#arg case study

World Without Oil - ARG Case Study

This is one of the Case Studies we discussed briefly in last weeks workshop.

World Without Oil combined elements of an alternate reality game with those of a serious game. The game sketched out the overarching conditions of a realistic oil shock, then called upon players to imagine and document their lives under those conditions. Compelling player stories and ideas were incorporated into the official narrative, posted daily. Players could choose to post their stories as videos, images or blog entries, or to phone or email them to the WWO gamemasters. The game's central site linked to all the player material, and the game's characters documented their own lives, and commented on player stories, on a community blog and individual blogs, plus via IM, chat, Twitter and other media... A countdown site appeared approximately 2 weeks before the game start on April 30, 2007. The game concluded 32 days later, on June 1, 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Without_Oil

Although this ARG is a terrific example of a Multi-platform event created with great intentions for a good cause... it could also be argued that it naively overlooks much of the complexities of the issues raised. Is this a case of passive idealism being performed from within the comfortable confines of the very system it deems to problematize and criticize?

In the past we have had radical reactions to social-political issues... even the surrealists ‘used chaos and variety of urban experience to sabotage tradition and order… disrupting meaning, but also recovering it’ (Savage 2000, 42). The participants of WWO, seem far more polite and well meaning, dutifully carrying out instructions from the WWO website, never really subverting, changing or challenging anything. Yes they are being thoughtful, reflective and communicative with each other... but is this really empowering anybody?

Thanks RJ

An insightful look into the 2006 "LOST" multi-platform experience... by Brisbane based studio, 'Hoodlum': http://www.hoodlum.com.au/

This film has the audience follow a man struggling to differentiate his real life from 'The Game'. This is the ultimate circumstance for an ARG... that is, when the player is living a blended experience as themselves and as a fictional character... in the real world which has been transformed into a theatre by mere narrative suggestion. However, 'The Game' is an extravagant version of an ARG: 

One thing CRS needs is a lot of money. Millions just to run one Game. http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php/60313-The-Game-Consumer-Recreation-Services-%28CRS%29

This also demonstrates the need for complicit agents in such a game... such as friends who agree to help sustain the fantastic story... and a few well formed fake organisations that help to anchor the story in the real world. Although in this film the organisation, CRS, is represented by a large office and staff... it could as easily be presented as a website, email addresses, fake network profiles, fake videos etc.

Fincher won’t let the audience in on anything with this one. The Game achieves a feat by only giving the audience as much information as it gives its main character. And that nearly destroyshim... I walked out of the theater knowing that everything was going to be okay for Van Orton, but still not quite sure that it would be... http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/movies-we-love-the-game-colea.php

Review:

‘He watches his life turn into a thriller’ Sept 12 1997

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,289361,00.html

Essay:

This year the MCN conference attendees are invited to experience these new developments through an on-site Alternate Reality Game (ARG) as a collaboration between conference coordinators and staff and local gaming experts. A companion half-day workshop on Wednesday will guide participants through the steps to create their own games, and the game will be played throughout the Conference.

http://www.mcn.edu/2011/mcn-alternate-reality-game

This year the MCN conference attendees are invited to experience these new developments through an on-site Alternate Reality Game (ARG) as a collaboration between conference coordinators and staff and local gaming experts. A companion half-day workshop on Wednesday will guide participants through the steps to create their own games, and the game will be played throughout the Conference.

This paper is a good example of how to present and discuss your case studies.

Jeffrey Kim, Jonathan P. Allen, and Elan Lee, 2008. “Alternate reality gaming,” Communications of the ACM, volume 51, number 2, pp. 36–42.

Other good publication sources: (remember to always checkout the references/bibliographies of each publication for more research material)

Jane McGonigal, 2008. “Saving the world through game design: Stories from the near future,” 2008 New Yorker Conference, at http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/conference/2008/mcgonigal

IGDA (International Game Developer’s Association), 2006. “2006 alternate reality games white paper,” at http://www.igda.org/arg/resources/IGDA-AlternateRealityGames-Whitepaper-2006.pdf