The most advanced online escape room game you've never heard about - NIN's Year Zero ARG Documentary

[@Woochia]

In case you don't know Nine Inch Nails, know that you know Nine Inch Nails nonetheless: - They made the original sample that was used to create "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus. The original song was on "Ghosts I - IV" which was released under Creative Commons License. - Their song "Head Like a Hole" is the song sung by Miley Cyrus in Black Mirror. - They produced the first and second album of Marilyn Manson, so maybe we could say they started his career. - They composed music and lent their logo to the game Quake (1996) - I say "they" and "the band" but Nine Inch Nails was only Trent Reznor from 1988 to 2016, then he's been joined by Atticus Ross.

[@clic835]

You can't forget to mention Adrian belew

[@ComaComaComaComaComaChameleon]

Also many people forget that "Hurt" by Johnny Cash is actually a Nine Inch Nails original song as well

[@AnthonyAdrianAcker]

I've always said "It all comes back to NIN"

[@Julian-e3e]

the third manson's record also. Antichrist superstar!

[@PANDRIUX]

41:01 CAN YOU SEE IT!?, just to the right of this image in blue.... you can see a face and yes! It's from a famous person, it's Kurt Cobain!

[@insederec]

I can only imagine how life changing it would be to unexpectedly attend a concept by your favorite band put on just for you, because you did the detective work to get there. Man...

[@TheRetroRenegade]

I started looking into the Year Zero concept maybe about a year ago (ironic, considering that was the year it was meant to take place in) and found it was a rabbit hole I had no idea existed back in 2007. What a fascinating crossover of political protest music and internet exploration via an alternate reality game (a genre I wasn't even aware of until looking into Year Zero). The biggest shame regarding the album is that a lot of its context was dependent on participation in this ARG which will sadly never be able to be experienced the same way again. It sadly wasn't "meant to last" but rather "for right now" (in 2007), and thus all people can do right now (in 2023) is look back at it in hindsight and the history of its discovery by players back then. But I think you did an excellent job of documenting the experience from 16 years ago and how it all played out, and will hopefully enhance the album itself for many people discovering it today and will hopefully keep the message relevant for years to come.

[@Pat_Springleaf]

Heh, I see what you did there

[@nickpickerwi7787]

I lived through all of this and was changed by it. Looking back, from where we are now, I knew it was a warning but assumed it was far-fetched. I now know it wasn't. Thank you for putting this together. I have a few people to send this to.

[@Woochia]

Exactly my thoughts when I was working on it, checking the list of the things that seemed far fetched at the time but that now exist (all the cameras in London and Paris, social credit system which is now a thing in China and similar systems being now discussed in France, ... Adding to that the riots that happened in France when I was editing the video)

[@zombifiedoll1388]

Some say it was a warning, some say it was a sign.

[@St1mi]

Yes, exactly! I was a young adult then and it honestly made me start paying attention to shit. Incredible experience and know the context behind it all.

[@AnthonyAdrianAcker]

I didn't think it was far fetched, just farther away.

[@biteof78]

@@Woochia social credit system isn't a thing in china lol...

[@macidiot]

This was awesome. Been a NIN fan since 94 and when this happened I was too wrapped up in adult life to focus on any of it. Thank you for putting this together!

[@Woochia]

Thanks! I also completely missed it when this happened. I discovered it 1 or 2 years later, and it blew my mind. Though I never found some the websites I read back then, and I had a real hard time finding some elements (like the photo of Trent Reznor with the logo of the resistance on his vest, that I've put at the end of Exhibit 24) so I'm glad it was still possible to gather enough to do this video

[@sergiocamilo-k1j]

Same.

[@asdrugrohl]

I've been waiting for someone to compile/recap the arg experience! Thank you

[@Woochia]

That was a lot of fun to do :)

[@j.b.666]

Great video! I was DEEP in this ARG. Obsessed. There were details you covered that I forgot about and some I didn't even know about. There is even a pic of me at the mural in LA that I have never seen. I was at the Resistance Meeting, what a crazy experience that was. Thanks for doing this video! I can send this to friends now because I always have a hard time describing all of it.

[@skeletonguts2909]

im so jealous of you!!!!

[@trippalhealicks]

I've really hoped for something like this for a long time. Thank you so much!

[@Woochia]

I was surprised nobody did this in 16 years :o and actually, I still have enough material to do a bonus video with the deleted scenes

[@trippalhealicks]

@@Woochia If you have the time, we'd all love to see it. I watched this entire video from start to finish and would love to see more!

[@fragile00]

Just revisited this era and it got me thinking now that Trent has all this movie industry connections maybe he can work on the Year Zero tv series he talked about many years ago. The marketing for this album was next level (same company who did Halo and many other ARG games, I forgot the name). 2007 was such a crazy year and Year Zero was the cherry on top.

[@ivapad4176]

TV series would be awesome. They did the excellent TV series Dispatches based on another life changing ARG - The Jejune Institute

[@8bitheroics]

I always thought that Southland Tales kinda ruined any chance of that happening at the time. Their stories are very similar.

[@nak3dxsnake]

I didn't give two shits about Tenant when I saw it. It felt so disconnected from reality. Turns out it might be based on current affairs. fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff

[@Veninax]

It is bad to say how prophetic Year Zero as a project was.

[@pumpkin-head-and-me]

THIS. WAS. AMAZING. Nicely done on this compilation - you've made a lot of NiN fans very happy!

[@Woochia]

Thanks ! Glad you liked it :)

[@John_Q]

Must've been very cool to be part of the forums solving these puzzles back in the day. No way that one person had the time to solve all of this on their own. I was aware of this going on in 2007, but was too busy with work and school to take part in it. Not sure why Trent didn't just hire artists to create a series of novels or comic books to expand on his vision after attempts to create a tv show based on year zero failed. The books or comics could've resulted in a tv show, or maybe even a film, being greenlit. Huge missed opportunity. Thank you for releasing this video for those of us who missed out on all the fun. Randomly woke up today thinking about the sniper recording since the Super Bowl is today. Lol. The voice acting on that is phenomenal and unforgettable. Being a young adult during the Bush years was a crazy experience. Almost made the mistake of enlisting in the military, glad I didn't. All of those people came back physically or psychologically tortured/damaged, some of them were childhood friends I grew up with.

[@JasonFuhrman]

A year zero tv show was being discussed at HBO at one point I believe

[@alefnull]

so glad someone compiled all of this for posterity. the whole experience was wild and awesome. unfortunately i was never in a position to be able to attend any of the in-person events, but i followed the entire ARG experience along with everyone else at the time. fucking love Trent / NIN.

[@m0nZt3r]

Amazing, I remember this coming out, I was following every step as the next moves were being discovered. Total props to NIN, and yourself for recapping this, nostalgia hit :)

[@c0athanger]

To experience all this back in '07 was so fucking exciting! Thank you, this was so awesome to relive 🙏

[@artifactuated]

And now we get to experience it IRL!

[@c0athanger]

@@artifactuated unfortunately, yes 😭

[@MenekiNekoMusic]

My folks took me to see NIN for my first concert, it was The Pretty Hate Machine tour.. Janes Addiction opened, I was 8 and literally the only kid there.. and it was Grand!

[@Woochia]

Lucky one! That must have been one hell of a night!

[@marsoblivi0n945]

Same except I went alone and was nine. Jim rose circus and early portrait era Manson.

[@TheRWJJ]

Thanks for working on this. I only got so far in the puzzle back in 2007/08 but YZ really hit home for me as a concept, especially pre and post-covid. So I appreciate you putting it all together like this in a linear fashion for future reference.

[@maxskarr]

Thank you for putting all of this in an understandable video! Trying to understand the story of the album was so difficult but this coincidentally came out right when I'm researching it. This video is so well-made and helpful, thank you!

[@Woochia]

Thanks a lot :) this was excellent to dive back deep in this and revisit all those websites

[@somejoshthing]

This is fantastic, thank you. I remember running through all these sites back then, I was totally obsessed. But there was no way to really explain the whole thing to someone who wasn't there. Well, until now! This is awesome, fantastic job of putting it all together. Thank you.

[@IINTERLACED]

Very cool video!! Thanks for putting all the hard work into the video :)

[@Woochia]

Thanks! I had a blast making it, re-doing all the investigation website after website.

[@h7opolo]

he messed up at 4:04. the song is supposed to be "the warning".

[@levi_octavian]

I’ve recently been knee deep into the ARGs lore thanks to a kind NIN community member who sent me a file link to the still accessible content which I didn’t even know existed due to being a younger fan. Year zero is my favorite nine inch nails album of all time and it deserves more praise and recognition than it gets.

[@chloeparks196]

Thank you for documenting this so well and so thoroughly!!

[@CapeRides]

I didn't know I needed this. Thank you so much for this detailed break down

[@Crunkachu]

Thank you very much for this. Since I Finally discovered NIN back in mid 2021 I too have thought Trent Reznor came from the future to tell us some very important stuff..... Pay attention people.

[@kevbonesy]

As someone who was on the ETS forums at the time and was deep into all this, this is a fantastic deep dive into the ARG. Thank you so much!

[@emmd1137]

thank you for doing this. very good round up of this experience.

[@Woochia]

You're very welcome :)

[@Gabriel87100]

I made that fanart at 17:53 back when I was still in highschool! Cool to see it like this.

[@Woochia]

Oh that's cool to have you here! Actually very cool looking fanart :)

[@keegancole6083]

amazing video! hope this gets way more attention

[@pumpkin-head-and-me]

NiN (Trent) has always been on the bleeding edge of new media and new tech. This is just a great example of them leveraging digital guerilla marketing - amaze-balls.

[@Bjango]

This is one of my favorite NIN albums because of this ARG. I followed this whole thing religiously as it came out and this video really serves to why this album and Experience was so impactful at the time. Damn shame it slowly seems like Trent really got it right back then

[@pauly260]

I was in the army, fresh from my third tour in Iraq when this ARG dropped. It stated what I saw in all directions; an end to privacy, religious nationalism & hardcore conservative neoliberalism all combined. Truly happy you made this video.

[@wildmarjoramdieselpunk6396]

You know, I just listened to Bowie’s “Oh! You Pretty Things” and the hand coming from the crack in the sky…that reminds me of The Presence. That could be an Influence for sure.

[@jasonwaits88]

I remember watching this unfold in real time. I'd go to the forums every day and see new clues drop. It was amazing. Thanks for putting this together!

[@GeniusSays]

Great content! This was an incredible experience while it was happening, nothing like it! 🏆🏆🏆

[@10_MILES_HIGH_]

Amazing video! really helps put the world of year zero into perspective more than the album.

[@ShotByMyles]

Incredible work!

[@Woochia]

Thank you :)

[@terminalblue]

Hard to sum up a thing like the Year Zero ARG unless you were in it at the time--shit went fast--but this was a pretty good stab at it. Video sorta missed some of my favorite parts like the SBI 'live' chat as they sent stuff back in time while getting arrested one by one during the transmission. And also the 'end' of the storyline with one of the president's aides talking about how The Presence was popping up everywhere and--in my opinon at least--tearing apart the Year Zero 2022 reality because it didn't exist anymore after the SBI transmission. Also; I never posted on ETS or The Spiral but my name still got on the Exhibit 24 ".2" list somehow because I was posting about it on the dead gay forum of Something Awful.

[@Woochia]

When I did this video I wanted it to be "not too long" so I left out a few things. First I thought about doing a "deleted scenes" video, but now I'm thinking more about doing a long, complete version of it with everything I left out + a more narrative voice over (probably won't do it soon though). The problem is that some sources are still missing. Like, for the SBI chat, I had the transcript of it, but I don't know how it was displayed or what triggered it to be shown.

[@TheDripMeister]

Thanks for pulling this all together. I knew of a lot of the game and experienced some of it, but had no idea on many other items. 🤯

[@KingDaveth]

Man...he even got the date right. Thank you so much for collecting info and doing a video on this, I'm glad someone is talking about it ^_^

[@joshkaid]

"Blurs the line between killing and fucking" is such a bone chilling sentence.

[@unmemorablehero]

I JUST heard about this. Been a fan of NIN for years, and didn’t know anything about this. Great video. Edit: I need to re-listen to Year Zero with all this new information, and see if it’s…I don’t know…different somehow.

[@Woochia]

I'm currently relistening to the remix version of the album :p

[@FoxInferno13]

This is my favorite Nine Inch Nails album by a country fuckin' mile and the ARG is 75% the reason why 🤣🤣🤣

[@Ja_jna]

This is my new favourite video on the internet

[@peterdinkler4950]

I heard about this, but never knew how far it went. Thanks for talking about it. Pretty based for NIN to make this kind of message.

[@8bitheroics]

I've been waiting for someone to make a decent video about this arg.

[@8bitheroics]

Wish you didn't use AI so much though..

[@dr.matthewhertert310]

this is amazing, thanks for documenting it. i wish i'd known about this at the time and had the time and intelligence to participate!

[@GastonKappa]

Great video! :)

[@Woochia]

Thanks! :)

[@palpot1189]

Finally someone made this - thank you!

[@jamesvarner3411]

I spent a TON of time following this when it came out. It was brilliant and I feel like its instigated a shift in marketing. Good times.

[@sillylung]

I remember going through the very beginning of this back in the day. Its nice to see how deep it went. I wish i would have followed through with this whole thing.

[@dollarstorevodka]

This feels very ahead of its time in a way

[@homunculusrex3232]

I remember calling the phone number that previewed a clip of Survivalism and a long political rant in high school. This brings back memories! Thanks for the post!

[@empress9554]

Thank you for documenting this

[@antipop885]

Do gods work here. Great job. I always wanted the whole story! Thank you 😁

[@reedber]

Amazing! TY 🙏

[@Woochia]

My pleasure :)

[@gilbertcuevas9483]

NIN fans are hilariously smart 😂 Like, that’s a lot of work to piece together.

[@RossLynchFan2005]

This album blew my mind when I first listened to it in 2019 as that is when woke culture started to become popular and political scandals were happening constantly.

[@FabioTan]

Don't forget the fanmade Webseries by Foley Studios 😉

[@victorlohh]

Amazing work 🔥🙏🏻

[@Chris_Sherwood]

I would love to see this experience turned into a narrative film... the real life version of the game fans played intermixed with the story happening within the game. If done by a really good screenwriter, this could be incredibly cool and unique... almost like The Matrix meets David Fincher's The Game or something.

[@Woochia]

This almost existed. There was supposed to be a TV series made with this story, but it got cancelled :(

[@josephperkins-z7n]

The internet is so cool yet so terrible at the same time.

[@rootboyfloat]

thank you

[@PANDRIUX]

41:01 CAN YOU SEE IT!?, just to the right of this image in blue.... you can see a face and yes! It's from a famous person, it's Kurt Cobain! I can recognize him You can find that image of him, in fact it looks like "london uk 1990", were photographed by martyn goodacre.

[@DangaiRo]

Dude, there is a ton of ARG and other projects on the net. Recently I saw Tinctura Madulsa. This culture is stil alive.

[@Woochia]

I'm glad it is!

[@RossLynchFan2005]

Year zero is one of my favourite albums of all time next to Igor and the wall by Pink Floyd. How anyone can hate on Year Zeros creative freedom is beyond me.

[@barrettross3772]

You missed the hour of arrival site.

[@Woochia]

Yes I left it out. I actually left out 6 chapters of my original script for this to get it under an hour long. Maybe I'll do a deleted scene + alternate ending for this (or rather an alternate analysis at the end)

[@barrettross3772]

@@Woochia I honestly think you should release the full thing. Even if it’s an hour or more. I would like to see that. Went down a rabbit hole, found out about the whole ARG, so a full summary would be appreciated.

[@palpot1189]

@@barrettross3772 Agree!

[@NamVuLu]

Super vidéo bravo

[@Woochia]

Merci beaucoup :)

[@galopeian]

One of the coolest ARGs out there. Only thing that comes close is the Cloverfield ARG.

[@gioscarberg]

Year Zero ARG based webseries: kzbin.info/aero/PLcJAW5NdMLwC5KuayRXxvSeNu8_bclUQp&si=BrTwFUBowzU8qjBy If you're curious to know more about the ARG of Year Zero in a different medium, enjoy the webseries produced in 2010s. You will find that the story and setup is pretty consistent with Reznor's et al. 😉

[@FoleyStudios]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqiYoKNmZ7yLiac

[@FoleyStudios]

FOLEY STUDIOS film production launched in 2013 a webseries dedicated to the ARG of NIN's Year Zero. Each of the main characters represent a specific side of the story: Art is Resistence, Cedocore, Solution Backwards Initiative, Star Chamber event, BeTheHammer and The Angry Sniper, Inmate [Classified], Judson Ogram, each one of them is described through the evolution of the (original) characters, while trying to stay coherent with the canon. Real fans will appreciate! It's a bit old, and zero budget, but worth a shot! Greetings from FOLEY STUDIOS, enjoy: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqiYoKNmZ7yLiac

[@Woochia]

Thanks a lot for sharing. I actually missed it :o I'll check it out!

[@erikschwartz1214]

This album and ARG made me into the always skeptical person I am today. I tote through everything I could find during this game, it felt too real. The paranoia, the drugs, the fascist police state, it all felt prophetic

[@Woochia]

Relatable 😅

[@wildmarjoramdieselpunk6396]

So what was “The Presence” then?

[@Woochia]

Depending on some interpretations, it might actually a vision of the hand of god coming to earth, announcing the end of the world. I think that's in the very last website that has been found (that I left out of the video). I don't remember it exactly, but you can check the sources I left in the description to see it for yourself :)

[@NothingAiring]

what is the song at 42:52/45:12

[@Woochia]

That's the instrumental version of Addict by Neffex, then it switches to an another song that I don't remember. I'll come back to edit this comment today.

[@callmecrookedjack7441]

@@Woochiamy guy! It’s been two months 😂😂😂😂 all jokes. Amazing video! Thanks for saving this little Corner of internet history

[@Akid0Kag3]

Wait, so there weren't aliens upset on how we treated the world and eachother?

[@Woochia]

Never has been. Always been ourselves

[@gussygoro2469]

That’s extremely super

[@jasonrist6582]

ahead of it's time just like V for Vendetta

[@Hgoenge81]

I remember this and being all about it. And when you put in the black cd, and let it play, it would change colour to white and reveal some code. I had no idea that was possible. Unfortunately the album didn't live up to this amazing arg imo. Edit: just got to that part haha

[@ItsWesSmithYo]

That’s insane…😂 and fun 🖤

[@erikschwartz1214]

The Presence reminds me of the hand of God in Monty Python coming down from the clouds

[@wildmarjoramdieselpunk6396]

It reminds me of the Sistine Chapel.

[@nak3dxsnake]

The bible plus Tenant plus Equilibrium = self fulfilling prophecy we live in now

[@wildmarjoramdieselpunk6396]

I heard about this but didn’t enjoy “The Hand That Feeds” as a single…and I bought an used Halo One in 1990ish. I loved the first three or so albums but NIN to me will always be a Foetus rip off and Foetus was doing this sound before NIN, had a Manson influenced LP, Hole before NIN and he actually remixed the best versions of NIN songs. Irony? NIN is fine but it isn’t Foetus and will never be to me. But for people who didn’t have Foetus as their favorite band in the 80s into the 90s probably have mileage different from mine. Anyways…I was curious about the Year Zero game and what the outcome was. I got here from listening to Queen, then realizing there was a great cover of “Get Down, Make Love” by NIN that used to be played in clubs all the time. So I was reading up on NIN and got to Year Zero and remembered it was a concept album with flash drives being dropped and websites that told a story. I wondered the outcome and hey, glad you are here to show me this and preserve it. I would love to see a follow up video. :)

[@Woochia]

Thanks! I have thought several times about making a long version of this video as I left some chapters out and I thought I could do the narration better. But hey, I may have the courage to do it one day 😅

[@DGRTUR]

39:10 hate to be that guy, but thats a submachine gun, not a rifle

[@Woochia]

My bad 🙏

[@AB-Prince]

I love ARGs but it's just a shame that a lot of them are timed events and just become stories after it's over, if not because of one time IRL events then just from url leases expiring.

[@h7opolo]

4:04 wrong. the steganogram is at the end of the song called "The Warning." Do your homework!

[@matochkinsaasia7350]

Loser

[@Woochia]

This was indeed in My Violent Heart according to all the sources I have. Here's one, check the description for more. www.nin.wiki/Another_Version_Of_The_Truth_(website)

[@3t9l]

You're both right. In the final album it's on The Warning. The non-album, leaked version of My Violent Heart *also* has it.

[@JanvisHG]

i have heard of it stop saying i didnt

[@gordondave7956]

Wow

[@Phantomselbst]

ARGs were entertainment before they became a political strategy for right-wing think tanks. The difference is, back then people knew they were players in a game, today they are just the pawns who think they see through the game while they alone believe what they are supposed to believe.

[@epluribusunum1907]

Great Video, there is quite a few things still going on. OUT OF MANY, ONE SON OF MAN (Happiness in Slavery) ANGEL ONE ODIN 82

[@h7opolo]

11:21 that noise does not result in a series of numbers, liar.

[@Woochia]

The audio is several minutes long so I showed only a portion in this video. If you want to check the whole file to find the numbers, again, check the description, everything is there.

[@grgdel]

This vid is nothing to me

[@umdesch4]

24.24.2.2995 reporting in

[@gioscarberg]

Year Zero ARG based webseries: kzbin.info/aero/PLcJAW5NdMLwC5KuayRXxvSeNu8_bclUQp&si=BrTwFUBowzU8qjBy If you're curious to know more about the ARG of Year Zero in a different medium, enjoy the webseries produced in 2010s. You will find that the story and setup is pretty consistent with Reznor's et al. 😉

[@Woochia]

Thanks for sharing!