Feelie

Not to be confused with Feely.

For the rock band, see The Feelies.

Infocom used the term feelie to refer to the extra content included with the boxed versions of their interactive fiction computer games. Feelies differed from game to game and were of the same theme as the game they came packaged with. For example, Wishbringer, a fantasy game with magic, came with a "Magick glowing stone." These extra objects and documents sometimes served as a form of copy protection, as several games were impossible to solve without information found in their feelies.

Games

Some of Infocom's games and their feelies are listed below:

• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
  • A button with "Don't Panic!" printed in large letters
  • Pocket Fluff
  • Order for destruction of Arthur Dent's house
  • Order for destruction of Earth
  • Microscopic Space Fleet (an empty plastic bag)
  • "Peril Sensitive Sunglasses" ("glasses" made of opaque black cardboard)
  • The game also indicates that it comes with "no tea," a key joke and puzzle in the game.
• Planetfall
  • A Stellar Patrol "Special Assignment Task Force" ID card (about the size and shape of a credit card)
  • 3 interstellar postcards
  • A Stellar Patrol recruiting manual, "Today's Stellar Patrol"
  • Letters (presumably to home)
• Zork I
  • The Great Underground Empire: A History
  • Map of the Underground Empire
  • A zorkmid (sought after by collectors, as it was only included with the 1987 Zork Trilogy collection).

After Infocom

After the demise of Infocom, Activision became responsible for the Zork franchise. The first editions of the three graphical Zork games they produced each included printed feelies.

• Return to Zork
  • Sweepstakes Letter & Envelope.
  • Encyclopaedia Frobozzica, 966 GUE edition.
• Zork Nemesis
  • Mission diary of the player's predecessor (missing, presumed dead).
• Zork Grand Inquisitor
  • Zork timeline poster, covering prehistory to the inquisition era. (and thus covering all previously released games except Return to Zork, which takes place in the distant future of the series)

Other meanings

The word feelie (or feely) also appeared in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, as a form of motion picture that provides the sensation of touch in addition to sight and sound. The word suggests a logical extension to the moving picture ("movie") and the talking picture ("talkie"), and suggests an entertainment form with an incredible level of sensation but with minimal substance.

Modern Examples (non-Infocom)

In recent years, giveaway bonuses have often been included with special deals of select titles, which may be likened to the early days of computer games coming bundled with "feelies." The PS3/360 game Catherine, a deranged sex-comedy nightmare, includes, in its deluxe edition, boxer shorts like the main character wears, a special pillow case like the one he has in the game, a shirt that his girlfriend wears, and the game itself comes in a mock-pizza box from the company he delivers for; while the older title Dead Rising 2 has been re-released at a cheaper price to include a special syringe pen, prescription notepad, etc., all drawing from the game's contents.

External links

• The Infocom Gallery with images of most feelies from the Infocom games
• An alternate location for The Infocom Gallery
• The Zorkmid Project, an effort to mint new zorkmids
• Computer Chronicles on feelies for LGoP