docweasel.com :: still an outlaw in their eyes

This week docweasel.com brings you another old article we've dug up from the archives, re-organized the section, junked the old coding and copy/pasted it into the 2005 frontpages, which to be frank were a little slim. So here's something originally from around '97 if I'm not wrong, and I often am, but so its not lost to the vortex of dead web pages, for all you Googlers who missed it the first time, the story of AYBABTU.

If you missed what it was all about, the next 2 frontpages will clue you in. Enjoy, and prepare to be disappointed.

AYBABTU

ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US

"AYBABTU .swf flash music video
AYBABTU .mov w/ sound

In A.D. 2101
War was beginning.
Captain: What happen ?
Mechanic: Somebody set up us the bomb.
Operator: We get signal.
Captain: What !
Operator: Main screen turn on.
Captain: It's You !!
Cats: How are you gentlemen !!
Cats: All your base are belong to us.
Cats: You are on the way to destruction.
Captain: What you say !!
Cats: You have no chance to survive make your time.
Cats: HA HA HA HA ....
Operator: Captain !!
Captain: Take off every 'zig' !!
Captain: You know what you doing.
Captain: Move 'zig'.
Captain: For great justice.

Original Japanese (closer translation)
                             A.D. 2101
                            The battle began

Outside Ship - An explosion occurs.

Ship's Bridge
 Captain: "What happened!?"
 Mechanic: "Someone detonated bombs all around us!"

Close-Up of Excited Communications Officer
 Operator: "Captain! Incoming transmission!"
 Captain: "What!?"

Ship's Bridge
 Operator: "Image coming through on the main monitor."
 (CATS appears)
 Captain: "You... you are...!!"

Close up of CATS
 CATS: "You appear to be preoccupied, gentlemen." (sarcasm)
 CATS: "Thanks to the cooperation of the UN forces, 
        all of your bases now belong to CATS."
 CATS: "Your ship too, shall soon be destroyed."

Close up of captain & CATS
 Captain: "Im.. Impossible!" (or "F.. Foolishness!")
 CATS: "We thank you for your cooperation." (more sarcasm)
 CATS: "Enjoy the remaining moments of your lives...."

Ship's Bridge
 CATS: "Hahahahaha ...."

Close up of Forlorn Captain
 Operator: "Captain!?"

Ship's Bridge (ZIGs on monitors)
 Captain: "Launch all ZIG fighters!"

Shows a ZIG pilot powering up
 Captain: "All we can do is entrust it to them..."

Shows a ZIG moving into launch position
 Captain: "Give us hope for our future..."

ZIGs on monitors, Bridge Explodes
 Captain: "We're counting on you, ZIG!!"

The ship explodes.
A lone ZIG zooms into view!

History of 'All Your Base'

Toaplan creates the Zero Wing video game.

Toaplan releases a port for the Sega Genesis console with the addition of an intro scene, which is then translated into english (very poorly) and released in the United States.

Toaplan goes out of business.

Someone from a Zany Video Game Quotes website notices the poor translation, and highlights the game.

Overclocked.org does a humorous voiceover of the Zero Wing intro in a fake Wayne Newton voice.

Dozens of game-related messageboards begin to post quotes from the parody, and images altered to show the phrase.

Most of the threads lose interest and die off quickly as the trend is pronounced dead countless times.

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.

AYB explosively expands to the general (non game messageboard-reading) public.

The origional site for the video is shut down within hours due to excessive traffic, and moves to PlanetStarsiege.

Lycos ponders how "All your Base" was transformed from obscurity to a top 50 search practically overnight.

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.

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.

The trend continues to grow as it expands into nearly every corner of the web.

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...

AYBABTU faq