7 ms·

The narrative in the article also misses the following point, which I've seen many times over the years, in both game dev and non-game dev shops: It is massive

The narrative in the article also misses the following point, which I've seen many times over the years, in both game dev and non-game dev shops: It is massively unprofessional to ship an Easter Egg without broad consent to do so. Planning a fun "secret" for your users? Great! Surprising people involved in the publishing pipeline, esp. in a "will I get caught" way? Not so great. That's where Rajan went off the rails.

ppseafield 7y ago
Indeed. Although this isn't sexually explicit, it reminds me of the trouble Rockstar got in after the Hot Coffee fiasco. Their publisher had to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars. (Edit: pkroll is correct, the final penalties were $21 million.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Coffee_mod https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Coffee_mod
- pkroll 7y ago
  That link puts the number closer to $21 million, where'd the "hundreds of millions" come from?
  - ppseafield 7y ago
    Ah, you're correct. I read one of the figures incorrectly.
- def_true_false 7y ago
  >it reminds me of the trouble Rockstar got in after the Hot Coffee fiasco In that in both cases the backlash is more ridiculous than the Easter egg itself?
  - beenBoutIT 7y ago
    Easter egg's that end up costing a a fortune.
- CobrastanJorji 7y ago
  Everything about that scandal was stupid. In an M rated game (recommended for 17 and older), the protagonist could date women, be invited into their homes, and then the player would hear the sounds of the characters having sex. Fine, whatever. The game also allowed the player to sleep with prostitutes on the street to regain health, which would either cost them money or, if the player completed missions to become their pimp, earn them money. The revelation that, in addition to those kinds of sex, a crude sex minigame could be revealed, if one made a bit flip to a config file with the help of third party software or hardware, led to: * $21 million in penalties. * The city of Los Angeles suing the company. * A class action lawsuit whose initial plaintiff was a lady who bought the game for her 14 year old grandson, which would end with 2700 claimants being compensated. * Hillary Clinton calling on the FTC to "take immediate action." * Senator Lieberman, working with Clinton, proposed a law making the sale of violent games to children a federal crime.
  - ppseafield 7y ago
    I agree, the reaction was completely, 100% nuts. But such an Easter egg could put Nintendo in a similar situation, and I can see why they can't let developers get away with hidden content like this. It would set a bad precedent.
rrauenza 7y ago
> That's where Rajan went off the rails. No, no, he only embedded Ruby. Not Rails.
- lazyasciiart 7y ago
  Exactly. He wasn't on Rails.
duxup 7y ago
Yeah, put a silly picture or sound in there or something if you want to Easter egg it up.

ppseafield 7y ago

Indeed. Although this isn't sexually explicit, it reminds me of the trouble Rockstar got in after the Hot Coffee fiasco. Their publisher had to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars. (Edit: pkroll is correct, the final penalties were $21 million.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Coffee_mod https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Coffee_mod

pkroll 7y ago
That link puts the number closer to $21 million, where'd the "hundreds of millions" come from?
- ppseafield 7y ago
  Ah, you're correct. I read one of the figures incorrectly.
def_true_false 7y ago
>it reminds me of the trouble Rockstar got in after the Hot Coffee fiasco In that in both cases the backlash is more ridiculous than the Easter egg itself?
- beenBoutIT 7y ago
  Easter egg's that end up costing a a fortune.
CobrastanJorji 7y ago
Everything about that scandal was stupid. In an M rated game (recommended for 17 and older), the protagonist could date women, be invited into their homes, and then the player would hear the sounds of the characters having sex. Fine, whatever. The game also allowed the player to sleep with prostitutes on the street to regain health, which would either cost them money or, if the player completed missions to become their pimp, earn them money. The revelation that, in addition to those kinds of sex, a crude sex minigame could be revealed, if one made a bit flip to a config file with the help of third party software or hardware, led to: * $21 million in penalties. * The city of Los Angeles suing the company. * A class action lawsuit whose initial plaintiff was a lady who bought the game for her 14 year old grandson, which would end with 2700 claimants being compensated. * Hillary Clinton calling on the FTC to "take immediate action." * Senator Lieberman, working with Clinton, proposed a law making the sale of violent games to children a federal crime.
- ppseafield 7y ago
  I agree, the reaction was completely, 100% nuts. But such an Easter egg could put Nintendo in a similar situation, and I can see why they can't let developers get away with hidden content like this. It would set a bad precedent.

rrauenza 7y ago

> That's where Rajan went off the rails. No, no, he only embedded Ruby. Not Rails.

lazyasciiart 7y ago
Exactly. He wasn't on Rails.

duxup 7y ago

Yeah, put a silly picture or sound in there or something if you want to Easter egg it up.