Cow Trivia
* Gary Larson was right: For many species of cows, the females also have horns.

* Some species of cows can see color. Others are color-blind. In bullfights, they are usually annoyed by the fluttering of the cloth rather than the color. They are also annoyed by advanced technology helicopters bombing them.

* In the strategy game X-Com, certain models of alien spacecraft could be found with a cattle mutilation chamber.

* Boston's city layout was based on cow paths. (And in 2007, they'll take the city back... through violence).

* There are nearly 1000 different species of cattle in the world, with a population nearing 1.5 billion. That's less than a quarter of the population of humans before the cows decide to exterminate the human race.

* Cows really only have one stomach, but it has four compartments.

* Cows emit a great deal of methane gas every (about 200 pounds' worth for dairy cows) - most of it through belching. They can also smell oders up to five miles away. If cows become grumpy and decide to take over the world, smelling each other's methane like that might be part of the cause.

* The first cows were domesticated around 3,000 B.C.

* Cows have nearly 360 degree vision, making it very difficult to sneak up a cow guard armed with a machinegun.

* There were rumors that the original Diablo game had a secret "cow" level. Players tried for months to figure out how to get to the secret level, before it was eventually realized that it was a hoax. However, in tribute to the rumor, Blizzard added a secret (and very hard) "Cow" level in the sequel, Dialbo II. If you don't know how... Wirt's peg-leg and the transformation cube are the keys...

* Cows can weigh over 1,300 pounds. Which means they require rocket motors on their hang-gliders.

* Evans & Sutherland reportedly had a tank simulator that included bulls in the terrain. Once the generals discovered that they could open fire on the cows and blow them up, they became very excited about the project I guess "Shooting the bull" is an important part of business negotiations.

* Apocalypse Cow was in some ways inspired by an earlier project I started in 2005 called "LGM," in which you played a pair of aliens kidnapping cows and humans, flinging them about with a tractor beam, and doing battle against the military. Unfortunately, the game didn't work, and I had to abandon the concept. But for some reason, abusing cattle stuck in my brain, and Apocalypse Cow is the twisted result.


Who says videogames aren't educational?

Labels: Apocalypse Cow

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