Bungie’s Upto Something: “Keep It Clean” Teaser

Well, Bungie has been upto something for a while. After their fanciful liberation from big daddy Microsoft, they’ve been upto something. But what? Rumour has it that they’re working on 3 different games, while another says that they’re also working on a Halo game. Bungie did say, however, that they wanted to explore new IPs.

This looks like it. Bungie has released something of a teaser on their site, which looks like a pseudo-ARG-viral-marketing thing. Like always it’s something all serious-looking and dangerous and stuff. The image above says “Keep It Clean” in a rather fractured kind of way. And below is this transcript of mystery:

<\\> UNSC OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE

<\\> CLASSIFIED SIGNALS ARCHIVE [ONI.SEC.PRTCL-1A]

<\ OPENED PER OFFICIAL REQUEST [DARE.V.500341(S1)]

\ SOURCE: URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE A.I. [SUPERINTENDENT]

\ RECIPIENT: PROWLER “TOKYO RULES” [COMM.DUTY.OFFICER]
>> NOTATION KEYWORD SEARCH: “EMERGENCY” “DATA” “CORRUPTION”
>> (…) ~ QUERY RUNNING
>> (..)
>> (.)   \ VTT TRANSCRIPT AS FOLOWS…

[SUPERINTENDENT]: “METROPOLITAN EMERGENCY!”
[SUPERINTENDENT]: “METROPOLITAN EMERGENCY!”
[SUPERINTENDENT]: “METROPOLITAN EMER–!”
[COMM.DUTY.OFFICER]: “We know. Personnel are en route. Can you–”
[SUPERINTENDENT]: “DETOUR! PROCEED WITH CAUTION!”
[COMM.DUTY.OFFICER]: “–put Kinsler on the line?”
[SUPERINTENDENT]: [UNITELLIGIBLE > DOG GROWLING(?)]
[COMM.DUTY.OFFICER]: “Sorry, what?”
[SUPERINTENDENT]: “BE A HERO! REPORT VIOLATORS!”
[COMM.DUTY.OFFICER]: “Oh, come on… ”
[SUPERINTENDENT]: “METROPOLITAN EMER–!”
[COMM.DUTY.OFFICER]: “Listen. We have a report of core data corruption.”
[COMM.DUTY.OFFICER]: “I need you to upload your–”
[SUPERINTENDENT]: “PARDON OUR DUST!”
[SUPERINTENDENT]: “YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK!”
[COMM.DUTY.OFFICER] “–logs for the last twenty-four hours!”
[SUPERINTENDENT]: “KEEP IT CLEAN!”
[SUPERINTENDENT]: “KEEP IT CLEAN!”
[SUPERINTENDENT]: “KEEP IT CLEAN!”
[COMM.DUTY.OFFICER]: [UNINTELLIGIBLE > PROFANITY (?)]
[COMM.DUTY.OFFICER]: “We’re sending a team, alright?”
[COMM.DUTY.OFFICER]: “Until they arrive, all additional comm needs to route through me.”
[COMM.DUTY.OFFICER]: “Repeat and acknowledge.”
[SUPERINTENDENT]: “OBEY POSTED LIMITS!”
[SUPERINTENDENT]: “YIELD TO UPHILL TRAFFIC!”
[COMM.DUTY.OFFICER]: “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’…”
[SUPERINTENDENT]: “PLEASE REMAIN CALM!”

\ ~ QUERY COMPLETE

\ ARCHIVE CLOSED \>

I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. If we’re going to look at hints:

• “Metropolitain Emergency” can probably hint at an urban disaster, of some sort.
• “We’re sending a team”: a Gears of Wars-style squad or some sort of a tactical team in general?
• “URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE A.I. [SUPERINTENDENT: An AI, possibly added for humorous effect, but maybe a funny villain like GLaDOS?
• "RECIPIENT: PROWLER “TOKYO RULES” [COMM.DUTY.OFFICER]“: Japanese setting? Is this Metropolis mentioned above Tokyo? Or maybe it’s just a Japanese Comm. Duty Officer?
• ““YIELD TO UPHILL TRAFFIC!”: I have no idea what this is supposed to mean. But it just has to be a clue.

Whatever this is, I have my eyes on it. All this looks very intriguing. Hell, I’m a sucker for viral marketing!

Posted in General, Video Games
Tags: alternate reality games, args, bungie, Halo, Keep It Clean, microsoft, teasers, transcripts, viral marketing

Games as history

Remember Pac Man? the original cool yellow dude around before Homer Simpson? Well, he is one of those gaming characters which will be remembered for the ages. He will be around in history museums with big cool boards teaching 8 year olds about his rise to fame and how he was the big thing at time of the release. Now we have had Master Chief as a big icon but the fact is most of the games coming out now don’t have memorable characters. Even the most hardened gamer will find it difficult to remember all the character names of the player characters in the current big releases like BioShock for example.

Perhaps this will be a sign of future things to come with big action becoming more important than character development. The thought to be left with is, when the future comes around and people look back at the big gaming icons from the ’00s which big characters will be seen to represent us now? Let’s hope it’s something as positive as Pac Man.

As a fun easy quiz, what are the player character names in these games? (no prize, answers after the continue click)

1) Stranglehold

2) Halo

3) Half Life

4) Call of Duty 4 (x2)

Read more »

Posted in Arcade, Cell Phone, DS, Dreamcast, Gamecube, N-Gage, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Real-Life, Video Games, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360
Tags: games, gaming, Halo, history, pac-man

Gearbox working on Duke Nukem Game? WTF?

Right, okay, let me get this straight. First we have rumours that Gearbox is working on Halo 4 for the next Xbox. Now /gamer reports that it won’t be Halo 4, but a goddamn Duke Nukem game. That’s right, Gearbox is developing a Duke Nukem title, according to the rumour.

/gamer’s mysterious source contacted them, informing them that there is, in fact, no Halo 4 going on. Also, he mentions “When it is announced fans of a series from the past will be surprised.” Note how he says “a series from the past”.

Now, they are contacted once again, with their source hinting at an article they wrote about Duke Nukem Forever. Why the source is not willing to state directly is unknown, but by his enigmatic words, this most probably would mean that 3D Realms is handing the reins of Duke Nukem to.

This wouldn’t be very surprising. Hell, it’ll be great, considering we won’t have to wait another century-and-half for another Duke Nukem game. Besides, the guys at Gearbox are trustable enough to deliver a quality shooter like Duke Nukem’s calibre.

Posted in General Game Development, Hot Topics, PC, Video Games
Tags: 3d realms, duke nukem, duke nukem forever, games, gearbox, Halo, Halo 4, rumors, rumours, Video Games