Four random things for a Tuesday

Tim Kring (Heroes) and The Company P (Sanningen om Marika, Dollplay) are joining forces to do something codenemed TEVA. P CEO Christopher Sandberg says: “Tim and we share the same vision to have massively participatory entertainment help change our world for the better. When people come together positive things happen.” This could mean pretty much anything. The P website also states that: “The first phase will be sponsored by Nokia, to promote their new Ovi platform.” Nokia has a separate press release on the subject (which doesn’t mention P at all) which seems ridiculously long in comparison to how little information there is. It does give the project a timetable, though: “Nokia and Kring will launch the first mobile phase of the project in the Summer of ’09 and rolled out regionally.” Regional roll out on the internet? Color me not impressed.

The third season of The IT Crowd was recently released on DVD. The box contains an internet puzzle hunt – and an interesting exposé of the hunt that shipped with the second season box.

The trailer for Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest outrageous candid camera attack, Brüno, made its way to the internets last week. We are big fans of Borat, and it seems that the new one just might live up to it. Baron Cohen’s reality comedy is based on the kind of social expansion that most game designers can only dream of. You can’t get away with that in the name of a game – or even in the name of art. You can only get away with it with Hollywood lawyers.

Today’s Viivi & Wagner, a Finnish comic strip about a woman and a pig, sums up minimalist role-play. The text translates as follows:

Panel 1: Viivi: “What’s up, piggy?” Wagner: “I’m playing internet poker.”

Panel 2: Viivi: “Why do you wear a bowtie?”

Panel 3: Wagner: “To have a hint of an atmosphere.”