1. Introduction to MPEs. What are they and how are they delivered?
Multi-Platform Events, also known as Cross-Platform Events or Transmedia Events, are games that occur both on the internet and the real world, not within any conventional boundaries of what normally constitutes a “game”. Another name for them, TINGs (This Is Not a Game), highlights the required suspension of disbelief and secretive nature of their developers.
They began their life as organic community-driven phenomena. Phone-Phreaks, led by programmer John Draper, blind and pitch-perfect Joybubbles, Capt’n Crunch’s whistles and Draper’s Little Blue Boxes, would play a cat-and-mouse game with the authorities making long-distance phone-calls for no reason other than it was good sport. This was perhaps the first example of an ARG (Alternative Reality Game). John Draper was one of the inventors of the first Apple personal computers, which he helped create when he was serving time for phone-freaking.
Market researchers took note that they presented an ideal way to connect with potential markets of consumers by providing an entertaining accompaniment to a product, and today we are swimming in MPE’s played in secret all over the web and in the real world. The first MARG (Marketing Alternate Reality Game) was The Beast, the game that was developed to accompany the movie A.I. The Beast was never obviously advertised, and its only gateways consisted of hints and bread-crumbs left by the developers. The players of the game formed communities, the largest calling themselves Cloudmakers after a key feature of the story, and helped each other to solve the game, pooling their collective intelligence. The team of games developers had to work around the clock to stay one step ahead of them.
Within a matter of hours after the attack on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in 2001, many in the Cloudmaker community were calling for a concerted effort to uncover the identities of the terrorists. It goes to show that MPEs promote action instead of dispondency when faced with crises, and instil fervour in their fans. MPEs are made either to promote a product (Jay Z’s autobiography) or to promote an environmental or socially-progressive cause (Half the Sky Movement) or a combination of the two (Conspiracy for Good).
2. Identify and describe your top 6 criteria for a successful MPE
My top 6 criteria for a successful MPE
i) Operating on multiple platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, etc.).
ii) Intriguing gateway, aka “Rabbit hole”, and a necessary suspension of disbelief from players.
iii) Motivation for players to commit- urgency, rewards, validation that you are in on the “secret”, association with a trusted brand, belief in a cause.
iv) Unpredictable plot-lines with a script/ plot-map that takes into account every contingency and re-iterates pre-appointed themes.
v) Solvable puzzles of varied difficulty with hints if necessary.
vi) As Puppetmaster you are responsible for the creation of a whole, imaginative world filled with puzzles, traps, treasure, monsters, villains and other NPCs.
3. An annotated list of relevant existing projects
i) Bear 71
Bear 71 looked at the interactions of humans, animals and technology, using webcams to track the movements of a tagged bear in Banff National Park. Along with a documentary about the ethos behind the project, there was an installation at Sundance and online users were invited to make their own webcams open to the general public.
ii) Welcome to Pine Point
Funded by The National Film Board of Canada, Welcome to Pine Point is an immersive website that tells the story of Pine Point, a mining town that was erected in the 60s and taken down in the 80s. Seen through the perspectives of people who grew up there and suddenly had to relocate just as they were reaching adulthood, Welcome to Pine Point explores themes of nostalgia and memory. It won a slew of awards.
iii) Urgent Evoke
See Section 4.
iv) Bluebird AR
The ABC’s first fully online program, Bluebird AR explores the ethics of geoengineering, the deliberate altering of the Earth’s atmosphere to adjust for climate change. The players are encouraged to investigate the big-business side of town in their quest for the truth. Bluebird AR suffered a fairly major setback- there was a possible security breach of users’ personal information.
v) Half the Sky Movement
Possibly the most heart-warming MPE yet, Half the Sky Movement promotes women’s health, education and empowerment both in the virtual and the real world. The game spreads awareness of the difficult issues facing women in developing and Western countries and makes it possible to spend game dollars to buy things like books or fistula operations for impoverished women. It encourages you to advertise your progress on social platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
vi) Out My Window Interactive
From Chicago and Toronto, to Bangalore and Johannesberg, Out My Window Interactive explores life lived in high-rise apartments in 13 major cities of the world. Another endeavour funded by the National Film Board of Canada, the documentary tells the true stories of real people’s lives who are forced by circumstance to live in small, sky-bound spaces. The user’s view simulates a 3D with thousand of photographs fitted together.
vii) Traces of Hope
The British Red Cross is behind this game, where users follow the story of a civil-war survivor and his search to find his mother.
viii) Conspiracy for Good
An promotional venture for Nokia phones, Conspiracy for Good got gamers to join forces to fight a nefarious corporation that specialised in illegal activities. Missions were played out across London with real-world NPC actors to guide the players through the action.
ix) Locked Room
See Section 4.
x) Village for Dementia-sufferers
See Section 4.
xi) Nine Inch Nails
Trent Reznor is a big believer in getting extra content to his fans in an age where the music industry is scrambling from the onslaught of pirates. Reznor sees MPEs and other multi-media as just other creative tools in his artist’s tool belt. Knowing that his willing fan base is immense, Nine Inch Nails MPE players were given near impossible tasks and puzzles to solve.
xii) The Beast
The first MARG (Marketing Alternate Reality Game) was The Beast, the game that was developed to accompany the movie A.I. The Beast was never obviously advertised, and its only gateways consisted of hints and bread-crumbs left by the developers. The players of the game formed communities, the largest calling themselves Cloudmakers after a key feature of the story, and helped each other to solve the game, pooling their collective intelligence. The team of games developers had to work around the clock to stay one step ahead of them.
xiii) Jay Z- Decode
Made to help launch his autobiography Decoded, as well as promoting the Search Engine Bing, Decode released one page of Jay Z’s book at a time in different locations throughout New York.
xiv) Tarsus Club
A particularly sinister MPE that is out to promote the movie The Conspiracy, which is currently showing on Netflix. When I started playing the game, I fell off the trail pretty quickly and ended up being asked by the Bilderberg group if I would accept cookies from their website. Sufficiently freaked out I logged off.
xvii) Spooks MPE
Another television show that has launched an MPE to help promote it.
xviii) Lost MPE
Early MPE that promoted the television show Lost. Some parts of the game appeared on the show unbeknownst to non-players.
xix) Dark Knight (Why So Serious?)
Promoting the movie, the Dark Knight.
xx) Hunger Games (The Capitol)
Promoting the movie The Hunger Games.
xxi) Prometheus’ Weyland Industries
Promoting the movie Prometheus.
4. An in-‐depth critical analysis of at least 3 significant MPE projects
i) Escape the Room
Imagine you and your archaeological expedition are suddenly trapped in an ancient Egyptian tomb with no obvious means of escape! Welcome to the phenomena known as The Locked Room. Players are funnelled into a room which is sealed off from the outside. Within the room are a sequence of puzzles players must solve to eventually open the doors to their freedom. While not conforming to the digital requirement of what constitutes an MPE, Escape the Room is an impressive little ARG. If you don’t solve the puzzles in a set amount of time (normally one hour), you lose. First appearing in Japan in 2007, Escape the Room has popped up all over the United States. It’s an ingenious way to use your mind in a faux life-and-death struggle without committing too much time or indeed money.
ii) Village for Dementia-sufferers
In the Netherlands, a radical practice of care is being developed. The village of De Hogeweyk is an architecturally-designed health centre that emulates everything 1950s. Numbers of Alzheimers and Dementia sufferers are exploding across the world, so this effort is timely. Being surrounded by architecture and living environments they are more accustomed to, patients at De Hogeweyk have a far less anxiety-ridden time of it. The patients have six options for thematically designed decor- upperclass, homey, Christian, artisan, Indonesian, and cultural. Absconding is a common behaviour amongst Alzheimers sufferers, and hospital staff patrol the grounds in civvies. The whole community is gated, and there are fake bus stops to trick up the most determined escapees. Patients can go to traditional grocers and get their hair cut in a traditional barbershop.
iii) Urgent Evoke
A marketing campaign of the World Bank (whose stated mission it is to reduce global poverty), Urgent Evoke encouraged players to finish missions that would bring about social change. Intended to appeal to African youth, Urgent Evoke was set up so that it could be played on the mobile phone system that was used throughout the continent. For whatever reason, the game was relatively unplayed in Africa. The developers also intended that teams of players would be mentored by real world activists and social change advocates, but this was hampered by technical and personal problems. The feedback given by many players regarding their findings was in many cases blurry and implied that missions were skipped. Since the first season of the game there has been a call from teachers to implement a version that can be run in the classroom.
References
http://www.webcrunchers.com/who-is-john-draper-aka-captain-crunch/
http://www.seanstewart.org/beast/mcgonigal/notagame/paper.pdf
foryourconsideration.ca/bear71/
http://www.wordsinspace.net/media-materiality/2012-spring/?p=263
http://www.worldbank.org/en/about/what-we-do
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2010/10/abc-warns-bluebird-ar-viewers-about-security-breach/
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/abc-launches-first-internet-only-reality-drama/story-e6frg996-1225855207807?nk=5957eb107d330472dd996a52ad622dc2
http://if.com.au/2010/04/29/article/OSKYEMSNCQ.html
http://www.gamezebo.com/2013/03/07/half-sky-movement-game-review/
http://www.wordsinspace.net/media-materiality/2012-spring/?p=924
http://jayisgames.com/archives/2008/10/traces_of_hope.php
http://www.wired.com/2010/08/conspiracy-for-good-a-recap-of-an-arg-by-the-creator-of-heroes/
http://blog.midem.com/2011/08/mike-masnick-connect-with-fans-cwf-reason-to-buy-rtb/#.U-vGykiW_7s
http://peopleslab.mslgroup.com/peoplesinsights/tag/bing-decode-jay-z/
http://mashable.com/2014/04/26/escape-room/
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/02/inside-an-amazing-village-designed-just-for-people-with-dementia/
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