I still have to come up with a good title..

“..Update, Six!“

Well, the timer on MissionIceFly reached 0! Since that moment, a new stage of the ARG got unlocked, MissionIceFly/rescue.

This page contained a video, initially obfuscated, that became clearer (at least visually and sonically) once iceflies were retrieved in the previously mentioned locations.

The retrieved iceflies blinked for some time, in a sequence identified as Morse code. Unfortunately only few people seemed to be able to write down the sequence, and I haven’t come across yet to anybody having translated the complete message. Those who got part of the message seem to agree on the “.COM” end of it, which suggests we are dealing with a URL (probably “survivalcode.com“). This URL in fact appeared also in the video for a couple of frames, once all the iceflies were retrieved.

SurvivalCode.com prepares the next stage of the game. A video gives more texture to the whole experience, and characters become more defined.

You are then redirected to a small flash movie that sees you approaching the entrance of a facility. You are not granted access to this building yet, as a timer counts down to the moment in which I guess the door will open. Reaching this point unlocks a set of log files in your profile page, in the form of pieces of concept art.

Another interesting detail: In the profile page there’s an image that seem to be a QR code. I initially tried to decode it, unsuccessfully.

The structure of the page makes me believe that we are dealing with only a section of the code itself, which will be unveiled later in the experience. What we are seeing now is only 1/9th of the code, hence the fact that we can’t decode it yet. Moreover, this fragment of the code seem to be the same for all users.

If you are not already, you should definitely follow the #missionicefly hashtag. Quite a lot of updates in there!

UPDATE:

..as @eolith pointed out, one of the log files mentions the “Traelek Institute“, which happens to own a site. On the footer of its homepage we can find a phone number, which he suggests to call.

Also three other valid subdirectories were found (even if I don’t know exactly how):

• http://traelekinstitute.com/misguided/
• http://traelekinstitute.com/ascent/
• http://www.traelekinstitute.com/blameless/

..and a new one I just found googling “site:traelekinstitute.com”..

• http://www.traelekinstitute.com/decoy/

This is definitely a legit lead.

UPDATE 2:

Here the transcription of the prerecorded message that met those who called the above mentioned number:

source

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..Remember Reach?

Here we go again! While Halo 4 is still being developed, a new prerelease marketing campaign seems to be in its very infant stage.

Reports from multiple sources seem to associate a new mysterious site (called TestSubjectNeeded) to the creators of ILoveBees, the great Alternate Reality Game campaign that served as viral marketing for the release of Halo 2. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, this will give you a clue.

Anyway, on TestSubjectsNeeded you are asked to volunteer for “unconventional experiments” at the Human Preservation Project. Hints about sensory enhancement make me think about the Spartan augmentation programs, but we will see what is this all about..!

But participating to this initial evaluation test will not allow you to get to know about the mission of the Human Preservation Project. I guess it’s one of those “you will be hearing from us” internship application thingies..

After the test you are encouraged to create a badge representing your “cognitive landscape”, and to register in order to submit it to the system.

Another interesting detail consists in the fact that if you click on that bug logo on the top-left of the screen you will be redirected to MissionIcefly, a different site providing a countdown, a list of cities and the promise that when the count will be over, volunteers will be asked to follow “a signal” in one of those cities listed.

A clickable box links to this video, whatever its meaning might be:

In conclusion, what do we have?

No idea. I guess the Human Preservation Project is related to Dr Hasley’s SPARTAN-2 biological augmentation program, but more than that, no clue!

I’m looking forward to see what’s gonna happen 23 hours from now, when the countdown will reach 0..

Read more at:

• DeviceMag.com: New Alternate Reality Game Halo 4 Related?
• GameSetWatch.com: Halo 4 Prompts ILoveBees Part 2
• StrategyInformer.com: Human Preservation Project = I Love Bees 2.0?

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..It’s time for Daddy to make some funny!

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via sirmitchell.tumblr.com

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via ibelieveinadv.com

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Once in a while I come across different Guerrilla Marketing campaigns that I find incredibly creative and eye-catching..

Well, this article lists some sticker-based advertising campaigns, some known and some new, which I would highly recommend to check out..!

http://www.petewong.hk/creative-uses-of-stickers-in-advertising/

Read the rest of this entry »

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The other day we were eating pistachios in the kitchen. Eating made us talk, Talking made us talk about religion.

Long story short, there was a quick exchange of lines and an idea sparkling to life..
“How about a virtual confessional, where to confess your sins and mechanically unburden your conscience after being forgiven by God?!”

That happened yesterday night. Tonight instead I’m ready to roll, with a nice jQuery based ad-hoc microsite.

And yea, after all the effort of building the system, and the even bigger effort to come up with realistic “priest-talk”, why not to use this for any purpose more remunerative than just a good laugh..? (the good laugh was the only reason thus then.)

Exactly, right what you are thinking! Selling a television.

So yea, let’s see how it goes. Tomorrow I’ll be putting fliers in both entrances, with those funky vintage pieces of papers linking to the application..

..and now GO, and rinse your soul!

http://www.lucsali.com/wtf/confessional/

See also: Trying it the Guerrilla Way

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Remember Reach, this is the name of the campaign that will market the release of the latest Bungie’s game, Halo Reach.

In the past I read about “I Love Bees“, an award winning viral marketing campaign and Alternate Reality Game that promoted the release of Halo 2.
I was expecting something big, some really cool idea. I am not disappointed.

I found the site of the campaign querying Google for “remember reach”. It was a bit of subconscious: That is the last sentence of one of the trailers previously posted, and I wasn’t expecting to come across anything particularly new.
First result, rememberreach.org. Not the original Halo Reach pages from the developers, pages that I visited days ago. It doesn’t even show up in the first page of result when trying to Google “Halo Reach”.
So yea, curious site. A funny robot arm, 5 Halo characters represented as dotted silhouettes, a couple of trailers.
And then this mysterious ”Add your point of light” button, unusable for those not having a Facebook account (like me! wohoo!).

Ok, it took me some time to realize it, but practically by pressing that button you log into Facebook and then you are given the possibility to add your “point of light” to the main picture.
I guess that initially that picture was blank, with only the five luminous sparks marking the navigation across the different characters biographies.
Click after click, facebook login after facebook login (I guess there must be some viral element in there), the points of light begin to mark a recognizable shape, a distinguishable silhouette, that of a monument to the Noble Team, the main characters of the game.

I love the idea that every user contribution helps creating this collective experience, developed in a way that can be witnessed live.
A simple but monumental idea, that will for sure be talked about by core gamers and not.

The “points of light” in fact are positioned by a robotic arm, which seems to be (for what I read on dedicated forums) displayed via a live feed of an actual robot, that is probably piloted by the coordinates chosen by each user when placing their points.
Quoting a post that I read afterwards, “the monument IS literally being constructed by us, the users“.

I find this campaign really thrilling (i was ecstatic when I found out about the “points of light” collective experience) and I encourage you to visit the site to discover the rest of the goodies, and see them in action..!
Here the link to the site of the Remember Reach campaign.

Read more:

• Halo Reach

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The dilemma of whether the glass of water is half full or half empty is everlasting and absolute.

Confused by this consideration, it is normal to expect people to loose control over their actions, get stunned and leave the kitchen forgetting another glass of water around.

It feels like living in the cave of Superman, surrounded by crystal glasses. You have to pay attention not to raise your voice too much or there is the risk of having them suddenly exploding, resulting in a deadly waterfall of shiny particles.

..we tried to take care of this matter in various ways.. it was time to try it the guerrilla way.

Read more about the Kitchen of Wonders:

• Trying it the Guerrilla way
• Beware! The microwave of Death

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I just read an article on DigitalBuzzBlog.com about this advergame, and even if initially I was a bit skeptical about it, I’ll have to agree with the authors of that article: This is a real interesting game, for a number of reasons.

First of all, here what we are talking about..

56 Sage Street is an advergame developed for Barclays Bank.

It’s main goal is to improve teenagers’ understanding of banking and educate them about direct debits, loans, statements, fraud avoidance and general money management.

The game itself is a mixture between the money management aspects of Sim City, and a rich storytelling layer that reminds of a Grand Theft Auto kinda thing. Read the rest of this entry »

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