Flatland
There is a relatively new genre of games out there are called alternate reality games and according to Wikipedia they take place half in the virtual world and half in the "real world". One of the more popular ones in recent history was "I love Bees", a promotional ARG for Halo 2. ARGs do not have to take place over a means of communication as Wikipedia might have readers believe. Some are held in locations, using pre-existing structures as game pieces, as in the case of the Graveyard Games.
I find alternate reality games to be intriguing mostly because their playing ground is metatechnical (no, metatechnical is not a word). By this I mean, they are generally organized across the same medium as a video game (the internet), but are executed in real time without need for code or models or a client. This differentiates ARGs in two very important ways:
1.) Components of ARGs must occur at a set time and their occurance will always lead to a widespread change for all of the players involved. Compare this to a video game, where something happening on one client has no affect on another. Or, in the case of a multiplayer game, instances are created and removed time and time again with little static consequence.
2.) ARG's players are aware of a seperate reality outside of the norm, yet contained within it. Video games are often thought of as a fake reality. Generally the virtual world and the physical world are considered seperate from one another, though that is certainly not the case. ARGs have the unique opportunity of turning the "real" world into a game. Players who participate in the game live in a collective seperate reality from those that do not participate. They are sharing in a real experience with real people, rather than a virtual experience with avatars.
I believe games would do well to incorporate more ARG structures. At present most games reward players with virtual items that are only connected to the "real world" by some monetary value other players within that virtual system might place on them. Furthermore, most game's puzzles are contained entirely within the game world. All of the keys to unlock a dungeon, for example, are present somewhere in the virtual landscape. Introducing an ARG element would make the player stop for a while and realize that the game they are playing is reflected in the world around them.
No thoughts yet on specifics of how to better incorporate ARGs into video games, but I believe there is some potential there.
I find alternate reality games to be intriguing mostly because their playing ground is metatechnical (no, metatechnical is not a word). By this I mean, they are generally organized across the same medium as a video game (the internet), but are executed in real time without need for code or models or a client. This differentiates ARGs in two very important ways:
1.) Components of ARGs must occur at a set time and their occurance will always lead to a widespread change for all of the players involved. Compare this to a video game, where something happening on one client has no affect on another. Or, in the case of a multiplayer game, instances are created and removed time and time again with little static consequence.
2.) ARG's players are aware of a seperate reality outside of the norm, yet contained within it. Video games are often thought of as a fake reality. Generally the virtual world and the physical world are considered seperate from one another, though that is certainly not the case. ARGs have the unique opportunity of turning the "real" world into a game. Players who participate in the game live in a collective seperate reality from those that do not participate. They are sharing in a real experience with real people, rather than a virtual experience with avatars.
I believe games would do well to incorporate more ARG structures. At present most games reward players with virtual items that are only connected to the "real world" by some monetary value other players within that virtual system might place on them. Furthermore, most game's puzzles are contained entirely within the game world. All of the keys to unlock a dungeon, for example, are present somewhere in the virtual landscape. Introducing an ARG element would make the player stop for a while and realize that the game they are playing is reflected in the world around them.
No thoughts yet on specifics of how to better incorporate ARGs into video games, but I believe there is some potential there.
posted by Ransome | 7:58 PM
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