Viral marketing sure is strange

In case you missed it, Anamanaguchi's game Capsule Silence XXIV was “leaked” by the band a few days ago after what appeared to be a heated dispute with developer NHX.

The game at first seems to be a woefully underdeveloped mess of janky textures and weird bugs, but if you dig a bit deeper, you might be surprised. A hidden level, which feels more like a complete game despite a few lingering glitches, will give curious players access to the band's new music in the form of MP3s, along with some other neat stuff like fan art and a music video for "Japan Air." There are also some interesting notes about viral marketing, hackers, and leaking information, so I think it's safe to assume the Twitter dispute was all just a hoax.

It's certainly a strange way to garner attention for a new game and to release a new album. I've never heard of music being distributed primarily through a video game before. It's a unique idea, although the initial deception was a bit jarring. Do you think it worked?

Capsule Silence XXIV can be downloaded for free via a link from the band's Twitter account, which is currently completely blank save for that one link. Very curious...