ARGs are an increadibly powerful force for good, and charities and educational institutions are quickly realising their potential for teaching and fundraising. Throw those two rapidly developing areas together with broadcasters, who are quickly realising that the internet isn’t just for streaming TV and you get some very interesting discussion.
The Let’s Change The Game Conference, organised by Adrian Hon and Law37 saw a meeting of lots of individuals interested in ARGs as serious games and I must admit, I was really surprised with how many people there are working behind the scenes at bringing this emerging medium to attention.
Having been asked to develop an induction ARG myself (unfortunately I was too busy to say yes), I can see how fun and interesting it could make the boring process of teaching people how to use a University Library and familiarising them with the area. I wasn’t aware however, that there are already a handful of people around the country doing exactly that as reasearch for Higher Education institutions.
Katie Piatt spoke about 3 projects and their mixed results. What really interested me are her engagement statistics relating to the three projects, and interestingly that the least interactive had the highest take up. This definately highlights some of the problems with ARGs; they’re hard to get into and even the people who are involved need a lot of persuading to do really wild things.
Nicola Whitton talked about developing a reuseable framework for ARG building (for orientation, socialisation and induction) for educational institutions. I find this very interesting and an ARG-in-a-box is something that I think could prove to be very cheap and valuable in the long run. My only concern is how we go about ensuring teachers understand the concept of an ARG and ensuring the story and gameplay are well thought out. I’m sure Nicola’s probably got some ideas.
Alex Moseley is also doing some interesting work in the field. I’m very interested in the completely transparent assessment that was mentioned (by playing the game which was graded, players / students could see as they progress what their mark for the course is, and if they’re on track for passing it).
I was also particularly interested in hearing what the broadcasters had to say. Phillip Trippenbach detailed some interesting ways in which journalists and the BBC in particular are moving away from more traditional forms of journalism and more to user generated content. The example he used was the Mumbai and how the BBC incorperated tweets from witnesses twitter feeds into their live blog. I think this is a great example of the same sort of collaborative power that ARGs can cause and the effect: a quicker, more flexible, more robust community. Though such forms of collaboration have their problems. Phillip also noted that it’s very hard to sort through the amount of content in terms of editing, and suggested that communities could self edit and check errors and that this is much more effective.
Alice Taylor talked about some upcoming projects being created for Channel 4 that will be used as educational tools for teens. I was very interested to hear how commissioning is changing within broadcasters, and how online content can exist without having a Television series to back-up. Nicola Smyth emphasised what Alice said and gave an interesting talk about the thinking behind some of the BBC’s latest experimental projects.
I’m really glad I went to the conference and took part in the Operation:Sleeper Cell panel (which raised some interesting questions about what ARGs need to do to be more effective for charities). I learnt lots about the other side of ARGs that I’ve not really seen before (education) and met some interesting people. Lets hope the discussion continues.
Tags: ARG, BBC, broadcasters, Channel 4, charities, education, Twitter
Yesterday, I attended a talk given by Malcolm Gladwell, the author of ‘The Tipping Point’ and ‘Blink’. I became a huge fan of his work after Laura reccomended his books to me. The Tipping point was quite an inspirational read: motivating in the sense that it shows how something very small can spark something very big, and full of numbers and facts to back up the odd social theories. It’s definately something I’m greatly interested in with a lot of what I’m thinking about being on the border or viral marketing.
To be honest, I had no idea what Malcolm Gladwell would talk about when I turned up at the Lyceum Theatre. Would it be within the kind of area I’m interested in? or something very very different. One thing I was sure of was that it’d be very interesting…and I was definately right on that one.
Obviously, Gladwell was in London to promote his new book: Outliers: The Story of Success
He gave some shocking accounts of plane crashes over the last 20 years, and how they’d nearly all been a result of a series of human errors. One particular example, he showed stemmed from a difference in culture which lead to mitigation… a definate no no amongst the airline industry. His argument was that by understanding where people come from historically and the culture that surrounds them we can understand why they behave the way they do. I’ve just ordered his book and can’t wait to dive in. I’m guessing it’s going to be explaining how we can show that high achievers are the product of their culture and surroundings. The chain of events which help a successful person suceed are the same as those which led to a Columbian aircraft crashing and I guess after he’s shown us how to identify the stimuli… it’s up to us to work out how to nurture them.
If you get a chance, go and see one of Gladwell’s talks, even if it is about Freud. Although the subject matter might not be interesting, there’s a whole wealth of background to be absorbed.
Tags: London, Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers, Talk, Tipping Point
Things are getting a little dusty around here. Not by choice or deliberate neglect, but rather just because I’ve been so busy to tend to this little wild allotment. I’ve recently finished up a couple of projects I was working on at Six To Start. One of which was Young Bond, and I’m really pleased with how it turned out and the player session time we managed to achieve. Unfortunately, we did have some technical problems with the video streaming for the live event, but on the whole I think it still worked and I’ve heard some really positive feedback about the game.
Since I’ve finished the projects with Six To Start, I’ve had some time (a little) to regress to my undergraduate days of playing computer games and I’ve played a lot in the last couple of weeks. It’s great that I’ve got a little time to play games again, not only are they interesting and fun to play, but they raise some important questions about interaction and mechanics that carry through into my neck of the woods, ARGs.
I’d like to post in more detail about the games I’ve been playing, and the reasons why they’re interesting from a game design point of view. In fact, there it is. That’s a promise. I *will* post about them. A quick heads up on the games I’ve found at least semi-groundbreaking or at least fun:
The first two are more interesting from a game design perspective, and the later two are more interesting from a ‘why I find them fun’ perspective. Oh and of course, there’s Burnout Paradise. I’m really loving all the free content from Criterion. Unfortunately the new packs will be paid add ons, but still, I admire the work EA are doing on this title. Paul at Six To Start has written a good post about Burnout, which covers a lot of my opinions so I don’t think I’ll talk about it here, apart from the fact that I really like it, it’s fun in a pick up and play way, yet it’s not perfect.
Quite frankly, I’ve had so much fun over the last couple of weeks and I’m left thinking that this season’s releases (especially those for the Playstation 3) are the best and most ground breaking ever. It’s a great time for games, but a very bad time for gamer’s wallets.
Tags: Burnout, LittleBigPlanet, ps3, QuantumOfSolace, SixToStart, ValkyriaChronicles
Games are changing and while you might not notice it now, in a few years you’ll look back in wonderment at the early games and ideas that sparked change.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m on the advisory board for Superstruct, an online game that will help predict and invent the future for the Institute For The Future. The IFTF is a non-profit organisation that analyses trends to provide insight and advice about the future and how to embrace the waves of change in areas such as business strategy and social dilemmas.
So why does that matter? Well, it’s clear to me that through a process of analysis, trend spotting, thought and speculation we can not only predict the future, but we can also work with the raw materials and invent it! If there’s something changing for the worse (e.g. global warming) then we can spot that in analysis and invent a solution before it happens. Or, and back to our topic if something’s changing for the better (e.g. games) we can embrace it and use our analysis to make them even better.
I’ve noticed a few things in gaming that have been changing dramatically lately. We don’t necessarily notice these big changes, because they happen in chunks and not all together, but believe me that things are going to be different in the future. You might think some of these are fairly simple observations, and that there’s no special analysis that’s gone into them and you’d be correct. These are simple changes, simple facts. After all, isn’t it always the simple things that have the most impact?
Before I open the envelope and reveal my nominees for the “Changing Games Award 2008″ it’s important to understand why people play games. If we know why people play games, then we know why they’re changing, or need to change. People play games because they get something out of them, lower level escapism needs and higher level self actualisation and esteem needs (We’ll be here all day if we look into everyone else’s definitions). So let’s get to the good stuff…
Everywhere gaming. Mobile, handheld and urban gaming are really pushing ubiquitous play. These advances take play to situations it was never possible before (in the video game sense), meaning that people can escape from reality wherever and whenever they like. I played Tap Tap Revolution on my iPhone on the way home from work this evening. Not because I’m a gaming junkie and needed a fix, but because it took me out of the dire situation I was in on the District Line. I’m really interested to see how location based play changes the dynamic and really pushes these advances in gaming.
On the other end of ubiquitous play are alternate reality games (ARGs). Not everywhere in the literal sense, but in terms of media they really are everywhere. They come to players at all angles, in every situation forcing them to think on their feet and challenge. Again, since I’m working in this field I’m keen to see how this changes other forms of gaming.
I’m not going to go too deep here. I’m sure it’s a trend you’ve all spotted. With the Nintendo Wii really pushing the field (fun pickup and play gaming), more people than ever are joining in. Not only are they a broader range of people than ever before (it’s not unusual to see Wii gamers in their 80’s), but they’re prepared to just dip in and out of games. Long gone are the 50+ hour narratives, this audience want something fun for a short period which they can come back to and not worry about what they’ve forgotten.
Not to be confused with casual, they often go hand in hand but are actually very different. Accessibility is about opening up gaming to people who wouldn’t normally play. In the ARG industry we’re making games more accessible by making them easy to dip into during the game’s running, as well as making re-playable games and games which people find very easy to see what’s going on. Transparency’s the key word, and it’s getting more transparent.
XBOX 360 has had Achievements for ages now and PS3 followed suit a couple of months ago with the long awaited trophy patch. For those who don’t know what achievements or trophies are, they’re incentives for players to play through games, sometimes more than they would normally would. The Nectar card of the gaming world! I particularly like the Playstation reward system, as the ‘trophies’ come in bronze, silver, gold and platinum variety. It turns completing games, and finding treasures into an olympic session for my inner brain that thinks I’m Michael Phelps. Not only can you compare your medal count to other friends. This creates a sort of ‘Hero syndrome’, where everyone’s a hero, striving to be a better hero. Surely a good thing? It’s really driving positivity and motivation to do better in life as well as gaming.
Also under the header of ‘rewarding’ would be community based games. MMOs are ever popular and the usage statistics of social networks are outstanding. Once again, these are very rewarding. We’re a social species, we love to talk and interact with our friends. Playing with 2 people is more than twice as fun playing with one. These sort of games are going to creep more into everyday life as they water down mundane tasks from answering calls and emails to keeping fit training plans.
Games have been mimicking reality for some time now, with the ever improving graphics in video games, to the avatar representations in the virtual world Second Life. The tides are shifting however, in favor of reality becoming more like a game and ties into ubiquitous play very nicely. Once again this is where ARGs fit in. What could possibly be better than raising morale and satisfying higher level needs by changing your reality? Sure, I’m Marc McGinley, but I’m also Agent Mango, who’s secret mission it is to brighten people’s day by complementing them on the tube. Why do we need to play representations of ourself when we have a really great tool for changing who we already are (the imagination).
So, what does this mean for the future then? Games are going to be even more everywhere, taking people to more bizarre places, with more bizarre personas and less boredom. Games were once used to pass time and forget troubles, but now they’re being used to make a real social impact. Next time you pick up a game, think of the features within it and the cool new thing it does, and wonder what changes it could have on the world. Dare I even say it, invent the future!
Tags: accessible, ARG, casual, future, iftf, ps3, reality, rewarding, Superstruct, trophies, ubiquitous, wii, xbox 360
If you’re not familiar with the name, Young Bond is a series of books written by Charlie Higson for young adults. The books tell the adventures of James Bond before he became a spy, and his antics at Eton. The fifth book in the series “By Royal Command” is set for release on 3rd September 2008 and is rumored to explain how Bond was expelled from Eton.
The Shadow War is an alternate reality game (ARG) which will cross through the Young Bond series. Players will be able to choose to be the SIS (British secret service) or the OGPU (Soviet Secret Police).
“The seven missions will take the intrepid player through adventures in the world of Young Bond: from discovering who escaped the fire at SilverFin’s Hellebore Castle to tracking a ship down in the Royal Docks, uncovering a secret code in a bookshop where a gruesome murder has taken place and revealing the mysterious passenger of an airship crossing the Alps.
Each mission will take up to an hour to complete and players can join and leave at any point, as well as change sides. At the end of each mission there will be a mission debrief before the next is set.”
Find the full press release here.
This is something I’ve been working on at Six To Start, it’s the first ARG for children around books, and I’ve very excited! Don’t worry, you can play whatever your age.
Let the shadow war commence!
Tags: ARG, Marc McGinley, six to start, Young Bond
I seem to have finished my degree and landed in a whole heap of work; some of it paid, some of it voluntary… but most of it exciting!
I’m doing deign and development work for Dreamspace, making fantastic websites and interactive things, but I’ve also got a couple of ARG projects on the go as well.
Of course there’s Sleeper Cell, for Cancer Research UK (which I’m still hoping to poke my nose into), something else which I don’t really want to talk about *just* yet, and Superstruct (I’ll be on the advisory board). All of which are going to be really fun games. These are very busy months indeed…
But I’ve never had so much fun!
Tags: ARG, busy, Dreamspace, fun, Sleeper Cell, Superstruct, work
Apparently I won the Apple Prize.
“Congratulations, you have been selected to receive the Apple Prize from the School of Engineering and Design.”
Which is nice and unexpected. I’m looking forward to graduation on the 17th July, where I’ll be able to join with friends and colleague to celebrate our successes.
Tags: apple prize, Graduation, Marc McGinley, Multimedia
My Degree results came out on Friday (13th) in a spooky coincidence. As some of you will know, the number 13 featured heavily in the Project Ophiuchus ARG that I ran as my dissertation project. At the start, I slipped the number in wherever I could intentionally but towards the end of the game it kept popping up everywhere; my dissertation hand in date and the results date were two of the more coincidental occurings.
I’m not really supestitious, and that’s probably a good thing, since the number 13 has been quite the opposite to unlucky for me. I guess the months of hard work might’ve slightly lead to the obsession of the number, and more importantly the hard work seems to have paid off - I got a First Class Honours!
Thanks go to everybody involved with my dissertation. It wouldn’t have been possible without both the volume and participation of the players.
Expect to see some more ARGs soon! Oh and watch out for the number 13. It might be an important part of the seque!
Tags: BSc, degree, first class, Marc McGinley
I’ll be exhibiting my final year Alternate Reality Game based project at two seperate shows, so come and chat about games, multimedia or whatever…
Made In Brunel 10th-12th June (Stand E2)
New Designers 10th-13th July (Stand G14)
Hope to see you there!
Tags: ARG, exhibition, made in brunel, Marc McGinley, new designers, project, project ophiuchus
We’re proud to announce that we’re working on a top secret project as part of the Let’s change the game initiative and in conjunction with Cancer Research UK.
We’re very excited about this opportunity and hope that with the help of many players we can raise lots of money for Cancer Research UK.
Tags: ARG, Cancer Research UK, Law37, Marc McGinley