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The Axia NewsFax In-Joke
During the crunch of wrestling with a project for months at a time, it's often necessary to blow off a little steam. Creative people tend to do this through creative means, and in gaming this often manifests itself as in-jokes or "easter eggs" (such as the
familiar faces and hidden opponents seen in this product). Oftentimes these little jokes never actually make it into the product itself, but are simply distributed intra-office.Such was the case of the Axia Newsfax. While researching earlier Omnitrend games to establish the backstory for Rules of Engagement 2, I read the Axia NewsFaxes in Universe 2. So, late one night, tired and feeling silly, I drew up a logo for the NewsFax Axia Corporation and then wrote a press release to go along with it, which I faxed to programmer Thomas Carbone.
This "press release" contains a number of in-jokes. For one thing, it plays on the then-controversial issue of mass-murderer trading cards. It also mentions the city of "Billsville" (named for former Omnitrend programmer, William "Billy" Leslie), and features the duBois Autoengineering Corporation: famous in Omnitrend's Universe games for their shoddy products.
Oh, and the day and month of the NewsFax is my birthday...so now you have no excuse not to send a card.
The final quote from the duBois executive became a catch-phrase that Tom Carbone and I occasionally use to this day...
...along with "Moo!", but that's another story...
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Report filed by Samma Del for NewsFax Axia ![]()
H A R D C O P Y
Originating Axia on 7 November, 2376 CE
AXIA NEWSFAX is a product of the NewsFax Axia Corporation. Unless otherwise indicated, all data is the property of NewsFax Axia Corp. and may not be duplicated or retransmitted without express permission.
NewsFax Axia and AXIA NEWSFAX are Registed Marks [RM] of the NewsFax Axia Corporation.