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Xbox is teasing a Sunset Overdrive-related mystery
A tweet from the official Xbox account made earlier today seems to be hinting at something bigger than a television advertisement for the upcoming Sunset Overdrive. "On behalf of Fizz͊c͕o̳ ͐w̼e᷾'̪dͮ ̗ļi᷄k̚e̿ ̄t̐oͯ ͉a̮p᷁o͂logise for the █████ in our #SunsetOverdrive TV adver..." the tweet reads, linking to a TV spot for the game which is interrupted by a flashing screen showing Morse code. Translated, the Morse code reads "OVERCHARGEDRINK.COM404PAGE." Typing in the URL to a browser takes you to what at first appears to be a standard 404 page, but soon is distorted with a message from someone calling themselves "Floyd." His warning reads, "Hey! Quit staring at your damn screen and help us! Stuff's going down at Fizzco. I'm talking 'capital F Freaky'. When I started asking questions, the answers were less than friendly. I can't get any more dirt, but they've never seen your pretty face. So join me and together we can uncover the ugly, ugly truth. Floyd." A string of numbers at the top of the 404 page reads "9:20, 4:45, 5:76, 8:32, 1:73, 5:32, 8:80, 9:20, 1:31, 9:1, 6:60, 8:85, 4:100, 2:21, 6:79, 2:46, 9:31, 6:43." Aaaaaand that's as far as we've been able to figure out so far. Hopefully it doesn't end up being a mandate to "be sure to drink your Ovaltine Overcharge." Last time Microsoft pulled such a stunt, it ended with UK resident Brad Butcher winning an Xbox One, a copy of Titanfall and a swag bag of other goodies. We'll keep an eye out to see if this develops into something similar. In the meantime, happy hunting, conspiracy theorists. [Image: Insomniac Games]
The Goog wants to reintroduce you to its MMOARG Ingress
Remember Ingress, the Google/Niantic Labs augmented reality pseudo-MMO that ensured my husband's old commute home took twice as long every day because he really had to swing over to the park to take it from the smurfs? OK, maybe that's just my house. Google has put Ingress in headlines again this week with a brand-new tutorial video meant to introduce newcomers to the strangely addicting game. "Ingress is a giant game of capture the flag where you play a video game but in real life," declares a montage of whom we are left to assume are players. "Ingress is like FourSquare meets Geocaching meets giant game of Risk, where the board is like the surface of the earth." We've included the intro video below; the game is as always available for free on both the Apple and Android mobile stores. Go green team.
Xbox One UK ad hid augmented reality game, Titanfall-themed prizes
Remember that Xbox One ad full of mechs, soccer players, and Zachary Quinto? If you're a resident of the UK, you may also remember it for its strange, half-second image of a skull, a X-shaped symbol and a seemingly random string of letters. Xbox's UK division has unveiled just what was behind the mysterious imagery: an augmented reality game. You can take the red pill watch the reveal above. The augmented reality game (ARG for short) put forward a number of clues to be decoded, including a string of binary code, websites in Latin, images that needed to be rearranged and sound-based puzzles. The treasure hunt culminated in a grab-bag of Xbox One prizes, including the console itself, a Collector's Edition of Titanfall, and a VIP trip to the US. Said prizes were placed in an unmarked, white van in a secluded area, because nothing screams "come get your special prize" quite like an unmarked, white van in a secluded area. (We're relatively sure that part was staged considering winner Brad Butcher looks straight at a camera focusing on him, but still.) Congrats Brad! [Image: Microsoft]
MMObility: Google's Ingress shines light on the good and bad of ARGs
If you're turned on by augmented reality gaming or games that occur at least in some part within the real world, then you have probably heard about Google's latest experiment, Ingress. Google has been in the MMO game before. Years ago the company created a sort of social sandbox called Google Lively. It was a very interesting project, but its disappearance did not exactly fill me with confidence that Google could pull off another one. Still, this is one of the country's largest experimentation-driven companies with some of the smartest people and greatest access to information, so an ARG might just be the perfect fit. I was just given access to the current stage of the game; be aware that everything I talk about or show you is most likely going to change over time.
Introducing Ingress: The MMO by Google
Google has joined the MMO scene. The company revealed its new massively multiplayer online alternate reality game, Ingress, yesterday. Players of this new game will be able to capture and defend virtual control points known as portals, but they have to actually get themselves to the proper meatspace location in order to do so. According to the game's trailer, which you can check out just below the cut, scientists have unleashed havoc on the world in the form of a mysterious energy source that gathers around certain locations -- and it's up to players to choose a faction and try to set things straight. Ingress is currently in closed beta and available only to Android users at the moment. There are plans for an iOS version to come. You can sign up for a beta invite and get more details at the official site.
Ask Massively: You guys have strong opinions on gaming laptops edition
I really didn't expect the sheer volume of comments last week about getting or not getting a gaming laptop. That's my own fault for using a picture of a laptop as the header, I suppose. For the record, I bought a laptop, an Asus X54C as pictured above, to replace my netbook. Any games that I can run on that machine are essentially a bonus. I'm looking to replace my desktop, which is my preferred platform for gaming for several reasons. But I do appreciate all of the feedback! That was then, this is now, and now is all about a new set of answers in Ask Massively. This week, we're talking about the old standby of internet games, the games that were viral before "viral" was a thing: ARGs. If you've got a question for a future installment of the column, mail it to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments below. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.
Real Time Race promises to let you race against the pros, in real time
There's certainly no shortage of impressive augmented reality games around these days, but it doesn't look like the folks behind the so-called Real Time Race will have any trouble turning a few heads with theirs, at least if they can actually deliver as promised. Their basic idea is to make use of some Google Street View-like technology to create a virtual reproduction of an actual race track, and pair it with some real-time data as the race is happening to let anyone that wants to take part in the race from the comfort of their home. While the current state of things still seemingly leaves a bit to be desired (check the video at the link below), the folks behind the game say they could be ready to hold their first race sometime next year -- assuming they're able to line up all the necessary rights and broadcast issues, that is. In the meantime, you can take the non-real time demo version for a spin. [Thanks, Bryce D]
