Alternate Reality Games, the Next Big Thing

There is a new type of gaming that is taking the gaming world by storm. It's called an Alternate Reality Game, or ARG. An ARG is a cross media type of game, meaning it uses sources online and off for players to play the game. Most of the games are free to play and are used to promote something else, such as a movie or even another game like Halo 3. These games use videos, audios, images, forums, blogs, and so much more. Many of the run for a certain amount of time, about a month before the release date of the promotional item. ARGs sometimes are affected by the players themselves, what they do, or even what they say. Hidden clues within the pictures, videos and other media forms lead to the answer and it's addicting to try and find those clues and answers. As with any game with many players there are moles and informants. This can make the game both fun and frustrating because you can spend too much time worrying about who is the mole. You met a bunch of different people throughout the games and some of the hardcore players set up chat rooms and forums to discuss and come up with ideas. Many players have been known to lose sleep, some lost jobs and a small few lose relationships because of the addictiveness of alternate reality games.