Tag: ARG

“The Mark of the Spider-Man” ARG certainly lived up to its name. First some background: We told you earlier that this alternate reality game started with the delivery of a backpack containing the “personal effects” of Peter Parker, effects that led to a website, which in turn revealed six Twitter accounts that belonged to ARG operatives in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Denver, Phoenix and Seattle. That far-flung ARG team then tweeted five locations in each city — it was then up to the players to dash to be the first to arrive at one of those destinations. Those players who managed to arrive first (and provide a password that had also been tweeted) were handed a cellphone and a black hoodie with the “Mark of the Spider-Man” logo. I was part of the winning Los Angeles team, and later we each received calls on ...

Jay West is a guest writer on Hero Complex with a focus on toys, collectibles and fan culture. While being caught up with work at my computer last week, a friend accepted a Fed Ex package for me at my door. My friend, knowing that I’m a collector of movie-related collectibles, asked if I’d ordered some kind of vintage, movie tie-in lunchbox. I understood the question when I saw the battered metal box with the creaking hinged top. There was a letter inside with this message: Dear Jay West, We invite you to inspect these artifacts from Alcatraz. Over the next few months, we will be looking to you, and your audience, to help us uncover the mysteries of the island. Should your careful examination of the contents of this box lead you to any new discoveries, we urge you to share with ...

It’s such a fun time to be a movie fan if you happen to enjoy ARGs, puzzles, stunts and elaborate marketing campaigns that lead toward a film’s opening weekend like tasty bread crumbs in the forest-floor of digital pop culture. Here’s one now reaching crouton level:  Since February there has been a “coming soon” site on WRB.com with a shiny metal logo for a league sport called World Robot Boxing floating between two steel cables. If you Googled the term you’d quickly find articles and references to the upcoming Shawn Levy film “Real Steel,” which Hero Complex readers already know has the look of a film that might surprise people. This past weekend at the big gamer gathering called PAX East, attendees found some die-cut, paper gizmos that look like the remote controllers used in the trailer for the film. On the flip side of those ...