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One of the first pages in my notepads of reminders/things to do has the following information written on it in my scrawl:
For many, no-one knows what the heck this would mean. To me, it reminds me of a map that was faxed (yes, faxed) to me to help me track down a couple of missing game developers after their studio, Anim-X, mysteriously burned down. This was the start of the game titled Majestic.
The concept was interesting. In the early days of Alternate Reality Games (or ARGs), while X-Files was still on-air, EA was pitching an interesting new game mechanic. Every day, you would receive an e-mail, AIM message, a fax or a phone call from somebody, and you would need to start searching for clues on numerous websites including the now-defunct one listed above.
Anim-X was a new company at EA that wanted to prove they had something new with their Reality Game, uncovering the secrets of the government along the way. I signed up for it (paying for a monthly "Premium EA account") since I was interested. After installing the application and getting a videostream on how to work with the interface, I was videoconferencing with one of the programmers when the connection went dead. Finding no way to restart the signal, I left for a while and later found an e-mail in my Inbox stating that a fire had broken out at Anim-X and the game was suspended. But it wasn't long afterwards that I received a phonecall from one of the programmers, telling me that the fire wasn't an accident, and that a couple of the people who escaped capture (?!) set up a temporary website that I needed to access...
The game was incredibly ambitious for its time. I mean, not a lot of people use fax machines anymore, but I found that everyday something was waiting for me in my Inbox, and I felt like I was in the middle of an odd conspiracy, trying to help out people from a faraway remote location. Every day had some new game or find-and-search mission and it never felt overdone. I even remember playing a mock Pac-Man-like game in helping some of the programmers escape a building without being seen by the guards. It was very Metal-Gear-ish. And every day I would converse with an AIM bot to find out more information, and there was even a "Deep Throat" hint system that would give you hints if you didn't manage to proceed fast enough.
I think one of the more intense moments was when I had a voicemail on my answering machine threatening me and my parents directly. My Mom heard the message being recorded and was understandably freaking out about who the company I was dealing with.
Unfortunately, the game was shut down quite quickly after the 9/11 attacks, citing that it suffered from "low subscription numbers". I was upset, but I was satisfied in that they managed to at least get through Season 1 before shuttering the project. A lot of companies like using ARGs in advertising their latest and greatest game (even just delivering odd packages to reviewers), and sites like ilovebees.com (even when I wasn't a Halo fan) were quite popular in generating interest. The Brainy Gamer has a small discussion (from 18 months ago) that asks if Majestic could be redone in this day and age, considering how much more connected we are. It originally was focused on a lot of tied-to-home technologies. This day and age with our always-on tech, we could totally have a more immersive experience.
(And this, my friend, is why I don't write reviews. I can't end them well.)
Brother Swiftblade has a tale for Shinehed.
www.brotherswiftblade.com
Shin headed WEST
Mike & Kendra: HILLS to the EAST
THROUGH BRIAR
NORTH to WATERFALL
Monument to a great green DRASO (?)
At the FOOTHILL
NORTH then EAST to a WATERTOWER
They're at the GIBSONS PEAK LOOKOUT
For many, no-one knows what the heck this would mean. To me, it reminds me of a map that was faxed (yes, faxed) to me to help me track down a couple of missing game developers after their studio, Anim-X, mysteriously burned down. This was the start of the game titled Majestic.
The concept was interesting. In the early days of Alternate Reality Games (or ARGs), while X-Files was still on-air, EA was pitching an interesting new game mechanic. Every day, you would receive an e-mail, AIM message, a fax or a phone call from somebody, and you would need to start searching for clues on numerous websites including the now-defunct one listed above.
Anim-X was a new company at EA that wanted to prove they had something new with their Reality Game, uncovering the secrets of the government along the way. I signed up for it (paying for a monthly "Premium EA account") since I was interested. After installing the application and getting a videostream on how to work with the interface, I was videoconferencing with one of the programmers when the connection went dead. Finding no way to restart the signal, I left for a while and later found an e-mail in my Inbox stating that a fire had broken out at Anim-X and the game was suspended. But it wasn't long afterwards that I received a phonecall from one of the programmers, telling me that the fire wasn't an accident, and that a couple of the people who escaped capture (?!) set up a temporary website that I needed to access...
The game was incredibly ambitious for its time. I mean, not a lot of people use fax machines anymore, but I found that everyday something was waiting for me in my Inbox, and I felt like I was in the middle of an odd conspiracy, trying to help out people from a faraway remote location. Every day had some new game or find-and-search mission and it never felt overdone. I even remember playing a mock Pac-Man-like game in helping some of the programmers escape a building without being seen by the guards. It was very Metal-Gear-ish. And every day I would converse with an AIM bot to find out more information, and there was even a "Deep Throat" hint system that would give you hints if you didn't manage to proceed fast enough.
I think one of the more intense moments was when I had a voicemail on my answering machine threatening me and my parents directly. My Mom heard the message being recorded and was understandably freaking out about who the company I was dealing with.
Unfortunately, the game was shut down quite quickly after the 9/11 attacks, citing that it suffered from "low subscription numbers". I was upset, but I was satisfied in that they managed to at least get through Season 1 before shuttering the project. A lot of companies like using ARGs in advertising their latest and greatest game (even just delivering odd packages to reviewers), and sites like ilovebees.com (even when I wasn't a Halo fan) were quite popular in generating interest. The Brainy Gamer has a small discussion (from 18 months ago) that asks if Majestic could be redone in this day and age, considering how much more connected we are. It originally was focused on a lot of tied-to-home technologies. This day and age with our always-on tech, we could totally have a more immersive experience.
(And this, my friend, is why I don't write reviews. I can't end them well.)
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