Strong Bad Gameways

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"You are now fully prepared to enjoy your game in total, unplayable safety."

Strong Bad gives safety tips for his Gameways.

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Strong Sad

Places: White Vastness, Basement of the Brothers Strong

Date: Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Running Time: 1:53

DVD: strongbad_email.exe Disc Six, SBCG4AP Collector's DVD

Transcript

{Music begins and text fades in from a white background: "And now an important safety announcement". Strong Bad walks forward in a flight attendant's uniform.}

STRONG BAD: Hello. And welcome to Strong Bad Gameways. Thank you for playing with us today. Please take a moment to familiarize your bad self with the following safety precautions.

{The text "Safety Precautions" appears next to Strong Bad in dripping blue letters. Fade to a closeup of a Wii remote.}

STRONG BAD: Due to the possibility of in-game wiggle and waggle, it is recommended that you play your game in a large, open space, free of debris, rubble, and flotsam and Jetsons.

{Arrows and text appear during the above monologue to demonstrate "Wiggle" and "Waggle". A watercolor picture of a man swinging a Wii remote appears to demonstrate a "large, open space". Sketches of a vase of flowers, a flaming military jeep, a message in a bottle, and a cross-eyed George Jetson appear to demonstrate "debris", "rubble", "flotsam", and "Jetsons", respectively.}

STRONG BAD: Ideal play spaces include: gymnasiums, abandoned airplane hangars, deserts, and fruitèd plains.

{The man swinging a remote appears in the above environments on each verbal cue.}

{Cut to a sketch of a room with an open window and a Wii remote on a table.}

STRONG BAD: If you are seated in a window seat, please be advised that the Baba Jaga may show up to steal your firstborn baby.

{The Baba Jaga appears carrying a sack with a baby on the verbal cue.}

{Cut to Strong Sad, wearing an inflatable vest and holding a Wii remote.}

STRONG BAD: Lastly, your game controller is equipped with a safety cover that can double as a flotation device. {closeup of Wii remote} Simply pull on the cord, and the device will inflate.

{Strong Sad pulls on a tab on the bottom of the remote, and the Wii jacket inflates.}

STRONG SAD: Oh!

STRONG BAD: But we're not quite safe enough yet. {cut to Strong Bad} At this time, you may want to inflate your own safety vest to prevent anything from ever happening.

{Cut to Strong Sad. He pulls the cord to inflate his vest and it engulfs him.}

STRONG SAD: Waah!

{Cut back to Strong Bad}

STRONG BAD: On behalf of our awesome-based crew, thank you for playing with us. You are now fully prepared to enjoy your game in total unplayable safety.

{Closeup of the "Strong Bad Gameways" logo, a golden The Cheat with wings. Music fades.}

{Cut to Strong Sad and Strong Bad trapped in inflated vests in their basement. Their Wii remotes are on the floor, protected in inflated jackets.}

STRONG SAD: I think my contents may have shifted!

STRONG BAD: Oh, man. This is the best game I've never played!

{Cut to a closeup of the game on the TV. In the game, a 3D Strong Bad is standing at The Stick and looking around. The score is -1000 and the text "Actual Gameplay Footage" flashes over the screen. A Wii remote appears onscreen with the flashing text "Do something!" The 3D Strong Bad puts his hands together, scratches himself and shrugs, and the text "Nevermind." appears next to the Wii remote. The Strong Bad sprite hangs his head and walks away, and the text "Game Over" fills the screen.}

Fun Facts

Explanations

• Baba Jaga, better known as Baba Yaga, is a witch appearing in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a mortar and pestle, and lives in a chicken-legged hut in the woods. Rather than seeking out her prey, she merely eats people who happen upon her hut.
• The phrase flotsam and jetsam describes discarded odds and ends or any objects found floating or washed ashore.
• This safety demonstration partially resembles those done prior to the takeoff of an airplane.
  • The wiggle and waggle refers to turbulence.
  • Strong Sad's comment refers to the warning after arrival that the contents of the overhead bins may have shifted, meaning that some of the bags might be leaning against the doors and could fall onto unaware passengers when the bins are opened.

Trivia

• This is the first Homestar Runner video officially released on YouTube.
• The YouTube video ID for this video was given in an Easter egg in shapeshifter.

Remarks

• The 3D Strong Bad on the Telebision has a plain white mouth, unlike the real Strong Bad's flesh-colored mouth.
• Most windows on modern airplanes are incapable of being opened.

Goofs

• On Strong Sad's Wii Remote, the rightmost column of speaker holes is misaligned relative to the other two.

Inside References

• This is another instance in which Strong Bad wears a shirt (the flight attendant's uniform).
• Strong Bad invites the viewer to "familiarize your bad self with the following safety precautions".
• The name of the YouTube account used to upload this video, sportsinterviewa, is a reference to Lem Sportsinterviews.
• The Baba Jaga's leaving comment, "She Gone!", was also used in Teen Girl Squad Issue 13.
• Strong Bad says this is the best game he's never played.
• "Fruitèd plains" is another instance of the -èd pronunciation.
• The game footage resembles Strong Bad just "standing there" from cartoon.
• This video shows Strong Bad and Strong Sad getting along.

Real-World References

"This is the best game I've never played!"

• George Jetson is the father on the animated series The Jetsons.
• Among many other references to the Nintendo Wii and its ubiquitous safety warnings:
  • The picture of a man swinging a remote is a direct sketch of an actual Wii warning screen.
  • The various empty and/or remote areas refer to the Wii's warning screen advising to play in an open space.
  • The scene with a remote on a table near an open window is modeled after the screen in Wii games that reminds players to take a break.
  • The safety device on the remote is a reference to the Wii Remote Jacket, designed to increase grip.
• The mention of "fruitèd plains", as well as the red-white-and-blue-striped clouds in the scene, is a reference to the song "America the Beautiful".
• Strong Bad walking away and getting a Game Over when the player apparently does nothing could be a reference to a similar Easter egg in Sonic CD.

Fast Forward

• This was the first teaser for Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People, co-produced by Telltale Games. SBCG4AP was officially announced days later on April 10 (followed shortly by an advertisement and a trailer).
  • The "Actual Gameplay Footage" seen in this video is in fact actual in-engine footage from SBCG4AP; however, the game does not include "Game Over" fail states nor a score counter (though a similar "Awesomeness Meter" was implemented, it does not appear in the UI as this score counter does).

External Links

• watch "Strong Bad Gameways" on YouTube
• forum thread re: "Strong Bad Gameways"