Hidden Treasures

What-to-hide-other-than-chocolate-easter-eggs-725x420-c.jpg

By Marcus

When most people think of easter eggs they think of hiding brightly colored eggs around a backyard but that is not always the case. According to game developer Warren Robinett, “the use of the term "Easter egg"  describes secret features in video games,” but now it has been introduced into websites, google, and many more. Easter eggs allow game developers, engineers, and many others to have some fun with their jobs by adding references or messages to their products. Easter eggs have been around for a long time from 70’s video games to the newest Tesla model.  Easter eggs are fun to find and to look at, but did you know that you can make your own easter eggs around your house? By painting a birdhouse you can make it look like gnomes live in a tree. This is just one of the many that can be made. 

Warren Robinett was the first to ever put an easter egg into a video game. He had made the game Adventure for the Atari 2600 and back then game developers were not getting credit for their games so Warren made a secret room in his game that had the message “created by Warren Robinett. This shows how the easter egg has changed, from hidden and frowned upon to encouraged. Tesla has even made an easter egg in their new model x. If one was to put in a series of complex commands into the touchpad of their Tesla they would be gifted with a holiday song with the speakers at max volume, the lights would flash and the doors would open and close to the music. The Tesla team did not announce this until not too long ago, which suggests how they wanted to make this a surprise for someone who would accidentally trigger the easter egg, but I guess they couldn't wait that long. Amazon is a very well known company, but many people don't know about the hidden link that is at the bottom of the start page. Jeff Bezos started Amazon with his friends and most of them are still working at Amazon but one of Jeff’s colleagues left a little while ago. His name was David Risher. Many people don’t know that Amazon started as a bookstore but then grew into selling everything. David Risher was one of Bezos’s best friends and he helped start Amazon so it would make sense to give him a shoutout once he left. 

Easter eggs have been in movies and tv as well. One easter egg was in The Simpsons, this easter egg  was a clear shot of another show’s beer. Family guy’s Pawtucket Patriot Ale beer is seen on the counter of the Simpsons family house. The Simpsons and Family Guy have had a rivalry for many years, constantly making fun of each other’s shows and broadcasting networks. But they eventually made a truce and made a crossover episode declaring their friendship.   Disney also has their fair share of fun with easter eggs. In the  2004 movie “The Incredibles” the son, dash, is wearing a shirt that has a couple monsters from the Disney movie Monsters INC. Disney has many references but most all of them are to their own movies, with most to Monsters INC. Easter eggs have also been in many comics but mostly marvel comics. The artist Al Milgrom wrote "HARRAS HA HA, HE'S GONE, GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD RUBBISH HE WAS A NASTY S.O.B." on the inside of the spine of a Captain America comic. This was about his old boss Bob Harras. Most of Marvel’s easter eggs have been from the artists without their superiors’ permission. 

Easter eggs have been fun surprises for a long time and will be for many years to come. Easter eggs allow game developers, engineers, and many others to have some fun with their jobs by adding references or messages to their products. Many people who work with code can have fun while working by putting easter eggs in whatever they might be making. From the world of video games, easter eggs have spread to cars, websites, and many more.  There is an easter egg in this article too. I won't give away exactly where it is but the hint is “Family Guy”.