News - Halo 2 Alternate Reality Game
Posted by
Ian Pueschel
at 08:44:39 AM EST on 7.28.2004.
As so many have already pointed out, seen for a splint second at the end of the
Halo 2 theatrical trailer is the URL '
ilovebees.com', a website that is (or was) about bee keeping and honey making but has now been hacked or more accurately, infected. Interestingly enough, there are numerous reports that several people have received jars of 'Margaret's Honey' with cut up letters inside that when assembled spell out 'i love bees.' Among the people who have received this gift are Electronic Gaming Monthly editors and, this is the important part, several prominent members of the Alternate Reality Game community.
What's an Alterate Reality Game (ARG), you ask?
"Alternate Reality Gaming: A genre of interactive fiction using multiple delivery and communications media, including television, radio, newspapers, Internet, email, SMS, telephone, voicemail, and postal service. Gaming is typically comprised of a secret group of PuppetMasters who author, manipulate, and otherwise control the storyline, related scenarios, and puzzles and a public group of players, the collective detective that attempts to solve the puzzles and thereby win the furtherance of the story." -
unfiction.com glossary
Both
Microsoft and
Bungie have experience in this genre of web entertainment, Microsoft having been heavily involved in an ARG called The Beast which was centered around the Steven Spielberg film
A.I., and
Bungie has been known to send some very interesting emails to the webmasters of it's fansites, among other things. Needless to say both companies and doubtlessly some very talented writers have cooked up this elaborate little mystery for
Halo fans and amateur web sleuths alike.
Those interested in playing the game or learning a part of
Halo's elaborate backstory luckily enough have several resources at their disposal.
unfiction.com - The current hub of mystery solving. The ilovebee's mystery is under 'The Haunted Apiary.' Be courteous and read the rules before posting, lest you be smote with a trout.
NetninjaBeeWiki - A Wiki dedicated to cataloging the extensive information 'leaking' out of ilovebees.com. Contains a summary of the story so far and a quickstart guide for those just getting into the game.
Halo Story Page - A fansite dedicated to deciphering the ongoing plot in the Halo games, novels, and soon I'm sure, ARGs. Contains volumes of intelligent speculation regarding the Halo universe.
Marathon Story Page - Another website dedicated to unraveling the mysteries present in another game series of
Bungie's, Marathon. Notable for the 'Cortana Letters', one of
Bungie's similar ARG exploits. Sent out in 1999, the letters were from the Cortana A.I. that accompanies Master Chief in
Halo.
For those of you still unconvinced that this bee website is nothing more than a simple way to create 'buzz', consider that those currently going over
ilovebees.com with a fine tooth comb have uncovered numerous hidden messages in the source code, images, and sound files of the website, and even in the outgoing voice mail message of the webmaster. This is clearly a very, very elaborate way to create buzz.
We'll keep you updated, particularly in 13 days when the medium metastasizes, and on August 24th for the wide awake and physical.
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