ARG-guru Jane McGonigal has designed a new game for the 2008 Olympics, The Lost Ring.
At the moment it seems like a sort of collective-blogging/web 2.0-story-game.
We’re introduced to six characters. Ariadne, Markus, Noriko, MeiHui, Diego and Lucie. They all woke up in some form of labrynth with amnesia, some funky white fitness suit, white goggle that you can’t see through – blindfold and a funky tattoo on their arm which reads: Find the lost Ring in Esperanto.
I’m quite pleased that this is truly international. French, English, German, Spanish, Chinese and I think Japanese (I can’t be bothered to look up right now). I also like the way they use many different types and brands of web 2.0 media. I’m astonished by how much work they’ve put into it and how thorough they’ve been. I think Jane McGonigol’s genious is clearly evident.
Joseph DeLappe is an active artist protesting the war in Iraq.
On March 20th, the date of the US invasion of Iraq, DeLappe will enter America’s Army, peacefully.
America’s Army is an MMORPG designed by the US military which also functions as an active reqruiter. for the army.
He’ll be using the login name “dead-in-Iraq” and well…I’m almost tempted to download America’s Army to witness the action. But quite honestly, I’m not sure if that’s a good idea. Would I be supporting America’s Army or would I be supporting Joseph DeLappe?
“As of 1/17/08, I have input 3745 names. I intend to keep doing so until the end of this war. As of 1/17/08 there have been 3929 American service persons killed in Iraq” – Networked Performance
So he’ll be manually(!) writingthe name, age, service branch and date of death of each service person who has died to date in Iraq.
Does it all sound familiar? Well, it seems he started dead-in-iraq in 2006. It kinda gives you a perspective on matters when an artist repeats his protest 3 years in a row. That’s interesting.
I have to admit I’m feeling a tad sorry for the poor MMORPG players – I mean what are they suppossed to do? Hmmm – maybe they should join him somehow? Maybe he should invite them to. It would be lovely if someone documented the discussions this sparked in-world. It seems he doesn’t engage in any social conversation…well…who could blame him with 3745 US soldiers to memorialise.
It certainly made an impression on me. I think it would be cool if they could stream the protest but I worry about the privacy rights of the players.
Since we’ve become such a connected society, I’ve noticed that my idols are more local. They’re reachable, and I may even have talked to them. Maybe its my age, but my idols aren’t billionaires (well – at least I don’t think they are) or global popstars – instead my idols are nearby, within my reach and guess what? They’re all women! I thought about this a few months ago and thought I’d save writing about it until this womens day. As my little tribute.
First off – by idol I mean a person that truly inspires me. It’s a person I draw strength from. I don’t want to be this person, I’m quite happy with who I am. But these people help me to strive for things I really want to do. I feel inspired when I’m around them or reading/hearing their work.
Tomorrow I’m off to Gullstikken . It’s kinda an award ceremony for the best computer games of the year, well…that’s exactly what it is actually. From what I hear, its the best place to meet the whole Norwegian games industry in one place.
So I’m looking forward to seeing who’s out there.
I’m also going to a free information meeting about Datalagringsdirektivet on Friday. It’s about the EU directive of storage of personal information. I’m still quite confused about the whole thing, and I welcome a free meeting to inform me about what its all about.
Remember What The Dormouse Said 