4 ms·

Konami code on French Presidential candidate Bayrou website

57 points by harscoat 15y ago

mshron 15y ago
To those of you that have forgotten: ↑↑↓↓←➝←➝BA
gulbrandr 15y ago
Here is the JS code: http://bayrou.fr/js/konamicode.js http://bayrou.fr/js/konamicode.js The 2 codes: ↑↑↓↓←➝←➝BA AB➝←➝←↓↓↑↑
- CGamesPlay 15y ago
  Does it read backwards, or is that just a gimmick? (I don't understand French.)
  - nekgrim 15y ago
    It read backwards.
p4bl0 15y ago
As cool as this can be, it is not a good reason to vote for someone. That goes without saying but it goes better saying it, especially for this kind of candidate who almost only position himself as being neither one of the two "main" candidates.
- elliottcarlson 15y ago
  Obviously it's not a good enough reason to vote for someone, but it will bring more traffic to his site and possibly cause more people to look in to him as a potential candidate if they had previously ignored him since he wasn't a main candidate. It's a smart use of social networking and tapping in to younger generations.
  - tonfa 15y ago
    Not so young generation, I am not sure how much the young voters (18+) knows about the konami code. It is more about the 25-35 generation.
    - elliottcarlson 15y ago
      True - but then again I think the Konami code does have some cross over to the younger (18+) crowd as well - not for nostalgia, but because it has become part of gamer culture due to it's use on websites. I'd be willing to bet that a sufficient amount of people in that age bracket would still be aware of what the Konami code is to a certain extent.
marcusf 15y ago
Very amusing :-) I imagine it was designed to and will go viral. Having no insight in to the french election, he seems like a bit of an outsider, though? In general, it's interesting to see campaigns across the globe shifting to a more digital campaign strategy. The latest Economist issue had a note on how the Obama Campaign has spent $12m on digital, compared to $3m on TV and radio ads (http://www.economist.com/node/21552590 http://www.economist.com/node/21552590)
- brohee 15y ago
  He's an outsider, but being right in the middle of the favorites he's well positioned to crown the king, his importance is way over his actual voter share.
bearwithclaws 15y ago
For those with slow internet connections (like me), if the movie hangs, right click on the fancybox, unselect/select play to resume the movie.
nextstep 15y ago
For those of us on a touch screen, would someone describe what happens?
- redthrowaway 15y ago
  A video pops up with the candidate cast as a character in an old-school video game, with 8-bit Legend of Zelda-esque music in the background. A bunch of French scrolls by on the screen, with the gist (from what I can tell) being "the final battle approaches, insert vote to continue".
- millzlane 15y ago
  If you're using an Android device. Use the "Hacker's Keyboard" app. It's the only way to go. It makes having a touchscreen irrelevant. If you're on iOS you may be out of luck. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.pocketworkstation.pckeyboard&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.pocketwork...
redthrowaway 15y ago
Cool as it is, I actually feel put off by this site. The Konami Code on websites has always been an easter egg, with some cute-but-meaningless result. This just feels manufactured. It's kind of like seeing someone use a meme in real life; it's just wrong.

57 points by harscoat 15y ago

To those of you that have forgotten: ↑↑↓↓←➝←➝BA

Here is the JS code: http://bayrou.fr/js/konamicode.js http://bayrou.fr/js/konamicode.js The 2 codes: ↑↑↓↓←➝←➝BA AB➝←➝←↓↓↑↑

CGamesPlay 15y ago
Does it read backwards, or is that just a gimmick? (I don't understand French.)
- nekgrim 15y ago
  It read backwards.

p4bl0 15y ago

As cool as this can be, it is not a good reason to vote for someone. That goes without saying but it goes better saying it, especially for this kind of candidate who almost only position himself as being neither one of the two "main" candidates.

elliottcarlson 15y ago
Obviously it's not a good enough reason to vote for someone, but it will bring more traffic to his site and possibly cause more people to look in to him as a potential candidate if they had previously ignored him since he wasn't a main candidate. It's a smart use of social networking and tapping in to younger generations.
- tonfa 15y ago
  Not so young generation, I am not sure how much the young voters (18+) knows about the konami code. It is more about the 25-35 generation.
  - elliottcarlson 15y ago
    True - but then again I think the Konami code does have some cross over to the younger (18+) crowd as well - not for nostalgia, but because it has become part of gamer culture due to it's use on websites. I'd be willing to bet that a sufficient amount of people in that age bracket would still be aware of what the Konami code is to a certain extent.

marcusf 15y ago

Very amusing :-) I imagine it was designed to and will go viral. Having no insight in to the french election, he seems like a bit of an outsider, though? In general, it's interesting to see campaigns across the globe shifting to a more digital campaign strategy. The latest Economist issue had a note on how the Obama Campaign has spent $12m on digital, compared to $3m on TV and radio ads (http://www.economist.com/node/21552590 http://www.economist.com/node/21552590)

brohee 15y ago
He's an outsider, but being right in the middle of the favorites he's well positioned to crown the king, his importance is way over his actual voter share.

bearwithclaws 15y ago

For those with slow internet connections (like me), if the movie hangs, right click on the fancybox, unselect/select play to resume the movie.

nextstep 15y ago

For those of us on a touch screen, would someone describe what happens?

redthrowaway 15y ago
A video pops up with the candidate cast as a character in an old-school video game, with 8-bit Legend of Zelda-esque music in the background. A bunch of French scrolls by on the screen, with the gist (from what I can tell) being "the final battle approaches, insert vote to continue".
millzlane 15y ago
If you're using an Android device. Use the "Hacker's Keyboard" app. It's the only way to go. It makes having a touchscreen irrelevant. If you're on iOS you may be out of luck. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.pocketworkstation.pckeyboard&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.pocketwork...

redthrowaway 15y ago

Cool as it is, I actually feel put off by this site. The Konami Code on websites has always been an easter egg, with some cute-but-meaningless result. This just feels manufactured. It's kind of like seeing someone use a meme in real life; it's just wrong.