Transformers alternate reality game?
In the Transformers movie trailer between :37 and :39 the frame shows "Sector Seven Org" at the top and "Takara 83" at the bottom. If you go to SectorSeven.org and type in takara83 as your password you are treated to a screen full of mess. It looks like a person's desktop and clicking on the exclamation mark on the dock brings up a video sequence where a Lt. Col. Powers talks about discovering a "blip." Beyond that we have no idea what's going on. Go forth puzzle-loving ARG folks and figure it out.
See also: Hi-Def version of the trailer
[Thanks Animus]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Optimus Prime @ Dec 22nd 2006 5:29PM
WOOOOOOOOOOOOooooo!
Animus @ Dec 22nd 2006 5:30PM
Woohoo, they got my tip!
Marc @ Dec 22nd 2006 5:35PM
Jesus, that movie looks like a far cry from Hasbro...
ActualFarkal @ Dec 22nd 2006 5:45PM
Can't figure out much so far. If you double-click on the folders on the right side you get concept art of a cool gun, a downloading GIF of the S7 logo, and a PDF that looks like a licensing agreement about the Transformer video games. Everything else is locked out.
burnt_secondary @ Dec 22nd 2006 5:57PM
Holy Mother of the Prime Matrix, I wasn't very excited about this movie until I saw that preview . . . Wow!!!
Dan @ Dec 22nd 2006 5:58PM
Wow, that PDF was astoundingly dull, and had exactly nothing to do with anything else on the site. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, and assume that negotiating movie deals is somehow vital to the ARG, but I'm still not sure why I bothered reading through it.
chris @ Dec 22nd 2006 5:59PM
the takara organization is the toy company that first brought out the transformers
S7 not so sure
Kyle Kennedy @ Dec 22nd 2006 6:04PM
Domain ID:D125529600-LROR
Domain Name:SECTORSEVEN.ORG
Created On:06-Jul-2006 20:07:23 UTC
Last Updated On:19-Dec-2006 00:58:56 UTC
Expiration Date:06-Jul-2008 20:07:23 UTC
Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Status:CLIENT UPDATE PROHIBITED
Registrant Name:Mick Capo
Registrant Organization:Mick Capo, Esq.
Registrant Street1:783 North Van Ness
Registrant City:Los Angeles
Registrant State/Province:CA
Registrant Postal Code:90038
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+310.5551212
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:mickcapo@gmail.com
Admin Name:DBMS Admin
Admin Organization:VeriSign, Inc.
Admin Street1:487 E. Middlefield Rd.
Admin Street2:Mailstop MV 3-1-2
Admin Street3:
Admin City:Mountain View
Admin State/Province:CA
Admin Postal Code:94043
Admin Country:US
Admin Phone:+1.8005792848
Admin Phone Ext.:
Admin FAX:+1.6502378883
Admin FAX Ext.:
Admin Email:dbms-admin@verisign.com
Tech Name:Judson Lester
Tech Organization:Paramount Motion Pictures
Tech Street1:5555 Melrose Ave
Tech Street2:
Tech Street3:
Tech City:Hollywood
Tech State/Province:CA
Tech Postal Code:90038
Tech Country:US
Tech Phone:+1.3239563208
Tech Email:dbms-tech@verisign.com
Name Server:L4.NSTLD.COM
Name Server:A4.NSTLD.COM
Name Server:F4.NSTLD.COM
Name Server:G4.NSTLD.COM
Name Server:H4.NSTLD.COM
Name Server:J4.NSTLD.COM
nofanboy @ Dec 22nd 2006 6:14PM
Sector 7 is, according to one of the films actors (Shia Labeouf, who plays the character of Spike):
"Turturro [actor John Turturro] plays Simmons, who is the CIA agent who is so closed minded that he can't listen to a child. He's the head of a section of the government called Sector 7, which controls everything the CIA doesn't know about."
Like #7 says, Takara is the company originally owning the rights to the original Transformers, before Hasbro bought the rights to distribute in the U.S. This alliance was made in 1983. Originally, Takara distributed the toys as Microman and Daikron toys. Hasbro whipped up all the 'autobot' and 'decepticon' lingo.
dkh @ Dec 22nd 2006 6:14PM
The "blip" is one of the Transformers in the forms they take when landing on Earth, so there ya' go.
chris @ Dec 22nd 2006 6:22PM
after re looking on the PDF, it look to be a contract between the toy companies (hasbro and takara) and "Sector 7". it seems to state that the toy companies have to promote the movie.
I reccommend reading the PDF.
an intersting part is under the property clause
"The property shall be defined as the characters, character names, locations, storylines from the TRANSFORMERS, it being understood that TRANSFORMERS is one of the COMPUTER GAME PROJECTS under development by S7 industries."
but here is where it gets blurry
"The property expressly but without limitation shall not include any characters, character names, locations, and/or storylines from any other computer game, including but not limited to Beast Wars, Generation 2, Transformers: The Movie, or any copyrights therein or thereto as well as any trademarks owned, used or adopted for use in connection with the foregoing"
I think this means they are going to create a video game of the movie as well as a new line of toys (which is probably a given anyways)
Krymzon @ Dec 22nd 2006 6:22PM
Look at this pdf I found on the site. It talks about ownership of Transformers, Beast Wars, Generation 2, etc
http://www.sectorseven.org/classified/Takara%20Agreement.pdf
Krymzon @ Dec 22nd 2006 6:23PM
Oops, nevermind, but theres the link anyway
otakuon @ Dec 22nd 2006 6:35PM
So is S7 Industries supposed to be a "real" company, and this is just some sort of teaser site for an upcomming game?
Robert Jung @ Dec 22nd 2006 6:42PM
Apparently the game is that Sector 7 is a super-secret organization that has hired Hasbro and Takara to market "Transformers" toys and stuff to help cover up the existence of real-life Transformers on Earth. Cute, but a bit reminescent of the "Robot Master" storyline from Marvel's original TF comic.
And the "Top Secret" PDF is obviously a fake. I've worked with real classified documents and they don't scream "fanboy" like that one does... ;-)
--R.J.
Kevin @ Dec 22nd 2006 6:42PM
lool
joystiq you're about 2 days late on this
The3rdNuisance @ Dec 22nd 2006 7:35PM
This is news to me.
On a side note, those icons on the site may signify something.
Waspinator? Scorpinok? Some Predacons I don't know?
I can't think of Waspinator without drooling and laughing. He is Beast Wars version of Kenny from South Park.
PRoPAiN! @ Dec 22nd 2006 7:43PM
I leeched the Flash files and had a look at their guts. Ain't nothin' hidden that y'all ain't found. If we're invoking South Park, can I declare shenanigans?
you know @ Dec 22nd 2006 8:00PM
this just reminds me of how much i love bees.
Justin Utegg @ Dec 22nd 2006 8:15PM
nice one 'You know'.
I happen to love Waspinator's too XD
And, OMFG DID YOU SEE OPTIMUS PRIME!? *dies*
el-indiano @ Dec 22nd 2006 8:16PM
ok folks let me give you the rundown on the tranformers brand...
in the early 1980's a company in japan called diaclone released what we now call gen 1 transformers under the diaclone name. shortly after the release of this line of toys, another company named takara bought the rights to these toys and called them transformers. takara's american partner, hasbro, brought them to the states in 1985.
Elias @ Dec 22nd 2006 8:53PM
At Bible Camp we made a flow chart. Since God created man, and man created the Transformers, the Transformers are like a gift from God, Randal!
Dan @ Dec 22nd 2006 11:25PM
This movie looks like the biggest botched abortion ever. MEGATRON ISN'T EVEN A GUN. Bumblebee is a fucking Camero, and I've read that there's a HUMMER???? WTF, why must holywood trash perfectly good characters??
CJMErl @ Dec 22nd 2006 11:57PM
@Dan:
Megatron was a gun in the G1 series ONLY (also Classics).
He was a tank in G2, a T-rex / dragon in Beast Wars, a whole ness of things in Beast Machines, a six-changing dragon in Robots in Disguise, a tank in Armada, and an alien jet in Energon and Cybertron (he could also become a car in Cybertron).
Bumblebee's a Camaro for two reasons: Firstly, DreamWorks struck a deal with one of the big US car manufacturers (which is why there's Mustangs and Hummers and the like in the film). Secondly, Volkswagen doesn't want their vehicles associated with war-type stuff, even ones that involve big alien robots--hence why Disney can use the VW bug and Hasbro can't.
And yes there IS a Hummer in the film--it's Ratchet's alt-mode, a rescue-type vehicle.
mocax @ Dec 23rd 2006 1:36AM
megatron looks like one of the bugs in Starship Troopers
Chinpokomon @ Dec 23rd 2006 1:43AM
I keep hoping for another "The Beast" type of game like A.I. had (see cloudmakers.org for details). The fact that Spielberg is attached gives me hope.
CJMErl @ Dec 23rd 2006 11:15AM
@Smacksmackums:
www.seibertron.com
www.tfw2005.com
Being a Transformers fanboy helps a lot in cases like this.
(Also, the latest issue of Nintendo Power confirms that Activision is making at least three games based on the new TF movie: one for Wii and two for DS.)
Will @ Dec 23rd 2006 11:21AM
@23..
Ease up! They ARE called TRANSFORMERS. There's nothing wrong with a re-imagining if it adds depth!
RogueJedi86 @ Dec 23rd 2006 1:26PM
Apparently if you click the ! within the Triangle along the bottom, it shows a video of some guy talking to us about some non-sense that I couldn't figure out.
Jeff Ramos @ Dec 23rd 2006 3:27PM
This is less interesting than the Lost Planet ARG I've been trying to submit for weeks.
tyetheczar @ Dec 23rd 2006 4:14PM
OMGWTFBBQAYBABTU!!! oy.
STEVEN SPEILBERG AS EXEC PRODUCER, OY!
I don't really know what Michael Bay did oy.
chanokin @ Dec 23rd 2006 4:41PM
I liked that they did a *nix like syntax, everyone knows that windows has too many holes in it >p
fyi @ Dec 23rd 2006 5:41PM
The toy company that I work for (in the marketing dept) is bringing out a range next year. Seen all the artwork and overheard some plot details.
it's not exactly "faithful", but it's pretty damn sweet.
striderhayasa @ Dec 23rd 2006 6:39PM
Bull, this movie looks like anything but transformers. Why couldn't Michael Bey just use the designs that Pat Lee did for the re-release of the Transformer comics? Those designs are awesome. From my understanding, this movie is supposed to be based on G1 Transformers so all of you people saying "change is goood" can piss off. Where's Devastator? Where's Teletran 1, why do transformers need a battle mask? Why does Megatron look a pile of metal fecal material.
To hell with this movie. Peter Jackson has shown the world what happens when you respect the source material for a movie adaption. Transformers is going suck ass.
LordMinogue @ Dec 23rd 2006 8:12PM
Hmm...I wonder about perspective here.
The Transformers shows I watched a long time ago didn't account for the human perspective on events. If the story is told with a human perspective, it could be dark and involving.
Heres to it being better then Speilburg's botch of a War of the Worlds.
Turo @ Dec 24th 2006 1:08AM
does anyone know if there is a downloadable HD wmv of this and where to get it from? thanks
Shaun Stevens @ Dec 24th 2006 8:27AM
Amazing that you spotted it.
Sort of like an egg in Mac OS software.
These guys are always artists in their own right.
Smacksmackums @ Dec 24th 2006 11:01AM
CJMErl where did you get all your info?
I want to know more about this movie. Looks sweet to me.
Autobots, TRANSFORM!
Stephen @ Dec 24th 2006 12:27PM
Does anyone else think that that 'blip' looks like the outline of a Zentraedi ship? :)
max rubin @ Dec 25th 2006 9:20AM
Simply amazing and classic.
ZaxCG2 @ Dec 25th 2006 9:00PM
Of course they'er not going to go strait with the Gen-1 designs... thats un-hollywoodlike. But seriously, the real reason they're making them like that is to try and appeal to a new crowd. Fans, though it may sound like it, aren't their prime concern... money is.
I still want to see it- no matter how rediculous Prime's paint job looks or how far they stray from the original. It looks like they're doing a good job, and will turn out to be decent. With Speilburg at the head (saying, "I'm a fan!") IT BETTER BE GOOD!
jbrams @ Dec 29th 2006 3:55PM
The PDF is in bass-ackwards legalese. I believe it's meant to imply (and it's clearly fake, it's not about toys or video game sales) that there is a "program" that they can change ... like changing it to control real robots who then go haywire and try to blow stuff up only to be repelled by "good guy" robots?
Or that the videogame code provides the protocol for the good guy robots who are experimental anyway?
It's meant to promote the movie by suggesting somethings to speculate about. The excellent research into the site owners/operators makes that much clear.
Kinda funny that it was done so well that many find it boring but the "true fanboys" will read it over and come up with conspiracy theories which they will then vet out and condense so as to bring the not-as-fanboyish types into the debate ... just in time for the movie.
Have to say the movie looks better than anything I anticipated, they've already got my $9.
Fry @ Jan 26th 2007 6:00AM
The WHOIS info gives it out... there's one line that reads Paramount Motion Pictures... Paramount is DreamWorks' sister studio since they were bought out by Viacom. Paramout is currently Distributing DW's films, and Transformers is from DreamWorks. There you have it, case closed.
mikemonster @ Feb 24th 2007 3:27AM
3 things of interest...after reading the PDF on sector seven, I googled takara. The first thing was the toy company which was previously discussed. The second was a company named takara-bio which dealt with genitics and DNA. the third was found when I searched on Yahoo. It was a paid ad on the side of the page called "takara transformer". it was a company that sold some type of magnetic product. I didn't really specify what it was for. Just food for thought. additionally, the second and third site were very poorly designed which leads me to believe that they were put up very quickly.