The Lost Ring is an alternate reality game (ARG) revolving around a fictional Olympic sport that disappeared 2000 years ago that was created by McDonald’s as part of their marketing for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

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The Social Gaming Summit is a one day conference focused on the intersection of gaming, immersive worlds, and social networking. Games are becoming one of the most popular activities within social networks and game developers are spending more energy figuring out how to build compelling social interaction into the games they are developing. The conference will bring together leaders in the social networking and gaming spaces to share insights into the convergence of these two worlds.

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Hi, I’m Ian Bogost. I am a videogame researcher, critic, and designer, as well as an author and an entrepreneur. I am a professor at Georgia Tech (a university), a Founding Partner at Persuasive Games (a videogame studio), and a Board Member at Open Texture (an educational publisher).

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See what’s been discovered by Liberty City locals! Check the categories on the right to show markers for just about any person, place or thing in Liberty City.

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OUT takes its name from MOUT a military term for Military Operations in Urban Terrain. Many military simulation computer games implement MOUT. For example, the US Army developed game Full Spectrum Warrior trains gamers in MOUT combat. OUT is a criticism of the increasing militarization of civilian life which has been implemented in the US and elsewhere since 911. The Patriot Act, surveillance of public libraries, and the increased powers of government to hold citizens in military custody without trial are instances of these increased powers of government instigated by the Bush administration. In an endless spiral war of terror a government is at war with its own citizens, with soldiers in the midst of the fabric of ordinary life, as has been the case for a while in terror alert cities like Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

OUT is an artistic intervention in the public space of online games and cities. OUT is also happening at a moment when the street has become again a viable mode of expression. From Seattle to Cancun activists are using wireless technologies and the web to organize actions and and congregate. Dada-like agenda-less mobs have appeared in New York and spread to other cities, In contrast, police at these events are increasingly high tech and cyborgean. They wear the latest riot gear shields and padding and use high tech wireless communication systems. They move in sophisticated crowd control formations. OUT, on the other hand, is a high tech art intervention, art activists with high tech gear and strategy. OUT of the closet of MOUT.

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This is the world of Gunslingers, an alternate reality for the action junkie! Venture into a world never before seen, where the weak perish and the strong get hunted. Find weapons, food and money… Complete missions and assassinations… And your ultimate reward? Get crowned the top fighter, as a well as a place in the history books as mankind’s most ruthless Gunslinger!

In Gunslingers, players experience the traditional mumbo jumbo espionage and tactical combat scenario with a slight difference… You get the whole of Singapore as your playing field! With a simple phone and Network Location Positioning Technology, players’ real world movements are mirrored in the game world, allowing them to physically react with other online players.

From the windy plains of Changi to the wet grounds of Jurong, everything in between is your battlefield. Free from the reins of the PC, engage other Gunslingers in a true real-time mobile gaming adventure.

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Hey, screen jockeys–how about a multi-player, wireless real time game with real rewards? CUTLASS introduces a new extreme tech treasure hunt. The quickest team on the tech wins.

No cellphone tic-tac-toe, CUTLASS requires players to use digital phones, wireless PDAs, the net–even ordinary phones–and lots of real time footwork to find a treasure hidden nearby.

In the two-hour game, players exchange codes with rivals (you lie, you lose), put a mascot on the game page, nail down the treasure with dead reckoning and lots more. A ringing payphone? It could be the “Matrix” clue.

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During Uncommon’s residency at Eyebeam, artists Yury Gitman and Carlos de Llarena asked Uncommon Projects to redesign the engine for their unique game Noderunner. A mixture of real world gameboard overlaid on the city streets and online scoring system, the engine had to allow players to add teams, start games, upload photos and track progress. Noderunner won the Golden Nica Netvision/Net Excellence category of Ars Electronica in 2003.

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Navigate the Streets is Canada’s original urban race.

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