"Alternative Reality Gaming"

"So, yes, I think we are going to be seeing more alternative reality games. The movement is gaining momentum, though there is still not a fully developed business model for thinking about how to build on this trend yet, and so it is likely to remain in the hands of marketers on the one hand and amateurs on the other."
- Henry Jenkins, Director of Comparative Media Studies Program and Full Professor of Literature at MIT

To learn about the basic tenets of ARG's, start here:
- Wikipedia article on Alternative Reality Games
- The Alternative Reality Gaming Network

OK, when you read the description of Immersive Media Narratives, you might observe that it sounds remarkably similar to an "Alternative Reality Game". And you would be correct. However, there are a few distinctions I'd like to make. As a genre these ARG's are defined by their adult, macabre, nerded out sensibility. Without exception they are all hard-boiled & dark mysteries, reminiscent of the comic book & video game world that are their breeding grounds. By nature, they are a "cult" activity, accessible mainly to the initiated gamer (adult male). Here's where I believe these games fall short as engaging entertainment.

- Producers are not seeing the "next level" of ARG as a broad entertainment platform with a massive intergenerational audience.
- There are no colorful, playful, joyful, completely integrated examples of this medium.
- So far the major games have been limited to "marketing tools".
- There is a tremendous gap to be filled here.

The "Games of Nonchalance" as an Immersive Media Narrative is different in that:
- it is designed as an ongoing activity for parents and children together in real space.
- There is a different level of immersion, with real stylized sets, rooms, and character actors.
- The aesthetics of the game are on a different creative & conceptual level. It is driven by an arts & entertainment model.
- There is a rough business model.

{ Immersive Media Narrative }

Now we're getting closer to the heart of why this blog exists. It serves as a conceptual safety net for ideas. More specifically: a safety net for ideas related to an upcoming creative project. This project could be described as an "Immersive Media Narrative", and this is what I have to say about it right now...

It is an activity, an "alternate reality game", a story, a novel, a movie, a website, a pirate radio program, a map, a guided tour, an urban exploration, a public art project, a scavenger hunt, a choose your own adventure book, trading cards, both a mystery & science fiction play, socio-reengineering experiment, and new commercial venture. For children & Adults. Foreshadowing the future of entertainment.

The story has online and offline content, that is immeshed. These tools are used as "narrative devices", all guiding the "participant" to real time / real space journeys. Examples of online content include: Google Maps, You Tube Video, Streaming Audio, Websites, Text Messaging & E-Mail. Examples of offline content include: Wheat paste visuals, FM radio transmissions, epoxy figurines, voice-mail boxes, graffiti-like messages, sidewalk chalk, exchanges of alternative currency, vending machines, photocopy tear-off flyers, oddball print ads, buried treasures, lock boxes, actual rooms or "sets", and introductions to the characters (actors placed in real space).

Besides the medium, it is really about the style and the content of the narrative. I'll save that very important subject for another day.