Pimps at Sea

"Pimps at Sea" is an April Fool joke that was started on Bungie Studios' website in 2001 and been added to on each subsequent April Fool's Day. "Pimps at Sea" is supposedly a combination of action and real-time strategy and claims to have the most complex economic system ever to appear in a game. As such, it is possible that "Pimps" is a spoof of "Sid Meier's Pirates!", a classic game that shares a similar theme. The storyline centers around the player, a pimp of the sea. The player can create custom prostitutes from characters of other games, and then put them out on the streets (or canals, as it may be).

Media

Several multimedia additions have been made to add to the "Pimps at Sea" mythos, making it one of Bungie's more popular April Fool's jokes. Some of the more well-known (and beloved) additions included:

*A video tour of the making of "Pimps", from the perspective of a couple of programmers who had been working on the game. Highlights included a mention of "mermaid sea bitches" and several Bungie employees singing the supposed theme song for the game.

*The Pimpwheel, a Photoshopped picture of the $200 "Steel Battalion" controller is said to have been designed "exclusively" for Pimps at Sea. Alterations included topping one joystick with a massive diamond to turn it into a throttle, and putting a miniature ship's steering wheel on the other.

Bungie used "Pimps at Sea" extensively during the secrecy surrounding the development of "Halo 3", up to that title's official announcement. References to "Pimps" included a job listing suggesting applicants be able to display "knowledge of pirates". A snippet from the "Weekly What's Update" at Bungie.net, written by Frankie (former head news lackey), even went so far as to say the studio's next project had a very pimpy/piratey feel to it. Internet rumor, of course, turned to the possibility that Pimps at Sea could have been Bungie's next project. The update was later edited out, possibly confirming "Pimps at Sea" once again to be an April Fool's joke. In a more recent Weekly Update, a video tour of Bungie's new studios included a brief shot of a dry erase board, listing "Pimps at Sea" as being Bungie's next project, although the mention was only meant as comedy.

Recent releases

On April 1, 2007, a "Pimps at Sea" movie was revealed to be in post-production. It was scheduled to be released in the summer, although this may conflict with the similarly nautically themed "Pirates of the Caribbean". Nothing has been heard of it since, clearly showing it was another April fool's joke.

Other uses

On 30 November 2006, known Bungie employees (New001, Gouki7, Evil Otto, Abe Froman SK, Frankie, Stosh) as well as other Microsoft staff and Xbox live members were showing up on Xbox.com:: "Playing Pimps At Sea (Alpha)": "Sailing, Yarr!"

Bungie soon confirmed in their weekly update on December 1 that "Pimps at Sea" was the codename for the "Halo 3" alpha, which was undergoing testing by select Microsoft employees on Xbox Live. [http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?cid=9255] . The name for the Halo 3 Beta, however was just "Halo 3 Beta" when seen online.

According to Bungie, February 18 is Pimps at Sea Day. [http://www.bungie.net/News/Story.aspx?cid=7710]

In the Halo 3 level "The Storm", if the player manages to get inside a shipwreck, a poster for Pimps at Sea is on the wall. The text reads "Sheik of the Sea".

Two pirate-themed files were put onto the "Bungie Favorites" section of Halo 3. One being a "Forge" for sandtrap called Seven Seas and the other being a pirate-themed gametype for custom games (infection)

Age of Booty

"Age of Booty", a downloadable real-time strategy game, was announced in Electronic Gaming Monthly's April 2008 issue. "I'm pretty sure the impetus behind [a game about pirates] and sailing ships came from thinking about "Pimps at Sea"," admitted Certain Affinity founder and Bungie alum Max Hoberman. "But not a lot more than that." [cite web|title=Certain Affinity Making Pimps at Sea, Sorta|work=Shacknews|author=Chris Faylor|date=2008-03-04|url=http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/51613|accessdate=2008-03-05]

References

External links

* [http://pas.bungie.org/ "Pimps at Sea" Fansite]
* [http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbx/pimpsatsea A website hosting 'reviews' of the game]