Difference between revisions of "117: Pong"

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{{ComicHeader|117|April 19, 2006}}
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{{comic
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| number    = 117
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| date      = June 19, 2006
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| title    = Pong
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| image    = pong.png
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| titletext = Following this, the pong paddle went on a mission to destroy Atari headquarters and, due to a mixup, found himself inside the game The Matrix Reloaded. Boy, was THAT ever hard to explain to him.
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}}
  
[[File:Pong.png]]
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== Explanation ==
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This comic largely refers to the 1999 movie ''{{w|The Matrix}}'', which is about escaping a simulated reality. In the movie a hacker called {{w|Neo (The Matrix)|Neo}} realizes that the world he lives in is fake, and that, like every other human, he is used as a slave battery by machines which, to keep them under control, make them feel like they're "living" in what is actually a computer-generated simulation of the world, called the "Matrix". Upon discovery, Neo rebels to this misuse of mankind, and trains himself to interact with the computers that run the world until, being "the One" mentioned by a prophecy, he is able to control and use them to his own advantage. He takes part in a series of missions against those machines which wanted to keep the humans trapped in a simulated environment.
  
== Image Text ==
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In {{w|Pong}}, one of the earliest video games, one can play virtual table tennis against the computer. A ball (the tiny block) is "hit" by a paddle (the long block) and crosses over the screen, to be "hit" again by the other paddle. Failure to return the ball results in a point won by the opponent. The speed of the ball increases as the rally runs longer.
Following this, the pong paddle went on a mission to destroy Atari headquarters and, due to a mixup, found himself inside the game The Matrix Reloaded.  Boy, was THAT ever hard to explain to him.
 
  
== Description ==
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The two game programmers in the first frame apply Neo's story to the {{w|Artificial intelligence|AI}} bots they create to serve as computer players in their video games: what if one of them learns enough to become sentient, and understands the environment the programmers trapped it in? The outcome is shown: the paddle bot, understanding the game and realizing it is "the One", takes control of the code of Pong to make the ball stop and drop. The same thing happens in the movie, where Neo, by "seeing through the code", is able to stop bullets fired at him, and simply let them drop on the floor.
This comic largely references the 1999 movie [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix The Matrix] starring Canadian actor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keanu_Reeves Keanu Reeves] (yes, the same one from [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/keanu-is-sad-sad-keanu Sad Keanu]) as Neo. The movie revolves around a hacker (Neo) discovering that the world he lives in is fake, and that he is nothing but a slave battery that is used to power a massive computer that generates the world around him. Upon discovery, Neo naturally rebels to this misuse of mankind, and trains himself to interact with the computers that run the world, until he is able to control and use them to his own advantage.  
 
  
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pong Pong] is one of the earliest videogames in which two players (or one player and a computer player) play virtual tabletennis. A ball (the tiny block) is 'hit' by a paddle (the long block) and crosses over the screen, to be 'hit' again by the other paddle. Failure to return the ball results in a point won by the opponent. The speed of the ball increases as the ralley runs longer.
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In the image text, we learn that after increasing in intelligence, the "paddle" went on to destroy the headquarters of {{w|Atari}}, the producer of Pong which "trapped" the paddle into the game, much like Neo sought to destroy the machines to free the humans. In the process, the paddle ended up inside the game ''{{w|Enter the Matrix}}'' (a video game produced with ''{{w|The Matrix Reloaded}}'', a sequel to ''The Matrix''), also published by Atari. Since the whole premise of The Matrix is that everyone is trapped in virtual reality, the paddle now found itself in a second level of virtual reality, which could be pretty hard to comprehend.
  
As the two (Atari, I suppose) programmers in frame 1 question: what if the AI-bot that normally only acts as a computer player learns enough to become sentient? The outcome is shown: the AI-bot takes controle of the code of Pong and stops and drops the ball to the “floor”. This also happens in the movie, where Neo through “seeing through the code” is able to stop (coded) bullets, and simply let them drop on the floor.  
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==Transcript==
 
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:Cueball: So what do we do if video game AI opponents become smart enough to question the "Matrix" into which we've put them?
By the image text, we learn that after becoming sentient, the AI-paddle went on to destroy the headquarters of the producer of Pong (Atari) and then suddenly found itself in the game Enter the Matrix (a video game based on The Matrix Reloaded, a sequel to The Matrix, released in 2003). Since the whole premise of The Matrix is that everyone is trapped in virtual reality, the AI-paddle now found itself in second level of virtual reality, which it had trouble comprehending.
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:Pong paddle: Wait a minute! None of this is real! I can see through the world! I can see the code! I AM THE ONE!
 
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:[The pong ball is moving towards the paddle.]
{{Comic discussion}}
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:[The pong ball slows down.]
 
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:[The pong ball stops in midair.]
[[Category:Comics|0117]]
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:[The pong ball drops towards the bottom of the screen.]
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{{comic discussion}}
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
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[[Category:Comics with color]]
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[[Category:Video games]]
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[[Category:The Matrix]]

Revision as of 12:50, 19 December 2014

Pong
Following this, the pong paddle went on a mission to destroy Atari headquarters and, due to a mixup, found himself inside the game The Matrix Reloaded. Boy, was THAT ever hard to explain to him.
Title text: Following this, the pong paddle went on a mission to destroy Atari headquarters and, due to a mixup, found himself inside the game The Matrix Reloaded. Boy, was THAT ever hard to explain to him.

Explanation

This comic largely refers to the 1999 movie The Matrix, which is about escaping a simulated reality. In the movie a hacker called Neo realizes that the world he lives in is fake, and that, like every other human, he is used as a slave battery by machines which, to keep them under control, make them feel like they're "living" in what is actually a computer-generated simulation of the world, called the "Matrix". Upon discovery, Neo rebels to this misuse of mankind, and trains himself to interact with the computers that run the world until, being "the One" mentioned by a prophecy, he is able to control and use them to his own advantage. He takes part in a series of missions against those machines which wanted to keep the humans trapped in a simulated environment.

In Pong, one of the earliest video games, one can play virtual table tennis against the computer. A ball (the tiny block) is "hit" by a paddle (the long block) and crosses over the screen, to be "hit" again by the other paddle. Failure to return the ball results in a point won by the opponent. The speed of the ball increases as the rally runs longer.

The two game programmers in the first frame apply Neo's story to the AI bots they create to serve as computer players in their video games: what if one of them learns enough to become sentient, and understands the environment the programmers trapped it in? The outcome is shown: the paddle bot, understanding the game and realizing it is "the One", takes control of the code of Pong to make the ball stop and drop. The same thing happens in the movie, where Neo, by "seeing through the code", is able to stop bullets fired at him, and simply let them drop on the floor.

In the image text, we learn that after increasing in intelligence, the "paddle" went on to destroy the headquarters of Atari, the producer of Pong which "trapped" the paddle into the game, much like Neo sought to destroy the machines to free the humans. In the process, the paddle ended up inside the game Enter the Matrix (a video game produced with The Matrix Reloaded, a sequel to The Matrix), also published by Atari. Since the whole premise of The Matrix is that everyone is trapped in virtual reality, the paddle now found itself in a second level of virtual reality, which could be pretty hard to comprehend.

Transcript

Cueball: So what do we do if video game AI opponents become smart enough to question the "Matrix" into which we've put them?
Pong paddle: Wait a minute! None of this is real! I can see through the world! I can see the code! I AM THE ONE!
[The pong ball is moving towards the paddle.]
[The pong ball slows down.]
[The pong ball stops in midair.]
[The pong ball drops towards the bottom of the screen.]
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Discussion

Rikthoff (talk) The issue date of the comic is definitely wrong, as the file doesn't have a create date. Can anyone fix?

Think I fixed it. I looked at the xkcd archive for the date. --DanB (talk) 15:41, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

Is the ball really dropping? It looked to me like the ball just started going down and will bounce off the side and go up, like it does in pong, only without any sideways momentum to move it back to the other player. Mulan15262 (talk) 17:02, 16 June 2016 (UTC)

So you're telling us you've never seen The Matrix. -Kazvorpal (talk) 03:19, 20 September 2019 (UTC)
Yes it is. Please watch The Matrix. Beanie (talk) 14:33, 9 December 2020 (UTC)

An editor just added a link to The Singularity, amongst a few other convoluted points... I just wish the coiners of that term had called it The Event Horizon, because that is what their analogy most closely resembles (the point at which it becomes an inexorable process). It's quite annoying for people to have just accepted the mistargetted/misnamed simile and think they're 'on trend' just because they use a (wrong) fancy word. 172.69.194.225 00:40, 5 January 2024 (UTC)