ARG games: Marketing tools or just good fun?

The world of Alternate reality games (ARG's) has exploded in recent years, with various games popping up in conjuction with this and that but is this just a mareting tool for bigger fish? Or are they a new area of gaming and just good fun.

Internet Marketing Consultant

ARG games are growing in popularity with such hits as 'I love bees' and 'the beast' this new format in gaming is on the rise. Considered the original ARG 'the beast' though some would consider others more prevelant to that title, 'the beast' was probabaly the most inluential.

Based around the film AI the beast expanded this world and created a whole new genre of gamers with there own community and terminology. The initial hook lines to entice the gamers (or rabbit holes as they are know in the industry) were placed within various marketing materials including movie posters and trailers. Also placed within the credits was a credit for 'Jeanine Salla as Sentient Machine Therapist'. This was the initial catalyst as other rabbit holes stated 'Jeanine is the key' and 'Evan Chan was murdered. Jeanine is the key'.

This then led onto the start of the game and a community was born called the cloudmakers (named after the boat Evan Chan died on)at its peak it had thousands of memebers all interacting with the game and each other to try and solve the mystery.

This was just the beginning as a pre-launch to the latest blockbuster video game Halo 2, 'I love Bees' was spawned again using all forms of media and technology to relay the story this then created a new world for the game and a lot of pre-launch interest.

As a marketing tool ARG's have a lot of scope to create hype before the game or film or whatever it may be is released. This can give an indication of the potential market this product can reach and maybe a marker of the projected sales.


For any new product having an idea of the potential numbers regarding sales or users is always an attractive proposition whether you are a small to medium sized business to a large conglomorate. This is what ARG's can provide and this form of internet marketing has proven succesful with such programs as Lost and Hollyoaks creating there own ARG's .

With the size of ARG gamers expanding at a rapid pace (approx two million players for 'I Love Bees' and 'The Beast' according to there designers) the potential for more of these games is huge this shows that as both a marketing tool and as a gamers past time it works on both counts.

Look at these

Really in depth theories on game play from Mike Lopez at Gamasutra

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20061128/Lopez_01.shtml


A good article on game character design with the legendary games designer Shigeru Miyamoto

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20020308/saltzman_01.htm

An interview with David Goosen on mobile game design

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060307/cifaldi_01.shtml

An interesting article on how mobile gaming will develop in the future

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/letter_display.php?letter_id=1318

Wii are the revolution

The new Nintendo wii is to revolutionize the way gamers play games, the new wii controller is bringing a new element to the Nintendo catalogue of games, but more does need to be done by games designers to take advantage of this new technology.

As games companies start developing games to work with the new controller the full potential of the wii will be realized, but not enough of this happening, Ubisoft have dedicated a huge chunk of their energy towards developing games for the wii, but that seems to be the exception to the rule.

new forms of game controllers have traditionally influenced game design, from the original joysticks on the Atari to the two analogues sticks of the ps2, these new controller features have influenced game design. Here is a breakdown of the influence of different controllers on game design:

The Pong Wheel: The very first attempt at a commercial video game, SpaceWar, flopped because the button-and-lever controls were too complex for newbies. Pong's dead-simple paddle wheel was much easier to grasp, and boom: A zillion ball-bouncing copycats, including Breakout, were born.

Space Invaders' Buttons: Space Invaders' "fire" button transformed video games into a sci-fi shooting gallery. But because it only allowed side-to-side motion, it limited the "space game" to earthbound combat -- scuttling back and forth across the bottom of the screen. Games wouldn't break out of this paradigm until ...

The Atari 2600 Joystick: Presto: X-Y coordinate motion! By allowing you to roam in any direction, the joystick opened up the rest of the screen, and a flood of new types of play emerged -- including maze navigation with Pac-Man and side-scrolling shooters like Scramble. (Caveat: Atari didn't invent the joystick, but it did popularize it at home.)

Nintendo Entertainment System Gamepad: The more buttons you have, the larger an array of moves a game designer can easily put into a game. Though Nintendo's epochal gamepad had only a D-pad and two buttons, gamepads quickly evolved. Soon, the Sega Genesis offered a six-button pad that created a generation of mash-ariffic fighting games. Later, trigger and "shoulder" buttons paved the way for increasingly Byzantine button options in today's supercomplex titles.

The Computer Mouse and Keyboard: By letting you type in text and conduct precise aiming with a mouse, computer games sacrificed simplicity -- but gained sophistication. The result? Everything from complex, chat-based online games to the 3-D bloodbath of Quake and the elegant crack of Bejeweled..

The Nintendo 64 Analog Stick: By going analog, Nintendo created the most subtle controller movement yet. In Mario 64, you could run, walk or creep slowly -- and swivel around easily to marvel at the environment. Without the analog stick, 3-D worlds would never have taken off on consoles.

The Rumble Pack: Sure, the Rumble Pack was most often used as a gimmick: Hey, I just got shot! Cool! But it also brought "ambient information" to consoles. Games could use subtle rumbling to expand your senses -- letting you sense the approach of an enemy you couldn't yet see.

Sony's Dual Analog Stick Controller:The second analog stick allowed for two vectors of movement to fluidly intersect. Increasingly complex movements -- such as running around a corner while swiveling your gun in the opposite direction -- became easier. In response, game environments erupted in sophistication.

c thompson wired (2006)

The Nintendo wii will hopefully have the same influence as these other types of controllers had on games designers. Such games are in development now, a good example is trauma centre were u have to play the role of a surgeon. You use the wii controller as the instruments on the game and perform the surgery virtually.

But as these games come out the way we play games could change and this inturn will change the 'model' for traditional game design.


(trauma centre ,Nintendo wii)

Mobile gaming

Playing games on your mobile has been around for a while now, but not much has changed in the way these games are developed. Games on mobiles just seem to be smaller versions of their 'big brother' counterparts (Fig 1). But are these games truly mobile, they do not take advantage of some of the new features on most mobile phones, GPS, blue tooth, sms, mms, exploring the web and infrared.

Fig 1
(splinter cell)

mobile game conception has grown stale of late and innovation has disappeared, there have been some location based games but most of these have revloved around the same theme, you go here this pings your phone. Some games are starting to be developed involving good gameplay characteristics but there does seam to be a lack of these types of mobile games

using the features within a mobile phone the possibilities are endless in terms of good quality gaming that is truly mobile, and breaking away from the mini version of other games that in essence are not mobile at all (except that u can put it in your pocket)

Quick fix gaming

Playing video games can turn into an obsession as recent reports coming out of Korea have shown. Gamers have been going into hospital suffering from malnutrition from playing games for hours and days on end. Some extreme cases have seen people dying from too much gaming one such incident in south Korea a man died of heart failure after a massive 50 hour stretch on a mmorpg. This is an extreme case and one that is hopefully not going to happen again, but this does highlight the addictive side of gaming.

These kind of horror stories reflect very badly on the gaming industry as a whole, it is already underfire from groups for encouraging laziness in gamers by encouraging them to spend lots of time on games. So maybe more shorter instant games are the key. Mobile games are designed to be able to be played and put down, there not huge epic games that require days and hours of gaming it is more like minutes with a mobile game,its more a quick fix instead of an immersive experience.

"In fact mobile gaming is part if an event rather the event itself, gaming will take placee
during a journey or whilst watching TV. It is normally a secondary activity, but nonetheless it is an experience that more and more people are doing. The main platform for mobile gaming does appear to be the mobile phone as people see the mobile as a necessity were as other platforms such as the PSP are more hardcore gamers". Goosen (2006)

So the order of the day with regards to mobile gaming appears to be short games that can be picked up and played at the drop of a hat. This will hopefully encourage more shorter gaming sessions and less gaming addiction

FFF'n new games

You can shoot everything you see on screen explore the game world, audio and visual cues reveal an enemy about to strike, no this is not the latest FPS (first person shooter), it is in fact Asteroids.

New games and game consoles are re discovering the original games of the 70s and 80s and are using there basic gameplay elements to create new titles aimed at the casual gamer. But not only new games have had this retro re fit, new consoles are incorporating classic games as a marketing ploy for their on-line playing service. Both next gen consoles the Nintendo wii and the Playstation 3 will have free access to an on-line back catalogue of classic games to promote the new service.

This form follows function (FFF) approach is changing opinions on what actually can be a successful game. Flow is one example a simple game were creature eats creature its well thought out gameplay attracts gamers even though its visuals are very simple. This game was chosen to show what Sonys hardware was capable off at a recent japanese games expo. These type of games are generally inexpensive, but each new games has to have an innovative gameplay feature to it to ensure its success.

This FFF approach flies in the face of traditional game development models were every dollar was spent on what the player sees on screen. Now more intuitive gameplay is the order of the day, developers are trying to produce truly original games. There is a fine balancing with regards to budget for games in this genre as they spend more on the game mechanics but reduce from the visuals, so higher risks are taken in the eyes of the games company executives so it is still considered a niche market. But with future developments in this field this could be the future of games

All game designers look at this!

This game is one of the most important for years

http://gamasutra.com/features/20050728/adams_01.shtml

Rise of the Prosumer

In this modern age of all things digital, the media professional is in danger of becoming an endangered specie. With people producing content for the internet and other platforms their is an abundance of decent quality content that producers of all different types of media are tapping into.

This has ramifications for all modern media proffesionals whether they be a main stream media designer or freelance creating his product for a living. One such instance written in wired (2006) highlights a photographers current downfall in income because of the boom of prosumers creating content.

The National Health Museum has grand plans to occupy a spot on the National Mall in Washington by 2012, but for now its a fledgling institution with little money. "They were on a tight budget, so I charged them my nonprofit rate," says Harmel, who works out of a cozy but crowded office in the back of the house he shares with his wife and stepson. He offered the museum a generous discount: $100 to $150 per photograph. “Thats about half of what a corporate client would pay, he says. Menashe was interested in about four shots, so for Harmel, this could be a sale worth $600.

After several weeks of back-and-forth, Menashe emailed Harmel to say that, regretfully, the deal was off. “I discovered a stock photo site called istock photo, she wrote, which has images at very affordable prices. That was an understatement. The same day, Menashe licensed 56 pictures through iStockphoto for about $1 each.'

no one can compete with prices like that so people like harmil could go out of business sooneer rather than later.

The prosumer is having a major say in what is shown on the most prominent media platform of all the TV. Shows revolving around the numerous viral videos on-line are popping up at an advanced rate and the real attraction of these shows again is that these shows are cheap and cost only a presenters fee to produce.

one such show 'web junk 20' on VH1 was a surprise (even to the producer) hit that they have began looking at more and more viral content for new projects.

Production of cancelled TV shows have fell into the prosumer spectrum, amatuer film makers taking on producing short films based on their favourite cancelled programs.
The whedonverse (Wired 2006) is one area of prosumer film production, all of Joss Whedons cancelled TV programs (Buffy the vampire slayer, Angel and Firefly) have had the prosumer makover. with limited budgets and limited resources these shows have grown from being watched by the prosumer and freinds to 100,000 regular viewers, the show attracting this sought of viewing figures is Cherub and though it has links to the whedon production Angel it is has developed into a show in its own right.

The other two (Buffy and Firefly) have themselves been the subject of prosumer sequels such as Fluffy the english vampire slayer and into the black, these shows are the start of the prosumer influence on the media and the traditional media producer and could have repercussions in the way various media is funded and produced and may be the end of big budget productions and over inflated prices for various forms of content.

Google yourself

A recent report in the Sunday Times has highlighted a new trend for potential employers in there hiring process, using a search engine to find out information about there potential new employees.

"Mary-Anne sent a perfect CV, properly spell-checked, with her application for a cracking new job as a programmer at a leading computer systems firm. She had the skills, she had the grades, she had the experience from another blue-chip firm.

But when Mary-Anne'’s application arrived, according to a recruitment consultant working with her prospective employer, they ran her name through Google. Up popped something she had not mentioned on her CV. She'd been a contestant in two topless modeling competitions." Sunday Times (2006)

The reason she was refused an inteview was the company had so many applicants with similar strengths the selection process was difficult, so any thing that was a potential complicating factor was used to reduce the list to a select few.

Even if nothing turns up on Google it can have an adverse effect on your potential job application

“'There are people who come up with nothing on Google and I think that’s a bit weird,' said one headhunter with a top London firm". Sunday Times (2006)

This again shows the importance of having an on-line presence, if it is the difference between getting a job an not, your blog etc may become more important and should be more carefully thought about when you go to upload that picture of your self drunk at a family party

Google is a library of everything published by the individual on-line and if you have done something in life that may lead to later embarrassment no doubt Google will find it. So if Google can find it potential employers can to, so what to do next, Google yourself and see what you find.

Who's looking at your Space

My Space has been in the news again for all the wrong reasons, security of the users on the site has been put in jeopardy with known sex offenders being My Space users. Wired news reported the issue conducting investigations using the sex offenders register and running names through my space. Only conclusive matches were researched and the discoveries on their spaces were quite a surprise (or maybe not), the convicted sex offenders never mentioned nothing about their previous convictions and some had more than 400 'friends'.

Well, are the people at My Space doing enough about this, the ease of which the Wired news investigation team uncovered these individuals would say 'no', as the My Space team have recently come under fire for the lack of security for their members.

The main problem regarding My Space is the ease with which details about individuals can be recovered the members are willing to share quite personal details such as phone numbers address and pictures of themselves. This makes it a potential danger to the user as they could become a target for a sexual predator.

This would make worrying reading for any parent concerned with their son/daughter using My Space and should be My Spaces primary issue in the development of their product. With the recent appointment of Hemanshu (Hemu) Nigam to fill a new post of chief security officer it would seem they are doing just that.