25年后，《Cookie's Bustle》玩家获邀参加秘密周年派对

In one of the week's craziest, but most fascinating stories, it has surfaced that a cabal of players of the notorious point-and-click adventure Cookie's Bustle attended a secret anniversary party, held 25 years after the bizarre title's release.

Developed by Rodik and appearing on the Japanese PC market at the dawning of the millennium, Cookie's Bustle: Mysterious Bombo World follows the exploits of Cookie Blair - a five-year-old girl who believes she is a bear - as she travels from New Jersey to the Pacific island of Bombo World (currently mired in an intergalactic coup) to compete in their national Olympics. Ok, I'll give you a second...

Upon arrival, Cookie finds herself caught up in a terrorist scheme to liberate Bombo World from its alien government, a scheme which falls secondary to our hero's plan to earn Gold Medals in every sporting event. As she plays Yojimbo with the local militia, players must also constantly manage Cookie's need to eat, train, use the bathroom, and receive positive reinforcement; otherwise, she may quit her dreams on the spot. Honestly, that's just me every day.

Already part of gaming folklore, spoken of in hushed tones on the internet, the legend of Cookie's Bustle blew up in the '00s, after the game was embroiled an extended nuisance lawsuit. A company known as "Graceware" embarked on a fervent takedown campaign, with the apparent goal of removing any trace of the cult title from existence. Over the winter of 2022 and into early 2023, Graceware would file DMCA notices against fan-artists, YouTube accounts, forum moderators, game modders, and any other parties found sharing or merely interacting with Cookie's Bustle.

One of Graceware's primary targets was The Video Game History Foundation, with the site receiving numerous DMCA notices filtered directly through the UK's regulatory body, Ukie (Association for UK Interactive Entertainment). Eventually, the VGHF was able to halt Ukie's involvement, as Graceware was unable to prove ownership of Cookie's Bustle or its respective assets. To this day, the whole incident remains one of the most specific and niche instances of nuisance suits in gaming.

All of this was a historical footnote until this past week, when it was revealed that Rodik, the original developer/publisher behind Cookie's Bustle, apparently retained the registered addresses of every player who purchased a copy of the game, via mail order, back in 1999. Unexpected mail began arriving at these players' doors, inviting them to a top-secret party to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the game's launch.

And so, earlier this week, several images surfaced - all of which look like they're someone's Last Known Photo - depicting folks having fun(?) at Cookie's super-secret shindig. There's exclusive merch, live music, and attendees even got a themed cookie; It's the cookie from Cookie's Bustle! Most pointedly, an appearance was made by the gold-medal-winning Olympic athlete herself! I guess she didn't go to space after all... Or maybe she's just here on vacation.

I don't know what to tell you. It looks like an amazing get-together. Organisers took the time to reward fans who sensibly answered unsolicited mail from a mysterious company that has been dormant for 25 years, inviting them to a top-secret gathering. And, by all accounts, everyone left with the same organs that they arrived with.

The undeniable weirdness of this entire affair is in keeping with the enduring, endearing legacy of Cookie's Bustle - an unpredictable entity that is continuing to build upon its own urban legend decades later. It's honestly quite beautiful. And while the anniversary party didn't seem to include any news of a sequel, remaster, or rerelease, the soiree's very existence proves that somebody, somewhere is still curating this extremely peculiar world...

...A comeback? Don't rule one out. You can't rule anything out with Cookie Blair. Our girl's always going for Gold!