Gabe Newell Sends Out Emails, Might Be Hinting Half Life 2: Episode 3
Recently Gabe Newell the managing director at Valve has been sending many video game journalists images with weird number patterns. ValveARG has taken the liberty to crack this code and their attempt is as following:
The Original:
+——————–+—————–+———————+
|150 223 141 154 147 | 154 203 140 154 | 15* |
|150 156 148 223 206 | 139 216 223 158 | 15* |
|144 153 223 140 156 | 151 154 155 138 | 14* |
|151 158 139 223 136 | 158 140 223 158 | 223 |
|209 223 146 134 223 | 198 144 158 147 | 20* |
|205 223 154 146 158 | 145 156 150 143 | 1** |
|207 146 154 139 151 | 206 145 152 223 | 15* |
|154 158 141 147 134 | 209 223 157 138 | 13* |
|134 216 141 154 223 | 144 145 223 139 | 144 223 146 154 245 | <- or 144 223 146 194 245 (It’s 245 (LF) – used Topaz Detail to find out)
+——————–+—————–+———————+
|223 139 151 154 223 | 140 134 140 139 | 154 146 223 206 140 |
|160 223 150 145 223 | 147 144 156 148 | 155 144 136 145 209 |
|223 150 223 140 209 | 150 147 147 223 | 151 138 137 154 223 |
|158 156 156 154 140 | 140 223 139 144 | 223 139 151 150 141 |
|139 154 154 145 223 | 144 153 153 210 | 140 150 139 154 223 |
|156 151 158 146 157 | 154 141 140 223 | 158 145 155 223 190 |
|178 194 223 150 145 | 140 139 203 147 | 147 150 145 152 208 |
|223 159 223 139 154 | 140 139 223 206 | 145 223 154 158 156 |
|151 223 144 145 154 | 209 223 150 223 | 158 146 223 152 144 |
+——————–+—————–+———————+
|150 145 152 223 139 | 144 223 145 154 | 154 155 223 158 223 |
|147 144 139 223 146 | 144 141 154 223 | 139 154 140 139 223 |
|202 138 157 149 154 | 156 139 140 208 | 223 205 223 146 207 |
|137 154 223 153 144 | 141 136 158 141 | 155 209 223 136 158 |
|206 139 206 160 145 | 198 223 158 145 | 155 223 190 178 223 |
|154 135 143 154 156 | 139 150 145 152 | 223 150 146 146 154 |
|155 150 158 139 154 | 223 156 144 146 | 143 147 150 158 145 |
|156 154 209 | | |
+——————–+—————–+———————+translated:
XORing each number with 0xFF (or, equivalently, subtracting the number from 255) gives us ASCII character codes which seem to spell out a message:
+——-+——+——-+
| i rel | e4se | | // i released ***
| ick 1 | t’ a | | // ick it’ ahead
| of sc | hedu | | // of schedule,
| hat w | as a | | // that was a ****. (joke?)
| . my | 9oal | | // my goal***** (was?)
| 2 ema | ncip | | // to emancipate
| 0meth | 1ng | | // something ****
| early | . bu | | // early. but
| y’re | on t | o me? | // they’re on to me.
+——-+——+——-+
| the | syst | am 1s | // the system is
| _ in | lock | down. | // in lockdown.
| i s. | ill | have | // i still have
| acces | s to | thir | // access to thirteen
| teen | off- | site | // off-site
| chamb | ers | and A | // chambers and
| M= in | st4l | lling | // am installing
| a te | st 1 | n eac | // a test in each
| h one | . i | am go | // one. I am
+——-+——+——-+
| ing t | o ne | ed a | // going to need a
| lot m | ore | test | // lot more test
| 5ubje | cts/ | 2 m0 | // subjects to move
| ve fo | rwar | d. wa | // forward. Waiting
| 1t1_n | 9 an | d AM | // and am
| expec | ting | imme | // expecting
| diate | com | plian | // immediate compliance.
| ce. | | |
| | | |
+——-+——+——-+
With classics such as Duke Nukem and Deus Ex getting ressurected from their shallowy video game graves then why not a sequel game which is considered to be THE best by many and yes I’m talking about Half Life 2.
Source: ValveARG