Enchantermon on 8/3/2010 at 05:07
Quote Posted by dethtoll
I wouldn't call those Easter eggs either. The weird shit that the goons have been decoding isn't exactly hidden- Valve called attention to it with their updates, and it's essentially a very Adam Foster-style way of announcing and hyping Portal 2.
The reason I disagree is because other than the default "Portal has finished downloading" message, there was no hype at all about this new content (until it was discovered and reported). Plus, in order to get an image from one of those sounds, you had to run the sound through a stenography program. I didn't even know such software existed, and I can't imagine there were many people to whom the thought to use the files with that software occurred. Simply put, things were obscure enough that I would certainly consider them hidden.
Quote Posted by dethtoll
An easter egg in the traditional (gaming) sense would be a specifically hidden thing that carried no other purpouse than to simply be found, i.e. 90% of Metal Gear Solid, or Romero's head on a stick at the end of Doom 2.
Not necessarily. Easter eggs can also be used as promotional material (see
the Space Quest I promo in King's Quest II or
the Quest for the Longbow scene in Space Quest 1 VGA). They could be used to pay homage to something (like
the LGS tombstone and broken bow upgrade in T2X or the
"Look at you, Hacker..." achievement in BioShock 2) or to deliver in-jokes (like
the pawn shop shelves in King's Quest VI or
the rubber tree in Monkey Island.). I would say Valve's shenanigans are simply easter eggs that were more involved than most.
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
I was not aware of that. Well good, that's pretty much ideal then.
I agree; that was an excellent decision on Valve's part.
ZylonBane on 8/3/2010 at 05:18
Quote Posted by Enchantermon
Plus, in order to get an image from one of those sounds, you had to run the sound through a stenography program.
"Steganography", not "stenography". And no, the software to get the pictures was just standard (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow-scan_television) slow-scan decoding software. Any ham radio operator hearing the signals would have recognized it.
june gloom on 8/3/2010 at 05:58
Quote Posted by Enchantermon
stuff
You're making it sound a lot more cryptic/esoteric than it really is. This sort of shit is exactly what the cleverer ARGs run on.
Those things you listed are all well-hidden, but they call no attention to themselves- they just are. They're little surprises for people to find, sometimes not even that- they're developer in-jokes or whatever. In contrast, the Portal 2 ARG specifically called attention to itself by the cryptic text in the first update- "Changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations." The vagueness, as well as the non-sequitur (what the fuck does "federal and state spectrum management regulations" even mean and what does it have to do with a video game?) basically screamed LOOK AT ME AND ANALYZE THIS WEIRD SHIT because Valve knew the Goon Cryptography Department would tear it apart for meaning. This is called an "entry point" (sometimes a "rabbithole") because it causes the participant to go looking for more. It's no different than NIN leaving USB drives at concerts or Bungie sending Halo fans who had participated in ARGs before bear-shaped honey jars containing a few letters that eventually spelled out ilovebees.com.
Easter eggs are self-contained. ARG clues are not.
Enchantermon on 8/3/2010 at 13:22
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
"Steganography", not "stenography". And no, the software to get the pictures was just standard (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow-scan_television) slow-scan decoding software. Any ham radio operator hearing the signals would have recognized it.
Oh, whoops. Misread and misunderstood. Thanks.
Quote Posted by dethtoll
You're making it sound a lot more cryptic/esoteric than it really is. This sort of shit is exactly what the cleverer ARGs run on.
I don't know, I thought it was kind of cryptic. That update message, for example, meant nothing to me; I don't know anything about radio frequencies or regulations or any of that mess. And while a ham radio operator may recognize the signals over the radio, I did not.
Besides, just going by Wikipedia's definition, this doesn't seem like it would qualify as an ARG (despite the fact that it's listed as one in the same wiki article).
june gloom on 8/3/2010 at 17:41
Just because you don't think it qualifies as an ARG doesn't mean it's not an ARG. Just FYI.
ZylonBane on 8/3/2010 at 21:08
Guys, this has already been subjected to a formal proof:
1. ARGs are dumb.
2. This is cool.
3. Therefore, this is not an ARG.
june gloom on 8/3/2010 at 22:36
My statement applies to you too ZeeBee.
Scots Taffer on 9/3/2010 at 00:08
LOCK IT DOWN SOMEONE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, QUICK WHILE THE OTHER ONE IS STILL TYPING
june gloom on 9/3/2010 at 01:08
nice plane ZB, did you take that from your front lawn or something
