# Kill an alien, lose a file from your computer... **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 19, 2009, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-an-alien-lose-a-file-from-your-computer/521817 "2009-12-19T02:31:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-an-alien-lose-a-file-from-your-computer/521817/1 "2009-12-19T02:31:56Z")
[http://www.stfj.net/art/2009/loselose/](http://www.stfj.net/art/2009/loselose/) This is a fascinating idea! A little scrolling game where you shoot aliens. Every time you kill an alien, the game randomly deletes a file from your hard drive. If you touch an alien, you die and the application is deleted. Anyone want to try it out? šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-an-alien-lose-a-file-from-your-computer/521817/2 "2009-12-19T03:51:31Z")
They stole this idea from Software Dynamicsā€™s (of After Dark fame) 1994 title Operation: Inner Space. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-an-alien-lose-a-file-from-your-computer/521817/3 "2009-12-19T04:13:38Z")
Iā€™m pretty sure we did a thread on this game in the past month. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-an-alien-lose-a-file-from-your-computer/521817/4 "2009-12-19T20:31:54Z")
Yeh, this one is old news by now. šŸ˜‰ Note that there are no plans for a sequel. Thereā€™s an interesting interview with the creator, [here](http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2009/12/interview_zach_gage_caught_in.html). ---
**Author:** ![Soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-an-alien-lose-a-file-from-your-computer/521817/5 "2009-12-20T05:12:09Z")
Ah, darn. And here I thought I had found something new and exciting! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-an-alien-lose-a-file-from-your-computer/521817/6 "2009-12-21T07:53:52Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > They stole this idea from Software Dynamicsā€™s (of After Dark fame) 1994 title Operation: Inner Space. My grandpa still has that game on his old Pentium 75 Mhz, ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-an-alien-lose-a-file-from-your-computer/521817/7 "2009-12-21T21:49:01Z")
Iā€™mā€¦confused by this game. I realize itā€™s supposed to be ā€œartā€, but still, I have a hard time thinking anything other than ā€œlameā€. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-an-alien-lose-a-file-from-your-computer/521817/8 "2009-12-21T21:51:23Z")
Itā€™s nothing compared to the [Doom task manager](http://www.cs.unm.edu/~dlchao/flake/doom/). ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-an-alien-lose-a-file-from-your-computer/521817/9 "2009-12-22T16:23:44Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Iā€™mā€¦confused by this game. I realize itā€™s supposed to be ā€œartā€, but still, I have a hard time thinking anything other than ā€œlameā€. Itā€™s a game that attaches real consequences to your actions. Itā€™s a game that could theoretically lead you to question -why- you are actually killing all those aliens. Itā€™s a game that looks much more entertaining when your only gaming platform is a macintosh. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-an-alien-lose-a-file-from-your-computer/521817/10 "2009-12-22T21:58:37Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Itā€™s a game that attaches real consequences to your actions. > > Itā€™s a game that could theoretically lead you to question -why- you are actually killing all those aliens. > > Itā€™s a game that looks much more entertaining when your only gaming platform is a macintosh. šŸ˜‰ Itā€™s also a game that every sixteen year old whoā€™s learning to program has thought of but have enough good sense to discard. There are already games that have real consequences to your actions. We call it ā€œgamblingā€. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-an-alien-lose-a-file-from-your-computer/521817/11 "2009-12-23T02:13:23Z")
Carpal tunnel, obesity, lack of personal hygiene, loss of perception of time, Cheeto-fingers. These are all well-established real-world consequences of gaming. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-an-alien-lose-a-file-from-your-computer/521817/12 "2009-12-24T04:51:03Z")
> [@Just\_Some\_Guy](#): > > Itā€™s also a game that every sixteen year old whoā€™s learning to program has thought of but have enough good sense to discard. > > There are already games that have real consequences to your actions. We call it ā€œgamblingā€. Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but I sure didnā€™t think of it when I was 16 and programming. Gambling isnā€™t really comparable though, since itā€™s not really a ā€˜simulationā€™ sort of game. Plus, only idiots eat cheetos while trying to game. Ruin your mouse that way. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-an-alien-lose-a-file-from-your-computer/521817/13 "2009-12-24T10:40:07Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Plus, only idiots eat cheetos while trying to game. Ruin your mouse that way. šŸ˜‰ What a coincidence, only idiots would play this moronā€™s game. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-an-alien-lose-a-file-from-your-computer/521817/14 "2009-12-24T15:22:20Z")
Will it delete its own file? Or at least try to? ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-an-alien-lose-a-file-from-your-computer/521817/15 "2009-12-25T00:36:23Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Will it delete its own file? Or at least try to? Beats me. I assume itā€™s possible, but with the number of files on an average PC, the odds of you actually getting that particular one is pretty small. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kill-an-alien-lose-a-file-from-your-computer/521817/16 "2009-12-26T00:00:08Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Will it delete its own file? IIRC, it deletes its own file when the game is over.