The Brandford Rant Institute of Cosmic Kinesis was founded in 1984 by inter-dimensional theorist Bradford Rant to study the possibility of intersecting alternate universes, and they may have finally hit pay dirt. They've been tracking mysterious LEGO pods that have been falling to Earth from origins unknown, apparently drawn to locations that contain a significant number of LEGO bricks and large amounts of imagination.

The scientists who maintain the Institute have set up a website to track the progress of their discoveries, having already posted a video documenting the discovery of the first pod, found in LEGOLAND Park in Denmark. That discovery only led to more questions. What are the mysterious words on the side of the pod? Why are the pilots so damn cheery? What does it all mean?

The next Pod is somewhere in North America. Can you help them find it?

This is obviously some sort of alternate reality game for some sort of LEGO product, and we've got a hunch that it could be for LEGO Universe, Net Devil's upcoming MMO. When you start talking LEGO and parallel universes, it's the logical conclusion to come to.

Visit the Bradford Rant Institute website yourself to see if you can help solve the mystery of the LEGO pod people.

After a couple of months worth of teases and mini-games, Xi is finally winding down. Now anyone, regardless of how much they've participated in the ARG, may enter the final door and experience...something. I don't want to spoil it for anyone. I'll just say that you should be expecting anything grand and glorious, and leave it at that.

Sony will be leaving Xi open for a few more weeks to allow players still interested in completing the game on their own to catch up. Just be warned...once you pass through the final door, the game is over, and there's no going back.

Xi: The Secret is Out! [PlayStation.Blog]

Little is known about Veilcorp other than the fact that they claim ownership of anything having to do with Xi, suggesting that anyone hunting for it is in violation of their corporate rights. At the Veilcorp website, visitors can fill out an aptitude test that measures their suitability for a position with the company, after which those that are available for an "interview" in the New York City and Los Angeles areas are then asked to fill out a form. My aptitude test suggested I was executive material, however since I am nowhere near those two locations I had to pass on step two.

According to the official rules, 10 applicants in each city will score an all-expenses paid limo ride to an undisclosed location, where they will be filmed for inclusion in the Xi ARG.

Those interested can head on over to Veilcorp.com, select their country, and then select the more info link to access the aptitude test. Those not interested should probably have stopped reading by now.

Who is Veilcorp? [PlayStation.Blog]

So far clues to the Xi puzzle have either appeared in PlayStation Home or on select websites, but now clues are starting to appear on billboards across the world. This video features Jess, the character at the heart of the whole Xi mystery. Supposedly one of the original testers of PlayStation Home, Jess has disappeared while working on a secret project, codenamed Xi. It shows a billboard with a link to the XIJess.com website, and then flashes a series of coordinates, the Videogamer.com website, what looks like a rail map, and various other things I am just too lazy to single out. I'm sure you folks are more than capable of extracting information from this video like bees taking pollen from flowers, spreading the love in the comments section while I enjoy a suspense-free sandwich.

Xi Has Moved into the Real World [PlayStation Blog]

Mysterious graffiti has shown up in the main square area of PlayStation Home, and looking at it gives you access to The Hub, where this whole new Alternate Reality Game pans out. I've only had a brief moment to look around, but so far there's a narrator who guides you around the hidden location, giving you tasks and slowly revealing more information as you explore.

I really wish they hadn't kicked this whole thing off at the beginning of Game Developers Conference week, because for the first time in months, I really, really want to be in PlayStation Home.

XI HAS BEGUN! [PlayStation.blog]

Ghostwire is a 'casual collection' game that uses your phone's camera to create a kind of Augmented Reality effect. You roam around the real world and use your phone to 'see' ghosts that you can then collect in a sort of Ghostbusters-meets-Pokémon affair. Some ghosts will set riddles, others will provide clues and have elaborate back stories that must be unraveled.

Swedish developer A Different Game receives €40,000 in prize money. The runners up were Rhythm/Action game Jadestone and conspiracy ARG Eclipse.

Scary ghost game wins Nokia innovation award [The Guardian]

If you head over to Sullivan's Stories you will find the ramblings of one of the upcoming PlayStation 3 game's main characters and, more importantly, a link to a Craigslist post showing an old Spanish map.

That's all I know for now, other than the fact that this is supposed to be—supposed to be—one of the hardest ARGs to come down the pipe to date. I just hope there's some sort of pay off at the end. So get to cracking and feel free to use the comments here to discuss your progress... or lack thereof.

Sullivan's Stories

Unfortunately for him, his phone message was pieced together from snippits of one of his favorite web programs, Red VS. Blue.

Starting last Wednesday he began receiving calls to his cell he didn't recognize. First a couple...then dozens...and now hundreds of phone calls from fans trying to decipher a secret message that doesn't exist. Messages posted to official and non-official forums alike stating that he is not part of the game have gone largely unheeded.

Luckily VanderZand is a big Halo fan with a healthy sense of humor, so he is taking the whole thing in stride, even going as far as to voice his disappointment over folks that don't talk to him when he actually answers the phone.

I even replied in a monotone voice "Are you calling about the Halo ARG?" and still some just hung up! How do you expect to get anywhere if you don't even have the balls to respond?

These come from deep in the bowels of Sony itself, via blindfolded carrier pigeon that's signed an NDA.

What the hell is it?! There are hints.

So I've attached some png's of the playbeyond site, it's currently just a graphic featuring the clock stopped at 3 but it will become something much more when it goes live. Yes this will be an ARG of sorts. That's all I can say for now... drop me a line in future and I might be able to tell you more.

Stay tuned, Kotaku Scouts. I'll be bringing you updates when I can. Hit the jump to see them all full size. Eliza Gauger

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.

Curious!

I didn't see this ad (thanks, WoW) and so have little to point at bar the website for the game, and the report on ARGN. Are any of you playing this?

The Lost Experience [ARGN]

So far only Mission One is available, but it's kinda cool. Here's the chatter:

The agency suspects that a para-military group called Red Section has taken over the operations of an American government contractor called KemSynth Enterprises.

Your mission will be to infiltrate KemSynth Enterprises from the inside: go to KemSyth's career page and discover how their hiring process works. See if you can get a contact name from their Human Resources department and report back the name of your contact to the Deputy Chief of Operations. Teresa Lipan.

If you succeed and enter the correct info the site unlocks behind the scenes footage. Pretty cool.

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror [Official Site]

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."

Or, we stick with their other alternive: immersive, interactive game. Just not videogame per se:

The game then becomes fully immersive, with a wonderful level of detail. Each of the more than 20 rooms has its own theme, and the adrenaline pumps hard as you explore the space - shooting down slides, climbing ladders or diving into a pit of small plastic balls. Sometimes it is like a giant adventure playground for adults.

How cool does that sound! Mass Kotaku trip to Madrid, then?

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:

For the past week, a mysterious sign has been spontaneously appearing in real-world locations around the country.

The sign is a puzzle, and it is a promise: "I will bring them together to witness the New Beginning before the rest of the world. And I will reward them with a physical manifestation of the power of this sign."

In the past week, the sign and related messages have been spotted:

...as monster-sized sand circle on the beaches of San Francisco

...as a giant crop circle in Tulsa, Oklahoma

...on the side of trucks driving throughout the U.S.

...on movie theater marquees in Seattle and San Francisco

...projected onto buildings in Los Angeles

...on street corners in New York City

...interrupting MTV broadcasts

The attached photos have not been altered or doctored in any way. The sign is real, and it is out there.

The email went on to say that there will be more appearances of the sign today on football fields across the country at these games:

Duke University vs. Georgia Tech (Durham, NC)
Syracuse University vs. Rutgers (Syracuse, NY)
Rice University vs. Tulsa (Tulsa, OK)
Connecticut vs. University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH)

The whole thing will make sense on Oct. 18 and the truly committed will have their chance to experience the New Beginning before the rest of the world.

The challenge, the email goes on to say, is for Kotaku readers to solve the puzzle first.

The email s subject line, by the way, was TIP: the beginning is nigh for 360 fans . So get cracking and start using our new-fangled comments section to help me figure this out.

Hex 168 [The Site]