''Commander Video'' is an

alternate reality game An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions. The form is defined by inten ...

and

viral marketing Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly on various social media platforms. Its name refers to how consumers spread information about a product with other people, much in the same way tha ...

campaign created by Gaijin Games and

Aksys Games Aksys Games Localization, Inc. is a video game publisher that specializes in translating and localizing Japanese video games for English-speaking markets. It was founded by Akibo Shieh in 2006. Some of its clients include Bandai Namco Games, X ...

in order to promote their

WiiWare WiiWare was a service that allowed Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications could only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii ...

game '' Bit.Trip Beat''.Bozon, Mark (2008-12-19)
"Who is the Commander?"
.

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

. Retrieved on 2009-01-08. It is named after the protagonist of the '' Bit.Trip'' series of games.

Background

''Commander Video'' began when an anonymous e-mail was sent to gaming network

on December 19, 2008, containing a link to
video
that depicted two people uncovering a mysterious object that flashed strange images with a voiceover saying, "''I am only a man.''" On December 30, somebody with the screen name "Commander Video" began leaving cryptic messages on several websites containing a link t
www.commandervideo.com
CommanderVideo's first cryptic messageGoNintendo
Retrieved on 2009-01-08. Commander Video distributed clues via email and

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, and issued missions involving advertising the game to a group of ten "recruits." On January 9, 2009, ''

Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninten ...

'' spoiled the game early, revealing the title and publisher. Later, the codename of this game was confirmed, in an email between a player of the alternate reality game and the person running the alias of Commander Video, to be "BTB."

References

External links

CommanderVideo website

Gaijin Games website

Official ''Bit.Trip Beat'' website

Web.archive.org file
{{Bit.Trip Promotional alternate reality games Choice Provisions games

Background

See also

References

External links