The Tale End of Reality

British readers of a certain age will recall Kit Williams' classic children's story, MasqueradeΦ, that captivated this country and certain other parts of the world in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The key to its popularity was neither the inconsequential story nor the exquisite illustrations, but rather the fact that somwhere hidden among the words and pictures were clues to the location of buried treasure: an 18-carat gold hare. This sparked a treasure hunt the like of which the world had never seen, equal parts fiction and reality.

It's a beguiling blend. Here is Rex Sorgatz writing in the 'Reality Engineering' chapter of an inspired online book-cum-manifesto entitled New Liberal ArtsΦ:

"[T]he most thrilling bits of modern life straddle the fence between artificial and authentic."

He then goes on to list some examples from what he calls "the broad canon of simulated reality":

A. Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal
B. Milli Vanilli, Girl You Know It’s True
C. Orson Welles, War of the Worlds
D. James Frey, A Million Little Pieces
E. Plato, The Republic, "Allegory of The Cave"
F. MTV, The Hills
G. Andy & Larry Wachowski, The Matrix
H. lonelygirl15
I. Danger Mouse, The Grey Album
J. The Blair Witch Project
K. FanFic.net

One might add to this A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave EggersΦ, and Edoc LaundryΦ, a former retailer of fictive fashion. This twightlight world between tales and reality is also the one occupied by alternate-reality games (ARGs).

ARGs are stories told using the various media that constitute the real world, especially but not exclusively the internet. Arguably they represent the greatest source of creativity and innovation in any form of storytelling today. The genre seems to have been presaged in the idea of the 'godgame' in another novel by John Fowles (of French Lieutenant's fame) called The MagusΦ.

As in that book, participants in real ARGs usually find themselves drawn into a parallel fictional universe by some unprepossessing route, such as a curious website or a cryptic message in the sleeve notes of a CD. Players then follow trails across media, both online and in the physical world. Phones (in all their various modern guises, from public payphones to texting) often feature too, making this truly a genre of phiction.

ARG payers also interact with each other, often collaborating or competing to solve puzzles, the story playing out in a non-linear fashion as discoveries are made. In some cases the players themselves end up influencing or even creating parts of the plot, and the whole thing is often accompanied by a faux secrecy that only serves to highten the participants' curiosity and engagement.

More often than not, ARGs are created to promote consumer products such as films (The BeastΦ accompanied Steven Spielberg's movie, A.I.) or computer games (I Love BeesΦ was used to promote the Microsoft hit, Halo 2). But there are cases in which the ARG becomes part of the work. For example, Head TraumaΦ by Lance Weiler takes a participative approach to film, and Love and Hate InstantsΦ is an ARG-like book from from Brazilian online bookseller Editoras Online. Other, perhaps better known examples of ARG-like books include Cathy's BookΦ and Personal Effects: Dark Art Φ.

ARG books are still few in number and currently sell based mainly on their novelty. Only time will tell if they represent a durable literary form. But given the increasing centrality of the phone in modern life, some form of the mobile component will surely persist – and be taken further.

With their blend of the fictional and real, online and offline, contrivance and spontaneity, ARGs are in some ways the ultimate expressions of mashup culture. But now the boundaries are being stretched even thinner by another emerging technology: augmented reality.