Regarding the recent hacking of/revelations about the Tagruato.jp site, Engel of the Steak NBJ forum says:
That is all very weird and I have no idea what it has to do with the movie.
To which Sir_Incognito replied:
It might have nothing to do with the movie. But it’s doing what it’s supposed to which is get people really involved and imaginations running wild. Or it could be setting up a backstory that won’t have time to be told in the movie. Hard to set up a lot if you are using the format this movie is, the handheld first person camera thing. Unless you want a ton of unnatural narration, then the story needs to be set walking into the theater.
Remembering the granddaddy of online ARG’s, AI’s Cloudmakers, I have to opine that this game is not designed to set-up a back story for audiences before the movie debuts; most of the audience members are barely aware of the film, let alone the ARG and in-game sites. I think this is really just a way to generate buzz among a small group of net-savvy cognoscenti who might draw enough attention for the mainstream media to cover that buzz, and thus give free publicity to the buzz’s subject (i.e. the film).
Well, maybe not free publicity, given the cost of hiring a company to write the storyline, buy the domains, and design the sites — but a hell of a lot cheaper than traditional media buys.
Of course, I could be wrong; the film may leave some back story questions deliberately unanswered so that the DVD can include a special feature detailing the ARG — which would be an extra reason to buy the DVD for those burning with curiosity.
