Was this fake pop star big in the UK? Because I've never heard of him here in the states.

lol Grace. =)

A legend he was, no doubt.

This is an amazingly detailed game! I have just signed up and read everything and have no idea how to start solving problems...is anyone else further on with this? I am just on day one...

So...when did you start posting ARGs? Or is this your first?

"the BBC has launched a site that pays homage to this fictitious pop star"

So he's not real? I guess im just another confused Yank.

Got workin on the instant messanger part. got kinda creepy how well set up it was. gonna have to go back to it alittle later.

For those poeple who are stuck at the start, yo hsould have an e-mail called "Thanx for joining the fanclub" in your mail. go to the link in it, and strat reading, then go to the messanger at the bottom. or surf the siteif you like.

Wow, i had to close the messenger deal in the middle before i could finish. come 20 minutes later i get an e-mail from jess saying that she was sorry about the connection problems and i smould message her again. Jay, you have found one creepy game.

I'm on the third day of this game (i signed up before Jay posted), and I have to say i'm fixated with the story, I can't wait to get another email.

OmegaX123: This is somewhat different to a conventional ARG, with everyone starting the story from the beginning, and making their own adventure of it, but it could be seen as a different kind of ARG, I believe this is the first one Jay has posted about.

gH: Jamie Kane is entirely ficticious. (not real).

It's wicked detailed. I put in that I like 24 for TV and she mentions the star of the show, and I mentioned Kill Bill for a movie and she talked about how it was too gory. Creepy!

This game's brilliant. I can't believe how detailed it is. Between the lengthy blogs and prfiles for each character, the press conferences, the message boards, e-messenger and everything else it must have taken a seriously long time to put together. Out of interest, how old is this game. I was under the impression that it was quite recent, but some of the pages are copyright 2004.

Hey! It's Majestic, but it works!

Yay! Love ARGs!

This one seems like a very manageable introduction for new players to the genre too.

So, um... how do you know that you have "done" everything for that day?

Yeah ARGs! For those of you who don't know, it's "Alternate Reality Gaming." Like Sable and Shuck, or whatever it was called. Good times. Some of these people phone you up (automated of course) on your home phone or cell. It can get very creepy. Very, very creepy.

Wulfo, I believe the game just went "live" on Monday of this week. Maybe the 2004 copyrights are part of the "alternate reality" of the game?

Kevin - if the following day you do not receive any new clues or emails, I'd say that's a sure sign you haven't completed everything from the previous day.

Sara - I agree completely. This is the first ARG-type game that I have seen that is accessible to a more casual games audience. I'm very impressed with their efforts, and I'm sure it will win them an award or two.

OMG...I'm totally hooked already. The IM'ing was really wild!

I started actually questioning...am I talking to a real person? :-)

Awesome find Jay! I know what I'll be doing for the next 15 days or so!

I agree, nice to have a casual ARG that doesn't take over your life toooo much. The IM is certainly spooky, they'd do great in that test. Uh, what's it called? The one where there are pairs of people, but some of them are actually paired up with a computer, and then they use a messaging program to chat with either their partner or a computer and they have to guess whether the person they're talking to is real? That one? Anyway, I mentioned the OC and they talked about the stars. One of them is making a movie. God, I didn't know that.

Kevin - there's also a cheat sheet for each day at http://www.bbc.co.uk/jamiekane/faq/stuck.shtml. If you don't get the next e-mail thing within 24 hours, check to see if you did everything for that day. It would be nice if people didn't post spoilers here, seeing as they have a hint page themself, but it's up to Jay to decide.

Yes, Grant0, spoilers are something that must be handled delicately or it could ruin someone's fun with a game. I'm currently working on implementing spoiler tag with which people may hide them from plain sight, with a button to click to show them if desired.

In the meantime, I always read every comment to make sure it's appropriate for the discussion.

Grant0: "they'd do great in that test. Uh, what's it called? The one where there are pairs of people, but some of them are actually paired up with a computer, and then they use a messaging program to chat with either their partner or a computer and they have to guess whether the person they're talking to is real? That one?"

I'm guessing you mean Turing test.

That's amazing! I've only just started this, at the first IM convo and I'm blown away by how much this thing recognises! I was absolutely stunned when I mentioned the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and instead of a generic response got "Leeets do the time warp agaaain "

Damn, that's creepy. I'd love to know how they programmed the chat. Oddly although Kill Bill is recognised, she claims not to know of Quentin Tarantino when she asks about the director of Reservoir Dogs.

OmegaX123 - ding ding ding! Yeah, that's it. Brain block, you see.

Did anyone notice the weird age descrepency? The BBC bio says he was born in '80, where as, the jamie kane site says 1982. Weird.

XD! Greta has the words "sad and pathetic konspiracy theorist" linked to timecube.com on her blog! This game is genius!

Jay, just wanted to say you find the coolest games. This one is creepy but in a good way. Jay you rock!!

Thanks, Marcia, I appreciate that! =)

I would love to know how they make the IM'ing program so believable!

The fights between Greta and Cochrane crack me up!

Whoa, this game is awesome! I'm on the first day right now. I'm not sure whether I've uncovered all the facts I need to get by, but I sure watched a lot. It's amazing all the work they put into this. I think it would've taken a year to set up AT LEAST. I hope to see more games like this in the future!

Jay this game is bananas. If you find more of this type, please post them. By the way, you and your site rock more than a car on lovers lane.

I managed to confuse the IM. didn't seem to want to read what i'd said and just had a pre-meditated response list. other than that its ok

rofl @ J =)

cs192 - when I first started playing, I intentionally tried to mess up the AI. It wasn't difficult. But then the immersion is gone, and so I don't do that anymore. =)

Quick question for you guys: how important are the video segments to this game? I'm lazy and never really had much liking for Real Player, so I'm wondering if I can get by without it. I am quite amazed by all the content they probably had to create for this, are the flicks equally stunning?

Crowing - actually no, you're not missing much. The one RealPlayer clip was laughable. It certainly doesn't play a vital role, just a supporting one.

Thanks for the awesome site Jay, it gives me hours of amusement. :) Is it at all possible to download the music tracks on the sites? I've become really hooked on a few of them and would love to be able to listen to 'em all the time :D

oh man... that is just creepy.
I tried putting "jpop" when she asked what music I liked, and she had no idea what it was.
Then I put "Amelie" on what movie I liked, and she goes, "oh, the French film?"
Wow... I'm amazed.

This is a pretty interesting article regarding this game:

It apparently took 10 months and £250,000 (About $400,200) to create.

Thanks for that article, Wulfo.

The worst part about this game is waiting a whole day for the next e-mail!

Just a quick comment on that article...

"previous players of games connected to BBC series Spooks and Attachments "numbered only in the hundreds""

...is actually wrong. In the case of Spooks, we exceeded our sign up target. Sorry, that's just a sore point for us :)

Glad everyone seems to be enjoying it so far, it is a pretty cool thing, and a great project to have worked on.

Mmm. ARGgish goodness.

There are links to other games (including the infamous Halo 2 viral ad, http://www.ilovebees.com) out there on the Web. You can find more information by Googling "Alternative Reality Game" or other such words. In fact, I found *this* website from one of the forums on Unfiction.

I give you fair warning: they can, and as some here have found, will eat your life as you decrypt messages, destegg pictures, analyze soundclips, and in certain cases, wait at phonebooths for In-Game AIs to contact you and talk to the PuppetMasters (PMs) that run these mindjobs.

As for spoilers for *this* game, if you check out the BBC's website for this ARG, there's a FAQ sheet for those who are stuck.

Jay? Excellent, excellent find. Almost as excellent as your site. Almost. Thank you beyond words for putting this collection together.

Silver, I appreciate your kinds words, thank you. =)

Squize - really awesome job on the game. Thanks for your email as well. I updated the entry to give credit to the BBC for the websites.

And like Shastanna said earlier, it's difficult waiting a whole day to find out what's going to happen next. Cheers!

Apparently there were some shenanigans at Wikipedia over the Jamie Kane game recently.

It's unfortunate that while some people determined to abuse the system will get away with it, while others who have no ill intentions get raked over the coals for nothing.

It is but a harmless game with disclaimers that will tell you so if you look hard enough. Sheesh.

jay, is this going to affect the game? i didn't get my e-mail for the day, and i'm pretty darn sure i did everything i needed to do.

lol - no, April, I'm sure it won't affect the game. It was just a little Wikipedia self-cleansing in action is all.

If you didn't get an email today, then I would revisit the last one you received to make sure you accomplished your goal. If you need help understanding what it is you need to do, visit the FAQ for players who are stuck. Click.

I wasn't expecting this game to be so detailed, but it has blown me away so far. Awesome storyline and a plot that makes me impatient for the next email. The E-Messenger, the fights between Cochrane and Greta, and the hacking missions are my favorite parts.

Not a bad way to get introduced to ARGs I would say. ^_^

That bot on Day 1 didn't serve me anything but laughter. Here's some key moments:

"Do you go to school or are you working or what?"
"I'm a high school student."
"Oh so you're at college. What are you studying?"
----------
"What kind of films you into? I love weepies!"
"Unpopular Japanese Films"
"Hmmm, i watched Akira once but it was a bit mad."
Since WHEN was Akira unpopular?
"Just sit tight till tomorrow. Byeee *waves*"

So much for realism. I named real movies and bands, and they had no clue on them. Coulda researched a bit more. Who hasn't heard of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?

I think that the more we play these kinds of games, the better they will become.

It's a little glitchy in some spots, but I'm really enjoying it.

does anybody watch Lost on Tv? On the website in the uk (im not sure about anywhere else) there's a massive section with loads of hidden websites and although its not really a game, the detail rivals Jamie Kane.

is the pet sounds press conference sound clip important? my school has blocked sound clips so i was wondering if anyone had a transcript?
thanks!

sorry guys, me again. I'm only on the second day and I'm very confused. I've got an email from Greta and read her blog, I checked the "Stuck" help, but I am still lost! When they say Photoenhancer, does that mean any program like Photoshop, or a specific one? Also, I can't get to the Thai bar photo! Please help!

Jay, dude, I love you. Not only have you introduced me to a really cool game (as well as many others over the last few months), but also to a really effing amazing gaming genre. I've read a few things about ARGs and the whole concept has completly blown me away. I've decided I must become an expert in such games over the next year and make one for my final project at college. If it goes well I promise to give you a shiny thing as a thankyou.
Kristofski

Alex - If you haven't gotten past day two yet, she isn't referring to any ole photo enhancer. On the link she gives you to her blog, there should be a link that will cause the photo enhancer you need to pop up.

I really like this game! How else thinks that Cockrane is a complete a__ h___?

They want me to make long distance phone calls. Eeek.

No worries, Drinkdrawers, the calls are not neccessary. If you choose not to call, you will be given links to listen to any audio that may be necessary for the current task.

Yay! I finished the game!

Jay, I really liked this one, thanks!!!!!

Ack! I've gone the majority of the game without a problem, and now it hits! >.< I'm on Day 13, and it was going fine (I even managed to find out who the mole really is, and I'm quite shocked.) until we got logged out. I guess I typed in the messenger when I shouldn't have, because it got really weird and I had to close the window down.

Now I have it open again, and Greta is talking about getting back into the email account. Trouble is, we've already been logged out and I can't get back in! And I'm so close to finishing this game... *sighs heavily* Any ideas what to do?

Ah, figured it out. If you have the same problem as I did, tell her "Done" on the e-messenger. She'll then check her inbox and comment that she doesn't have any of the messages. When she asks you which email address you sent all the evidence to, tell her "[email protected]", and that will cause the story to move forward.

I think I've come against a bug. After the point Cris just mentions... Kal proves his worth in a bit of a comeback, but then what? There's no messenger button on that page and I can't progress. Anybody else come up against this?

Yes Toby, I'm at the same point I believe. On Thursday, i received an email from Kal after "hacking" into Fay's computer. I haven't received anything since thursday. What a disappointment if this is how it's going to be.

Yeah, it's broken. Damn, I'm dissapointed. You'd have thought after spending quarter of a million developing the game they would design it to work to completion. Has anyone got past this point?

i can't past this part either. if anyone can will you email me at [email protected]

wow, that's too bad. it was a good game up until that point. they should've worked out the glitches before it was released. what a disappointment :(

really really gutted, im right at the end after hacking fay's computer, i get the email from jess about thu updated message board, then one from kal sending me 2 the same page? and thats it!! ive recieved nothing for a week!

Shastanna can u post the url for the finale pleeaaasssseee!

Hi guys. Rob here from the Jamie Kane Team. Apologies for the gitch. Our email server fell over last week and when it came back up again some players didn't receive the proper update.

If you'd like to email me via this form:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/feedback/?ref=/jamiekane/

telling me which stage you're stuck at I'll see if I can restart you.

all the best

Rob

I contacted them .. I still didnt hear anything..

I sent off my email to Rob. Thing is, I don't think it was an email problem, but rather, the link at the bottom of the 'Kal's back' page to the messenger is missing. So I can't continue. It is dissapointing, but hopefully it will get sorted.
I don't understand how some people can complete it though. It's been a great game but this has really spoiled the momentum. I've been waiting a fortnight and the illusion of urgency ('we've got 24 hours to save Jamie etc etc') is kinda lost now. Oh well.

really really gutted, im right at the end after hacking fay's computer, i get the email from jess about thu updated message board, then one from kal sending me 2 the same page? and thats it!! ive recieved nothing for a week!

I'm at the same place and the link above isn't working....:(((

I LOVE THE GAME! it's so cool, and I'm really into it, although sometimes it's hard to get to where you want to get to!!!!!!!11

It always shows that theres nobody else on the website which makes it weird when u click on members (well for me it does) it only shows 5 people surely theres more then that isnt there by the sounds of obove there must be ^^^^^^

ive been playing your games for almost a yr now, really liked this game..although at the cost of being late to class a few times, but the detail was amazing and so addicting. Also when I was stuck at the same part everyone else was the jamie crew contacted me right away and solved the problem. all around two thumbs up

Help! i started JK a few days ago and already im gettin annoyed! i stupidly started playin wen a m8 told me about it at 10:00pm, and now thats when i get the e-mails thru every day!! any1 know how i can change it to recieve the e-mails any earlier?

i'm stuck i can't find what school he went to has anyone passed this bit?

I really don't know why you guys are all a-whinin'. A few glitches (quickly repaired) do not weigh down this game at all! I just finished, and while it ended without as much fanfare as I thought it might, it was quite entertaining the whole way through.

...and I'd just like to say that the person I suspected the entire time was the murderer. Didn't know why, but I found out, as will you guys!

greta gave me a # to call : 09011373777. do i seriously have to call it? do i have to pay for it? is it long distance (im in Canada).

Celeste - you do not need to make the call. One of the characters will ask you if you made the call, just say "no", and they will provide you with access to files that you may listen to instead.

claire, I noticed that the emails show up appx 24 hours after you access the link. Perhaps if you get an email at 10 pm, don't answer it until 4 pm the next day-or whenever you'd like to receive them. That's what I did, and it worked. Have fun!!

hello after the first chat what do you do to get on to the next day. i did it yesterday and i have logged on now and cant find out how to do the next bit about the foto!!!??? please tell me! thanx gigi x

I tried for 2 weeks.. They kept saying my account would be deleted.. I tried many again but the chat thing was never there at the bottem of the page.. they finally deleted my account.. I wanna know what happens.. I just dont want to go through it all again for something to happen.. Can someone email me and tell me what happens at the end?

[email protected]

thanks

Just completed the game and wanted to say how much I enjoyed it. It had just the right degree of difficulty and involvement needed and the messenger, phone calls and web pages were all set up brilliantly. I thought the hotel cctv chase game was particularly well done.
Hope there will be more like this,
Thanks, Ian Thorley

The website where they say
I feel a bit embarased cos of ysterday when i freeked out when they said j-me
was a murder. Do u think I woz a bit OTt??? sumtimes its hard when u r new to a
board to know what to say:-(

anyway evry1s forgoten about it coz Jess has posted some pikkys of Lana (j-me's
old girlfriend). shes just started going out with fran from Boy*d UPp!!!

i think it's okay but every1 else has gone mental:
the website won't load :/

You might have a pop-up blocker on your comp. Try holding "ctrl" when you click

hhey evri 1, i swear the dude that plays fran in this game is like now in hollyoaks u no the guy who is being kinda meen and so all?? has ne 1 else noticed this or is it just me being stupid??
ne way i love this game, and this site aswell, thanks jay!!!
xx

I love this game. Im totaly hooked on it. Im almost to the end of the 15 days and I don't want it to end. I check my e-mail all day long till I get the e-mail for the game. I want to be part of the Jamie Kane fan club. I will be sad when I can't log in to it anymore. Its a good thing I check your site daily too. Jay you are fantastick. I think I need to start the Jay is games unofficial fan club.lol. thanks Jay for all the time you put in to it.
:)

Thanks, Sassy. You're pretty awesome yourself! =D

Hmm I'm on Game 2 what do you press to get onto the photo enhancer and the photo itself I looked all at Greta's blog but I still can't find it. I'm really stuck.

x

I'm on day two and I'm completely hooked! It must have taken them forever to set up...

I've been googling the name, hoping to find something extra. So thats me stuffed for the next two weeks, anyway!

i am from liverpool england and can someone tell me if jamie kane is a real pop star or is he fake just for the game and if he is real how did he die??

this game is really good, but im a bit worried, because my email for today hasn't turned up within the promised 24 hours. has anyone else had this trouble?

Hey I'm waiting for my day 2 email and nothing yet by the way Hollie, Jamie Kane is fake he's played by Simon Bailey a theatre actor.

I have just started JK just finished 2nd day. Photo cleanup was a breeze! Shame you can't work through at your own pace! Interesting idea though and I did find the IM really FREAKY the first time I used it. Did wonder if someone was chatting back but then it became apparent that although the dialogue WAS really good it def wasn't a person! Good game anyway!

If you have not received your next email you need to make sure that you have completed the game all the way to the end. on day 1 you have to make sure you keep talking to jess until she leaves to talk to her brother

How did he die?

those are the worst songs ever!

Help! I'm stuck! I'm on the bit where you have to find the telephone signal and it's stuck on preloading data. I've tried everything the website recommends AND I've emailed them too! Can someone help please?

I've finshed the game! it was good I hope they do somemore games like this.

I just finished the game today. It was so cool, I was actually kind of sad when it ended, I wanted to continue playing! The amount of detail that went into this was staggering and I was really impressed. Very creative and different. I would love to play other games like this!

Help! I'm going away and need to know how many days in i am! I am up to the bit where:

do you really need to phone the hotel and leave a message for "jamie" to complete the game?

was jamie kane actually a real person cuz i am confused

Did anyone actually phone the hotel?
I was just wondering if it was an automated answerphone or a wong number!
By the way, those of you who are on (or getting to) that bit, just tell her u have no credit and she says she'll phone him herself! Problem solved!!

ive done the game, got hooked doing it again.
the only thing that annoys me is
WHAT IS JAMIE'S PRIMARY SCHOOL!!

hey ikleme

you just have to wait for everything to download and then check every square

ok

hiya im on day 13 and the speech to text is not working can someone please tell me what emails to send greta, ive tried sending them all but she says she has not received them plz help

seriously good game but i am so stuck on the primary school part!! does any one know where the answer to this is or what the answer is?!

Did anyone have trouble with e-mails on day 7? I screwed up last week by being impatient and started again. I then got a day 7 e-mail but because I was back on day 7 I couldn't continue! So now I'm back and waiting for the first e-mail of the day... patiently waiting because I don't want to end up back at day 1 again!

I'm majorly stuck on what primary school he went to! Does anyone out there know? Ta xx

i had a problems with day 7 then some one fixed it for me after i e-mailed the tech support. also is some one guna answer the quistion that salt and jess put down?
"What's the name of the primary school Jamie went to with Fran?"
i was woundering that my self

I've just finished day 6 (counting by the number of separately titled pages on the messageboard), and already, I can say I'll be sorry when it ends.

BBC.CO.UK have been famous for their exceptional free web games that they produced, although probably because of the seemingly uninteresting pop star "coverup", I didn't discover this game until I found it on this site (thanks Jay!). The first game of this kind that I've come into contact with was the game "Missing" (known in Europe as "In Memoriam"), but I haven't been able to finish it yet, partly due to the sometimes frustrating and uninteresting puzzles it contained, also due to its long length in content. However, "Jamie Kane" was a completely different experience for me, because of the huge amount of realistic character interaction (the characters backgrounds are really well formed, and the AI is just remarkable!), which really involved you and made you feel a part of the events, and made you actually care very much about what happens to the characters. Often times I found myself wishing the characters really existed and you could really become friends with them. :) Plus there was enough mystery to keep you intrigued, but the game was still light-hearted enough to not bring your mood down.

Now for those of you who keep asking about Jamie Kane's primary school, please, calm down. :) If you take the time to really think about the situation and the messages after you finished that quiz, you'll realize that that's the way the game was supposed to be played.

Oops, sorry for such a long post, I get really excited when talking about something I like. :P

It's weird, i only found this game because the guy who plays Jamie is currently on the west end stage in one of my favourite musicals so i decided to do a search on him. At first i thought the game was a bit odd but ive really got into it, im up to the bit where I just failed the test, part of me is really excited to see how it ends and part of me doesnt want it to end at all! Well done BBC its a great game!

I just finished it, and it was a fantastic story! Sad that it's over now. It felt very real.

Ack I'm stuck on Day 13 - the messenger keeps freezing - damned annoying, have emailed BBC 3 times, but no answer, very frustrating to get this far and not be able to finish.

I cant get the instant messenger to do anything! it just says connecting foreeeeevvver.. is there anything im missing here?

Yeah, I get the same problem. I can see that the chat thing seems to work for the first 2 seconds and then connecting stops blinking or disappears. Anyone know what the problem is?

Me too; it says on the website to just close it and restart, but that never works. Is it a problem for those in the Western Hemisphere, or just some screw up that happens randomly or what?

I'm having that problem with the chat too...

I really wanna play this game! :[ I hope it gets fixed soon.

I'm having the same problem trying to connect to the messenger.

This game was created way back in, what, 2004? I have high doubts that the server will still be up-and-running nowadays. Also, take a look at most of the comments in this article. They're dated back to '04/'05.

I can't get the pop up chat boxs to work either (they pop up, but they don't do anything) I contacted the technical people behind the game and all.. is there a way to just give up the game if you're tired of waiting?

I have that problem with the messenger as well...the messenger opens up then the "connecting" word disappears and nothing happens. Tis truly annoying, especially as it's only stage one of the game that I'm at.

So he's a fake pop star with people mourning over him dying? 0_o I don't understand any of this... I'm not 14 yet, so I guess I'll have to wait until I can play to find out. I dislike creepy stuff, anyway.

[Edit: It was written facetiously to attract attention and to entertain. It's a game. It's not creepy, but it is a bit of a mystery that you have to solve. It's fun. :) -Jay]

Alright. Thanks Jay, that's really cool of you.

So does anyone know if this game is still running? I've signed up for it and am waiting for the game to start.

I haven't got one eiher....

I haven't recived an e-mail for day 1 and I singed up on the 3rd September 2007!

hey i know its been a while... but does anyone know if preloaded released another game similar to this because i seriously remember them mentioning something about creating somthing like that.