Haze, the upcoming first-person shooter from UbiSoft, has jumped on the viral advertisement train with both feet and a ticket firmly in hand. Sadly, the train seems to have broken an axle, and one of the oxen contracted cholera, so until further notice, Ubi's viral campaign is stuck in Independence, Missouri.
(Note: I have no idea how a train actually functions.)
Mantel Global Industries is the website that plays home to the viral ad campaign Ubi has set up, and while it isn't nearly as fascinating as ilovebees, the story of corporate greed run amok is so utterly original that it provides almost limitless possibilities for story telling and player engagement both in the viral arena and in the game itself. Sadly, some of the links seem to be broken, most notably, the main one on this page, that should take you to a video -- the same video that appears at the top of this post.
When I was looking for whatever should have been at this URL earlier, I managed to come across it on GameTrailers.com of all places. Mysteriously, after surfing away to look at nude pictures of Emma Bunton, I surfed back and the video had disappeared, just like Emma Bunton's career! Everyone I contacted at GameTrailers just swore at me, and tried to sell me silverware, so we're going to assume the video's egress was the work of UbiSoft. Unfortunately for them, I snagged a copy.
Please enjoy, and don't believe a word of what the guy says; he's over 30.
Contest:
10:46 PM on 04.30.2007
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Hehe. I work for GT... Haven't heard anything about this. Looks... interesting.
Looks like they'll have to caulk the wagon and float it across. Or they could hire an Indian to ferry them across for 3 sets of clothing.
(Admittedly, irish not english, but they've invaded us enough times for us to have that shared cultural heritage thing going.)