Alternate Reality Games

Before this week’s lecture, I had never even heard of alternate reality games. Throughout the class, as we discussed different examples of ARGs that have existed in the past, I was fascinated by the concept that carried these games. As the world becomes more globalized, people from all over the world are finding new ways of interacting and communicating with one another. ARGs are yet another way that this is taking place.

Having never heard of ARGs, I was curious to see if my game loving boyfriend had ever heard of, or even been apart of one. It turns out he had never heard of them either, which surprised me. I decided to investigate some of these games further, by going to the websites that acted as the base for these games, such as whysoserious.com and ilovebees.com.

Upon going to the WhySoSerious.com, an audio clip immediately begins to play. It starts out as a Gotham City news report, and transitions into various clips of people screaming and being tortured, before it finally ends with the Joker’s evil laughter. On the screen is a to-do list which I assumed belonged to the Joker, containing things such as “Filter out the sane ones,” “Reveal ugly face of Gotham justice,” and “Make fun of “the Batman.”” The to-do list is placed amongst a ripped page with phone numbers on it, pictures of people with joker smiles drawn over their faces, bowling shoes, and a map of Gotham City, as well as other miscellaneous things. Because I did not take part in this ARG as it occurred, I do not fully understand everything in this image, but I’m sure everything pertains to some aspect of the game.

Wanting to see the remains of another concluded ARG site, I check out Ilovebees.com next. Upon reaching the site, a black window popped up, blocking the information behind it. The box contained a countdown to “wide awake and physical” and also contained links to “mission log” which contained a summery of the main story plot, “MIA” which lead to a list of credits, and “recruits” which lead to audio recordings that I assume pertained to different aspects of the plot. Though this website still allowed the user access to past information unlike whysoserious, it was still difficult to get the full effect of the ARG.

What appeals to me the most about ARGS is how they mimic real life by taking place out in the real world, as well as on the Internet and various other devices. Its really cool how people from all over the world can come together to help each other solve these games. ARGs are always changing and developing as they take place, and once they are completed there is no way to go back and “replay” them. This is especially disappointing to me because I was unaware of these ARG games as they took place, and feel that they would be extremely interesting and fun to be a part of. I’ll just have to keep my eyes open for the next one that comes along.