I did three things to complete this task.

First: and most simply I have been telling everyone I know about the game. getting really effing excited about it, and seeing, if nothing else but, empathetic excitement in their eyes.

Second: I snuck into the Mac lab at my alma madder and changed all the home pages on the web browser to SF0. when I left a month later it had not been changed.

Third: I presented at The Society for the Interdisciplinary Study for Social Imagery’s yearly conference and spoke about Machinima and ARG (specifically in detail SF0) as inherently non violent, creative applications of the electronic gaming medium.

I presented with 3 professors. One talked about Wild Bill Hickhock. One spoke about some John Wayne movie and how it used violence as a tool for distinguishing real men and passage for those who were worthy of respect. The third theorized a Vampires being unable to see their own reflection fail to go through Freud's mirror stage and are therefore permanently in the oral and therefore perpetual children......then I prattled on about video games for a while.

A VERY rough copy of my paper is as follows. I have not included footnotes or reference situations yet. In my final work which will be published in the proceedings I will go into detail about Piratey, and Oliver's War.
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After some thirty odd years of skulking around under the surface of popular culture ,video games are now being acknowledged as a subject worth contemplation, but the majority of conversation in the mainstream consciousness still revolves around their propensity towards violence. Now with the recent release of what is termed to be third generation gaming consoles, the consoles themselves seem to be developing personalities of their own. As exhibited during the close release of two of the three third generation systems, I Playstation 3 and the I Nintendo Wii, the mood and behavior of the gamers reflected the character traits of the systems themselves. I The Playstation 3 was hyped to be a player -killing powerhouse, armed with the fastest processors and video cards installed in a home console to date, where as the I Wii presented itself as just being plain fun.
I There were countless recorded instances of violence during the release of the PS3. Fights broke out, mobs of people shoved and trampled each other resulting in police interference and store closures. Some sight greed as the reason since .nearly 1/4 of the consoles bought on the release date ended up on eBay with auctions reaching $5000. I Conversely on the release date of the Wii demand was equal to that of the PS3 I yet no violence or tension was reported. In an unprecedented act of kindness, I a man sold his newly acquired system for no profit to a child who began to cry once he found out that he was beyond the cut off point in line.
I
It is true that most games throughout the world display some level of allegory to violent acts as games are a way to train the youth desired skills and character traits which have value within the culture, but the electronic games of our society tend to employ a very restrictive form of violence. You may only act within the pre determined parameters of the narrative. The gamer must and is encouraged to execute the acts of violence to advance in the game. There is no room for creativity , expression, or choice. Even though it is implied that the player is committing these violent acts through her on screen proxy or Avatar the violence is also most always culturally sanctioned; for example: There are numerous games set in WWII where your avatar massacres legions of German soldiers . There has not been to date any game in which you portray a Nazi defending a concentration camp, yet it is very common in games to kill an entire alien race for no better reason than “we are at war” in this instance the separation from reality makes genocide socially acceptable.
Despite the apparent overwhelming popularity of violent gaming, there are two applications of the media which are becoming increasingly popular. Both allow the gamer full freedom to create within the context of the game. The first is an internet phenomenon known as machinima which takes the videogame and transforms it into a tool for creating art. The second is known as Alternate Reality Gaming. It completely severs the gamer from the mediation of the console or computer and takes the game into the realm of the real or hyperreal.
Machinima is an example of “emergent game play”. Emergent game play happens whenever a player create s events, applications or generally moves outside the boundaries intended by the game programmers. Machinima is both a collection of associated emergent gameplay production techniques and a film genre defined by those techniques. Although the creation of machinima happens within gamespace, the process is closer to puppeteering or choreography than what one would think of as playing a video game. One person controls an avatar which acts as a “camera” wile the other players “interact” within the camera/player’s field of vision. final product . in essence the process is CGI animated moviemaking rendered by the game engine.
I It is important to keep in mind that a large majority of machinima is created with game engines of first person shooters; A genre which involves little other playability beyond attack and survival . Since of all of the characters happen to have a rocket launchers on had at all times it becomes hard create narratives without some overtones of violence. The promise in machinima is the creative application of an inherently violent genera. The ultimate goal , unlike the game with which it was made, is not violence. as is the case when playing the game the characters run around the “set” interacting with each other only when it is necessary to coordinate the death of other players or jeering after the killing has been accomplished . Machinima transcends this convention.
I One particularly interesting example of Machinima is “This Spartan Life” a talk show in game space. I Where the fatigue green Spartan-II Supersoldier battle cyborg host Damian Lasadamian interviews pioneers of electronic media and art . Both host and guest maneuver through levels of Halo 2, at times comically as the guests usually have never played the game before. The surprisingly heady dialog is interspersed with campy skits, music by Damian's version of I Max Weinberg, the six foot tall toothy alien killing machine Dj 8 bit, and performances by the solid gold elite dancers, who share 8bits racial traits and perform choreographed synchronized dances to his tinny electronic beats. Show clips
I Machinima is a development which can be directly correlated to specific video games. It is a product of them, and is tied to their physicality and limitations . SF0 is an example of Alternate Reality gaming. Unlike forms of emergent game play ARG has severed itself from the mediation of the gaming console . It is wholly non-violent at its core and, It shares traits of video games in concept only, though the conceptual act of playing is virtually indistinguishable from its electronic counterpart . It has been proposed that ARG is the first true form of Virtual reality. VR strives to remove the presence of mediation from the senses of the viewer. I With the VR technology we have today the subject either wears a bulky headset and gloves or I is placed within a room with projections on every wall. Technology has not reached the point that the viewer can be placed within an environment that is truly immersive enough to fool senses into perceiving illusion as reality . SF0 and other Alternate Reality Games employ current communication technologies to bring narration to players in a way that turns the gamers entire waking world into game space.
I SF0 is the brainchild of Sam Lavigne, Ian Kizu-Blair, Sean Mahan. Their original intention was to create a game that closely resembled other games in the ARG genre such as “The Beast” and “Ilovebees” but would be linked closer to reality than had ever been done before. They would develop a character named Helen Chanam:
The basic premise was this: 1) We created a fictional character named Helen Chanam ("Helen" of Troy, "Chanam" an anagram for "La Mancha") who was a student at the Art Institute of Chicago. 2) We asserted that Helen was a real person by creating a series of web sites for her, public art pieces, blogs etc., and, in her name, began to correspond with real people on and offline. 3) Helen has a big gallery opening, but fails to attend - it is assumed that she has been kidnapped. Her real and virtual friends, who are now players (although they don't realize it) attempt to find her.

Actual gameplay would entail of a series of puzzles, bouncing players between real-world and virtual interactions, each of which revealing a segment of narrative about her kidnapping. Of course, Helen can never be found, since she is always-already kidnapped, the ultimate object of desire, a sliding signifier, and other fun phrases like that. The point of the game is not to uncover narrative (which although fantastic IMO was always self-referential, indulgent, frequently alienating), but to engage with the world in a different, and we hoped, better way. We would inundate the world with Helen signifiers until everything ordinary, everything overlooked would now be filled with potential. Everything you see becomes a clue, and you, the player-who-doesn't-know-he's-playing are part of a vast conspiracy. We transform the city, we transform your life (and visa-versa).

Although you can still find artifacts of Helen online, the idea never fully got off the ground. The puzzles were too complex and the narrative too dense. About a year ago upon moving to San Francisco the trio started work on a new game. They took the premise of Helen but changed the format to allow the players to create the narrative themselves as they play the game. They created SF0, an amalgam of MMORPG’s, the online networking phenomenon (Tribe, &Youtube) and Alternate reality gaming.
I When it's at its best, playing SF0 should entail engaging with the world as if it were a zone of infinite possibility. It should change your perception of your environment and allow you to do things you didn't imagine you were capable of. In a lot of ways, the mantra of SF0 is: "model the real on the virtual".

The player creates a character who is simultaneously the player herself and the fictional character she creates. I The player chooses one of five factions to join, each with their own primary concerns.
The player then proceeds to complete tasks that have been created by other players and the puppet-masters, which range from public service to pranks, simple discussion of thoughts to subversive acts or art bordering on the illegal. The player posts proof of completed tasks to be considered by all the other players. the player then receives points equivalent to creativity and complexity of the task. As points are earned the player moves up in level where by she has access to more challenging and interesting tasks. This structure should be very familiar to anyone who has ever played a traditional role playing game. In a MMORPG like World of Warcraft the characters complete tasks through the onscreen avatar in the virtual world implemented by the programmers. All actions within the game are accomplished through abstract manipulation of the interface with a mouse and keyboard. The skills of the character within the game improve
separately from that of the player . The character may increase its fighting skill by fighting but the player never learns how to fight but instead must learn to use the interface more efficiently . In SF0 and other ARGs the player must have the knowledge or learn the skills needed to complete desired tasks.
I My character, Poon Poon, Responds to a task which asks a player to Document or reproduce a significant instance of hyperreality.

My Documentation for hyperreality involves what both you, in reading this, and I, In writing this, are doing right now. We are participating as fictional characters (which may or may not be modeled after our "real" selves) in an internet game which involves interaction with the "real" world. We are completing physical tasks which are clearly stated to be fictional. (The games disclaimer states; Due to the malleability of digital media, any appearance of such a violation by any Player may not be considered evidence, precedent, or approval of such a violation. Any material displayed as part of the Game should be considered fictive until and unless proven otherwise.)In exchange for completing these tasks, an unreal entity (your character) receives credit, points, prestige, and experience. The line between life and virtual life; the real and hyperreal is indistinguishable.

Only when you separate the motivations of those involved does the difference become apparent.

Example OOC: I could go outside right now and create a comfortable space within a bus stop; a "real" act, but I am not motivated to do so. My Character is not a high enough level to receive that task nor is he/she (I’ll decide later) the correct faction to receive points alone, Therefore the bus stop on 25th and Geary will remain uncomfortable until such time as I am enlisted to collaborate on said fictional task. I am sitting here in mid discourse on conceptual social theory when I should be out the door and half way to the mission so as not to be late to an art opening thereby saving myself from a long cold night on the couch. Yet where do my priorities lie? The border between the Real and Hyperreal are truly blurred.

As Baudrillard and other contemporary social theorists have said, the hyperreal in our Information Society goes mostly unnoticed. It has become such an integral part of who we are that this existence is assumed to be the norm. How many more things in our lives are given a quantitative or emotional value where none really exists? Is it better to revel in those things or destroy them?

I With the structure of the ARG the player finds himself playing a game continuously. Narrative emerges from the players interactions with the game world and each other. Sam states :
The realization of what I wanted with Helen Chanam (in part) happens when players create mystery, and mysterious environments for themselves, for other players and for non-participants.

With over 200 active players the storylines are constantly evolving and merging with each other . I My character is at this moment is kidnapped by an evil doppelganger I created. Other players and NPCs are putting together the requested ransom which will be sent to my accomplice in Baghdad Iraq. Upon my release I will be accidentally killed only to rise from the dead after returning to San Francisco during my characters own wake. I My doppelganger “Carpe Poon” will continue to exist as his own character within the game as an antagonist to myself and my allies. This story line completes four tasks and is just one small example of the complex narrative within the game.
I Although generally Alternate Reality Games have no commercial application, they have proven to be a huge success as publicity tools for movies and other video games. And like Machinima their audience is increasing with each new application of the medium. It would be foolish to assume that nonviolent gaming would ever completely engross the market. The popularity of ultra violent video games shows that there is some a need within our culture for what can only be provided by filling alien midgets with exploding phosphorescent needles , but it is refreshing when amongst the cacophony of gauss cannons and energy swords creative and expressive alternatives emerge to carry gaming beyond its own limitations.