There was an article in yesterday’s Metro. If I still have the copy, I’ll scan the article in. It was about pervasive games, by this, they really meant treasure hunts set in cities. Yep, like Masquerade. I guess they are definately related to ARGs, perhaps, their less technical mother. The are missing the online elememts, and also the community – however you have to remember that these were not possible in the pre-digital age.
Anyhow, I came across a company called London Quest, who make bespoke games for company away days and hen nights. How cool is that? I’m going to have to arrange that for my birthday, or make someone marry me so I can do this. Awesome. I’ll have a word with them, see if I can get a bit of work experience with them and hopefully some inspiration.
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July 23rd, 2007 at 5:07 pm
I don’t think that ARGS in anyway *have* to have an online presence, it just happens that recent technologies have made it a lot easier for people to produce them.
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:09 pm
I think an ARG is simply a story follows a narrative that the readers can interact with and also influence.
July 24th, 2007 at 4:07 am
I’m not sure – I see offline ones as treasure hunts really. Did you follow the ‘Definition of an ARG’ discussion on the Listserv, that’s now gone awol, as it was a bit personal? Perhaps I should post it up here.
July 31st, 2007 at 4:28 pm
I would define a treasure hunt as simply a series of clues which lead you from one place to another (on and offline places) and you don’t really need the story at all. I was asked to define an ARG in a short sentence, the best I came up with was:
An ARG is an interactive narrative played over a variety of media.
Meh-better than nothing
August 7th, 2007 at 8:30 am
You must have seen “The Game”? (Ace film by David Fincher). At what point does an ARG and the real world separate or cross over?
If ARG’s are to be used in education there are some considerations to be through in regards to how successfully pupils/students will be able to draw their own lines between the alternate world and reality. What seems to be a simple definition to the author (a text message about a disaster sent with some clues is from the ARG and therefore isn’t real) could create some real emotional connection to an underdeveloped mind thus affecting their real world situation.
Or real world instance could be misinterpreted as something from the ARG (a text message saying “The next clue can be found at location X at Y time. Will you be there?”) putting the player at risk.
As much as “standard” video games are criticised for disrupting young minds, there is a very clear definition of where the game ends and the real world begins (usually there is even a physical connection via a joypad to the game device). Even the youngest mind can begin to make their own definition of what is real and what isn’t.
August 10th, 2007 at 9:14 am
May also be relavent to you:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6938244.stm