Easter Egg: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
No edit summary |
Haggishunter (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
||
| (7 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown) | |||
Line 7:
{{color|white|Y}} The little bits of stuff programmers left behind in the game. They're secrets, intended to tickle the fancy of those who discover them. Programs far too numerous to mention have included Easter eggs—everything from Microsoft Office to ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]: [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas|San Andreas]]''.
Originally, Easter eggs were inserted by programmers for companies whose policy forbid them from receiving individual credit for their work. The earliest Easter eggs were mostly credits pages, possibly to allow the programmers themselves to prove authorship to friends. For security reasons (and concerns about malicious programmers inserting undocumented and destructive code), most companies don't allow Easter eggs to appear in their software anymore, but as individual programmers now receive full credit for their work, it's a moot point. {{color|white|Congratulations! You found an easter egg on this page!}} For instance, Microsoft has largely disallowed Easter eggs as part of its Trustworthy Computing Initiative, under the simple rationale that a user should be able to trust that the computer he's using is reliable and reasonably error-free. This hasn't completely stopped the company from incorporating them into their products however, although later Microsoft Easter eggs tend to be much simpler in nature (e.g. a reference to the company's founding date or Master Chief making cameos on Xbox consoles) unlike the more elaborate developer credits and minigames the company's employees have included within Windows and Office.▼
▲Originally, Easter eggs were inserted by programmers for companies whose policy forbid them from receiving individual credit for their work. The earliest Easter eggs were mostly credits pages, possibly to allow the programmers themselves to prove authorship to friends. For security reasons (and concerns about malicious programmers inserting undocumented and destructive code), most companies don't allow Easter eggs to appear in their software anymore, but as individual programmers now receive full credit for their work, it's a moot point. {{color|white|Congratulations! You found an easter egg on this page!}}
Easter eggs aren't just found in games anymore: the term is also used for a variety of hidden content, such as unadvertised [[DVD Bonus Content]].
Line 21 ⟶ 19:
===[[Ur Example]]===
* The Fairchild Channel F console (released in 1976) came with a "Demo Cart", in which a key combination could bring the programmer's name, Michael Glass, up on screen. Both Alien Invasion and Video Whizball (1978) also had a code to display their programmer's last name (Reid-Selth, for Brad Reid-Selth) on the screen.
=== Action-Adventure ===
* [[Trope Codifier]]: The most famous early Easter Egg in a video game (to the extent where it's often [[Older Than They Think|mistakenly believed to be the first]]) was Warren Robinett's famous hidden signature room in the ''[[Adventure (1979 video game)|Adventure]]'' cartridge for the [[Atari 2600]]. By finding an item [[Pixel Hunt|hidden deep in a maze of the same color]] and bringing it into the right room, one could move though a previously impenetrable barrier, where the text "Created by Warren Robinett" could be found. This was in an era when Atari refused to put the names of game creators on any of its game packaging, and it neatly took up the leftover memory on the 4K ROM comprising the cartridge.
** An Atari executive coined the term when he compared finding the hidden room to "hunting for Easter eggs". While Atari hired a programmer to find where Robinett's name was in the code, they let it slide; Robinett later asked the programmer what he would have done if told to delete the code, and was told that he would have switched it to "Replaced by (programmer's name)".
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past]]'' contains one of the most unusual Easter eggs in gaming history. ''[[Nintendo Power]]'' magazine held a contest and the winner, Chris Houlihan, had a [[Contest Winner Cameo|secret room named in his honor]] placed in the game. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130514031743/http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Top_Secret_Room "The Chris Houlihan Room"] is filled with Rupees (the monetary unit of the game) and a small plaque identifying it. Many players are still unaware of its existence, due to the difficulty it takes to get there: outside of cheating, it can only be accessed if the game fails to load an area.
** Because it's contested whether the Chris Houlihan Room is meant to be in the game at all. Evidently, not everyone at Nintendo was on board with the contest, so the room ended up getting added and removed multiple times as the game went back and forth between decisionmakers who thought Chris ought to get his room, and those who thought the contest was bunk and shouldn't be honored. Leaving it in but buried so that it was inaccessible to anyone who wasn't cheating was evidently the compromise they came up with.
* One of the doors in a hallway on Kamino in ''Lego [[Star Wars]]'' leads to a room where there is a puzzle to be completed. If you solve the puzzle, the floor becomes a disco and a disco version of the ''Star Wars'' theme plays.
Line 136 ⟶ 135:
* In the [[Updated Rerelease]] of ''Jinsei Owata no Daibouken'', if you take the left path, you end up in the world of ''[[I Wanna Be the Guy]]'', and the [[Final Boss]] is the Kid.
* If you hold B while selecting Shade Man's stage in ''[[Mega Man 7]]'', the intro fanfare and BGM change to that of ''[[Ghosts 'n Goblins|Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts]]''' first stage.
* The 128K version of the [[ZX Spectrum]] game ''[[Zub]]'' had the hidden game ''Lightfarce'', supposedly by Fast-As-You-Like Software (a parody of FTL's ''Lightforce'') as an easter egg. It later saw release as a separate game (''Zarjas'').
=== Real-Time Strategy ===
Line 215 ⟶ 214:
== Miscellaneous ==
* On the QWERTY type key arrangement, the word "Typewriter" is contained in the top row. Whether or not this is coincidence is debatable.
** According to ''[[Cracked.com]]'''s [http://www.cracked.com/article_19151_5-bad-ideas-humanity-sticking-with-out-habit.html 5 Bad Ideas Humanity Is Sticking With Out of Habit], this was so salesmen could easily type the word to impress potential buyers. ''Cracked'' also has a [https://web.archive.org/web/20120119213347/http://www.cracked.com/funny-6013-the-qwerty-keyboard/ topic page about the typewriter and its layout].
** "Secretary" can, intentionally or not, be typed entirely with the left hand. Hmm.
* If you're playing the Macintosh version of ''any'' shareware game made by [https://web.archive.org/web/20081120165836/http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/all.html Ambrosia Software], press 'X' on that game's title screen for an Easter Egg.
Line 244 ⟶ 243:
== Computer Software ==
* There are [https://web.archive.org/web/20110504210734/http://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/~scheich/Newton/OS1.html two] [https://web.archive.org/web/20110213183855/http://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/~scheich/Newton/OS2.html pages] of Easter eggs for the Apple Newton handheld computer, including Finder's ability to predict Elvis sightings...
* Microsoft is pretty well known for its myriad of Easter eggs sprinkled throughout its early products. Unsurprisingly, any form of Easter Egg in Microsoft products [https://web.archive.org/web/20100330065403/http://blogs.msdn.com/larryosterman/archive/2005/10/21/483608.aspx has been banned] by [[Executive Veto]] ever since as part of its Trustworthy Computing Initative, with the rationale of Microsoft wanting to forge trust from its users by eliminating everything that isn't documented or could potentially cause unnecessary bloat if not security issues as a result of unsanctioned code. Though as stated above, Microsoft's practice of inserting hidden stuff to their products did not cease completely, as Easter eggs do still crop up from time to time albeit in a less elaborate way e.g. mascot cameos like the Ninja Cat and Master Chief or references to the company's history.
** Microsoft Excel 97 had a hidden Flight Simulator mode that could be triggered by inputting a specific set of commands while in a brand new spreadsheet.
** Similarly, users of Microsoft Excel 95 could reach a ''[[Doom]]''-style "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwg9eLHZZRo Hall of Tortured Souls]". This became something of a controversial Easter egg when some have taken the Doom-esque minigame grossly out of context and misinterpreted it as a [[Everyone Is Satan in Hell|satanic]] secret proof of [[Bill Gates]] being the [[Antichrist]].
*** Finally, Excel 2000 featured a ''[[Spy Hunter]]'' style driving game dubbed "Dev Hunter" by its fans.
** In Windows 3.1, a certain sequence of keys would replace the Windows logo in the "About Windows" dialogue with a portrait of Bill Gates or (depending on what code was entered), a polar bear.
** Windows 95 had a feature whereas, in Explorer, you created a folder on the desktop named "and now, the moment you've all been waiting for" then renamed it "we proudly present for your viewing pleaure" then finally renamed it "The Microsoft Windows 95 Product Team!" the directory window would show a video (complete with music) of all the people involved in creating Windows 95.
** [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/232010 Older versions of the 3D Text screensaver], upon having "volcano" input as the text, would display the names of random volcanoes.
** The "Pipes" screensaver would sometimes manifest a teapot at one of the angles in the pipes it drew.
Line 274 ⟶ 273:
*** And if you do the math, it gets even better. Given the distance traveled vs. time spent, it's actually assuming you go at a very reasonable speed in a kayak...for 15 days straight...without sleeping...and no equipment or supplies to weigh you down... It sounds like they expect you to do the oceanic trips with only a fishing rod, a fillet knife, and a plastic jug with a water filter.
*** If your path crosses through the East China Sea, the directions insist that you ''jet ski'' rather than kayak.
*** Ask Google Maps for walking directions [[The Lord of the Rings|from "the Shire" to "Mordor"]] and the resulting page tells you to use caution as [[Memetic Mutation|one does not simply walk into Mordor]].
** Then there's the one with about nine hundred U-turns.
** Google Moon used to turn the map into cheese on the closest zoom-in.
Line 281 ⟶ 280:
* Using the [[Konami Code]] (up up down down left right left right B A) in Google Reader will give the sidebar a ninja theme.
* In Python v.3 or later, you can type [[Xkcd|import antigravity]]. It brings up that comic in your browser.
* In
== Computer Hardware ==
* Designers of integrated circuits have incorporated miniature artwork in their chips, termed as chip art or silicon doodling. While many of them were more of a playful graffiti or a form of expression from the designer and/or the team (though such unauthorised artists' marks e.g. humorous or satirical designs are discouraged by chipmakers due to fears that the art may interfere with normal functionality), some actually do serve a practical purpose: if the chip was cloned by a competing manufacturer down to the artwork, this was strong evidence that a copyright violation was committed. Such chip art experienced a surge of popularity due to the practice of chip decapping being performed by retrocomputing enthusiasts.
* Despite Microsoft having largely banned the inclusion of Easter eggs in their products, the practice still lives on with their video game hardware. Taking apart the Xbox One S reveals a super deformed artwork of Microsoft's gaming mascot Master Chief, and on the Xbox One X's motherboard where the same Master Chief is depicted riding a scorpion, in reference to the One X's Project Scorpio codename. A hidden credits screen was also discovered in the original Xbox Dashboard as well.
* The original Apple Macintosh case has signatures of the development team embossed in the plastic which can be seen once you open it up. Similar hardware autographs can also be seen in some of Apple's hardware of the era.
== DVDs ==
Line 398 ⟶ 401:
'''De Guiche:''' The windmill chapter!
'''Cyrano:''' ''(bowing):'' Chapter the Thirteenth. }}
== Theme Parks ==
Line 404 ⟶ 406:
** Hidden Mickeys aren't just limited to the parks; they appear throughout the movies as well.
** And the Mickeys aren't all small and inconspicuous. [https://www.google.com/maps/search/walt+disney+world/@28.3960828,-81.5781911,492m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en Some can only be seen from aircraft.]
== Web Sites / Web Originals ==
Line 445 ⟶ 446:
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Brian Cronin has collected [https://web.archive.org/web/20131104193421/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2011/07/01/a-month-of-comic-book-easter-eggs-archive/ an massive collection of these] at Comic Book Resources, all from fan suggestions. Some include:
** Numerous comics strip characters appearing as [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Reed and Sue Richards' neighbors]]
** [[Unsound Effect|Hidden sound effects]]
Line 456 ⟶ 457:
* The little guy with a big nose and a toga from Little Ceasar's commercials; look closely at the toga, and you'll see the embroidery is composed of "LC" printed over and over in a line. [[Captain Oblivious|For "Little Caesar's" of course.]]
* Domino's Pizza does something similar, the three "dots" on their logo representing the number of stores they had originally. They originally wanted to add one dot for each new store, but the franchise grew too fast!
----
<ref>Created by the tropers[[House of Leaves|.]]</ref>
| |||