Nine Inch Nails / Year Zero / Alternate Reality Game

[zeaven]

If you don't know what an alternate reality game is, I suggest you look it up at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_reality_game. In summation, it's some sort of conspiratorial narrative that is told in the real world. Basically this means that a bunch of crafty people hide clues to things either on obscure internet websites or in obscure real-life locations and wait for people to figure out the story.

I figured this would be as good a place as any to have a discussion about this, because any obsessive fan of Eva knows this obscure-information-hiding technique by heart.

Nine Inch Nails' newest album, "Year Zero", is coming out soon (April 17). What makes this album special is that it is mostly a concept album. To top it off, images of the official '07 Europe tour shirt were posted recently, and several letters on the shirt were emphasized. When these letters were put together, the name of a new website, iamtryingtobelieve.com, was revealed. The premise of the information on this website was that the American government had convinced its populace that a drug against bio-terrorism, named Parepin, needed to be introduced into the water supplies of major cities to protect the people. Most evidence, however, suggests that the drug actually sedates and induces apathy in those who ingested it so as to make them easier to control.

This started a tidal wave of speculation and astute fans have found many more websites linked to this fictional narrative. It's been determined that it's being developed by 42 Entertainment, the same company who did the infamous ilovebees.com [wikipedia article] campaign for Halo 2's launch. In addition the ARG has shown parallels to The X-Files, The Twilight Zone, 1984, THX 1138, Natural Born Killers, Dr. Strangelove, and many more prominent works.

Even if you are not [yet] a fan of nin, I would suggest checking this out if you like disturbing and dystopian social commentary and conspiracy (and of course you do; you're an Eva fan!) The story doesn't relate specifically to nin; it is really just a work of fiction that anybody can enjoy. This ARG (alternate reality game) is just starting up too, so you can follow the story as it unfolds. It promises to be something big, and I can't think of any bigger viral marketing campaign ever attempted for a major record release.

You can check out a nice and often-updated summary of the developments so far at http://www.echoingthesound.org/phpbbx/viewtopic.php?t=20265. Nevermind the rest of the thread; all you need is the first post which gets edited quite often. (echoingthesound.org is to elitist nin fan wankery what evamonkey.com is to elitist Eva fan wankery)

(NOTE: This ARG is rather dark and disturbing and contains violent and suggestive text/language/audio.)

Also, feel free to say this is stupid or to otherwise discuss this (or any ARG) here.

[fadingreminder]

I don't know how I missed this post. Anyway, I'm all over the Year Zero stuff. It's really interesting. I love all the subtle clues and hidden messages and Orwellian themes. Great stuff! I'm a huge NIN fan too, hence the choice of name.

[Hexon.Arq]

Bah, I got my fill on these sorts of things after the Celebritarian codes of 2006. Never again...