All your base are belong to us

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The phrase as it appears in the introduction to Zero Wing.

"All your base are belong to us" (often shortened to "All Your Base", "AYBABTU", or simply "AYB") is an Engrish (broken English) phrase that became an Internet phenomenon or meme. The text comes from the opening cutscene of the 1991 European Sega Mega Drive version of the video game Zero Wing[1] by Toaplan, which was poorly translated from the original Japanese version.

The meme developed from this as the result of a GIF animation depicting the opening text[1] which was initially popularized on the Something Awful message forums.[2]

Selected transcript[edit]

For the full English-language transcript, see the quotations related to Zero Wing at Wikiquote
Original script[3] English version of game[4][a] Accurate translation from Japanese[b]
機関士:何者かによって、爆発物が仕掛けられたようです。 Mechanic: Somebody set up us the bomb. Engineer: Somebody has planted a bomb. (lit. It appears that an unknown party has planted an explosive.)
通信士:メインスクリーンにビジョンが来ます。 Operator: Main screen turn on. Radio Operator: We're getting a video on the main screen (lit. A visual is coming on the main screen.)
CATS:連邦政府軍のご協力により、君達の基地は、全てCATSがいただいた。 CATS: All your base are belong to us. CATS: With the cooperation of Federation Forces, all of your bases now belong to us (lit. CATS has received all of your bases.)
CATS:せいぜい残り少ない命を、大切にしたまえ・・・・。 CATS: You have no chance to survive make your time. CATS: Treasure what little time remains in your lives.
艦長:たのむぞ。ZIG!! Captain: Move 'ZIG'. Captain: I ask of you, ZIG [units]...
艦長:我々の未来に希望を・・・ Captain: For great justice. Captain: ...let there be hope for our future (lit. ...to our future, [restore] hope.)

Mentions in media[edit]

The phrase on U.S. Route 50 in Nevada at 39.3053881,-118.4897546.
A play on the "All your base are belong to us" meme, referencing the United States data collection

The phrase or some variation of lines from the game has appeared in numerous articles, books, comics, clothing, movies, radio shows, songs, television shows, video games, webcomics, and websites.

In late 2000, Kansas City computer programmer and part-time DJ Jeffrey Ray Roberts of the Gabber band The Laziest Men on Mars made a techno dance track, "Invasion of the Gabber Robots", which remixed some of the Zero Wing video game music by Tatsuya Uemura with a voice-over phrase "All your base are belong to us."[5]

On February 23, 2001, Wired provided an early report on the phenomenon, covering it from the Flash animation to its spread through e-mail and Internet forums to T-shirts bearing the phrase.[6]

On April 1, 2003, in Sturgis, Michigan, seven people aged 17 to 20 placed signs all over town that read: "All your base are belong to us. You have no chance to survive make your time." They claimed to be playing an April Fool's joke but most people who saw the signs were unfamiliar with the phrase. Many residents were upset that the signs appeared while the U.S. was at war with Iraq and police chief Eugene Alli said the signs could be "a borderline terrorist threat depending on what someone interprets it to mean."[7]

In February 2004, North Carolina State University students and members of TheWolfWeb in Raleigh, North Carolina exploited a web-based service provided for local schools and businesses to report a weather-related closing to display the phrase within a news ticker on a live news broadcast on News 14 Carolina.[8]

On June 1, 2006, YouTube, the video-hosting website, was taken down temporarily for maintenance. The phrase "ALL YOUR VIDEO ARE BELONG TO US" appeared below the YouTube logo as a placeholder while the site was down. Some users believed the site had been hacked, leading YouTube to add the message "No, we haven't been hacked. Get a sense of humor."[9]

In 2012, after Newgrounds.com launched their new lay-out, "All your base are belong to us" is seen on the bottom of every page.

On August 21, 2012, Valve Corporation released a game by the name of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) which contained an obtainable achievement by the called "Someone Set Up Us The Bomb". One is required to plant a bomb while playing on the "Terrorist" team to unlock this achievement.

In September 2013, the American EDM music festival TomorrowWorld named one of its stages the "All Your Bass Are Belong To Us" stage, which featured DJs specializing in heavy bass music. The stage name was also brought back for the second year in 2014.

On June 14, 2014, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk announced in a blog post titled "All Our Patent Are Belong To You" that the company would open source their various patents and "will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology."[10]

On August 28, 2014, Riot Games released a skin called Final Boss Veigar for their Moba League of Legends. Among many gaming references, the skin includes the line "Somebody set up us the bomb", as a reference to Zero Wing.[11]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Original broken English translation as it appeared in the released videogame.
  2. ^ The direct translation from the original Japanese game text has been created by Wikipedia editors with the help of native speakers.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Tufty (2007-02-13). "All Your Base Are Belong To Us". h2g2. Archived from the original on 27 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-04. "The GIF slowly started to spread across the Internet, but it wasn't until 2000 that it properly gained popularity. By the end of the year, altered images of various road signs, cereal packets and other photographs containing the words 'All Your Base Are Belong To Us' had started to appear, and by 2001 the phenomenon was in full swing." 
  2. ^ Dibbell, Julian (2008-01-18). "Mutilated Furries, Flying Phalluses: Put the Blame on Griefers, the Sociopaths of the Virtual World". Wired. 
  3. ^ Toaplan (31 May 1991). "Zero Wing" (in Japanese). Sega Mega Drive. Taito. Scene: Intro sequence. 
  4. ^ Toaplan (1992). "Zero Wing". Sega Mega Drive. Taito. Scene: Intro scene. 
  5. ^ Taylor, Chris (2001-02-25). "All Your Base Are Belong To Us". Time. Archived from the original on 21 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
  6. ^ Benner, Jeffrey (2001-02-23). "When Gamer Humor Attacks". Wired. 
  7. ^ Doyle, Holly (2003-04-04). "Men arrested for "All Your Base" prank". WWMT NEWSCHANNEL 3. Archived from the original on 29 August 2010. Retrieved 2009-07-10. 
  8. ^ Poulsen, Kevin (2004-03-05). "Wags hijack TV channel's on-screen ticker". The Register. Archived from the original on 25 May 2006. Retrieved 2006-05-15. 
  9. ^ Sandoval, Greg (2006-06-02). "YouTube: Our humor, not our hack". CNET News. Archived from the original on 2012-07-11. 
  10. ^ "All Our Patent Are Belong To You". 2014-06-14. 
  11. ^ Cruz, Soma (2014-08-27). "Final Boss Veigar quotes". 

External links[edit]