The XCOM ARG continues

"Home video depicting two citizens of Citizen Skywatch during Operation Emerald Vanguard in Boston on September 17th."




Via.

*Previously: Citizen Skywatch propaganda posters.

Link roundup

1. I can't believe so many longtime bloggers still don't know that infographics are created as linkspam to improve Google search results. (As I've mentioned before, I've been offered money to post them.)



2. BoingBoing interviewed William Gibson to celebrate the release of the Zero History paperback. Sample:

Do you have a "daily carry?" If so, what are the things in it?

A very thin, almost weightless wallet, made of a material called Kuben (which is sort of like Dyneema but less fancy-looking) deployed in front pocket. (I had a walletectomy for a back issue; back-pocket carry is murder on the back, plus much less secure.) A steel-cable Muji keyring with keys and a SwissTech Utili-Key 6-in-1 tool (which looks like a key). A Montblanc roller-pen from before they become a luxury brand (I found one on eBay after reading Hiroshi Fujiwara's fascinating book Personal Effects).


3. My understanding is that Mattel didn't sell remotely close to the minimum number of subscriptions that they supposedly needed to support a DC Universe club, but have nevertheless announced that they "found a way to make the program work."



4. Apparently the Deus Ex Human Revolution viral game is ongoing, but the moderators have had trouble finding an audience able/motivated enough to solve the puzzles.

Link roundup

1. Walter Russell Mead:

The looming struggle over water is not difficult to foresee. As China and South Asian countries use more and more water in urban development and agriculture, available resources will be intensely protected. China controls the vast Tibetan plateau, where most of South Asia’s rivers originate. Not only does China appropriate upstream resources, but pollution flows downstream, making what water downstream nations have available increasingly unsuitable for consumption or agriculture.

2. New Resident Evil ARG site and the site it takes you to.



3. Graphic design in the movie Moon.



4. Offline Gmail. (The only Chrome app other than Angry Birds that I've installed. Are there others worth installing?)



5. The latest nick and dent sale at TFAW (lots of comics and toys).



6. Tenacious Toys has Kidrobot Azteca Series 2 Dunny blind boxes on sale.

Citizen Skywatch propaganda posters

These are the Citizen Skywatch propaganda posters I mentioned the other day from the XCOM ARG. You can download a high-res pdf of the first poster here.



*Buy propaganda posters at eBay.

XCOM booth and ARG; Halo diorama at PAX

Photos of the XCOM display at PAX via Kotaku and 1up. Below is a video walkthrough of the booth and summary of the status of the ARG (there are some cool posters):







And also at PAX, a Halo diorama:







More photos here.

Citizen Skywatch booth at PAX

Claire Hummel on the XCOM promotion at PAX:

The Citizen Skywatch booth at PAX was fantastic- in character G-men interrogating you on any potential ties to communism? YES PLEASE.

(I've posted her art before, she has several prints on sale here.)



Here's a 20 minute demo of the game:







(The "home movie" ends in 90 seconds, and real gameplay starts at 8:30. The Tron-like, or maybe Lawnmower Man-like, alien is pretty cool.)

Citizen Skywatch ARG

As some of you guessed when I first mentioned it, Citizen Skywatch is an ARG promoting XCOM (not my favorite IP). There's going to be a live event at PAX.

Someone has been leaving mysterious miniature paper sculptures in various locations in Scotland

Someone has been leaving mysterious miniature paper sculptures in various locations in Scotland.

Halo 4 ARG?

Apparently, this is a new version of the I Love Bees ARG to promote Halo 4. Via. (Of course.)

Link roundup

1. Light-up papercraft castle in the clouds. Via.

2. A description of what happened at the Find the Future event at the New York Public Library.

3. New tiny sculpture by Slinkachu, who also has a book and poster on sale.

Link roundup

1. Todd McFarlane gives a video lesson on drawing hands and fingers.

2. Long article about the Portal 2 ARG. For example:

Even a player who chased after a red herring had a good story to tell. One guy got the idea in his head that he was supposed to find a clue at The Couch Potato, a furniture warehouse in Santa Cruz, California. Team Meat learned about this by monitoring the IRC channel, so Edmund McMillan of Super Meat Boy fame intercepted him at the warehouse and surprised him with a signed copy of Super Meat Boy.

And also:

The second big mistake we made was pulling the ARG champions away from their communities too early. Based on contributions in various games, on the fan wiki and in the IRC channels, we hand-selected a few individuals who had contributed disproportionately to the ARG and offered to fly them to Valve.

In order to give sufficient time to notify them and make travel arrangements, Valve contacted them a few days before the start of the crescendo. We didn't require them to sign any NDAs, but to maintain the fiction, we encouraged them to take a step back from the ARG and claim that they had been kidnapped by minions of GLaDOS.

We failed to realize just how influential these few individuals had been in keeping the ARG running like clockwork. The wiki stopped getting updated, leaving other players confused as to what was going on.

Via.

3. And speaking of ARGs, "Duff Goldman offers a lifetime of birthday cakes to anyone who finds his stolen Corvette." Via.

Link roundup

1. The latest Green Lantern trailer is a huge letdown after the last, masterfully-edited footage. I have a sinking feeling that the "Wonder-Con Footage" will be far better than the movie itself.

2. Speaking of, there's a Green Lantern ARG. Via.

3. A former GamesRadar writer:

When I was handed my first game to review, an amusement-park simulator called Thrillville: Off the Rails, an editor told me that if my final score diverged from the Metacritic mean by more than a given amount (I cannot remember if it was 20 or 30), I would have to justify myself to the executive editor.

What writer in his right mind would make more work for himself by writing a review that deviated from the established norm?

DC created a super hero costume tailor shop in the real world

As the video explains, Mr. Lee's Tailor shop was opened in Madrid to create costumes for super heroes and villains. It was a promotion dreamed up by Leo Burnett to advertise DC Universe Online.

*Buy DC Direct action figures at eBay.

More on the Valve ARG

The Valve ARG is mostly gibberish to me, but these two emails give a taste of the goings on. A short time ago, Valve employee Jeep Barnett (supposedly kindly) told players that they were going on a wild goose chase:



But a second email indicates he's been taken over by GLaDOS:



*Previously: The first 20 minutes of Portal 2.

Valve ARG continued

Updates continue at the Valve ARG.





*Preorder Portal 2 at Amazon.

More on the Valve ARG

Really enjoying watching people explore the Valve ARG.







Funny update:

10:06: The Bathysphere has been found to have nothing immediately relevant to the ARG in or around it. However, the warehouse it is located at has a Realtor Box on the door. This could simply mean that it is for rent or sale, or could perhaps hold significance for later.

*Buy Companion Cubes at eBay.

More on the Valve ARG

Here's a wiki devoted to the ARG, here's RPS's summary, and here's the Portal 2 prequel comic.

*Buy Companion Cubes at eBay.

Link roundup

1. io9:

The Isle Royale wolf population was founded in the late 1940s, and it's been under close scientific observation ever since. Researchers had assumed that the wolves were completely cut off from their relatives on the mainland, but in 1997 one wolf crossed over to the island using an ice bridge, and his arrival may go a long way to keep the population genetically viable.

2. And also from io9:

About 9,000 years ago, the Fuzhou Basin in southeastern China fell victim to rising sea levels, pushing underwater the marshy lands needed for rice farming. The marooned people there became seafarers, which eventually led to the colonization of Taiwan.

3. An ARG at Valve.

New ARG by Jane McGonigal for the New York Public Library

Find the Future is a new ARG by Jane McGonigal for the New York Public Library:

Starting May 21, 2011 anyone, anywhere in the world can play Find the Future -- by visiting the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building in New York City, or by logging into the game site at nypl.org/game.

But on the night of May 20, 2011, five hundred daring people will become the first in the world to play Find the Future. They’ll experience the overnight adventure of a lifetime, including the chance to stay at the Library from dusk ‘til dawn -- and explore its treasures as never before.

You could be one of the 500 to Write All Night. Here’s how.

Just imagine who you are ten years from now. What do you want for the world? What extraordinary goal do you want to achieve? When you have a vivid picture of your future, just fill in the blanks:

“In the year 2021, I will become the first person to
_________________________.”

Based on your creativity, originality and determination in completing Quest #1, we’ll pick 500 people to become the first in the world to play Find the Future -- and to stay overnight at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building in New York City.

The overnight game runs from 8 PM to 6 AM... and by sunrise, you’ll be an author.

The trailer is by Kiyash Monsef. Via.

Link roundup

1. An assertion that Detroit will soon close half its public schools, leading to 60+ kids in each class. (Schools in Los Angeles face a prospect nearly as dire.) Via.

2. Maybe it's just because I don't like brainteasers that much, or maybe it's because I haven't enjoyed a Spielberg movie in at least 10 years, but I find it a little hard to believe that people (as opposed to marketers pretending to be fans) have really spent so much effort deciphering clues about the JJ Abrams/Spielberg movie Super 8.

3. McDonald's inedible new oatmeal apparently contains more sugar than a Snickers bar.