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New Easter Egg uncovered in Spiker


intvnut

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The other day, I got a request from Steve Ettinger to help locate a lost Easter Egg in Spiker.

 

A scant two hours after the request came in, I discovered what may be the earliest "production baby" announcement in video gaming history. :D

 

post-14113-0-68037000-1424239101_thumb.gif

 

And Egg-within-an-Egg: If you press 2 or 3 while Jessica's screen is up, it'll highlight the July 19th line or the 3:25 a.m. line (because really, under the hood, it's the first menu screen).

 

post-14113-0-21266900-1424239555_thumb.gif post-14113-0-74667800-1424239565_thumb.gif

 

I had previously found Kyle & Russell's menu. I guess I should have continued digging...

 

post-14113-0-25403400-1424239087_thumb.gif

 

To get Jessica's announcement, press [1] on left controller and [4] on right controller across reset. To get Kyle & Russell's menu, press [1] on both controllers across reset.

 

And fun fact: I validated the Easter Egg on a real Intellivision using LTO Flash!'s Download & Play facility. :D Ever closer....

 

post-14113-0-21946900-1424239437_thumb.jpg

 

Enjoy!

Edited by intvnut
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I could have sworn this easter egg was found a long time ago.

 

So far as I can tell, Jessica's Easter Egg text was discovered a few years ago (2011?), but not how to display it.

 

Links:

I had first heard about it a couple days ago.

 

I discovered Kyle & Russell's menu 14 years ago.

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I m sure she does realize.......

 

I dunno. Considering how many former game devs still seem surprised that there's even a hobbyist community these days, and how many don't even remember games they programmed, it's quite possible Dad never even mentioned it. Or at least that he didn't share the "importance" of it.

 

Hell, most people I know under 30 haven't even HEARD of the Intellivision, let alone know anything about it.

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I love the Internet.

 

This is the kinda thing I'd love to see a 5 minute interview with Dad & daughter about, on the podcast. I wonder if she even realizes that she's a part of videogaming history (and one of the most coveted games to boot).

 

I m sure she does realize.......

 

I dunno. Considering how many former game devs still seem surprised that there's even a hobbyist community these days, and how many don't even remember games they programmed, it's quite possible Dad never even mentioned it. Or at least that he didn't share the "importance" of it.

 

Hell, most people I know under 30 haven't even HEARD of the Intellivision, let alone know anything about it.

 

Based on Steve Ettinger's initial request to me, I would ask that nobody take pains to draw her attention to the screen just yet, assuming she isn't already aware of it. :-)

 

I did ask Steve if I could share the egg.... I wonder now if I should have waited a few months, anyway. ;-)

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I dunno. Considering how many former game devs still seem surprised that there's even a hobbyist community these days, and how many don't even remember games they programmed, it's quite possible Dad never even mentioned it. Or at least that he didn't share the "importance" of it.

 

Hell, most people I know under 30 haven't even HEARD of the Intellivision, let alone know anything about it.

You may be right on that thought, what was I thinking most under 30 don't even know what a record is... lol

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Based on Steve Ettinger's initial request to me, I would ask that nobody take pains to draw her attention to the screen just yet, assuming she isn't already aware of it. :-)

 

I did ask Steve if I could share the egg.... I wonder now if I should have waited a few months, anyway. ;-)

No Worries, surprised are great. Wouldn't want to spoil it for her..

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I've heard of those! My grandfather had one. The full name is Tape Recorder ;-)

 

Just don't mess with 8-Track McGraw!

 

 

Anyway, if you follow this link I posted earlier, it turns out Jessica knows about the Easter Egg. Quoting from the page:

 

 

I asked Jessica about this message. She wrote back:

 

“I found out about this probably after I started college. Up until then I didn’t know what my exact time of birth was since my mom couldn’t remember and I was too lazy to find my birth certificate I guess. I at least know my birth was noted to the galaxy in some small way!”

 

 

And then, some words from Steve himself!

 

“Yes, I put messages to my kids (and wife) in all of my Intellivision games. This one was obviously from the birth of my daughter – her two older brothers are featured in hidden messages in each of the games that preceded her birth.

 

I put messages into each of these games: Hover Force (1986), Slam Dunk (1987), Chip Shot (1987), Body Slam (1988), Spiker! (1989), Deep Pockets (1989). My typical ‘cheat code’ was to hold down 23 on the left [intellivision] controller while simultaneously holding down 26 on the right controller and then pressing reset while holding them down. Admittedly a bit of a contortion act, and not easily replicated on an emulator as it turns out.

 

I kept the source code for many years for all of these (and more) games, but sadly with a hard drive crash and a neglected back-up I lost them, so I can’t retrieve the code and have to try to remember how to trigger these messages from memory…”

 

Hey, ROM hackers: sounds like Steve could use your help! Exciting to know there are more hidden personal messages yet to be discovered…

 

 

Had I seen the call then, I would have found this sooner perhaps. :)

 

Also, another link describing the Easter Egg (mainly links back to the other mentions above): http://daddytypes.com/2013/01/15/the_first_production_baby.php

Edited by intvnut
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