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Back In The Day, Seven Year Old Writes About Space Invaders
Posted by Brian Ashcraft at 5:00 PM on September 25, 2008
Taito's Space Invaders went supernova in late 1970s Japan and even caused a national coin shortage! Yokai Attack! co-author Matt Alt was a gaming nut back then, putting an endless stream of quarters into arcade game after arcade game. When he was seven years old, he sat down and composed his first opus space invaders, based on the classic Taito title. Recently found at his grandparents' house, it reads:
The space invaders took off in their spaceship shooting their lasers at some ships. A laser hit their ship; it crashed. The space invaders got out just in time! When the ship blew up, the fire was so bright it looked like a sun! They built a bigger and better ship. It took 10 weeks to build. As time went by, the ship got bigger and bigger! The time came when the space invaders invaded earth! There were no bad things, like fires or stealing. They made some friends and had to get their computers help to take off. They went to ziron home base, 50,0000 miles from earth.
Whew! So glad to know that when the space invaders finally do come, there will be no bad things like fires or stealing.
Nov. 2, 1980 [Alt Japan]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Bigfoot
Posted 5:34 PM 25/9/08
Haha awesome. At least he spelled the words correctly.
At that age, I was writing stories about the Alien movies. O_o lol
Bigfoot
Metal_Slug_Solid
Posted 5:34 PM 25/9/08
Impressive handwriting, but his words dancea around too much. Maybe I'll read it again and pay attention to what it says.
Metal_Slug_Solid
Erwin
Posted 5:28 PM 25/9/08
@Does Not Equal (ダズノット): BAH, semicolons are just periods for related clauses and showy writers. Kid didn't even indent...
Oh my god, I'm jealous of some seven year old's fan-fic.
Erwin
EaGle1337
Posted 5:26 PM 25/9/08
50,0000 isn't it 500,000? either way that was awesome.
EaGle1337
DontCrossMyanimals
Posted 5:25 PM 25/9/08
The father of FanFic...?
DontCrossMyanimals
Erwin
Posted 5:23 PM 25/9/08
"There were no bad things, like fires or stealing."
I bet they had a world without work, and wars, and traffic accidents...
Erwin
FarmboyinJapan
Posted 5:22 PM 25/9/08
Ash, PLEASE tell me Matt Alt is coming to your book launch party!!
FarmboyinJapan
Thorn
Posted 5:22 PM 25/9/08
I absolutely love how he uses a semicolon correctly, and then writes 50,0000 miles. It's just brilliant.
Thorn
akumaserge
Posted 5:17 PM 25/9/08
...50,0000 miles away is pretty fucking close in space terms.
akumaserge
bysty
Posted 5:16 PM 25/9/08
@Does Not Equal (ダズノット): Wow. That is pretty impressive. The 80's were simpler times. Sigh.
bysty
DespisedMC
Posted 5:12 PM 25/9/08
@AggroRhodes:
yea I noticed but it was a 7 year old so Its acceptable
DespisedMC
kitsuneconundrum
Posted 5:12 PM 25/9/08
@AggroRhodes: haha yeah
kitsuneconundrum
mikevanpwn
Posted 5:11 PM 25/9/08
@Does Not Equal (ダズノット):
I know I cant believe it;
mikevanpwn
Sanjo
Posted 5:11 PM 25/9/08
@AggroRhodes: OH GOD. I did too. XD
I just ignored the rest after that.
Sanjo
AggroRhodes
Posted 5:08 PM 25/9/08
I hope I'm not the only one that noticed the "lasershit" combination of two lines....haha
AggroRhodes
DespisedMC
Posted 5:08 PM 25/9/08
Ha ha pretty awesome...wish I wrote about games when I was 7 years old
DespisedMC
Does Not Equal (ダズノット)
Posted 5:07 PM 25/9/08
Holy crap. I see a semicolon. A seven-year-old used a semicolon correctly.
I may weep a little. It's too beautiful.
Does Not Equal (ダズノット)
mistersneak
Posted 5:07 PM 25/9/08
Already doing fan-fic at age 7. That kid was doomed from the start.
mistersneak
finder39
Posted 5:06 PM 25/9/08
That is outstanding! It should be published. :D
finder39
dowingba
Posted 5:56 PM 25/9/08
@Gantz: Your Trusted Friend in Science.: And 50,0000 miles is even further!
dowingba
Gantz: Your Trusted Friend in Science.
Posted 5:56 PM 25/9/08
@Gantz: Your Trusted Friend in Science.: Oh wait I miss-read some zero's
its like 250,000 miles
Gantz: Your Trusted Friend in Science.
dowingba
Posted 5:54 PM 25/9/08
This brings back memories of back when I was in school. All of my grade 2-3 short stories and stuff were about Mario.
dowingba
hammerhand
Posted 5:54 PM 25/9/08
@Thorn: Good to know they live just past our moon, huh? That means we can attack them where they live if the need arises.
hammerhand
Gantz: Your Trusted Friend in Science.
Posted 5:49 PM 25/9/08
LoL
50,000 miles away from earth is twice that of the moon.
Gantz: Your Trusted Friend in Science.
FarmboyinJapan
Posted 5:48 PM 25/9/08
@Brian Ashcraft:
Sweet!!!
FarmboyinJapan
m0re
Posted 5:46 PM 25/9/08
@Thorn: Actually, in Japan that would've been correct as they also count in tens of thousands.
m0re
Mr.Sad
Posted 5:41 PM 25/9/08
i love it ! haha
and i wonder where Ziron is. surely he has it as a hidden code for something.
Mr.Sad
Brian Ashcraft
Posted 5:41 PM 25/9/08
@FarmboyinJapan: As of this afternoon he said he was!
Brian Ashcraft
Jaffo
Posted 5:40 PM 25/9/08
Uwe Boll's next screenplay
Jaffo
JesusPuncherX
Posted 5:40 PM 25/9/08
I was on the edge of my seat, right until the very end.
JesusPuncherX
crsdfr
Posted 6:04 PM 25/9/08
SPACE INVADERS 2 CONFIRMED
Seriously, not since Tolstoy has a grander piece of literature been produced. Make it happen.
crsdfr
Thorn
Posted 6:03 PM 25/9/08
@m0re: Ah, good point, well made. Thanks for pointing that out. :)
Thorn
Rev
Posted 6:37 PM 25/9/08
lol I love this. It's always awesome to read stuff like this that you wrote when you were younger and you realize you were doomed to be a nerd :D
Rev
everybest
Posted 6:34 PM 25/9/08
Taito Title, that's a tongue twister if I've ever seen one.
everybest
koenn
Posted 6:33 PM 25/9/08
Can we get the guy that narrates the Half Life: Full Life Consequences videos on YouTube to narrate this?
koenn
atreides
Posted 7:14 PM 25/9/08
Pretty good for a seven-year-old
atreides
Beximus
Posted 8:00 PM 25/9/08
The space invaders will make the earth a great place to live without work, and wars, and traffic accidents...
Beximus
RowdySunstrider
Posted 7:52 PM 25/9/08
@koenn: koenn, dear, why not Morgan Freeman? He'd foo if fo flee and add a jar full of awesome.
+ Watch video
And, yes, this youngster had a shot at the Nobel prize, were he to present his work to the world back then.
RowdySunstrider
Poison
Posted 7:47 PM 25/9/08
@Jaffo: No, this script is too elaborate for Boll.
Poison
badmoogle
Posted 8:22 PM 25/9/08
Awesome!:)
I used to write stuff like that about Star Wars...Return of the Jedi was the first movie i've seen in a cinema.
badmoogle
PrincessAyu
Posted 8:17 PM 25/9/08
You know. That guy who wrote that as a kid has better penmenship then me which I think is amazing. Also... I think he could come up with better stories then me... because around that age I think the result of my writings were like "The burgler appeared then the burgler got shot and died then they moved on and another bad guy comes and then they fought and the bad guy died. My writing back then was so linear but this guy seems like he was a pretty smart kid.
PrincessAyu
DrCr4nK
Posted 8:24 PM 25/9/08
This is just proof that there is a geek gene. Certainly, nothing like this could have been learned at such an early age?
DrCr4nK
Mpalm.
Posted 9:27 PM 25/9/08
Anyone else notice that between the two lines it says "lasershit" or is it just me? How does a 7 year old know how to use a semicolon... or what one is for that matter. I smell foul play. I think it's a 12 year old in disguise.
Mpalm.
HELLSRIDER
Posted 9:32 PM 25/9/08
Why didnt I care that much about videogames when I was younger?! :'(
HELLSRIDER
fearing
Posted 10:00 PM 25/9/08
@EaGle1337: Worried about punctuation? Nevermind that thier planet is that close to earth! We're all gonna die! :)
fearing
SeraphX2
Posted 12:04 AM 26/9/08
@Does Not Equal (ダズノット): And he proceeded to use a comma (50,0000) in the wrong place. I call happenstance on the semicolon.
SeraphX2
torsion
Posted 12:03 AM 26/9/08
We had a Space Invaders Cabinet in our Kitchen when I grew up.. I used to come home from school to Adults playing the game during my tea.. it pissed me off actually..
torsion
Harfold
Posted 12:25 AM 26/9/08
But I love fires and stealing.
Harfold
Rainspainplain
Posted 12:42 AM 26/9/08
I like how they "had to get their computers help to take off."
Rainspainplain
sh0tgunn0strils
Posted 1:17 AM 26/9/08
that 7 year old has better penmanship than most high school grads/dropouts now days.
sh0tgunn0strils
gessyca
Posted 1:16 AM 26/9/08
I can't believe people are pointing out grammar mistakes.
/facepalm
gessyca
gessyca
Posted 1:16 AM 26/9/08
i can't believe people are pointing out grammar mistakes.
/facepalm
gessyca
Cupajo
Posted 1:50 AM 26/9/08
That was terrible. It completely fell apart in the third act. And the main character? I'm sorry, I just didn't find his motivation believable. I'm giving this 1 star at Amazon.
Cupajo
AntiheroKing
Posted 1:47 AM 26/9/08
Man, that kid's handwriting is about as good as mine... and I'm 21. :'(
I did have a good laugh when I misread line 3 since the word sinks down. "...Shooting their laser shit at some ships..."
Ah, kids say the darndest things.
AntiheroKing
Edge of Blade
Posted 1:36 AM 26/9/08
I love writing for word count. It always brings out the "best" in kids...
Edge of Blade
Americo
Posted 2:24 AM 26/9/08
@Americo: And when I say kid, I mean that guy when he was a kid.
Americo
Americo
Posted 2:23 AM 26/9/08
OMFG, that kid used a semicolon with ease and I have to worry if I'm using it right.
Americo
pockygt
Posted 3:23 AM 26/9/08
@pockygt: aw crap, i meant to change the other "John" to "Matt" oh well, you get the idea.
pockygt
pockygt
Posted 3:20 AM 26/9/08
"...The radio said "No, Matt. You are the space invaders"
And then John was a space invader."
pockygt
Druffmaul
Posted 3:44 AM 26/9/08
Pfft, 1980. Space Invaders was old by then! =P I remember when Space Invaders came out, because it was weird to see 6-8 people crowded around the machine just to watch someone else play, with no intention of playing it themselves.
Druffmaul
BumpinUgglas
Posted 5:40 AM 26/9/08
Speaking of writing about Space Invaders, there's a vast, untapped market in Space Invaders slash. I SMELL MONEY.
BumpinUgglas
lighten up, morrissey
Posted 5:38 AM 26/9/08
Speaking of writing about Space Invaders, someone needs to bring Martin Amis's Invasion of the Space Invaders back into print.
lighten up, morrissey
Talleh
Posted 5:21 AM 26/9/08
Now that's the imagination of the old days. Nowadays, if something have a story, it's worthless. Space Invaders, Mario, Pac-Man, their story was ENEMIES THERE! It's time to each/shoot/jump your way through them. Why? To save the world, or each fruit.
Talleh
FP Bleentastic has cake
Posted 5:59 AM 26/9/08
the word after 10 and before weeks was edited by the goverment to cover up "the truth"
FP Bleentastic has cake
Bokusatsu_Tenshi
Posted 7:11 AM 26/9/08
@Does Not Equal (ダズノット): ;_;
Bokusatsu_Tenshi
Spiffyness
Posted 7:23 AM 26/9/08
@crsdfr: You spelled Dostoevsky wrong.
Spiffyness
Spiffyness
Posted 7:23 AM 26/9/08
@Does Not Equal (ダズノット): Yay for semicolons, the greatest of all the punctuation. It's just so convenient!
Spiffyness
Bokusatsu_Tenshi
Posted 7:15 AM 26/9/08
Ziron home base... OVER 90,00 miles from Earth.
Bokusatsu_Tenshi
Bokusatsu_Tenshi
Posted 7:13 AM 26/9/08
@AggroRhodes: I noticed thanks to you sir!
Here, have some internetz!
Bokusatsu_Tenshi
Lobescoper
Posted 8:20 AM 26/9/08
And thus Scientology was born!
Lobescoper
Jonathan
Posted 10:37 AM 26/9/08
@Does Not Equal (ダズノット): That is what i thought to, at first I didn't notice it in his writing...though when I read the typed version under it, and saw it...I went back to the writing and I was really surprised for a minute. Some kids in like high school wouldn't even know where to properly see a semicolon.
Jonathan
iddqdFTW
Posted 9:57 PM 25/9/08
I watched too much Highlander as a kid and got into trouble for writing a paper where someone got their head chopped off :(
Videogames > T.V.
iddqdFTW
MarissaPidgeot
Posted 1:00 AM 26/9/08
You people are so gulible, it's obvious to me that this thext has been written by an adult trying to pass as a 7 years old. No wonder the world is lead by tyrants with gulible people like that.
MarissaPidgeot
Ganon255
Posted 6:41 PM 25/9/08
It reminds me of when it helped to have an imagination when playing games.
Ganon255
FarleyVespillo
Posted 6:06 PM 25/9/08
Matt+Alt+Del?
FarleyVespillo