ARG event in Sydney Tomorrow!

42 Entertainment, the company behind massive ARGs such as I Love Bees (a prologue to Halo 2), is behind what Daniel Terdiman of ZDNet News calls ‘a hybrid game–part alternate-reality game, or ARG, part traditional sweepstakes–that’s actually a marketing vehicle for Microsoft’s Windows Vista.’ (You could say that 42 Entertainment are the Hollywood of ARGs.) The game revolves around boxes that provide clues through puzzles and clues delivered at events. The first event was at CES, the video of which is online, as well as a ‘Hear the Challenge’ video with a great call-to-action in the form of a lady saying she is looking for ‘exceptional people’, ‘people way ahead of the curve’, ‘the people you’re looking for can handle it,’ ‘we’re going to make someone famous around the world,’ with prizes that are worth their while . The video ends with a great call-to-action:

‘Most of you won’t figure this out: vanishingpointgame.com’

I like this, because it is different to the now overdone calls that ask for help whilst telling you how brilliant you are. These still work, and are important, but there needs to be a variety in the way people are encouraged to act. For a call to action to be effective, it needs to ignite interest, motivate and surprise the person. This doesn’t happen if it is delivered in the same manner all the time. This is why, too, what ARGs are will always change.

But anyway, back to the game. As I mentioned, one of the aspects of the game is the delivery of clues in real world events. These are not events that require players to participate in (at this stage!). There is a multi-country event happening tomorrow. And we, those in Sydney, will have one too. I won’t tell you where it is or when. Go to the site to find the box, the GPS and time…and then maybe I’ll see you there. 🙂

http://www.vanishingpointgame.com/

For those interested, there is a Vanishing Point wiki where players are sharing clues and organising themselves. Enjoy!