My parents, they didn't make it through those times, so I live here in Columbus, Ohio, with my Aunt Alice. In 2045, Columbus is the fastest-growing city on Earth. It's where Halliday and Morrow started Gregarious Games.
Ready Player One
52s
The first person to find the egg I've hidden somewhere inside the OASIS will inherit my stock in Gregarious Games, currently valued in excess of half a million do... Uh, half a trillion dollars' worth, and total control of the OASIS itself. In the form of my avatar, Anorak the All-Knowing, I created three keys. Three hidden challenges test for worthy traits revealing three hidden keys to three magic gates. And those with the skill to survive these straits will reach the end, where the prize awaits. Off you go, keys.
Ready Player One
2.3s
(PEOPLE CLAMORING)
Ready Player One
1.4s
(MRS. GILMORE CHUCKLES)
Ready Player One
22s
Hello. I am James Halliday. If you're watching this, I'm dead. Before I died, I created what we in the biz call an "Easter egg." A hidden object in a game that gives special powers to whoever discovers it.
Ready Player One
30.1s
Those were key. Halliday made sure the OASIS was littered with enough randomly powerful stuff that anyone could win if they had the skills. Death matches and artifact hunts are a good way to coin-snatch, but depending on your level of armor, they're risky. (LAUGHS) You see, everyone starts the same, but the more coin you make... -Mom! Mom! -...the more you level up. If you get killed, your avatar can come back to life... Go get your dad! ...but you lose all your stuff.
Ready Player One
1.2s
...go anywhere.
Ready Player One
11s
WADE: I was born in 2027. After the Corn Syrup Droughts, after the Bandwidth Riots. After people stopped trying to fix problems and just tried to outlive them.
Ready Player One
1.9s
ART3MIS: Ow! (GRUNTS)
Ready Player One
59.6s
The day the contest was announced, the Halliday Journals appeared. He told us to look in his brain. This was the next best thing. At first, it was jammed with gunters looking for answers. Now, the once-crowded halls of Halliday's memories are left to people like me. Parzival. Oh, joy! And how will you eat up my valuable search time today? Gregarious Games, 2029... Office party. Office party. Yes, you've only seen it a thousand times. Why not go back? Each entry into Halliday's Journals is meticulously assembled from personal photographs, home video recordings, surveillance, and nanny cams. All rendered into a three-dimensional virtual experience. Also, Halliday archived every film, game, book, and television program he ever saw, located on the mezzanine. No weapons or mature-themed avatars are permitted within the Journals. Please enjoy your time with us, and happy gunting! HALLIDAY: I like cleaning up. MORROW: Okay, Jim, I'm, uh... I'm going.
Ready Player One
10.2s
James Halliday saw the future. And then he built it. He gave us a place to go. A place called the OASIS.
Ready Player One
19.5s
Maybe it's 'cause Art3mis said it, and she's hot. Maybe it's because she called me out, sitting here in my tiny corner of nowhere, protecting my small slice of nothing. Or maybe... Maybe it's because that line means something and I missed it. (POP MUSIC PLAYING)
Ready Player One
1.9s
(TIRES SCREECHES)
Ready Player One
1.4s
(GRUNTS)
Ready Player One
1.4s
(YELPS)
Ready Player One
18.4s
(TIRES SCREECHES) Yeah, I see it. That's Kaneda's bike from Akira. It's a licensed skin over a standard frame. WADE: No, not the bike. Forget the bike. The girl, I think it's Art3mis. The Art3mis? The Sixer Fixer? I've seen all her walk-throughs, her Twitch streams. It's her. It's definitely her.