki, an "employee" of Microsoft. But that's really all there is. Not much story, just puzzles.
There are plenty of Vanishing Point resources available, from a YouTube seed to countless blogs and (of course) a Wikipedia page, but interested parties will have to act fast, as the game is expected to reach its conclusion by 30th January when Vista launches.
If you're lucky, you could be in one of the cities for a live event. There's one in London on 20th January at 7pm in Trafalgar Square.
So while this ARG kicked off before 2007 began, I anticipate that there will be quite a few more tickling our consumer appetites (and company's wallets) by the end of the year.
