Lateral Puzzles • View topic

by **CoffeeBean** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 6:58 pm

A man warned people about something that posed a threat to primarily children and teens. Many ignored the warning, and at least one person discovered a way to bring the threat to a sudden and abrupt end. What was it?

This is an actual event that occurred in the U.S. in 1982

by **GalFisk** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 8:29 pm

Something: a fad? A trend? A disease? A heightened risk? A person? A law? Policy? Food? Drink? Drug? Toy? Game? Behaviour? Mental issue? A machine? Something that could: kill? Injure? Sicken? Hurt? Scare? Cause financial loss? Cause troble with the law? Harm development? Harm future prospects? Education relevant? Parents? Moral panic?

by **CoffeeBean** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 8:33 pm

Something: a fad? A trend? A disease? None of these A heightened risk? Yes, this was implied
A person? A law? Policy? Food? Drink? Drug? None of these
Toy? Game? Yes, it was considered both Behaviour? No Mental issue? Yes, in fact this was specifically mentioned in the warning A machine? No
Something that could: kill? Injure? Sicken? Hurt? None of these Scare? Possibly implied, yes
Cause financial loss? Cause trouble with the law? Harm development? Harm future prospects? Education relevant? Parents? Moral panic? No to these

by **GalFisk** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 8:44 pm

Toy/game: video game? Arcade game? Board game? Children's game? Something played alone? In pairs? Groups? Teams? Bullying relevant? A specific mental issue?

by **invisiblemimsy** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 9:30 pm

Hallowe'en, fireworks, November 5th/Guy Fawkes/Penny for the Guy?

by **CoffeeBean** » Thu Oct 18, 2018 2:02 pm

Toy/game: video game? Yes Arcade game? No Board game? No
Children's game? Not strictly this Something played alone? In pairs? Probably both options
Groups? Teams? Maybe, but not very easy to do Bullying relevant? No
A specific mental issue? One specific term for a mental issue was used in the warning

Hallowe'en, fireworks, November 5th/Guy Fawkes/Penny for the Guy? None of these are relevant

by **invisiblemimsy** » Thu Oct 18, 2018 2:34 pm

Was the scaring actually caused, if so on [number of occasions]?
Was there a problem with political correctness? Outmoded definitions? E.g. using a term which was offensive like 'turn you crazy', 'spaz you out' or suchlike?
Was there any impersonation involved, or acting? False or exaggerated claims? Someone claiming they were hurt/affected when they weren't? Was anyone actually hurt, or affected adversely?

by **CoffeeBean** » Thu Oct 18, 2018 6:08 pm

Was the scaring actually caused, if so on [number of occasions]? Fairly sure it wasn't, no
Was there a problem with political correctness? No Outmoded definitions? No, but...E.g. using a term which was offensive like 'turn you crazy', 'spaz you out' or suchlike? ...YES, something very similar to this was mentioned
Was there any impersonation involved, or acting? No
False No... or exaggerated claims? ...this, very much so.
Someone claiming they were hurt/affected when they weren't? No but somewhat OTRT
Was anyone actually hurt, or affected adversely? Unknown, but I seriously doubt it...

by **GalFisk** » Thu Oct 18, 2018 6:57 pm

Shooting game? Adventure? Platform? Racing? Puzzle? Horror? Suspense? Mystery? Action? Arcade? Sim? Scifi? Card game? Relevant what hardware it was run on? What media it was distributed on? Where it was sold? Who bought it? Who played it?

by **CoffeeBean** » Thu Oct 18, 2018 7:28 pm

Shooting game? This Adventure? Platform? Racing? Puzzle? Horror? Suspense? Mystery? Action? And this Arcade? Sim? Scifi? Card game? No to the rest
Relevant what hardware it was run on? What media it was distributed on? May be helpful in recalling the event, yes
Where it was sold? Who bought it? Who played it? These aren't as relevant and difficult to specifically recall

by **GalFisk** » Thu Oct 18, 2018 8:02 pm

Was it played at home? In arcades? Was it in 3D? Did it have wireframe graphics? Was it played with a light gun? Was there a worry that actions in the game would be imitated in real life? That the game trained kids to be killers? That the screen hurt their eyes?

by **CoffeeBean** » Thu Oct 18, 2018 8:50 pm

Was it played at home? Yes In arcades? No Was it in 3D? Did it have wireframe graphics? Was it played with a light gun? No to all but also not relevant
Was there a worry that actions in the game would be imitated in real life? No
That the game trained kids to be killers? No That the screen hurt their eyes? No

by **GalFisk** » Fri Oct 19, 2018 6:37 pm

Did it have relevant sound? Did it threaten players? Onlookers? Other computer users? Relevant what device it was played on? What screen it was showed on?

by **CoffeeBean** » Fri Oct 19, 2018 7:42 pm

Did it have relevant sound? Relevant what device it was played on? What screen it was showed on? No to all.

Did it threaten players? Onlookers? Other computer users? The statements that were made implied that players would be the most affected. Other users and onlookers could possibly be assumed as included but were not mentioned specifically.

by **GalFisk** » Sat Oct 20, 2018 11:29 am

Would the scary thing be seen on the screen? Epilpsy relevant?

by **CoffeeBean** » Mon Oct 22, 2018 2:22 pm

Would the scary thing be seen on the screen? Yes, but partial FA
Epilepsy relevant? No

by **trebor** » Wed Oct 24, 2018 9:30 pm

Does the threat involve the player being injured? Carpal tunnel or something similar? Developing a dependency on the game?

by **CoffeeBean** » Thu Oct 25, 2018 6:35 pm

Does the threat involve the player being injured? Carpal tunnel or something similar? No to these...
Developing a dependency on the game? YES

by **CoffeeBean** » Wed Oct 31, 2018 3:01 pm

So the warning was about the threat of someone becoming dependent on the game. How did someone discover a way to bring a sudden end to this threat?

by **trebor** » Wed Oct 31, 2018 9:22 pm

Was the man Reagan? (I’m not certain he spoke out against video games, but it seems like something the Reagans would’ve done.)

Was there a worry that the dependency would lead increased shootings in real life? Relevant?

Was something done to the game so that you could play it for only so long? They made it easier to beat? They made it more frustrating? They made it time out or reset after a certain amount of time or number of kills?

by **invisiblemimsy** » Wed Oct 31, 2018 9:50 pm

So, the event which happened in 1982 was the thing that stopped anyone becoming dependent on the game?
Was it some kind of convention? Was it caused by one person? Was it an aversion thing? The longer you play the game, the more, or less, something happens? Money involved? Limited life of the game? Did it involve the creator? Was the game changed in some way? Some kind of fatal error eg BSOD?
Would it help to find out what kind of game it was?

by **invisiblemimsy** » Wed Oct 31, 2018 9:51 pm

Was an actual lie involved? E.g. tell people something which makes them disinclined to play the game, or makes them lose interest?

by **CoffeeBean** » Thu Nov 01, 2018 1:50 pm

Was the man Reagan? (I’m not certain he spoke out against video games, but it seems like something the Reagans would’ve done.) No (wasn't this type of person)

Was there a worry that the dependency would lead increased shootings in real life? Relevant? No, not this kind of worry

Was something done to the game so that you could play it for only so long? Yes, but...
They made it easier to beat? No They made it more frustrating? No
They made it time out or reset after a certain amount of time or number of kills? YES, but...(good q)

So, the event which happened in 1982 was the thing that stopped anyone becoming dependent on the game? No (possible FA here). The thing that showed how the dependence could be ended did not occur until later.
Was it some kind of convention? No Was it caused by one person? No Was it an aversion thing? Can you rephrase this?
The longer you play the game, the more, or less, something happens? This was part of the warning, yes
Money involved? No Limited life of the game? No Did it involve the creator? Yes
Was the game changed in some way? No Some kind of fatal error eg BSOD? No
Would it help to find out what kind of game it was? Two relevant things have been discovered about the game:

1. The game involved shooting
2. The game timed out after a certain number of kills

Was an actual lie involved? GOOD Q - The warning itself was, to some degree, a lie (although nobody really would have thought otherwise). The puzzle's title is a clue about the person who gave the warning, it is related to something else that he did.
E.g. tell people something which makes them disinclined to play the game, or makes them lose interest? No, quite the opposite!

by **GalFisk** » Tue Nov 27, 2018 6:19 pm

Did the warning make the people play the game more? Was it an arcade game? If so, is the cost of playing it relevant? Was it played by aiming a physical gun or gun-like object? Relevant?

by **CoffeeBean** » Thu Nov 29, 2018 3:37 pm

Did the warning make the people play the game more? Yes, in a way it did. A little more exploring on this and we'll be done...
Was it an arcade game? No If so, is the cost of playing it relevant? No
Was it played by aiming a physical gun or gun-like object? No Relevant? The main aspect of the game involved shooting, but the player did not use a gun or similar object. This aspect of the game is specifically mentioned in the warning.

by **GalFisk** » Sat Dec 01, 2018 9:35 pm

Did it make more people play? Did it make people play more? Did it make people shoot less, so that they could keep playing longer?

by **CoffeeBean** » Mon Dec 03, 2018 3:12 pm

Did it make more people play? Did it make people play more? Both of these results were the goal of the "warning"
Did it make people shoot less, so that they could keep playing longer? No, slight FA here

by **CoffeeBean** » Tue Dec 18, 2018 3:18 pm

HINT: Sometimes a "warning" isn't really a warning...

by **GalFisk** » Thu Dec 20, 2018 4:58 pm

Was the warning an advertisement? An encouragement?

by **CoffeeBean** » Fri Dec 21, 2018 5:08 pm

Was the warning an advertisement? YES An encouragement? Of a sort, yes

by **KayleeArafinwiel** » Fri Dec 21, 2018 6:16 pm

oh hi CoffeeBean!

Apologies from the non-caffeinated Kaylee kitteh

please may I have a Recap? I am lost!

by **Balin** » Fri Dec 21, 2018 6:36 pm

Was the "warning" intended to encourage buyers to play the game? Straightforwardly warning that it was extremely offensive/outrageous/pick your adjective, but actually getting potential players curious about what made the game so offensive/outrageous/pick your adjective?

by **CoffeeBean** » Wed Dec 26, 2018 7:04 pm

Was the "warning" intended to encourage buyers to play the game? Yes (of course)
Straightforwardly warning that it was extremely offensive/outrageous/pick your adjective, but actually getting potential players curious about what made the game so offensive/outrageous/pick your adjective? The "warning" included two specific statements that would have caused curiousity - one was about the mental issue, the other was a caution about one aspect of the game which, as mentioned in the puzzle statement, was revealed as having been brought to an abrupt end.

by **CoffeeBean** » Wed Dec 26, 2018 7:13 pm

RECAP:

A "warning" was issued in 1982 about a video game that was sold for home systems. The warning was part of an advertisement and was meant to encourage people to buy and play the game. One part of the warning was that the game would do something very similar to "drive you crazy", and there was one other specific thing that buyers were warned about. There was a vague threat that players would become dependent on playing the game. The game was a shooting game designed to time out after a certain number of kills. The warning was, basically, a "lie" because there was never an actual threat to anyone. But the title of the puzzle is a clue about the man who gave the warning.

The only thing left to determine is the part of the warning that was proved to be completely false and how this was proven.

by **Hobbsicle** » Wed Jan 09, 2019 6:07 pm

Was the warning related to its addictiveness? Something to the effect that you could keep playing endlessly? And people proved it wrong by finding the “kill screen”?

by **GalFisk** » Thu Jan 10, 2019 2:38 pm

Is a software bug relevant?

by **CoffeeBean** » Thu Jan 10, 2019 8:10 pm

Was the warning related to its addictiveness? Something to the effect that you could keep playing endlessly? And people proved it wrong by finding the “kill screen”? YES, all correct!
Is a software bug relevant? No

by **CoffeeBean** » Thu Jan 10, 2019 8:19 pm

*** SPOILER ***

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX-uu-kredU

In the commercial for the game Megamania, viewers are warned that they "may regret" getting the game and that it will "drive you insane". The end of the ad features another caution that the game never stops. This was proven to be wrong when someone played until they reached a certain score and the game came to a sudden end (video of this posted on YouTube).

The band featured in the commercial is The Tubes, who had a hit song 'She's A Beauty'. This song featured the repeated lyric "Why would I lie?" which inspired the puzzle's title and was a backdoor clue.

[CoffeeBean] Why Would He Lie?

Search

Forums