ARGs

My little personal geekery involves—to no one’s surprise—an intersection between writing and technology. This niche is known as the ARG, or alternate reality game. An alternate reality game is essentially a game where the narrative is very important, and it uses real world interactions to develop the story. Here’s a link to the Wikipedia entry definition for ARGs, which is surprisingly good.

Here’s how it works. You might see a curious looking billboard with a website address on it. You go to the website, enter some personal information, and receive an e-mail from an anonymous person. The e-mail gets you interested in a conspiracy being conducted by the government, and, suddenly, you’re spending a lot of time investigating this false corporation, who happens to have a real Facebook account. The whole experience challenges your very perception of what is real, and what is play. And play is important. Play defines so much of our identities. According to one researcher of ludology, Jane McGonigal, “Games are serious. Some people dismiss them as "pointless," but they are blind to the power of pointlessness. The power of games is in their intrinsic pleasure. The nature of games is not to point. The nature of games is to experience. And experiences can be extraordinarily powerful things” (McGonigal).

Okay, so it seems far fetched, but with the newer developments in technology, companies are trying to find new, more immersive, ways of telling a story to their audiences. The ways that they are going about telling those stories are amazingly creative. Remember, a book was new technology at one point. People reacted against the printing press and clutched their scrolls tightly, fighting progress. Likewise, film was also a new form of storytelling at one point, and it has changed our cultural worldviews. So, if you have ten minutes, can talk to your computer without seeming like a dork, and have a cell phone on you, try out an alternate reality game made for the upcoming movie, Eagle Eye, here. Enjoy!

McGonigal, Jane. "a minor statement on avant gaming." 18 August 2005. Avant Game. 26 September 2008. <http://avantgame.blogspot.com/2005/08/minor-statement-on-avant-gaming.html>.