What's 42 Up To Now?

I've wondered what sort of project 42 Entertainment might come up with after Vanishing Point to capture my attention as firmly as they have in the past. As it turns out, I had stumbled upon some of their work without even realizing it.

As it turns out, they've been commissioned by Warner Bros. to do some of the viral marketing work for the upcoming Batman sequel The Dark Knight. The recent reveal of the new look for The Joker, as well as a recent hint at news in December has been tied back to 42. It doesn't appear that a real game will be incorporated, but who knows, since the next website was only registered a day or two ago.

It also appears that they collaborated with Trent Reznor for the Year Zero alternate reality game promoting the new Nine Inch Nails album. They're pretty busy over there.

Vanishing Point, LOKI Revealed ...

Just got the final contact from L.O.K.I. I'll let you read it for yourself. But it doesn't look like AMD will be making a "SuperRob" Athlon any time soon. Pity.

Congratulations on a game well played, and thank you for helping us disappear.

You were not the first to guess our identity, but because you played our game, we want to tell you our secret.

There is no such person as Loki - or rather, she is four sisters who decided to be one extraordinary person.

Each of us has a unique talent:

Lorelei is our tinkerer. Clocks and counting, space and time: she is our genius.

Odessa is our performer, our actress and magician, the girl we send in to dazzle and charm. Odessa goes to meetings: Loki gets promoted. It's very convenient.

Kara is our reader. With a love of history and a photographic memory, she gives us access to any fact, figure, or event at a moment's notice.

Ivy is our spy. She's the girl you dont notice, the face you don't remember, and vanishing is what she does best. Ivy has gotten us out of more than one impossible situation.

Together, we have presented L.O.K.I. to the world. Our mask and super-hero, LOKI has allowed us each to be bigger than ourselves.

When we heard Microsoft and AMD were looking to give extraordinary prizes to exceptional people, we knew LOKI could never find a more perfect job. This, Odessa said, would be a trick we could never top. O, how we wanted this job! (And what clever, unfair, underhanded things we did to the other applicants to make sure we got it! But that's another story.) And once we got the job, we all agreed that Loki's greatest triumph would be her last.

We created the Vanishing Point to reward the smartest minds (and communities) on the planet - and still we underestimated you. We used our smarts and our guile, not to mention money and connections and countless hours of time - and still you humbled us. We knew the terrain and barely gave you a mapand that didn't stop you. We built puzzles that should have taken you days and you solved them in hours.

"Loki" is a genius: but you were far more brilliant. You were thought made fire. You were lightning.

Thank you for your work, your talent, and your dedication. It has been a privilege to witness: an honor and a delight.

For each of us to live, Loki had to die. Thank you, thank you beyond words for taking her to the Vanishing Point.

Lorelei
Odessa
Kara
Ivy

I will say that I'm stunned at the level of detail woven into the game. In retrospect, everything makes sense. Even back to the very first video, the clues were there. The candy wrappers on the table that were assumed to be an homage to 4orty2wo Entertainment were actually a clue after all. Six total chocolates, but only four eaten, all of different flavors. I also love that the game had a great payoff, not in terms of the prizes, but a satisfying ending delivered in a personal manner. Something that even games you pay for frequently get wrong. You're asking someone to do more than pay for the privilege of playing your game ... you're asking them to devote time and attention to existing in your world for a time, and that's not something you should take lightly. Companies like EA don't get that. AMD, on the other hand ... does.

The website now hints at a "sequel", but much like their other efforts for Microsoft, I'd be willing to bet that it'll be a new game for another major launch, mostly likely for Halo 3.

Vanishing Point Goes Out With a Bang

Well, the live-blogging didn't go as I expected. It never works when I want it to. Oh well.

Microsoft threw what they told outsiders was a "Thank You, Seattle" event, and what the rest of us knew was the finale for Vanishing Point. They were easily some of the most spectacular fireworks I've ever seen, enhanced by the speculation of how the clues were imbedded in the display. After the show, Microsoft shuttled us off all Secret Squirrel-like (the busses had the windows covered in butcher paper) to Fremont Studios, where they had a relatively lavish party for the community. Plenty of laptops running Vista were on display, including one that not many people noticed ... a limited edition ASUS Tablet with a light-up Vista logo in the lid. Oh, it was a pretty, pretty machine, and I'd kill to get one.

While most of the party goers wandered the location convinced that there were more clues to be had, I took the opportunity to talk with some of the people involved with putting on the game. One of whom was Chris Aarons, the head of AMD's Community Relations department. We had a great conversation, and he's definitely someone what understands that technology buzz can be managed at a grass roots level. Eventually the conversation diverged into creating personalized experiences for consumers who are spending large sums of money on products. Why doesn't Porsche put a nameplate on the dash of their high-end cars that says that the car was designed specifically for the buyer? Why doesn't Dell do is on the high-end XPS products? It's low-cost and goes a long way towards building customer relationships as well as satisfaction and advocacy. Speaking of advocacy ... hey Chris, do you know where I can get one of those ASUS Tablets?! :)

Of course, before the in-depth marketing conversation with Chris, I was goaded by my buddy Andru into interviewing Chris on camera for The Bleeding Edge, where I asked Chris about Vanishing Point and the inscribed AMD chip prize. If I win, watch out for the special edition AMD Athlon 64 FX "SuperRob Edition" processor ... coming to a box near you!

When I got home, there were still puzzles to be solved, and the Neowin and Unfiction communities banded together again to break them down. Less than 24 hours later, we're headed down the road to immortality, but to get there, we have to figure out what Loki's name is. Didn't I already do that? Not exactly ... see, Loki isn't one person. She's FOUR distinct people, and you have to find the names of all of them. First person with the right answer wins.

What was my guess? Based on the clues given, I'm certain that the first three names are Lorelei, Odessa, and Kara. The last is somewhat murky, but I submitted Irene as my official answer sometime around 1PM Pacific. We'll see what happens. Regardless, I have over 1300 entries for the contest, so there's still the possibility that I'll be headed into space sometime in 2009. Either way, I'll have the distinction of being the first person to have figured out the prize, and that Loki was more than one person (though I thought she was twins).

My hat's off to the amazing and talented people at 4orty2wo that put together this fabulous contest for Microsoft. I can't wait to see what they do next.

Edit: Turns out that the final name was "Ivy", but I figured it out too late. Despite the website saying different, the winner was notified immediately. Also, they added clues after the fact, which I didn't know until it was too late. Somewhat unfair, really, but I'll live. :)

I wanna be famous!

Microsoft and 4orty2wo are doing another viral game, this one seemingly promising lavish prizes and global fame for at least one person. While it looks like things really start kicking off during CES, there's an event planned for Seattle at the end of January.

Bloggers are receiving mysterious gifts, from small items like puzzle boxes containing memory cards with more clues, all the way up to tricked out customized laptops running Windows Vista (which is what this new alternate reality game is supposed to be promoting). Apparently, I'm not on the A-list, as I haven't gotten anything ... yet.

This sounds like it'll be fun ... hey Loki! I'm in.