The game was introduced to the entire world all at once in a massive advertising campaign that touted it as “The Only Game Worth Playing”. Although the campaign lasted for months, and must have cost a fortune, no further information about the game was provided in any of the ads—not even still shots. All that was known pre-release was that it belonged to the most popular genre at the time, first-person shooter.
Once it was announced that the game was to go on sale at a rather high price, everyone anxiously awaited the release date to see just how much of a flop the ad campaign was going to be. A very big one, it turned out. Only a few thousand copies were sold, and almost all on the first day. The minute the first review came out, most other potential customers were scared off.
Attached to the top review was an hour-long video, but the video was provided only as supporting evidence for a short description of the gameplay, which revealed everything.
OK, I got scammed, and you’re right to be laughing hard at me right now. But you’re not laughing hard enough. The game, as claimed, is indeed a first-person shooter, but in the lamest possible way. You’re literally standing in a clearing in the woods, facing a dense wall of leaves which you can’t see through. At all. Every so often some of the leaves move. Most times it’s just the wind, but every once in a while an enemy soldier pokes through. If you shoot him before he shoots you, you get a point, otherwise you start over at zero. That’s the whole game!!! And you can’t hear the soldier approaching either, because there’s no sound in this game! There’s no warning whatsoever. A quick movement of leaves and there he is firing at you. Back to zero. But wait, the scam gets better! There seems to be no limit on how long you might wait before an enemy appears. In the video I posted, there’s a 17-MINUTE wait, where I’m just staring at leaves. I can’t even turn to look at some new leaves while I wait to be murdered. Need I even type DO NOT BUY?
The company remained silent as the Internet exploded in laughter and outrage. The meme that took hold the hardest was that the company must IMMEDIATELY refund the few who had purchased the game. And sure enough, exactly a week after the release, the company did offer refunds to everyone who had purchased the game during that first week. But, the company said, going forward, there would be no further refunds, which became the new top meme.
At the end of the following week, the company made another announcement: the price of the game would be doubling each week, starting now. The Internet smiled and shook its head.
At the end of the third week, with the game now being offered at four times its original price, the company made another announcement. On the one-year anniversary of its release, the game would be featured in an open tournament the company would be hosting. First prize, for the highest score, would be one billion dollars. Second prize, a half billion, third prize, a quarter billion, and so on down the line. Thirty prizes in all.
Five days later MIT announced it would be offering full scholarships to all the prize winners, as well as to the next top hundred. And the world would never be the same again.