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.

Chris Aarons Leaves AMD

I'm a little late to the going-away party, but suffice it to say that I was thrilled when I heard that Chris Aarons was leaving AMD. Chris and I haven't worked together much (the HP TX1000 I currently have on loan was orchestrated by Chris), but the few conversations I've had with him proved to me that Chris is a man that "gets it" (to borrow Andru's wording).

Chris is starting his own "word of mouth" marketing company called "Buzz Corps". It sounds like a very exciting time for Chris, and he's going to be amazingly successful. I can't see how he won't. Companies need to understand that marketing changed into a collaborative process while they weren't looking, and no one can communicate that better than Chris. What's really funny is that it was one of Chris' "mistakes" (the free laptop debacle that was part of Vanishing Point) that proved both his own value and the message he was trying to send.

Congratulations, Chris, on the new adventure you're headed out on, and next time you're in Seattle, give me a ring!

How Do You Market to Enthusiasts?

In my conversations with Chris over at AMD, he's displayed a keen understanding of how you handle marketing to the enthusiast set. Traditional marketing techniques don't work when you're talking about a group that Malcolm Gladwell would call "Mavens". They're the people that HATE walking into retail stores, because they frequently know more about a product than the people selling them.

How do you market to groups that know more than you do? Simple ... you don't. You have to find different ways to get them involved, get them engaged. Most importantly, it's going to go against everything marketing students (like myself) learn in school. You can't plaster your brand all over it, or it'll be seen as cheesy and fake. The experience needs to be ultra-high-involvement in order to keep their attention. And it needs to get them talking to everyone about it, as Mavens are wont to do.

This was something he mentioned to me on the phone today, as he casually reminded me that I forgot to mention AMD's involvement in the game in my last post (which has since been rectified). One of the best ways a company can "manage" something like Vanishing Point is to simply get out of the way. If you're doing your job right and creating an immersive and engaging experience ... don't worry about it. They'll figure out you're behind it. They always do.

Speaking of Vanishing Point and AMD, my interview with Chris, and the rest of the video from GearLive is posted at The Bleeding Edge. Check it out!

By the way, you'll see some pretty cool ice sculptures in the video. Regardless of anything you might hear on the Internets ... I absolutely did NOT lick the ice Vista logo.

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. :)

Cingular Giving Away 18 mo. Service With iPhone?

Well, that's the rumor going around. And as a former wireless industry insider, I can tell you ... it just might be true.

First, there's been no mention of whether or not Cingular/AT&T is subsidizing the cost on the iPhone. If this story is true, than I would suspect that they are not, which allows them to give you "free" service to lock you into a contract. But here's the thing, they'll probably just give you the free basic phone service. Data? Messaging? Any other feature you'll want to make full use of the phone? Be prepared to pay.

Why do this? Well, the actual phone service isn't a high-margin deal for the "T" anyway. Data and text messages are far more profitable, so why not give away the phone service as a loss-leader?

Just wanted to throw that out there quickly. School is a bear this quarter, thus, my quietness. I'll probably blog a bit from the Vanishing Point event this weekend. I can live-blog it, so stay tuned! Maybe you'll even see stuff from the inside of the VIP party!

Another Week of Puzzles Come and Gone ...

Week 2 of Vanishing Point is here, and for some of us, already gone. Despite hiccups for Microsoft in delivering clues (they were written in the sky, and weather problems caused delays and cancellations), fans managed to crack some of the puzzles without needing the clues at all. There are some really smart people in this community!

Of course, the part that's really driving many of us is the "Meta Puzzle", the chance to win our names on an AMD processor. Unfortunately, those hopes stalled out today as we realized that it doesn't seem like we're going to get any further for at least a week if not two due to the nature of today's secret message in Loki's congratulatory video.

That's not to say that progress hasn't been made. So called "white boxes" were discovered in the first week that were linked to today's part of the meta puzzle, and people have been working furiously to find out what they mean. They're clearly related to the next step in the meta puzzle, but no one knows how ... yet.

Loki Identified

Vanishing Point continues, and while most people have been satisfied to finish the puzzles for the first week with the help of the Internet, many have moved on to the "Meta Puzzle", the winner of which will be immortalized on a new processor by AMD.

Interestingly enough, in the course of following Loki's clues, we've managed to uncover her "real identity".

Lorelei Kitsune ... we're on to you. And we're completely hooked. However, it appears the trail has gone cold, and the wait begins for next week, for more puzzles, and more clues ...

Vanishing Point Game is LIVE!

You can't solve any puzzles until 6:30 PM Pacific, but you can register for VanishingPoint and see the prizes. The game is point based, so you don't have to be first, you just have to be smart, and lucky. The only puzzle where speed counts is the "Meta Puzzle"; the first person to solve it gets their name laser inscribed on new AMD processors.

If you sign up for the game, and use me as a referral (superrob at gmail dot com), let me know. I'll add your name to the list below so people can get maximum referral credit in the game.

--

Referral List

Coming soon ...

I was right. Vanishing Point prize a trip into space, and more ...

If this photo by Long Zheng can be believed, then I was right with my gut reaction to Vanishing Point. The grand prize is indeed a trip into space. Read the last paragraph.

Other prizes apparently answer the part about being "immortalized", as the winner's name will end up in a computer chip. Maybe the chip in question is the new smaller processor for the Xbox 360? How could would that be?

Xbox 360 in 2007

I was debating going to CES this year, but after having heard that there wouldn't be a lot of innovation (evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, progress), I decided not to go.

Sure enough, sounds like Microsoft is having a big show, announcing IPTV support for the Xbox 360. Never mind that the video downloads are effectively the same thing, just not in real time, but there you have it. Would it get me to ditch DirecTV? Would it get me to get another 360 for the bedroom? These are questions Microsoft needs to be asking, because for all intents and purposes, this is the model you're looking at. Then again, it could be that Microsoft is hoping that IPTV providers will give away Xbox 360 units in exchange for programming contracts.

The elephant in the room with that announcement is the complete lack of mention regarding the "Xbox 360 2.0", the one that had pictures and specs floating around in the past week. HDMI, new HD scaler, and a 120GB hard drive. I could take or leave the rest, but the 120GB drive is absolutely necessary for the sort of features Microsoft is trying to pack into the white box. That leave the obvious question ... what about those of us with first-gen hardware? How do we get our data off the 20GB drive and onto the 120? Could the drives be stackable? Another question people might be pondering is, could a new Xbox 360 be quieter? Features aside, one of the biggest complaints about the Xbox 360 is the distracting fan noise coming from the console.

Surprisingly, outside of the announcement of new Gears of War content, all the news seemed to center on the stuff moving from the Xbox 360 over to Vista, Geometry Wars and Uno being notable examples. Even Gears is rumored to be hitting Vista, after some stray lines of code in an Nvidia graphic driver hinted as being optimized for the game. There's going to be a lot more Vista/360 crossing over as Live Anywhere starts to gain momentum. I'm just wondering if Microsoft will be keeping the promise of making Vista and/or mobile versions of the games free for anyone that purchased the game on 360 already.

Other Vista talk revolved around Gates announcing two specific features that would be released as part of the Windows Ultimate Extras. One, DreamScene, is essentially video on your desktop. Could this be the form that the "Desktop Aurora" will take? The other feature is specialized sports content for the Windows Media Center. No discussion at all of Texas Hold 'Em or any other features that were rumored to be part of the Extras.

Update: Yep, DreamScene is Desktop Aurora (or Motion Desktop), and the guys at Stardock are the ones behind it. Looks like it'll get a lot of community support at dream.wincustomize.com. I expect that "Matrix Desktop" will be available within the week. Also, the Extras page at WindowsUltimate.com specifically lists Hold 'Em.

Finally, Gates specifically mentioned the "secret meeting" at the Bellagio tonight at 6PM. If you needed any confirmation that this is when Vanishing Point officially kicks off, there you have it.

Note: Links coming soon ...

More Vanishing Point - Manifesto

Just when I thought that Loki would be taking time off until CES, she posts a video to YouTube. Putting "formula" into the box on the VanishingPointGame.com site yields a page full of colored numbers. Connect the dots for each color in numerical order and you get a bunch of letters, which rearrange into the word "MANIFESTO". Go to that directory, and you get the following:

Builders build. Writers write. Dancers dance.

I disappear.

In a few weeks, I will vanish. In the meantime, my job is to find—and reward—some of the cleverest people on the planet. Every week I will leave you twelve puzzles, ranging from easy to.....well, not so easy. Solving them earns you the chance to win some unbelievable prizes.

Impress me. This has been but a small taste of what I have in store for you. The real challenge starts both online and off when the countdown hits zero and the game begins.

Remember, countdowns usually end with a launch, and this will be a lift-off like the world has never seen.

The video is pretty cool. Most people think it was reversed at the beginning, but it looks like it was really reversed at the end. How did she do it? Looks like it was memory metal, near as I can tell.

New Vanishing Point Grand Prize Theory

There is one other "ultimate vista" that could pertain directly to the Windows Vista launch, and that would be a trip to see the Northern Lights ... the Aurora Borealis. Anyone who's familiar with Vista's beginnings and where things currently stand knows that Aurora was a codename for the animated Windows Vista desktop that is coming as part of the Windows Vista Ultimate Extras.

http://www.istartedsomething.com/20060906/aurora-desktop/

I don't know why it took me this long to put this together, but this is now what I'm leaning towards. Don't know if less than a thousand people have ever seen the Aurora, but I'd say this would be way easier for Microsoft to pull off than shooting someone into space.

Vanishing Point Roundup

Decompiled out of the Flash on the main page:

REMEMBER...
Big things come in big packages:
January 8th, 6:30PM, Bellagio Fountains.

From antepenultimate:

Getting to this page means you're paying attention.
Keep it up when the countdown hits zero and you could win high-end laptops, gaming computers, media centers, software, gaming consoles, media players, and games

From zenith:

The vanishing point is the boundary between Something and Everything; between What Is and What Can Be. Fewer than a thousand people have ever been there to see the ultimate vista. The grand prize winner will be one of them.

The race for that destiny will begin when the countdown hits zero.

From Loki's Biography

One of my professors didn’t buy my vanishing act. He called a friend in a certain large corporation. Now I have the job of giving stuff away to the smartest people on the planet.

When the countdown hits zero, we’ll find out if you’re one of them.

From file:

Here’s a riddle for you:

At the end of our journey together, I will be discovered—and I will disappear.

One person will find me at my vanishing point. I will make that person famous in a way the world has not seen before. Their name will be repeated as many times as there are stars in—

No. Let’s be more precise. That name will be repeated as many times as there are grains of sand on a beach. That’s my promise.

Your chance to be that person will start when the countdown hits zero.

Countdown timers for the various world events: Circumambulation. Seattle's event is at the end of January, but look ... three simultaneous events in Sydney, Miami, and Austin. Curiouser and curiouser.

Edit: Bah ... let my enthusiasm get the best of me for a little bit. The times and locations in on the Circumambulation page all coincide with Windows Vista launch events. Most likely, they'll be doing a massive giveaway at each event, similar to Microsoft giving away Sharp HDTV's at E3 a couple years back. There's obviously something much bigger than that planned, however, so I'm keeping an eye out. And I'll probably go to the Seattle launch, just for kicks.

Bloggers freak out over free laptops, missing big picture

So I'm insanely curious. Over the past several days, word of bloggers getting free laptops from Microsoft and AMD has lit the blogosphere on fire. Apparently if you got one and didn't disclose it, you're a dirty, filthy liar. Me, I'm wondering if there's a reason why they aren't disclosing it, and if it's at all related to the Vanishing Point game. Supposedly, letters from Loki are coming with them, and there's a couple of different groups of people ... encoders and decoders. We're supposed to be seeking out these people, but maybe some of them have a reason for remaining quiet for the time being. These bloggers are being recruited into the game and perhaps some of them don't even realize it.

That hasn't stopped people from grousing about the laptops and claiming bribery and unfair treatment with hardly a mention of the game they're connected to. Curious. Sure, they're "gifts" to help promote Windows Vista, but come on ... let's have a little fun with it.

I have managed to figure out part of the game, or at least, I think I have. A note from Loki suggests that the one winner will be immortalized, and will be one of less than a thousand people to see the Ultimate Vista. Of course, most people think this means that people will win Vista Ultimate. Suckers. I dug a little deeper, and noticed that one of the keycodes was "3scap3grav1ty" (escapegravity), and that the equations shown in a video provided by Loki look like calculations for Escape Velocity, which is the speed you need to achieve to break away from the Earth's gravitational pull and travel into space. Of course, it all ties into the idea of a Vanishing Point, which is the name of the game. Curiouser.

The only "ultimate vista" that less than a thousand people have seen is a view of Earth from outer space. Sounds like one lucky person will win a trip into space, probably to the International Space Station.

I wonder if the bloggers will freak out over this "bribe".

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.