by Geechyguy
Every question has more than one answer. The fact of this has enticed the talents of many
historical figures. Nearly every inventor has believed that the current "laws of the world" could
be bent. Ideas could be changed, patterns could be rearranged. Yet change has a history of not
being accepted warmly into the world. There have even been cases of people taking extreme
measures to make sure those ideas never made it out into the open.
As time passed, the need to unleash this multitude of new information grew. Any
sheltered up beast has the ability to grow stronger, and eventually be released if given enough
coaxing. This was exactly what was happening with the new ideas. Yet unlike the monster that
tears itself from its bonds in a wild frenzy, new ideas instead wanted to silently creep their way
around the back alleys until they were accepted.
Enter the are of foreshadowing. A form of writing where the past is melded together with
a small piece of what is to happen in the future in order to provoke the reader to guess as to what
will happen. Since its induction, foreshadowing has taken on many forms. There is the hint; a
broad term or phrase that guides the reader to the answer to the question they seek. There is the
clue; a physical piece of evidence that acts as a hint. There is nearly a countless number of ways
to use foreshadowing, but none is more widely used, and more interesting to figure out, than the
cryptic message.
A single statement. That is all it takes for a good cryptic message to be created. Some of
them are easy to spot. The quote "I'll be back" in several movies leads the viewer to believe that
sometime in the future, the character will grace the screen again. yet it still leaves questions
unanswered. Will they be back in the same film or in a sequel? How long will they be back for?
That is the true beauty of the cryptic message. When the direct question is answered, more
questions are always left.
Recently the NeoRage/Rage page has received a lot of publicity about cryptic messages.
In the past two weeks they have put three lines of what appears to be programming code on their
page for an unexplained reason. Instantly rumors started to surface about the emulator and its
history. Many hopefuls believe that the three messages mean the emulator will be updated in the
near future. Others say that it won't be updated any time soon, but it shows that the emulator is
still being worked on. Skeptics say that is nothing more than a glorified page hack.
Which answer is the right one? The ones who most likely would know are not talking.
Perhaps, as so many people have said, the answer lies in the messages themselves. There have
been three messages put on the page. They are as follows: ((nop>>4)*3)++, sub bh,7, and
(ffff%4)*smtwtfs. Coinciding with the general cryptic message rule, the answers (or lack thereof)
don't provide a specific answer to the major question at hand: why where they put on the page.
One theory states that the supposed answers (if the code is worked out) match up with the
amount of days until the anniversary of NeoRagex's first release. Further study into history
quickly proves this wrong. As of yet, no other feasible answers have been provided.
The recent cryptic messages have sparked much more than an effort to figure out their
meaning. The emulation news site Zophar's Domain has had its share of cryptic messages in the
past (most recently the Bloodlust Software "Believe" messages), and they now have a new one,
courtesy of staff member SwampGas. The message posted is: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=UOgl
Unlike the NeoRage/Rage messages, this one is believed to have been cracked and figured out
already. The reason why it was posted has been obvious from the beginning. It was made out of
boredom (as stated by SwampGas). As for the answer, DooMStalK believes it to be "Homer, I
got some good news for you..." "Someone found my keys!"
A random message created for fun. That is the meaning behind the encrypted message at
Zophar's Domain. Is that the meaning behind the messages at the NeoRage/Rage page? Or are
they statements with a different meaning. Perhaps the theory about another release is correct.
Maybe the long awaited new release of the Neo Geo emulator will soon become a reality. Or
perhaps it is something completely different, an answer that has yet to be devised. In the end, the
truth will only come out when the person that wrote the message decides it is time for the world
to know. That is the final rule for cryptic messages: if they are delivered correctly, only the
creator(s) of the message can give the full answer. And when it is delivered, no matter what the
answer is, it will be a surprise.
Stay up to date on the unfolding NeoRAGEx enigma at Emulation Camp.
