Post by CoffiN on Jul 28, 2004 10:09:55 GMT -5
Last week, the halo 2 trailer hit movie theatres across the country... Head scratching began when observent gamers noticed that the Xbox logo was their and the xbox.com link was briefly replaced with www.ilovebees.com. The site is an amateur site about honey bees.. but it appears to be victim of a hacker attack as to when you go to the site, you get a black screen after a while, and says the following "HALT - MODULE CORE HEMORRHAGE. Control has been yielded to the SYSTEM PERIL DISTRIBUTED REFLEX. This medium is classified, and has a STRONG INTRUSIVE INCLINATION."
Below that is a countdown, which initially said "in [variable] days, network throttling will erode" before changing to "PHASE 1 COMPLETE: Network throttling has eroded" on July 27. After that is a countdown that ends on August 10 which read, "In [variable] days this medium will metastasize." This is followed by the words "COUNTDOWN TO WIDE AWAKE AND PHYSICAL," beneath which is nestled a countdown clock that ends August 24. The section ends with the ominous words, "Make your decisions accordingly."
The countdown clock's termination date has caused many to speculate that Halo 2 will ship on August 24, two months before its scheduled November 9 release. Other observers concluded www.ilovebees.com is a marketing scam using a bizarre approach to spark word-of-mouth and get free press
Alternate reality games have been used to hype video games--by none other than Halo 2's developer, Bungie Software. First came the infamous Marathon Gold hoax e-mail in 1998, which the company downplayed as a practical joke. Then there were the "Cortana Letters," a series of oddly worded e-mails that started going out in 1999, purportedly from the AI named Cortana that would eventually help the Master Chief on Halo's titular ringworld. However, the wording of the e-mails sounded a lot more like Durandal, the crazed AI from the classic Marathon series.
At first, the connection was only the brief flash on the Halo 2 trailer and the fact the contact e-mail for Margaret's Honey--ladybee777@hotmail.com--contained the number "7" which the staff of Bungie historically have a predilection for hiding in their games (343 Guilty Spark in Halo, etc.). Also of note is that the August 24 date is 77 days before November 9, the day Halo 2 is scheduled to be released.
However, since the "network throttling has eroded" message appeared on ilovebees.com--interestingly, on the same day the Microsoft Meltdown developer conference started--the site's connection to Halo 2 has become much more obvious. [WARNING: potential spoilers ahead]
First is the appearance of snippets of dialogue on ilovebees.com that sound like they could be lifted from a Halo 2 cutscene. Scattered across the site in hidden and visible chunks, the dialogue appears to be between crewmen in a futuristic navy much like Halo's United Nations Space Command. One section, spliced together the newly hatched ilovebees.com Wikipeidia, reads as though it has been "overheard" from the bridge of the UNSC ship that discovers the Covenant's plan to invade Earth.
1st Lt. Sorenson: Oh my God. If the decrypt is right-
Capt. Greene: I know.
1st Lt. Sorenson: We have to drop the mission. We have to bug out of here right now and get word back to HQ. An evac on this scale they need every second. Jesus. I was stationed on Troy.
Capt. Greene: I'm not... I'm not sure.
1st Lt. Sorenson: Ma'am?
Capt. Greene: There's a bigger picture, Rolf. Several.
1st Lt. Sorenson: The mission... This mission is more important than millions of lives? Oh my... god.
Capt. Greene: I'm just saying, the choice isn't as easy as you might think.
1st Lt. Sorenson: You know, I was so curious when you got your orders...
Capt. Greene: And then there's the strategic view.
1st Lt. Sorenson: For the first time, I'm not sure I want to know what's in them.
Capt. Greene: Even leaving aside our particular mission, there's the issue of letting them know we've broken their codes. If we bug out and scramble home to warn HQ about Troy, people like Standish will say we've already compromised a huge tactical advantage, and that mounting a big evac operation will completely give the game away.
1st Lt. Sorenson: Not even Standish would let them glass a planet if he knew it was coming. ... Oh my God.
Capt. Greene: I am not privy to strategic conversations at that level. But if we run home and present the decrypt, we put them in a tricky situation. If they act, they risk letting the enemy know we have a toehold in their C-and-C. If they decide that strategic advantage is too great to risk and don't act, then you know Section Zero will be all over them. Zero's wanted Standish forever.
1st Lt. Sorenson: I...I understand. It's so much easier for everyone if we don't tell them. But...wait a second. Don't you have family on Troy?
Capt. Greene: That can't be part of the equation, Rolf. You know that.
1st Lt. Sorenson: Jesus.
Capt. Greene: I think we have to report it. Our job is to gather intelligence: it's HQs job to decide what to do with it.
1st Lt. Sorenson: God, I'm glad it isn't me making that call.
Capt. Greene: Don't feel too sorry for them, Rolf. Even Admirals have to earn their pay.
Another conversation between two lower-level crewmembers, ONI tech Kowalski and Midshipman Arrelts, talk about a computer program as though it were a person.
ONI tech Kowalski: (coughs) Anyway, she shouldn't feel that slowness through Nav & Comm. anymore.
Midshipman Arrelts: Great. You know what they say: Happy ship
ONI tech Kowalski: Happy crew. Yeah. (coughs) Yeah, I know a lot of about these systems.
Midshipman Arrelts: That's great, what with it being your job and all.
ONI tech Kowalski: fr'instance - know what the single [...] best correlate is for these babies, in terms of matching personality to service designation? Favorite game.
Midshipman Arrelts: Favorite game?
ONI tech Kowalski: You know, from before. Tag - that's regular navy, like destroyers. Command HQ is usually Truth or Dare, something like that. Red Rover -
Midshipman Arrelts: Light [...] picket?
ONI tech Kowalski: Couriers, too.
Midshipman Arrelts: (laughs) I never would have thought... So what about her?
ONI tech Kowalski: The Operator? (coughs) File's classified.
Midshipman Arrelts: [...] Even for you?
ONI tech Kowalski: Well, of course, I know, but I really shouldn't
Midshipman Arrelts: Come on! I won't tell!
ONI tech Kowalski: Well...
ONI tech Kowalski: Well... (whispers) Spin the Bottle.
Midshipman Arrelts: (laughs)
ONI tech Kowalski: (laughs)
The conversation is laden with clues Halo fans will pick up on. First is the designation of Kowalski as a technician for the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), the espionage arm of the UNSC. Besides being in charge of Covenant surveillance and R&D programs like the SPARTAN project that created the Master Chief, ONI is also in charge of creating and maintaining AIs like Cortana.
While the ilovebees.com alternate reality game probably won't reach its conclusion until August 24, the next update will occur when the "medium will metastasize" on August 10. However, two conclusions about Halo 2's plot can already be drawn. First is the certainty that a UNSC colony called Troy will be attacked by the Covenant before they invade Earth. This is clear from the references to the "millions of lives" in the Lt. Sorenson/Captain Green dialogue.
It is also likely that a new AI will be introduced in Halo 2. Given the parallels between hoax e-mails used to introduce Cortana before Halo and the AI rants on ilovebees.com, it is likely the "Queen" and the "Widow" either both be two new AIs or an AI with a split personality. Readers of the Halo novel First Strike will also remember how Cortana battled a Covenant AI, which may also be a possibility.
One non-game-related conclusion can also be reached in the wake of the ilovebees.com affair: viral marketing is effective, especially when applied to an audience starved for information. For the fraction of the cost of a national TV blitz, Bungie and Microsoft have generated a monstrous amount of buzz (no pun intended) amongst Halo 2 fans. The ilovebees.com site has become a self-perpetuating phenomenon, spawning thousands of discussion threads on hundreds of forums and unquantifiable office-cooler banter. For every cynic decrying it as a marketing hoax, there are two Halo 2 and/or ARG fans spending hours trying to uncover the clues hidden inside ilovebees.com. Somewhere, an advertising executive is laughing all the way to the bank.
Below that is a countdown, which initially said "in [variable] days, network throttling will erode" before changing to "PHASE 1 COMPLETE: Network throttling has eroded" on July 27. After that is a countdown that ends on August 10 which read, "In [variable] days this medium will metastasize." This is followed by the words "COUNTDOWN TO WIDE AWAKE AND PHYSICAL," beneath which is nestled a countdown clock that ends August 24. The section ends with the ominous words, "Make your decisions accordingly."
The countdown clock's termination date has caused many to speculate that Halo 2 will ship on August 24, two months before its scheduled November 9 release. Other observers concluded www.ilovebees.com is a marketing scam using a bizarre approach to spark word-of-mouth and get free press
Alternate reality games have been used to hype video games--by none other than Halo 2's developer, Bungie Software. First came the infamous Marathon Gold hoax e-mail in 1998, which the company downplayed as a practical joke. Then there were the "Cortana Letters," a series of oddly worded e-mails that started going out in 1999, purportedly from the AI named Cortana that would eventually help the Master Chief on Halo's titular ringworld. However, the wording of the e-mails sounded a lot more like Durandal, the crazed AI from the classic Marathon series.
At first, the connection was only the brief flash on the Halo 2 trailer and the fact the contact e-mail for Margaret's Honey--ladybee777@hotmail.com--contained the number "7" which the staff of Bungie historically have a predilection for hiding in their games (343 Guilty Spark in Halo, etc.). Also of note is that the August 24 date is 77 days before November 9, the day Halo 2 is scheduled to be released.
However, since the "network throttling has eroded" message appeared on ilovebees.com--interestingly, on the same day the Microsoft Meltdown developer conference started--the site's connection to Halo 2 has become much more obvious. [WARNING: potential spoilers ahead]
First is the appearance of snippets of dialogue on ilovebees.com that sound like they could be lifted from a Halo 2 cutscene. Scattered across the site in hidden and visible chunks, the dialogue appears to be between crewmen in a futuristic navy much like Halo's United Nations Space Command. One section, spliced together the newly hatched ilovebees.com Wikipeidia, reads as though it has been "overheard" from the bridge of the UNSC ship that discovers the Covenant's plan to invade Earth.
1st Lt. Sorenson: Oh my God. If the decrypt is right-
Capt. Greene: I know.
1st Lt. Sorenson: We have to drop the mission. We have to bug out of here right now and get word back to HQ. An evac on this scale they need every second. Jesus. I was stationed on Troy.
Capt. Greene: I'm not... I'm not sure.
1st Lt. Sorenson: Ma'am?
Capt. Greene: There's a bigger picture, Rolf. Several.
1st Lt. Sorenson: The mission... This mission is more important than millions of lives? Oh my... god.
Capt. Greene: I'm just saying, the choice isn't as easy as you might think.
1st Lt. Sorenson: You know, I was so curious when you got your orders...
Capt. Greene: And then there's the strategic view.
1st Lt. Sorenson: For the first time, I'm not sure I want to know what's in them.
Capt. Greene: Even leaving aside our particular mission, there's the issue of letting them know we've broken their codes. If we bug out and scramble home to warn HQ about Troy, people like Standish will say we've already compromised a huge tactical advantage, and that mounting a big evac operation will completely give the game away.
1st Lt. Sorenson: Not even Standish would let them glass a planet if he knew it was coming. ... Oh my God.
Capt. Greene: I am not privy to strategic conversations at that level. But if we run home and present the decrypt, we put them in a tricky situation. If they act, they risk letting the enemy know we have a toehold in their C-and-C. If they decide that strategic advantage is too great to risk and don't act, then you know Section Zero will be all over them. Zero's wanted Standish forever.
1st Lt. Sorenson: I...I understand. It's so much easier for everyone if we don't tell them. But...wait a second. Don't you have family on Troy?
Capt. Greene: That can't be part of the equation, Rolf. You know that.
1st Lt. Sorenson: Jesus.
Capt. Greene: I think we have to report it. Our job is to gather intelligence: it's HQs job to decide what to do with it.
1st Lt. Sorenson: God, I'm glad it isn't me making that call.
Capt. Greene: Don't feel too sorry for them, Rolf. Even Admirals have to earn their pay.
Another conversation between two lower-level crewmembers, ONI tech Kowalski and Midshipman Arrelts, talk about a computer program as though it were a person.
ONI tech Kowalski: (coughs) Anyway, she shouldn't feel that slowness through Nav & Comm. anymore.
Midshipman Arrelts: Great. You know what they say: Happy ship
ONI tech Kowalski: Happy crew. Yeah. (coughs) Yeah, I know a lot of about these systems.
Midshipman Arrelts: That's great, what with it being your job and all.
ONI tech Kowalski: fr'instance - know what the single [...] best correlate is for these babies, in terms of matching personality to service designation? Favorite game.
Midshipman Arrelts: Favorite game?
ONI tech Kowalski: You know, from before. Tag - that's regular navy, like destroyers. Command HQ is usually Truth or Dare, something like that. Red Rover -
Midshipman Arrelts: Light [...] picket?
ONI tech Kowalski: Couriers, too.
Midshipman Arrelts: (laughs) I never would have thought... So what about her?
ONI tech Kowalski: The Operator? (coughs) File's classified.
Midshipman Arrelts: [...] Even for you?
ONI tech Kowalski: Well, of course, I know, but I really shouldn't
Midshipman Arrelts: Come on! I won't tell!
ONI tech Kowalski: Well...
ONI tech Kowalski: Well... (whispers) Spin the Bottle.
Midshipman Arrelts: (laughs)
ONI tech Kowalski: (laughs)
The conversation is laden with clues Halo fans will pick up on. First is the designation of Kowalski as a technician for the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), the espionage arm of the UNSC. Besides being in charge of Covenant surveillance and R&D programs like the SPARTAN project that created the Master Chief, ONI is also in charge of creating and maintaining AIs like Cortana.
While the ilovebees.com alternate reality game probably won't reach its conclusion until August 24, the next update will occur when the "medium will metastasize" on August 10. However, two conclusions about Halo 2's plot can already be drawn. First is the certainty that a UNSC colony called Troy will be attacked by the Covenant before they invade Earth. This is clear from the references to the "millions of lives" in the Lt. Sorenson/Captain Green dialogue.
It is also likely that a new AI will be introduced in Halo 2. Given the parallels between hoax e-mails used to introduce Cortana before Halo and the AI rants on ilovebees.com, it is likely the "Queen" and the "Widow" either both be two new AIs or an AI with a split personality. Readers of the Halo novel First Strike will also remember how Cortana battled a Covenant AI, which may also be a possibility.
One non-game-related conclusion can also be reached in the wake of the ilovebees.com affair: viral marketing is effective, especially when applied to an audience starved for information. For the fraction of the cost of a national TV blitz, Bungie and Microsoft have generated a monstrous amount of buzz (no pun intended) amongst Halo 2 fans. The ilovebees.com site has become a self-perpetuating phenomenon, spawning thousands of discussion threads on hundreds of forums and unquantifiable office-cooler banter. For every cynic decrying it as a marketing hoax, there are two Halo 2 and/or ARG fans spending hours trying to uncover the clues hidden inside ilovebees.com. Somewhere, an advertising executive is laughing all the way to the bank.