Inspired brains never sleep
Sept.
30
You’re sitting in front of your computer and someone knocks at the door. They’ve got a pizza that you haven’t ordered but after some discussion you take it anyway.
Next to the pizza is a USB-stick loaded with a trashy film. You’re thrilled, it’s about a murder and in the background you see a tiny url, you go to the website and read the story about a little boy – he’s in danger. You Google his name and that’s when you get hooked…
This was the strategy used to launch an Alternative Reality Game in Germany. Designed to promote Das Kind (The Child) by Sebastian Fitzek. It used the plot of the novel’s prologue to bring the story to life. Sales were massive with the game as the only promotional channel. ARGs are sometimes called Pervasive Gaming or Immersive Games, distinguished by their mix of fiction and reality and the use of key phrases such as “This is not a game”. They do everything in their power to erase game boundaries – physical, temporal and social — and to obscure the fact that “this is play”. 42entertainment’s Jane McGonigal, one of the most famous Pervasive Game designers, describes the scenario as: “Pervasive play, consists of ‘mixed reality’, games that use mobile, ubiquitous and embedded digital technologies to create virtual playing fields in every day spaces”. In most games the community is asked to solve a problem – usually linked to a brand value. The tool it can use is the collective intelligence of the audience. To make the game experience real, a storyboard is written like for a movie. The characters are real too, you can chat online with them and sometimes they have phone numbers, they have Facebook profiles and blogs. During a game it is possible to meet them and help them. Classics of the genre include McDonald’s The Lost Ring for the Olympics, Microsoft’s I Love Bees and Audi’s The Art of the Heist. At their heart Pervasive Games are about engagement, convincing consumers that the game is real. Successful examples mix digital channels such as Twitter, social networks, applications and mobile with reality. It’s perfect integration designed to appeal to digital natives who are passionate about gaming. Pervasive Games are a fantastic means of bringing together new and innovative technologies under one consistent story, drive real engagement and build an incredible brand experience. It’s time to play.
