The X-Fools

The X-Fools
Macintosh cover art
Developer(s)Parroty Interactive
Publisher(s)Palladium Interactive
Director(s)Steven Horowitz
Producer(s)Stacey Rubin
Programmer(s)WayForward
Writer(s)Tony Camin
Ian Deitchman
J. P. Manoux
Kristin Rusk
Brian Posehn
Patton Oswalt
Composer(s)Chronic Music
Platform(s)Windows, Macintosh
ReleaseOctober 1, 1997[1]
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)Single-player

The X-Fools: The Spoof Is Out There is an interactive comedic 1997 video game developed by Parroty Interactive. It is a parody of supernatural television series The X-Files, which ran from 1993 to 2018. Released on the Mac and PC, it was the company's third game after Myst parody Pyst, and Star Warped which lampooned Star Wars, and would be followed by Microshaft Winblows 98, a parody of Microsoft Windows 98.[2] The game was distributed throughout North America by Mindscape.[3]

Plot and gameplay

The game centres around two ex-FBI agents and skeptics named Mully and Scudder (parodies of X-Files protagonists Scully and Mulder) who encourage the player to undergo training as a new recruit. As such, the player is "subjected to a deprogramming regimen" according to Business Wire, which consists of a series of games, quizzes, and skits.[3] The gameplay experience is essentially a series of minigames thematically linked to the television show The X-Files. For instance, Conspiracy Computer sees the protagonists analyse popular conspiracies, and Run, Agent, Run! sees the player evade aliens and villains from The X-Files.[4] Kill Screen described the style of the game as "distractionware" and an "interactive MAD Magazine".[5]

Development

Palladium's vice president of marketing, Rob Halligan, explained that the success of Pyst paved the way for The X-Fools,[6] and noted that the game was being released at a time rife with interest in the supernatural: the news was buzzing with the 50th anniversary of the Roswell incident, the Mars Pathfinder mission, and the impending premiere of the fifth season of The X-Files.[3] Artist Tom Richmond, who had an ongoing professional relationship with Parroty Interactive, provided some of the game's illustrations.[7] Michael Donovan did voice work for the game.[8]

Release and promotion

The game's official website went live in September 1997, and allowed players to access additional content, while providing a free demo for those yet to purchase the title.[9] The website held a "Conspiracy Quest Contest" from October 31, 1997 to July 17, 1998[10] where players solved riddles relating to the concurrently airing fifth season of The X-Files,[11] with prizes (a digital camera, 2,000 acre real estate plot on Mars, and a Palladium Gift Pack) being awarded to multiple winners.[12] It also allowed players to send "X-cards",[13] and offered players the opportunity send in X-Files questions for the developers to include in the title's trivia minigame entitled Trust No One.[14] Game modules from The X-Fools were added as bonus features on the Special Edition of Pyst in October 1997.[6] The X-Fools uses Shockwave as its game engine.[15]

The game received mixed reviews from critics upon release; positive reviews from MacHome's Tamara Stafford and Roy Bassave of The Seattle Times suggested fans of the original series would enjoy The X-Fools.[16][4] Detractors included PC Gamer's Richard Cobbett, who negatively compared the game to Parroty's previous title Microshaft Winblows 98 (1998);[2] and Wojciech Kotas of The Mac Gamer's Ledge, which found The X-Files' self-referential humor better than the "lukewarm", limited, and uninspired parody of the game.[17] In 2011, The Sydney Morning Herald ranked the game 79th on its Re-Play: 100 worst games ever list, writing that it "couldn't be unfunnier".[18]

References

  1. ^ Staff (October 1, 1997). "X-Files Spoof on CD-ROM". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on February 18, 1998. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Cobbett, Richard (February 5, 2011). "Saturday Crapshoot: Microshaft Winblows 98". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  3. ^ a b c Naify, Robert (October 1, 1997). "Newest Parody – The X-Fools – Takes Comical Look At Little Green Men And Government Cover-ups". Business Wire. Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  4. ^ a b Bassave, Roy (November 9, 1997). "CD-Rom – The X-Fools". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  5. ^ Kotzer, Zack (December 16, 2015). "A few things I learned from the late-90s game about nerds, Star Warped". Kill Screen. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  6. ^ a b Naify, Robert (October 21, 1997). "Parroty Interactive Launches PYST Special Edition; New Special Edition of PYST Includes a Module of Driven, a Sneak Peak[sic] Parody of the Eagerly Anticipated Riven – Sequel to MYST". Business Wire. Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  7. ^ Richmond, Tom (October 27, 2016). "Illustration Throwback Thursday- Star Warped!". Richmond Illustration. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  8. ^ Donovan, Michael (2000). "Main Page". Botsmaster. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  9. ^ Spy. Sussex Publishers, LLC. March 1998.
  10. ^ "Conspiracy Quest Official Rules". The X-Fools. June 29, 1998. Archived from the original on 1998-06-29. Retrieved 2017-07-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  11. ^ "Conspiracy Quest". The X-Fools. June 29, 1998. Archived from the original on 1998-06-29. Retrieved 2017-07-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  12. ^ "Conspiracy Quest Winners". The X-Fools. March 4, 2000. Archived from the original on 2000-03-04. Retrieved 2017-07-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. ^ "X Cards". The X-Fools. March 1, 2000. Archived from the original on 2000-03-01. Retrieved 2017-07-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. ^ "Trust No One". The X-Fools. November 16, 1999. Archived from the original on 1999-11-17. Retrieved 2017-07-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  15. ^ "X-Fools Abduct This". The X-Fools. 29 February 2000. Archived from the original on 2000-02-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. ^ Stafford, Tamara (January 1998). "The X-Fools". MacHome. Archived from the original on 2000-01-06. Retrieved 2017-07-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  17. ^ Kotas, Wojciech (December 2, 1997). "X-Fools Review". The Mac Gamer's Ledge. Archived from the original on 2000-06-06. Retrieved 2017-07-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  18. ^ "Re-Play: 100 worst games ever". The Sydney Morning Herald. March 17, 2011. Retrieved 2017-07-06.

Read other articles:

Cute Programmer

Artikel ini sebatang kara, artinya tidak ada artikel lain yang memiliki pranala balik ke halaman ini.Bantulah menambah pranala ke artikel ini dari artikel yang berhubungan atau coba peralatan pencari pranala.Tag ini diberikan pada Oktober 2022. Cute Programmer (Hanzi: 程序员那么可爱) adalah sebuah seri drama romansa Tiongkok tahun 2021 yang ditayangkan di WeTV dari 10 September 2021. Seri tersebut dibintangi oleh Xing Zhaolin dan Zhu Xudan. Terdiri dari 30 episode, seri tersebut me...

 

Jones Hall

Performance hall in Houston & home of the Houston Orchestra & Society for Performing Arts This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (March 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed....

 

Georgia State Route 90

State highway in Georgia, United States This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: Georgia State Route 90 – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) State Route 90SR 90 highlighted in redRoute informationMaintained by GDOTLength155&...

36th British Academy Film Awards

36th British Academy Film AwardsDate20 March 1983SiteGrosvenor House HotelHosted byFrank BoughSelina ScottHighlightsBest FilmGandhiBest ActorBen KingsleyGandhiBest ActressKatharine HepburnOn Golden PondMost awardsGandhi (5)Most nominationsGandhi (16) ← 35th BAFTA Awards 37th → The 36th British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs, took place on 20 March 1983 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 1982. ...

 

Star Wars video games

Video games based on the Star Wars franchise For the list of games based on Star Wars, see List of Star Wars video games. Video game seriesStar WarsGenre(s)Predominantly actionaction-adventureDeveloper(s) 1981–1985: Parker BrothersAtari GamesImagic 1987–1995: Vektor GrafixNamcoLucasArtsBeam SoftwareNMS SoftwareTiertexSoftware ToolworksRealtime AssociatesTotally Games 1996–1998: LucasArtsFactor 5 2000–2005: LucasArtsFactor 5HotGenBioWareCoolhand Int.Ronin EntertainmentRaven SoftwareVic...

 

Pagemaster - L'avventura meravigliosa

Pagemaster - L'avventura meravigliosaUna scena del filmTitolo originaleThe Pagemaster Paese di produzioneStati Uniti d'America Anno1994 Durata80 min100 min (edizione argentina) Rapporto1,85:1 Genereanimazione, avventura, fantastico RegiaJoe Johnston (live-action), Pixote Hunt (animazione) SoggettoDavid Casci, David Kirschner SceneggiaturaDavid Casci, David Kirschner, Ernie Contreras ProduttoreDavid Kirschner, Paul Gertz Casa di produzioneTurner Pictures, 20th Century Fox Distribuzione...

土库曼斯坦总统

土库曼斯坦总统土库曼斯坦国徽土库曼斯坦总统旗現任谢尔达尔·别尔德穆哈梅多夫自2022年3月19日官邸阿什哈巴德总统府（Oguzkhan Presidential Palace）機關所在地阿什哈巴德任命者直接选举任期7年，可连选连任首任萨帕尔穆拉特·尼亚佐夫设立1991年10月27日 土库曼斯坦土库曼斯坦政府与政治 国家政府 土库曼斯坦宪法 国旗 国徽 国歌 立法機關（英语：National Council of Turkmenistan） ...

 

كريفي ريه

  كريفي ريه (بالأوكرانية: Кривий Ріг)‏    كريفي ريه كريفي ريه  خريطة الموقع تاريخ التأسيس 27 أبريل 1775  تقسيم إداري البلد أوكرانيا (26 ديسمبر 1991–)  [1][2] خصائص جغرافية إحداثيات 47°55′N 33°23′E / 47.91°N 33.39°E / 47.91; 33.39   [3] المساحة 410 كيلومتر مربع&#...

 

Little Deuce Coupe

1963 album by the Beach Boys For the title track, see Little Deuce Coupe (song). For the Twyla Tharp ballet using Little Deuce Coupe song, see Deuce Coupe. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: Little Deuce Coupe – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2013) (Learn how and when to rem...

Forks Airport

AirportForks AirportIATA: noneICAO: noneFAA LID: S18SummaryAirport typePublicOwnerCity of ForksServesForks, WashingtonElevation AMSL299 ft / 91 mCoordinates47°56′16″N 124°23′45″W / 47.93778°N 124.39583°W / 47.93778; -124.39583Runways Direction Length Surface ft m 4/22 2,400 732 Asphalt Statistics (2008)Aircraft operations13,600Based aircraft10Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] Forks Airport (FAA LID: S18) is a city-owned, publ...

 

Pikes Peak

Mountain in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, United States of America This article is about the mountain in Colorado. For the race, see Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. For other uses, see Pikes Peak (disambiguation). Pikes PeakPikes Peak, east aspectHighest pointElevation14,115 feet (4,302.31 m)[1]NAVD88Prominence5,530 feet (1,690 m)[2]Isolation60.6 mi (97.6 km)[2]ListingNorth America highest peaks 53rdUS highest major peaks 39thUS most prom...

 

Rationality

Quality of being agreeable to reason Not to be confused with Rationalism. Rational redirects here. For the mathematical property of some numbers, see Rational number. For other uses, see Rational (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Rationale. Part of a series onEpistemology Outline Category Index Schools Coherentism Contextualism Dogmatism Empiricism Fallibilism Foundationalism Infallibilism Infinitism Naturalism Perspectivism Pragmatism Rationalism Relativism Skepticism Solipsism Struc...

Mount Lamborn

Mountain in Colorado, United States Mount LambornView of Mount Lamborn (left) and Landsend Peak (right) from Lamborn Mesa, near Paonia, ColoradoHighest pointElevation11,402 ft (3,475 m)[1][2]Prominence1,616 ft (493 m)[3]Isolation2.39 mi (3.85 km)[3]ListingColorado county high points 40thCoordinates38°48′10″N 107°31′22″W / 38.8029015°N 107.5228458°W / 38.8029015; -107.5228458[1]Geogra...

 

.by

.by البلد بيلاروس  الموقع الموقع الرسمي  تعديل مصدري - تعديل   by. هو نطاق إنترنت من صِنف مستوى النطاقات العُليا في ترميز الدول والمناطق، للمواقع التي تنتمي بيلاروس.[1][2] مراجع ^ النطاق الأعلى في ترميز الدولة (بالإنجليزية). ORSN [الإنجليزية]. Archived from the original on 2019-05-07. R...

 

Jung Man-sik

South Korean actor (born 1974) In this Korean name, the family name is Jung. Jung Man-sikBorn (1974-12-11) December 11, 1974 (age 49)Mokpo, South KoreaOccupationActorAgentBig Whale Entertainment[1]Korean nameHangul정만식Revised RomanizationJeong Man-sikMcCune–ReischauerChŏng Mansik Jung Man-sik (Korean: 정만식; born December 11, 1974) is a South Korean actor.[2][3][4] His name is also romanized as Jeong Man-sik or Joung Man-sik.[5]...

Defiance (Deströyer 666 album)

2009 studio album by Deströyer 666DefianceStudio album by Deströyer 666Released22 June 2009 (Europe)14 July 2009 (USA)GenreBlackened thrash metalLength41:27LabelSeason of MistDeströyer 666 chronology Terror Abraxas(2003) Defiance(2009) Defiance is Deströyer 666's fourth full-length studio album. Professional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingAllmusic[1]Blabbermouth linkMetal HammerNottingham Evening Postpositive[2] Track listing Weapons of Conquest - 03:03 I Am Not ...

 

1998 in Portugal

List of events ← 1997 1996 1995 1998 in Portugal → 1999 2000 2001 Centuries: 18th 19th 20th 21st Decades: 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s See also:List of years in Portugal Events in the year 1998 in Portugal. Incumbents President: Jorge Sampaio Prime Minister: António Guterres (Socialist) Events January to June 22 March: The 17-kilometre Vasco da Gama bridge in Lisbon (pictured in 2006) opens 4 March – Rui Pedro Teixeira Mendonça, an eleven-year old boy from Lousada in the Port...

 

盧西塔尼亞

此條目没有列出任何参考或来源。 (2019年8月9日)維基百科所有的內容都應該可供查證。请协助補充可靠来源以改善这篇条目。无法查证的內容可能會因為異議提出而被移除。 卢西坦尼亚行省Lvsitania羅馬帝國的行省前27年—5世紀坐标：38°46′08″N 7°13′05″W / 38.7689°N 7.2181°W / 38.7689; -7.2181首府萨拉曼卡歷史歷史時期古代• 成立 前27年• 汪達爾人、阿...

Tamaree, Queensland

Suburb of Gympie, Queensland, AustraliaTamareeGympie, QueenslandTamareeCoordinates26°08′10″S 152°39′50″E / 26.1361°S 152.6638°E / -26.1361; 152.6638 (Tamaree (centre of locality))Population1,000 (2021 census)[1] • Density120/km2 (300/sq mi)Postcode(s)4570Area8.6 km2 (3.3 sq mi)Time zoneAEST (UTC+10:00)Location 7.1 km (4 mi) N of Gympie 175 km (109 mi) N of Brisbane LGA(s)Gympie Region...

 

Roscoe Lee Brown

Untuk the Tuskegee Airman, lihat Roscoe Brown. Roscoe Lee BrowneRoscoe Lee Browne (in 1979)Lahir(1922-05-02)2 Mei 1922[1]Woodbury, New Jersey, U.S.Meninggal11 April 2007(2007-04-11) (umur 84)Los Angeles, California, U.S.Sebab meninggalKanker perutAlmamaterUniversitas LincolnPekerjaanAktor, sutradara panggungTahun aktif1960–2007 Penghargaan(1986) Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (en) Penghargaan Emmy Roscoe Lee Browne (Mei 2, 1922[...