The Code is about to start, and Adrian’s on good form here with some concise bashing of ARG-design stereotypes:
“the ‘inverted pyramid’ model of engagement for ARGs and transmedia! But I don’t like it
…
feels like a post-facto justification of why only a few people get really engaged in most projects by suggesting that what you’re making is just way too awesome/hard for the public, who’ll have to make do with lightweight stuff (yes, like Flash games).”
He’s been banging this drum since PerplexCity, but IMHO there’s been comparitively little success. He’s long been wrestling with ways to make that actually work in practice, as opposed to a believable bit of theory. From the tone of this blog post, I’m pegging this as “one to watch”, and see if there’s a big step forward.
Something else to highlight, too; something *I’ve* been banging on about for a long time:
“The fact is, most people are smarter and more engaged than you might think.”
4 games, 4 *educational* games, on the BBC (who publishes some of the best pre-school games / learning content in the world). Fingers crossed this does something new and novel *and which actually works* :).