Hyper Sociability

Hypersociability or

“Made you look!” (… and click, and play, and submit personal information, and…)

But first… Progress Reports (and swift kicks)

According to Wikipedia: In the context of transmedia storytelling, hypersociability is the encouraged involvement of media consumers in a story through ordinary social interaction. A story may be shared through discourse within a fan group. Hypersociability lessens the need for a publisher to offer fixed media. Instead, storytellers hope that fans will build on the story themselves either over the Internet or through direct conversation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypersociability

Literally: Hypersociability: “An unusual willingness to converse with others.”

“Theory of Fun”

Case Study:

THE

MATRIX

The Kid: (Case in point)

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Animatrix

Clayton Watson

Play Me:

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Matrix Online

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Enter the Matrix • Was the first video game based on The Matrix series of films developed by Shiny Entertainment. • First released on 15 May 2003, the same day as The Matrix Reloaded's North American release • It sold one million copies in its first eighteen days of release, 2.5 million over the first six weeks, and eventually 5 million copies. • Enter the Matrix was simultaneously produced with the The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. • It was “Revolutionary” because it paralleled the events of the movie, claiming to be the only way to get the “whole story”

In other words… Enter the Matrix gives players control of two of the minor characters in that film, Ghost and Niobe, members of the same group of rebels as Morpheus, Trinity, and Neo. Niobe is the Captain of the Logos, the fastest ship in the rebel fleet. Ghost is the ship's first mate and weapons guru, and is a deep-thinking, philosophical assassin. The game takes place at roughly the same time as the events in The Matrix Reloaded; a character may walk out of a scene in the film, only to walk into a scene in the game.

The Website and more: Lost now to the archives of the internet was one of the very first extended experience website games allowing the audience/players to “hack the Matrix” and gain clues before the second movie came out.

The Matrix Online A massively multiplayer online game developed by Monolith Productions. It was the official continuation of the The Matrix storyline. The game began closed beta-testing in June 2004 which was then opened for people who pre-ordered the game in November 2004. Officially released on March 22, 2005

MxO • At the time, doubts about the game circled within the industry, based on the lackluster reception of the later two Matrix films and an overcrowded MMORPG market. • of The Matrix Online's defining and differentiating aspects was its inclusion and emphasis on what was called "The Continuing Story". The game itself was the official continuation of the universe, story and characters established in The Matrix series.

Mx-Uh Oh! • Sony unexpectedly decided to discontinue service to the Matrix Online due to low sales in June 2009. Sony shut down the servers in August 2009. • A grand finale was planned where all online players were to be crushed, but due to a server glitch, most players were disconnected before the final blow came. • The event itself turned out to be a reprise of several previous events like Halloween and New Years, much to the disappointment of fans who had hoped for something a bit more meaningful.

The Matrix: Path of Neo Released on November 8, 2005. The third video game based on the Matrix series and the second developed by Shiny Entertainment. Players control the character Neo, participating in scenes from the films without major embellishment.

Comical Extentions The Matrix Comics is a collection of short comic book stories set in the fictional universe of The Matrix series. Originally presented as webcomics on the series' official website, the stories have since been featured in two printed volumes published by the Wachowski Brothers' company Burlyman Entertainment.

Hypersociability?

What can be learned from THE MATRIX?