Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Dark Knight, sort of

IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT...THE KIND OF NIGHT THAT PUSHES YOU TO USE CLICHES LIKE "IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT."
WHEN I GOT TO THE RENDEZVOUS POINT...A PIZZA PARLOR...I GAVE THE KID BEHIND THE COUNTER MY NAME, AND HE *GAVE ME* A FUNNY LOOK...AND A BLACK BOX.
INSIDE THERE WAS JUST A RUBBER MASK AND A NOTE WITH A PHONE NUMBER AND A PASSWORD...
SCARY VOICE:<"Enter your 10-digit code.">

STRANGE. I DIDN'T KNOW WHO THESE PEOPLE WERE OR HOW I FIT INTO THEIR PLAN, BUT I DID WHAT THE MAN SAID.
SCARY VOICE: <"Your delivery has been confirmed. Goodbye.">
TURNS OUT I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE MIXED UP WITH THESE PEOPLE. HUNDREDS OF OTHERS GOT MESSAGES JUST LIKE MINE--BUT EACH HAD A DIFFERENT CODE WORD. THEY MET UP ONLINE TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IT ALL MEANT, AND WITHIN A FEW HOURS, THEY GOT IT. TURNS OUT THE WORD ON MY NOTE HELPED UNLOCK THE WEBSITE FOR A SECRET ORGANIZATION OF RENEGADE CRIME FIGHTERS CALLED C-F-B, OR CITIZENS FOR BATMAN.
THE ONLINE SLEUTHS WHO CRACKED THE CODE ARE SMART PEOPLE. THEY'VE BEEN FOLLOWING CLUES LIKE THIS FOR MORE THAN A YEAR, AND AFTER MORE DEDUCTION, THEY FIGURED OUT C-F-B WAS MAKING A BIG MOVE...A RALLY OF SOME SORT IN NEW YORK CITY. THAT'S WHERE WE MET UP WITH THIS GUY...
DAVID TEDESCHI: <"My name is David Tedeschi, I'm a high school guidance counselor, and I'm here because I like to pretend.">
...AND PRETENDING IS EXACTLY WHAT HE AND A FEW HUNDRED OTHERS ARE DOING HERE. AS FAR AS THEY'RE CONCERNED, THEY'RE IN DOWNTOWN GOTHAM ON A MISSION TO TAKE BACK THEIR CITY.
DAVID: <"When I was little, my mom made me a cape that I still have, and I guess this is kind of an extension of that. I was trying to explain it to my wife the other day and that's the best analogy I could come up with.">
IT MIGHT SOUND A LITTLE WEIRD, BUT THIS WAS ALL PART OF AN *ALTERNATE REALITY GAME* THAT HAPPENED TO BE TIED INTO THE NEW BATMAN MOVIE.
NOW, JUST TO BE CLEAR, WE'RE **NOT** TALKING ABOUT VIDEO GAMES HERE.
INSTEAD, A-R-Gs ACTUALLY DROP PLAYERS INTO THE MIDDLE OF A STORY AND LET THEM BECOME ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS...NOT JUST VIEWERS...USING THE INTERNET AND THE REAL WORLD AS STAGES FOR SOLVING PUZZLES.
THE THING IS, NONE OF THESE PLAYERS KNOW EXACTLY WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT.
AND THAT'S HOW THE PEOPLE BEHIND THIS GAME WANT IT.
SUSAN BONDS: <"The experience is just as much fun for us as it is for the audience. We get very excited. It's almost like you've bought a present, you want to see how people unwrap it and how they react to it.">
THAT'S SUSAN BONDS, THE PRESIDENT OF 42 ENTERTAINMENT. SHE AND HER STAFF DESIGNED THE BATMAN GAME AND OTHERS LIKE IT.
BONDS AND 42's CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER, ALEX LIEU, THINK THEY'RE ON TO SOMETHING PRETTY COOL WITH GAMES LIKE THIS...BECAUSE THEY BLUR THE LINE BETWEEN "REALITY" AND STORYTELLING. HERE'S ALEX:
ALEX: <"..the first time the game reaches out to them and they get that phone call...from a character in the game...and all of the sudden they're standing in front of a physical thing that's invading their world, their space, their street, it's a magical experience...">
AS MUCH FUN AND ENTHUSIASM AS THESE GAMES SEEM TO GENERATE, MOST OF THEM ARE BUILT AROUND PRODUCTS OR BRANDS...THEY'RE MARKETING. EVEN THOUGH THE BATMAN GAME GARNERED LEGIONS OF FOLLOWERS OVER THE 15 MONTHS IT RAN, IT WAS STILL ADVERTISING.
FOR FANS LIKE DAVID TEDESCHI, THOUGH, THIS GAME WAS A WAY TO CONNECT WITH THE KID INSIDE HIM.
DAVID: <"Well, here's the thing. It's a movie. We all know this. It's a giant 3-D commercial, we all know this too...I think being an adult, obviously, with real responsibilities, you always have to keep one foot in the real world and say 'well, of course it's a marketing tool,' but if you have the capacity--and I think most of the people here do--to kind of lose yourself and put on that cape again, you can really have a good time.">
GOOD TIME? MAYBE. BUT THE TRAIL'S GONE COLD FOR THIS GUMSHOE, SO IT'S BACK TO THE MESSAGE BOARDS FOR A FEW MORE CLUES.
FOR INTERN EDITION, I'M SEAN BUETER...IN GOTHAM CITY.