ARGhhh!

When I was writing Digital Me, I had to stop myself including new things and ideas that seemed to pop up on the internet all the time thanks to some excellent blogs I'm subscribed to...

Throughout the last year, I've been stumbling on increasing mentions of ARGs or Alternate Reality Games, mainly through posts on Clickable Culture. ARGs are essentially participatory stories, which we access through layers of media simultaneously, eg, TV, newspaper ads, email etc. In a sense, I guess, they are guided versions of fan cultures, which have always extended, played with, and re-sited favourite shows. The internet has enabled fan cultures to thrive, through forums, fan/slash fiction, and often, in the case of ARGs it's hard to see where the fan culture and corporate product are seperated. I never took part in the Lost Experience, which placed elements of Lost in the real world, led by an online conspiracy theory that suggests that the Dharma initiative and the Hanso foundation are real. Over a period of 6 months, online and TV clues were seeded throughout the media, leading to answers to the meaning if the numbers. Dan Hill wrote an excellent article about it, Why Lost is Genuinely New Media, which describes the layers of participation in the programme and surrounding media.

I think we've always got involved in the wider stories in TV and film, for example, Doctor Who and Star Wars have long since had books and media set in the wider 'universe' of the story, and I remember ages ago some geeky friends of mine who would write, produce and film their own Doctor Who stories. The internet has enabled these communities to develop the stories further, and to create their own world in which the stories exist. It's like an over-developed version of water-cooler gossip, where we can all share our experiences of the shows we love. I think, as we prepare to lose the sense of communal experience that TV can offer as we move into an IPTV future, we potentially will need to create these spaces more. I remember when I first got e4, I didn't watch the Sopranos until it was repeated on terrestrial telly, because I wanted to talk about it with my non digital telly mates! It's a fairly obvious point, but it's not about the programme per se, but about a sense of community, something to talk about, something to oil the wheels of our social interactions. That's why spaces like Second Life and World of Warcraft are so popular, it's not just about the 'game' experience, but about the culture and community that grows around it.

IGDA have just released a white paper about ARGs which explain how they work, and why people play them. Although it focusses on a computer game centred view of ARGs, it's got lots of useful ideas and tips in it. It's easy to see the roots of ARGs all over the place, from Fantasty Football leagues and Celebdaq to the Lost Experience.

A few weeks ago, too there was an SL Future Salon podcast about alternate reality games which was really interesting, especially as the discussion opened up to wider ideas about what ARGs might be, and where they originated, at one point citing the cover art and freebies included with the release of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band as an example of ARG.

As I've been thinking about it more, I've been thinking about ARG as a perfect way of articulating 'convergent media'. Convergence has been a big buzzword that's been floating around for years and always seemed to be relating to the idea that I can watch a movie on my mobile as well as the telly, but I think it's become much more than that, it's become about the possiblity for participation and shared experience, through performance, telly, radio, blogs, games, whatever it takes to tell your story. And sometimes, it's not even obvious you're in an ARG, as the definition is so wooly (not a bad thing, either!). I'm working with John Newling at the moment on a project based around mystery stories in Preston Market. It's weird but exciting, as Preston is my home town, and it's been odd watching documentation of a huge piece of work on a market place that I spent too much of my youth hanging around on! Check out the website at www.lossofmystery.com...

I think this project has all the hallmarks of an ARG, but it's also coming from performance and visual art traditions. I'm thinking that ARG storytelling becomes a perfect stage for a 'theatre' built from all forms of media. I've been increasingly stumbling on links and ideas that seem to fit into the ARG framework, and I'm going to add them here as I go, and perhaps begin a new article for Digital Me, which tries to make sense of them. In the meantime, here's some links to good sites/articles about convergence and ARGs;

Clickable Culture - Tony Walsh's Blog.

Confessions of an Aca/Fan - Henry Jenkins' Blog.


In Real Life:
It's the last week of the shop in Nottingham next week, hence the picture above. It's a shame, because I've really enjoyed it, and it's so full of lovely things which I'm going to miss. I love sitting here listen to my Be Good Tanyas records and nattering with the customers, like an arty Arkwright. Oh well, movin' on... I hope Nicola is able to reopen the shop in Wales, cos it would be such a shame to just let it go. Oh, and I passed my MA with a distinction, which I think makes me clever now (scratches chin, adjusts mortar board). Steven is finally shooting his new film, 'Deliver Me', which promises to be a great lo-budget British horror, and is blogging his progress on his site - see Steve's blog on the sidebar. Read the whole lot if you can, it's a great story of how film-making works, and a great perspective on horror as a genre.