So, it looks like Trent has teamed up with the people that did the “I Love Bees” alternate reality game for Halo 2 - to create an all new game/experience for the release of YEAR ZERO. Apparently this is not just an album, but an interactive experience that will go on for three years.

Apparently some songs were “leaked” as MP3s on flash drives that were dropped into toilets at NIN concerts in Europe earlier this year. Others found after careful examination that certain highlighted letters on tour shirts spelled out “I am trying to believe” - of course, leading them to - http://www.iamtryingtobelieve.com

Also, check this out:

“February 19, 2007 - A USB drive was found at a concert in Barcelona, Spain, containing two audio files: the track “Me, I’m Not” and an MP3 of static. The mp3 of static, “2432.mp3, “when put through a spectrogram, revealed the phone number 1-216-333-1810…”

This is some amazing work. I’m a sucker for this kind of stuff. I think this also works a lot better than the LOST alternate reality game—in that “Year Zero” is a true cross-media music/art/interactive experience, rather than being laden with ads for products all over its conten. I felt very “Drink your Ovaltine!”-ish, when the LOST one was all said and done.

I would love to play this NIN one, but after spending an evening clicking through all of the “in-game” sites - it looks like its going to be very elaborate. I just don’t have the time, sadly.

But I can still admire it, and track on the progress.

NIN WIKI: http://www.ninwiki.com
SYMPHONY OF NOISE: http://www.symphonyofnoise.com/nails/yearzero
NET NINJA: http://yearzero.netninja.com

YEAR ZERO UNFICTION FORUMS: http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/index.php?f=218