O= /) FLIPPERSMACK 012 `= culturemag for a penguin generation http://www.flippersmack.com x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x It's 3am, a few hours before we're leaving for Vegas. We were supposed to leave at 4am, but since I almost ran into like 50 cars on the way up and lost the freeway, sleep is prolly a good idea. SlapAyoda wrote a kickass article for this issue, and Monk and Stone Dragon sent in some poetry. Yay! Slap and I hit up Anime Expo last weekend.. that was pretty fun. Went to a serial experiments lain panel, and did a Q&A with Mikimoto, who was the character designer for Macross. I'll see you guy at DefCon, stop by the booth and say hi! Check out the OFFICIAL website for the DefCon Scavenger Hunt! We WILL be at DefCon this year. Play the Pre-Hunt game and swing by the Flippersmack/K-Line table and tell us the secret passphrase to win Scavenger Hunt Points and cool stuff! http://www.penguinpalace.com/flippersmack/scavhunt -the land of the last minute slackers- pinguino [pinguino@comicartist.com] Flippersmack Archives: http://www.penguinpalace.com/ http://www.nettwerked.net/ http://www.ghu.ca/ tABLE oF cONTENTS *fresh* Pre-Scavenger Hunt Clue #6 and 7 ...........Flippersmack *fresh* The Game Behind A.I. ..........................SlapAyoda Untitled Poetry.............................................Monk Haikus to Lose IQ Points To.........................Stone Dragon FRESH articles were written day of zine release- July 11, 2001 .x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x Why do I do everything last minute before major conventions? These are easy - should make up for the really hard ones at the beginning! PRE-HUNT CLUE #006!!!! (two chars) Hacker's least favorite class in school? _ _ PRE-HUNT CLUE #007!!!! This website talks about what service? (3 letters) http://www.unixsup.com/cursos/rx_6.html PRE-HUNT FINAL Okay, you all set?! Break out all your scribblings of decoded puzzles and lay them out to spell this phrase: _ ____ _ _____ _____. Say this phrase to a Flippersmack Crew Member at the DefCon table for 100 points! (This is the same number of points you would get if you did naked stuff.) -.x.x.x.- The Game Behind A.I. by SlapAyoda (slapayoda@yahoo.com) For the uninitiated, a bit of explanation is required; there's a lot of strange things going on in a small sector of the Internet and I'm here to attempt to explain some of it. If that came off as a convoluted introduction, be prepared for a confusing array of information and speculation about one of the most revolutionary marketing campaigns since "Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz". What the hell am I talking about, anyways? Oh yes - the Internet-based game created to promote the recent Warner Bros movie, "A.I. - Artificial Intelligence". A.I. is a movie about a ground-breaking product of man's desire to break the limits of technology - a robotic boy who can 'actually love'. It focuses nearly every frame of film on this robo-boy, David, who is adopted by Monica and Henry Swinton, a couple who have nearly lost their only child to a critical disease. When their 'real' son, Martin, is suddenly cured and returned home, things look bleak for David, who is at this point merely an imitation son. This eventually causes him to go on a quest to become a real boy, along the way meeting such interesting characters as Gigolo Joe, a hustler of a different (robotic) era, and even David's own creator - Allen Hobby, an inventor referred to as 'The Visionary'. This article, however, is about the -game- and not the movie, so here's the story behind it. In January of this year, a radical idea was buzzing around Microsoft's game division- an idea credited to Elan Lee of MS. The unconvential idea was discussed heavily at Microsoft for a good length of time before they called Warner Bros with the news that they had an idea for a game to promote their upcoming movie A.I. When they heard about the strange and certainly interesting game, they gave it the green light and production began. Allow me to explain how the 'game' (and the term is used loosely) works. Soon after planning out the story to be presented by the game, Microsoft's team (who players of the game affectionately termed 'The Puppet Masters') launched several websites that were actually set in the future. For example, these sites would refer to robotic houses and severe global flooding as if it were an actual occurrence - after all, the date these sites were written, by in-game characters, was 2142. And the sites never break character. The team began their quest to create a solid story without a centralized narrative. That is - (and note this is all very difficult to explain without actually experiencing it) this series of websites all 'created' by different characters and organizations in the year 2142, actually come together in a strange and unexplainable manner to form a coherent and richly-textured Universe. I'm sure this all sounds strange, and it is. So, what is the point of this game, and how is it played? That is a question to which even those playing the game do not know the answer. Most players got involved with the game after noticing that the trailers for the movie contain the credit "Sentient Machine Therapist - Jeanine Salla". After doing a search on Google for this strangely credited Jeanine Salla, they invariably stumble upon the homepage for one Jeanine Salla, who practices her therapy, of course, in 2142. Further investigation of her site reveals a phone number - if called, a series of messages describe some recent events, such as the death of her friend Evan Chan. After a google search on Evan Chan, and the subsequent browsing of his homepage, it becomes apparent that his death wasn't a mere accident. From here, the game literally explodes into hundreds of directions, including dozens of sites created to move the story along, intricate and intriguing puzzles, actual incoming phone calls where characters from the game call you, interaction with live characters over the phone, incoming faxes, emails, and more. The 'Puppet Masters' even filmed a video that depicted one of the sub-plots in the game. Needless to say, such an adventurous and ambitious project like this is bound to gain fans. Actually, this game has done that and more. It has spawned a whole subculture. Firstly , a Yahoo Group was formed to discuss the plot and puzzles (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cloudmakers/) called Cloudmakers (borrowing their moniker from the name of Evan Chan's boat). The group (which now features over 7,000 members) often refers to www.cloudmakers.org, the official encyclopedia and stomping grounds for Cloudmakers. The game has even spawned a spoof site: Troutmakers (http://www.troutmakers.org/) - the bizarre and often hilarious parody has gained interest even with the Microsoft team of creators. Members of the Cloudmakers group meet every week around the globe (with popular meetings in Los Angeles, New York City, and Great Britain). Recently, after the Cloudmakers were treated to a sneak preview of the movie, the Microsoft team stopped by a post-screening Los Angeles meeting. The crowd of excited Cloudmakers asked the Puppet Masters all about the game and got a variety of interesting anecdotes and answers. The game is seemingly wrapping up soon, and now that the movie has been released, we can see the parallels and overlapping concepts and characters of the two. Although it is not quite clear yet how the game is going to finish, the players are expecting a grand climax to what has been an amazing ride. -.x.x.x.- Untitled by Monk (monkstah@hotmail.com) it's been awhile since i saw your heart pour across broken glass the jagged edges tracing the curves of all the pain you hold inside. you stole glances, little ones, from me when i was slumming along painstakenly trying to find myself before i'd forgotten love. it's been awhile since i saw your heart traced on paper too thin to hold those feelings of loneliness grabbing hold of the ink i know. you stole whispers, little thoughts, from me when i could barely move running from everything bothering me with lungs frozen cold. it's been awhile since i saw your heart crossed out like my name in school i've regretted those days feeling your words slip away. i've regretted those things. malnutritution is natural when losing control. and i've lost more. sleeping alone. -.x.x.x.- Haikus to Lose IQ Points To By Stone Dragon (r_lull@hotmail.com) (Not to be confused with REAL poetry) Too many Video Games Final Fantasy And yet there are ten of them Who are they kidding? Anime Big eyes, toothy smiles School girls are super-heroes Tenchi is lucky The Inhale Floating in deep space mind goes here and there - slowly... ....what was I saying? Late Need to get sleep soon Just one more game of Starcraft! ....Need to get sleep soon.... Swedish Bikini Team Boing Boing Boing Boing Boing Boing is one syllable right? Boing Boing boing boing Outdoors Pure and Crisp - Inhale flower's scent, then chimney smoke exhale the nectar Music I am full with sound carried away on silk waves wrapped in cool satin Karate I move with power I make my only beauty my life miles away +-----------------------------------------------------+ Flippersmack (c) 2001 Flippersmack All Rights Reserved. Penguins do it better!!!!@$!%@%#