Telefilm Canada has ponied up cash for Douglas Rushkoff’s new digital graphic novel. (That label sounds like an oxymoron to me.) It’s titled X. (Of which the sub-title is possibly Rise Up, based on the web site.)
Vancouver-based game studio Smoking Gun is behind the launch, which explains how the government grant was approved. Two of their game concept artists are illustrating what’s billed as “the first graphic novel of its kind embedded with an interactive experience that builds a community around the story.” You can read 17 pages and access the game here.
I don’t want to spoil too much, but there are samples pages from a comics and one of the panels opens to a game that, once completed, brings you to a web site.I guess the plan is to make you feel like you’re tracking down this X-Files mystery and connecting with other players of this experiential game. If they’re trying to create a “down the rabbit hole”-type experience, they’ve succeeded. I have no idea how far down this thing goes. I stopped after spending about 45 minutes on it because I was supposed to be working and was taking a short break to write this blog entry
Okay, back to work.
