unfiction.com

Congratulations to Brooke Thompson for the in-game mention of her comprehensive Push, NV, site, the Push Diner, on the Push newspaper site, the Push Times. We are in awe of the amount of time Brooke has spent on providing this amazing resource to the ARG community free-of-charge. Way to go, Brooke!

Heads up, kiddies! Everyone's favorite 'zine is back with a spankin' new issue. Obviously, the first thing you'll want to do is check out the Pie (or the Strudel—whatever bakes your cookie, baby) in the Pastry section, but then I'm sure you'll be interested in the Hallowe'en doings that appear to be in store. Woo and boo! Can I get a "Hell, yea!" Who wants to win something special come October 27th?

Our buddy Steve Peters and his site ARGN.com got mentioned in an article about viral marketing on the LA Times Online today. The article tracks the rise of marketing shills on Internet message boards, and mentions the shenanigans that the Push, NV, producers pulled recently when they hired actors to portray the Push High School hockey team and infiltrate a taping of Good Morning America — without telling the producers of that show in advance.

Studios' Web 'Plants' Lead to an Ethical Thicket
By PATRICK GOLDSTEIN

Ever since Harry Knowles burst to prominence with Aintitcoolnews.com, the Internet has blossomed with hundreds of movie geek Web sites, each one crammed with its own oddball assortment of news, reviews and message boards devoted to "Star Wars," Quentin Tarantino and other pressing matters. For movie fans, the sites represent authentic participatory democracy — everyone's opinion or obsession carries equal weight. more

While this isn't an ARG, it looks interesting enough to have an overlap appeal to the ARG audience. The Game Neverending is being developed by a company called Ludicorp and, according to the website, is scheduled to begin alpha testing of the prototype this month. From the site:

The Game Neverending is a web-based massively multiplayer online game of social, political and economic interactions. It's pretty interesting.

Thanks to Stewart Butterfield and Eric Costello of the5k.org for the sideways tip-off via their email about changes in store for the estimable 5k.

I'm a little behind the curve on these, but TimeHunt is now fully active (and the website is absolutely gorgeous) and Second State has also opened registration to the subscription version of the beta-game that many ARGers came to love. Instead of getting all depressed and weepy about the lame ARGN news, why not get caught up in the adventure of a new game?