The Beast (game)

The Beast centers around the fictional Jeanine Salla, who investigates the death of her friend Evan Chan and discovers a cover-up involving a string of murdered humans and artificial intelligences. Players were led through a network of over forty websites created by Warner Bros. via clues left in trailers, print ads, posters, telephone messages, and live promotional events for the film A.I. Artificial Intelligence. The game launched on March 8, 2001, and continued running past its initially scheduled end on June 29, the release date for the film. Premise Set in 2142, roughly forty years after A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Evan Chan is said to be killed in a boating accident aboard his artificial intelligence-enhanced boat Cloudmaker. Dr. Jeanine Salla receives a cryptic message revealing he was murdered and leads an investigation. She discovers that he was having an affair with Venus, a companion bot reprogramed to kill Evan, and that the ensuing cover-up triggers further murders of humans and artificial intelligences. Simultaneously, the Mann Act is brought before the legislature and the president and ultimately put to referendum to decide if artificial intelligence will be treated equal to human citizens. Plot development Clues to the game were distributed through trailers, print ads, posters, telephone messages, and live promotional events for the film A.I. Artificial Intelligence Online, the game was presented through numerous websites in text, photograph, video, and audio based formats. a phone number hidden in another trailer ultimately led to Jeanine, Later that month, "Anti-Robot Militia" rallies in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles were staged with actors pretending to protest artificial intelligence. Jeanine Salla and other characters of The Beast are listed in the film's closing credits. Cloudmakers and player base Cloudmakers, named after the boat on which Evan was murdered, is a Yahoo! Group and website dedicated to the game. The Cloudmakers website was described to be among the first dedicated to the game. Though the total number of players was uncertain, the Cloudmakers group was said to include a majority of the player base. • Andrea Phillips, writer • Adrian Hon, game designer and author • Jay Bushman, Emmy Award-winning writer of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries == Creation and production ==

Though The Beast does not directly reference A.I Artificial Intelligence, the film's producer Kathleen Kennedy stated that the game's intention was develop the film's fictional setting and create a foundation for a series of video games released over five years as part of a "very elaborate long term project with Microsoft and Xbox". The game was originally scheduled to end with the release of the film on June 29, 2001, but it continued running throughout the summer. The Puppetmasters managed a larger creative team. For instance, Kevin McLeod was assisted by Thuc Doan Nguyen on sites like Cybertronics, Eliza's Tea Room and others. Microsoft also initially denied involvement in the game's development, though this was believed to be part of maintaining the integrity of the game's intrigue. Pete Fenlon, the Producer and Content Lead, served as the fourth of The Beast's four Puppetmasters. == Reception and legacy ==

The game was described by the Los Angeles Times as "one of the most elaborate movie promotions ever conceived" that is "unprecedented even by Hollywood standards". ==References==