http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/kotaku.com.png http://kotaku.com/tag/arg http://kotaku.com/tag/arg

Looking for a new line of work? Do you know anything about the potential harmful effects of shady experimental drugs and mad scientist-level bioengineering? No? Then you sound perfect for the Umbrella Corporation. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5836183&view=rss&microfeed=true

The elaborate alternate reality game that served as a viral marketing device for Portal 2's release was not entirely devised by Valve. In fact, the developers of the 13 games of the "Potato Sack," the group of indie games central to the ARG's final resolution, say they were involved in the scheme's design from the beginning, with quite a bit of creative freedom over how it all played out. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5794642&view=rss&microfeed=true

With two titles "completed" in Valve's play-for-an-early-release stunt with Portal 2, GLaDOS says we've only shaved about 90 minutes off the scheduled release of 7 a.m. Tuesday. Several sites calculate that the effort is much further ahead than that. Like, between 16 and 18 hours as of writing. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5792764&view=rss&microfeed=true

Valve's vast potato-based conspiracy explodes today, as GLaDOS and Portal invade the thirteen games that were offered as part of Steam's indie game Potato Sack bundle. The horror! More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5791394&view=rss&microfeed=true

As of last Friday, April 1, Half-Life and Left 4 Dead developer Valve has been dropping cryptic clues in its own games (Team Fortress 2, Portal 2) and games made by others (Super Meat Boy, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, AudioSurf). The common thread? Potatoes. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5789131&view=rss&microfeed=true

In a slightly different reality Japan is a vassal state to the Greater Republic of Korea, much of the United States has become the New Korean Federation of Occupied America and I'm the shadowy figurehead of a seditious and violent anti-Korean movement. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5779700&view=rss&microfeed=true

James Marsden, the managing director of developer FuturLab, explains how a budding Flash developer managed to catch the eye and funding of Sony Computer Entertainment. Apparently the key lies in impressing the hell out of everyone, and LARPing. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5532638&view=rss&microfeed=true

Jane McGonigal believes in gamers, because they're trained to believe they can win. She's built an alternate-reality game to tap that confidence and channel it into good works benefiting gamers' communities, with the larger goal of fostering empowerment in Africa. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5483215&view=rss&microfeed=true

Mysterious LEGO pods are appearing around the globe, piloted by minifig pilots that may hold the key to a parallel universe. Only you and The Bradford Rant Institute of Cosmic Kinesis can solve this riddle. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5403220&view=rss&microfeed=true

Sony's PlayStation Home alternate reality game Xi is coming to a close, and the door to the story's dramatic conclusion now stands open for all. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5287151&view=rss&microfeed=true

The PlayStation Home alternate reality game Xi takes another step beyond the console as the shadowy corporate entity known as Veilcorp begins recruiting applicants in the New York and Los Angeles area. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5239094&view=rss&microfeed=true

The alternate reality game Xi, which has made PlayStation Home a much more interesting place over the past week and a half is now leaking into the real world. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5194426&view=rss&microfeed=true

There's much more to do in PlayStation Home than the Running Man today, as Sony launches the first console-based Alternate Reality Game, Xi. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5180675&view=rss&microfeed=true

Nokia's panel of experts has deliberated and ruminated on the subject of innovative mobile gaming and decided to award the top prize in the Mobile Games Innovation Challenge to Ghostwire. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5072544&view=rss&microfeed=true

And by non-pirate I mean it's chock full of pirates, but completely free of their colorful sound-offs. Instead this ARG is all about alternate reality gaming—that is, to say, a fancy ad campaign. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=317652&view=rss&microfeed=true

One of the goals of viral marketing is to draw your target audience into your game by making them feel like they are an active part of the story. Sometimes this can backfire, however, as was the case with Grand Rapids Community College student Michael VanderZand, who found himself unexpectedly caught up in the Halo 3 ARG Iris. When a gamer tag linked to the ARG contained digits that looked suspiciously like a phone number with the last three digital removed, fans began randomly calling phone numbers that coincided with the sequence...one of which belonged to VanderZand. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=270576&view=rss&microfeed=true

These come from deep in the bowels of Sony itself, via blindfolded carrier pigeon that's signed an NDA. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=206341&view=rss&microfeed=true

It's a quiet weekend out there as everyone preps for E3, packing bags, crates, beachwear and business cards. It's also unlikely those of you not going to E3 have torn yourselves away from Oblivion/WoW/Brain Age/Guild Wars: Factions/Lara Croft to actually notice things happening on TV (TV?), but after last week's episode of Lost, apparently there was a phone number to ring. And a clue. And this happened simultaenously in the UK and the US (and possibly also Australia), while we over here in Blighty are only on episode 2 of the second season while the 'mericans are like, totally nearly finished. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=172074&view=rss&microfeed=true The site for Playstation Portable game Syphon Filter Dark Mirror launched a few weeks back, but I just got around to checking it out. One of the cool features of the site are missions you have to complete. These are basically mini alternative reality games you have to figure out to unlock stuff buried in the site. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=164045&view=rss&microfeed=true

Titling this thing is really tricky - what the hell is it? As Andy Prandial says over at the Guardian this week, it's more like "a nightmarish future with a penchant for dramatic lighting." More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=138373&view=rss&microfeed=true

Got an odd email Friday night. It looks like it is about another Xbox 360-related viral marketing campaign is live. Here s the text and pictures: More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=131184&view=rss&microfeed=true