Background
Commander Video began when an anonymous e-mail was sent to gaming network IGN on December 19, 2008 containing a link to a video that depicted two Germans uncovering a mysterious object with a likeness similar to that of a television set. When the object is activated in response to one of the Germans dusting it off, it began to flash strange images. The Germans flee, and someone in the background, most likely the object, says "I am only a man," (which is the page title of the site, though the meaning of that phrase is unknown) before the video goes white, and ends. On December 30, a commenter known only as "Commander Video" began leaving cryptic messages on several websites containing a link to the Commander Video website
Currently, players are in close contact with the cryptic Commander Video, via email and Twitter. It is through these communications that Commander Video has released his requests, his clues, and his information. He apparently is watching his players' movements as well, for a few hours after the ten recruits solved a puzzle by placing lines of colors they separately received via email in the correct order, the completed image was placed on the Commander Video website.
The Commander's way of relaying information is coded. A single intention or query is put in all capital letters, and spaces between words are removed. The numeral one replaces periods, and two ones are used to signify the end of a command. For example, if The Commander were to ask Frank to get him a soda, he would phrase it as such:
00DATACOMPILED11 11 FRANKENGAGE1—MISSIONREQUEST1—PLEASEGETMEASODA11 11 FRANKDISENGAGE1—THECOMMANDER1
Though confusing, at first, players were able to quickly decode his messages. The messages themselves were usually mission updates, although he was known to answer information requests, even from those who were not recruits. The missions themselves are internet based, such as talking about the game, finding information and even creating a Wikipedia entry about his game.
On January 9, 2009, Nintendo Power 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 ARG and the person running the alias of Commander Video, to be "BTB."
Read more about this topic: Commander Video
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