unfiction.com

notes

From the LivePlanet website:

"A dramatic series set in the created town of Push, Nevada. The show is distributed on ABC and blends elements of fact and fiction, drama and reality. The show takes place in the Nevada town of Push and chronicles a strange series of events that occur around the Versailles Casino and a missing seven-figure sum of money."

From the ABC website:

"A mild-mannered IRS agent travels to a remote desert region in search of missing money and stumbles into a strange small town where mystery, danger, and peculiar characters lurk around every off-kilter corner. Everyone in Push has a secret, but no one is talking … unless they're telling our man to get out of town, fast. Every word, every sign, every gesture holds a clue toward solving the riddle of Push, Nevada. Each episode has new puzzles to follow and solve, along with a dazzling array of guest stars. In a next-generation twist on reality television, if one viewer can put the evidence together at the end of a multi-episode arc, they'll win the missing money that everyone is after."

Summary:

LivePlanet is the Internet entity created by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Sean Bailey, and Chris Moore. Their first attempt at mixing reality television with Internet interactivity was the prematurely aborted "Runner," a take-off on Stephen King's short story (and later movie) "The Running Man."

"Push, NV" looks to be a massive scavenger hunt, with clues found in the television show (that is to air this fall on ABC), on the Internet, and in the "real" world. From ABC's description, it looks like the game is geared toward the individual player rather than a collective. Will LivePlanet be as surprised by the distributed problem-solving capability of the ARG audience as were the makers of the Beast? I can't wait until September to find out.

Adrian Hon's take on Push, NV, can be found at the premier ARG/MMOE weblog, Massive.