By Jamie Kennett
Some of you won’t have a clue what I’m talking about. You’ll be sitting in your seat right now thinking, “what is he talking about?” I bet that’s what you’re doing; I could put money on it. You’re either staring blankly at the screen or you’re trying to work what Kifflom is. It’s not even a word, is it? Oh contraire! For fellow hardcore GTA fans out there, Kifflom is just as recognisable now as it was eight-and-a-half years ago when it first appeared in San Andreas. For everyone else, I may have some explaining to do…
Kifflom was/is the deity of a religious cult known as the Epsilon Program that appeared in GTA: San Andreas in 2004. An obvious spoof of similar “religions” such as Scientology, the cult and its reclusive leader Chris Formage were mentioned a lot on San Andreas’ in-game radio network, but it never physically appeared in the game itself. It seemed largely insignificant to the story or the actual gameplay, and at the time it was just add another level to the atmosphere of the world that was Rockstar Game’s spoof of Nineties’ California.
Some of you won’t have a clue what I’m talking about. You’ll be sitting in your seat right now thinking, “what is he talking about?” I bet that’s what you’re doing; I could put money on it. You’re either staring blankly at the screen or you’re trying to work what Kifflom is. It’s not even a word, is it? Oh contraire! For fellow hardcore GTA fans out there, Kifflom is just as recognisable now as it was eight-and-a-half years ago when it first appeared in San Andreas. For everyone else, I may have some explaining to do…
Kifflom was/is the deity of a religious cult known as the Epsilon Program that appeared in GTA: San Andreas in 2004. An obvious spoof of similar “religions” such as Scientology, the cult and its reclusive leader Chris Formage were mentioned a lot on San Andreas’ in-game radio network, but it never physically appeared in the game itself. It seemed largely insignificant to the story or the actual gameplay, and at the time it was just add another level to the atmosphere of the world that was Rockstar Game’s spoof of Nineties’ California.
That was until the Grand Theft Auto franchise waltzed back into the limelight in 2011 with the announcement of GTA V. Some of the chaps at Rockstar reintroduced the Epsilon Program by way of a Twitter account, using the infamous and mysterious cult as a vehicle for some cryptically clever viral advertising. Throughout last year, ‘The Epsilon Program’ posted seemingly nonsensical ramblings about their cult, which got people talking about it quite a lot. Some clever fans managed to decipher a number of the tweets and realised they were actually subtle hints about the game itself, which is slated to be released on the 17th of September.
Having decided to move on to the next phase of their marketing strategy, or having just run out of things to say, Rockstar has gone a step further with the Epsilon Program. They recently released video footage in the form of a screensaver from the cult, which details ‘The 12 Tenets of Kifflom’; a Ten Commandments/Five Pillars-style set of beliefs and instructions that followers of Kifflom should adhere to (e.g. “Dinosaurs are a lie that people believe because they are weak!”). Whilst this nonsensical text fills the screen, time-lapsed footage of GTA V-era rural San Andreas plays in the background, along with a brief sighting of who I can only assume is the leader Chris Formage; the fact he looks ‘fully rendered’ as if he were in the game world lends itself to the very plausible idea that Formage may finally make an in-game appearance…
Having decided to move on to the next phase of their marketing strategy, or having just run out of things to say, Rockstar has gone a step further with the Epsilon Program. They recently released video footage in the form of a screensaver from the cult, which details ‘The 12 Tenets of Kifflom’; a Ten Commandments/Five Pillars-style set of beliefs and instructions that followers of Kifflom should adhere to (e.g. “Dinosaurs are a lie that people believe because they are weak!”). Whilst this nonsensical text fills the screen, time-lapsed footage of GTA V-era rural San Andreas plays in the background, along with a brief sighting of who I can only assume is the leader Chris Formage; the fact he looks ‘fully rendered’ as if he were in the game world lends itself to the very plausible idea that Formage may finally make an in-game appearance…
Don’t get your hopes up quite so much though, we’re not seeing a lot, just some cliffs, a lighthouse, and a man in a funky shirt. The important thing is this recent manoeuvre on the part of the Epsilon Program signifies the start of another one of Rockstar’s sneaky online advertising campaigns. With the promises of more from the Program next week (directions to one of their ‘enlightenment centres’ could provide some juicy map details), this marks the beginning of a [hopefully] long line of new information regarding the game, granted we’ll need to decipher it all first.
I’m quite experienced in decrypting information from these chaps though, so no need to worry. Watch this space (well, the Games section anyway) for more news regarding the fourteenth instalment in Rockstar’s seminal game series. Kifflom!
Download the Epsilon Program screensaver here: http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/49521/kifflom.html
I’m quite experienced in decrypting information from these chaps though, so no need to worry. Watch this space (well, the Games section anyway) for more news regarding the fourteenth instalment in Rockstar’s seminal game series. Kifflom!
Download the Epsilon Program screensaver here: http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/49521/kifflom.html
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