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We've seen J.J. Abrams' mysterious midnight monster train explode from multiple angles. But what about from inside the train? Hidden in Portal 2's video game extras is some CG footage from inside the monster's train ride. Watch it now. More »
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Slowly but surely, the details behind J.J. Abrams' mysterious new movie Super 8 are leaking out. We were sent an exclusive Super 8 viral clip, which we've managed to splice together with a few other clips. More »
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We're absolute sluts for underground monsters and cave dwellers. So when we found out about The Tunnel (a mockumentary type movie) we were interested. But when we discovered how this horror movie was financing their production - we were invested! More »
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How did we miss this amazing film? Watch the viral for Limitless, a movie about a copywriter who discovers a top-secret drug which bestows him with super human abilities. But with a few small side effects - like death. More »
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Keiichi Matsuda creates incredible short films that depict an augmented reality city where synthetic information clouds are grafted onto brick'n'mortar material spaces. Here are two of his futureshock videos. More »
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We were sent a propaganda pamphlet help us get ready for Korea's eventual U.S. invasion. According to these documents, we were asking for it, after the "dual crises of peak oil and the global economic meltdown of 2012-2025." More »
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A whistleblower has just reported on a secret organization in Australia called Bluebird, which is a heavily-funded geoengineering project to stop global warming. Now you can join the fracas by participating in the cool eco-thriller game called Bluebird. More »
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Here's the big reveal from Tron Legacy's viral ad, which led fans on a mad chase through different arcades all over the world. Here we see a unitard-clad program doing his best "Head Towards The Light, Carol Anne" impression. More »
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Wondering how the DitchTheTech ARG will tie in with Dollhouse's final episodes? It won't. Turns out the whole ARG isn't officially connected to Dollhouse at all, but instead an impressive piece of fan activism. So, no apocalyptic finale? Shame. [Whedonesque] More »
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There's nothing more wonderful than a movie's fake explanatory news reel. Dark Knight brought us the tabloid Wayne family tell all, and now Surrogates is building the robot backstory with its own news machine. More »
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Can you uncover the mystery behind their new viral site for the apocalyptic movie 9? We've got an exclusive piece of the puzzle, to help you uncover what the rag-doll people are trying to tell you. Check it out below. More »
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It was only a matter of time before Disney started busting out the ARG's for the super-buzzed-about sequel Tron 2. After scattering the globe with Flynn's Arcade tokens they've now launched a conspiracy theorist site: what really happened to Flynn? More »
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District's 9 anti-alien viral campaign is underway, showing you the many skills the movie's illegal aliens can use against the humans. Check out the full gallery of alien smackdowns, and remember: Do not attempt to apprehend a District 9 resident. More »
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Over the next few weeks, you will see posts showing up on io9 that look like crossposts from a Gawker Media blog called Blood Copy. These are not real posts. They are sponsored ads that are part of an alternate reality game (ARG) created by the True Blood marketing team. More »
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Want to track your boyfriend's every movement? Just slip this GPS tracker into his breakfast, and it will stay in his system for 72 hours - while you track him online. And there's more. More »
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Global warming has flooded the tunnels of the Christianshavn part of the Copenhagen metro network. Now the metro is occupied by whales and the occasional diver. Other strange things are happening to Copenhagen too. More »
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Brit-com Red Dwarf's return isn't just happening on television; a new ARG based on the show's three-part reunion special has launched, giving you the chance to track down your favorite smegheads for yourself. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5180965&view=rss&microfeed=true Have you ever been walking around in your city, and seen somebody in a mask suddenly start dancing? Or perhaps a whole group of people? No, it's not alien mind control - it's actually people being controlled by a vast online conspiracy. They're participating in an alternate reality game called Top Secret Dance Off, where players are issued odd quests like "dance in a crosswalk" or "dance using only your fingers." Usually they vid their exploits and upload them to the site, so you can participate in this secret dance conspiracy while hidden deep in your underground bunker, far from the plague-infested zombies. More »
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The return of Lost means a brand new mysterious website that may have deeper meaning... or may just be a waste of time. Are you ready to fly the friendly skies with Ajira Airlines? More »
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Last week's Sarah Connor Chronicles proved that the so-called California Drones which have been freaking out the UFO community are neither real nor hoax. They are viral marketing for the Terminator franchise. More »
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This week, we've got a clever little ARG for you to solve, a look into a world that moved forward after UFOs crash-landed on Earth and a flying baby. Don't forget your flare gun. More »
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I've been seeing a lot of fliers around San Francisco advertising something called the "Aquatic Thought Foundation," which promises to give you dolphin therapy by hooking your brain up to a dolphin. Really, the fliers weren't all that much kookier than the usual Marin County yoga levitation psionics stuff you see. But finally I decided to check out the dolphin therapy website because, well, it was just SO weird. And it turned out to be one of the coolest and most mysterious ARGs I've come across in quite some time. More »
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You're in luck if you're still hoping to get in good with the Dharma Initiative, the mysterious organization whose experiments have transformed paranormal castaway drama Lost's island into a hellpit of experimental science gone wrong. As we told you earlier, Dharma is "recruiting" people at Comic-Con to join their organization — to apply, you have to talk to a cute but evasive person, and then fill out a Scientology-esque questionnaire. More »
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If you're making a new piece of pop culture and you expect it to reach a mass audience, or even just a subcultural audience, you'd better have an ARG. What's that, you say? ARG stands for “alternate reality game,” and it describes a wide range of interactive puzzles that generally involve getting you to visit various websites, call phone numbers, and go places in major cities in order to get free shit related to a movie, TV show and even occasionally a book. Why are popular titles like Dark Knight and Lost using ARGs? It's more than just advertising: It's a way to build an instant fan base without working at it for years like Star Trek did. But so far, ARGs have few of the benefits of a fandom, such as a friendly community of like-minded people; and they have all of the bad parts of fannish behavior like pointless obsessiveness and fetishization of dumb swag. More »
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New HBO vampire series True Blood isn't limited its online presence to ads for fake products and the by-now-traditional ARG; they're also taking a page out've Heroes' book and getting the story started early courtesy of an online comic, The Great Revelation. Find out more and see preview images under the jump. More »
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Fake billboards for Lost's Oceanic Airlines have been popping up all over the globe, touting their return to service and trips to "Places You Never Imagined," like Ames, Iowa and Tustin, California. They also promote their brand-new website at the bottom of each one of these billboards (which probably weren't cheap to rent). Of course, visiting this site takes you deeper into the rabbit hole. Soon you'll find yourself wasting precious hours while you try to unravel the "mystery" of flight 815. More »
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