Zero Wing the the 2D side scrolling shooter created by Toaplan in 1991 has to be one of the oldest internet crasses but its fiftenn minutes of fame still continues.
Here is a brief history of the Zero Wing Craze
1) In 1991 Toaplan creates the Zero Wing video game and realeses it to video game arcades aroung the world.
2) Toaplan releases a port for the Sega Genesis ( Sega Mega Drive) console with the addition of an intro scene, which is then translated into english, very poorly, and released it in the United States.
3) Toaplan goes out of business.
4) Someone from a Zany Video Game Quotes website notices the poor translation, and highlights the game.
5) Overclocked.org does a humorous voiceover of the Zero Wing intro in a fake Wayne Newton voice.
6) Dozens of game-related messageboards begin to post quotes from the parody, and images altered to show the phrase.
7) Most of the threads lose interest and die off quickly as the trend is pronounced dead countless times.
8) The Flash movie/video is released with images from the threads and music taken from the origional game someone had added the phrase "all your base" to.
9) AYB explosively expands to the general (non game messageboard-reading) public.
10) The origional site for the video is shut down within hours due to excessive traffic, and moves to PlanetStarsiege.
11) Lycos ponders how "All your Base" was transformed from obscurity to a top 50 search practically overnight.
12) Mainstream media begin to notice the trend, and stories appear in Time Magazine, USA Today, Fox News, The Los Angeles Times, Tech TV, Wired, and many others.
13) As the 'remix' used in the video goes from 58 hits a day to several thousand per day, mp3.com notices the track has been ripped directly from the video game and pulls the music off their site due to copyright violations. It is later returned unchanged.
14) The trend continues to grow as it expands into nearly every corner of the web.
15) Large websites like Angelfire and Hewlett Packard sneak "all your base" references into their designs.
"All Your Base" is pronounced dead several times every day, yet it's 15 minutes of fame continue for some reason. Tthere are still hundres of sites dedicated to it and its fan base is evergrowing.
Here are just a few of the hundreds of all your base websites
War Was Beginning
www.geocities.com/warwasbeginning/index.html
All your base are belong to us.com
www.allyourbasearebelongtous.com
All your base Videos
The orignial AYB video by overclock.org
www.skoroworld.com/stuff/funny/videos/zerowing.mov
An AYB flash video
www.planettribes.com/allyourbase/ayb4.swf
An AYB flash video using the remixed Zero Wing Theme
www.planettribes.com/allyourbase/AYB2.swf
Zero Wing rhapsody by To Much Spair Time Animation
www.pwned.nl/ayb/