Urban Hunt - Another Alternate Reality Game?

An anonymous reader writes "Mysterious murders in an abandoned mental hospital, a strange device that reads and records people's dreams, poetry written by dead people, and a reality TV show production company that has pushed the envelope too far and may have a dark secret they are desperately trying to protect. Just what the hell is going on here? It started when "Casting Call" notices for a new reality TV show called "Urban Hunt" began showing up on several popular reality TV fan sites. A secret message encoded into the autoresponder applicants received led to a urban legends website which featured a story about a failed reality TV show called "Dread House" supposedly set in an abandoned mental institution. This appears, on the surface, to be another Alternate Reality Game like the notable and previously Slashdot-mentioned ilovebees Halo 2 ARG, but there are elements that make this game possibly the most realistic and believable yet. So, is it even a game at all? Help us try to get to the truth at the Unfiction forum and game-specific Wiki set up to discuss the conundrum."

Too scary for Slashdot

[pyrrhonist]

Wow, and hour later and only two posts. Apparently this topic is too scary for Slashdot. Then again, maybe it's just not Stuff that matters.

Re:Too scary for Slashdot

[Methuseus]

It's more like the average slashdotter doesn't have the games topics on the front page. I know I had to specially enable it for me. And I also know most people are too lazy or don't care enough to do this.

Possible spoilers...

[angryflute]

I've been poking around this for a while. This is an elaborate mystery game that is unfolding across a couple of hoax web pages.

The plot, from what I've gathered, has something to do with an abandoned mental hospital where patiens were experimented on. The experiments had something to do with dreams. There's also an underground sewage network beneath the hospital that seems to factor into this tale.

The website for the fake TV reality show production company appears to serve as the launch point for this game, as well as offering subtle, hidden clues. But other than for these things, the site itself and the other two reality shows it describes are probably red herrings.

Re:Possible spoilers...

[ElectricInkPen]

A quick WHOIS lookup of urbanmythology.net, dreadhouse.com, and urbanhunt.com show all three sites being registered to the same company, "Domains by Proxy" through the same service, "GoDaddy." Dreadhouse on 12-May-03, UrbanMythology on 01-Sep-03, and UrbanHunt on 31-Jan-04.

hmmm

[XO]

I'm thinking this is going to turn out to be some sort of version of that mystery game that EA did that played in real life.. hmm..

YAWBAB

[wowbagger]

Yet Another Web Based Advertising Blitz.

Come on Simon! An anonymous user submits a story about how strange postings on the 'Net may be part of an ad blitz for a game, and you post it.

Hmmm. I wonder. Could the submitter of the story perhaps be employed by the media company driving the blitz? Could the submission to Slashdot be an attempt to drum up even more buzz?

Nahhh. I must be paranoid.

Come on guys - at least make the bastards PAY for space on Slashdot!

Re:YAWBAB

[simoniker]

IMHO, though this may eventually be linked to some kind of product, the most complex of these Alternate Reality Games are fun and interesting enough in their own right that I don't really consider them seditious advertising. Is it seditious/free advertising when we link to a preview of Grand Theft Auto? But, yep, your mileage may vary. :)

Re:Okay this is too far..

[HeadCrash]

"Recently manhunt got blamed for some psycho killing another kid... why arn't games like this blamed?"

Games like this aren't blamed because this is not the type of game your typical "homicidal teenager" is going to play. The mass-market doesn't hype the mental imagery of violence in ARGs like they hype the gratuitous blood-splattering and ho-smacking in games like Manhunt and GTA. Someone isn't going to be able to blame a mass-murder on an ARG unless the perp comes right out and says it or the people in

I want to, but...

[andy_fish]

I really WANT to get involved in a game like this. It looks pretty interesting. But I'm reluctant to invest time into it, because I know that the whole thing is almost certainly just be some viral marketing thing, and that by getting involved, I will just be encouraging their evil marketing ways.

Is it possible to have a puzzle like this that ISN'T an elaborate advertising scheme?

Re:I want to, but...

[dishboy]

Many (I would say most) of the ARGs have not been related to any marketing whatsoever - they have been started by a group of dedicated people who wish to create such an experience. So far, we have no reason to think otherwise with this one...