2
$\begingroup$

My friend is a bit of a video game addict. Recently, after a bout of video-game-induced violence (I won't go into details here) he was sentenced to six months in jail.

Part of the conditions of his sentence are that he have nothing to do with video games at all; he can't even speak about them while serving his sentence.

He's going to be released soon, and I want to throw him a party. I've decided I'm going to have a cake in the shape of his favourite video game character, but I realized I don't know who that is.

I managed to smuggle a note into the prison asking him to let me know, but unfortunately his only method of getting a message back to me is via email, and all of his messages are read by the prison guards, so he dare not mention anything about video games.

I just received this message from him today, and I think he's trying to answer my question, but he seems to have encrypted his answer to get it past the guards. Can you help me figure out who his favourite character is, so I can have the cake ready for his party?

Here is his message:

Dear friend,

Thank you so much for your letter; I've been missing you. I am looking forward to partying with you when I get out of here (in only 64 more hours!). In response to the question you asked, 

 71 75 75 2e 2e 5f 5f 0d 0a 20 24 24 24 62 20 20 60 2d 2d 2d 2e 5f 5f 0d 0a 20 20 22 24 24 62 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 2d 2d 2e 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 5f 5f 5f 2e 2d 2d 2d 75 75 75 64 50 0d 0a 20 20 20 60 24 24 62 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 2e 5f 5f 2e 2d 2d 2d 2d 2d 2d 2e 5f 5f 20 20 20 20 20 5f 5f 2e 2d 2d 2d 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 24 24 24 24 22 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 22 24 62 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2d 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 2d 2e 2d 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 24 24 24 22 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 27 7c 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 22 2e 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 64 24 22 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 5f 2e 27 20 20 7c 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 2e 20 20 20 2f 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 2e 2e 22 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 27 20 20 20 20 20 7c 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 2e 2f 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 2e 3a 3a 2d 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 5f 2e 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2f 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 3a 3a 3a 2d 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 2d 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 27 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 3a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 3a 3a 27 27 5c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 5f 2e 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 27 20 2e 2d 2e 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 2d 2e 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 2e 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 3a 20 2f 27 24 24 7c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 40 22 24 5c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 2e 20 20 20 2e 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 5f 2e 2d 27 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 27 7c 24 75 24 24 7c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 24 24 2c 24 24 7c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 20 20 3c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 5f 2e 2d 27 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 20 60 3a 24 24 3a 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 3a 24 24 24 24 24 3a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 2e 20 20 60 2e 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 2d 27 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 3a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 22 2d 2d 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 20 20 20 20 60 2d 2e 20 20 20 20 20 5c 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 3a 23 23 2e 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 3d 3d 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 23 23 23 2e 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 2e 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 2e 20 20 20 20 60 5c 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 23 23 3a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 3a 23 23 23 3a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 3e 20 20 20 20 20 3e 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 23 27 20 20 20 20 20 60 2e 2e 27 60 2e 2e 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 23 23 23 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 78 3a 20 20 20 20 20 20 2f 20 20 20 20 20 2f 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 5c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 78 58 58 7c 20 20 20 20 20 2f 20 20 20 20 2e 2f 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 5c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 78 58 58 58 27 7c 20 20 20 20 2f 20 20 20 2e 2f 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2f 60 2d 2e 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 2e 20 20 2f 20 20 20 2f 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 3a 20 20 20 20 60 2d 20 20 2e 2e 2e 2e 2e 2e 2e 2e 2e 2e 2e 2c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 20 2f 20 20 2e 27 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 60 3a 3a 3a 3a 3a 3a 3a 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 3c 20 20 20 20 60 2e 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 60 60 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 78 7c 20 5c 20 60 2e 3a 60 60 2e 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 27 20 20 20 20 2f 27 20 20 20 78 58 58 7c 20 20 60 3a 60 4d 60 4d 27 3a 2e 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 20 20 20 20 7c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 3b 20 20 20 20 2f 3a 27 20 78 58 58 58 27 7c 20 20 2d 27 4d 4d 4d 4d 4d 3a 27 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 2e 20 20 2e 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 3a 20 20 20 20 2f 3a 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 2d 27 4d 4d 4d 4d 2e 2d 27 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 20 20 7c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 27 20 20 20 2f 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 27 4d 4d 4d 2e 2d 27 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 27 60 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 3a 20 20 2c 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 4d 4d 4d 3c 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 74 62 61 70 5c 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 5c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 3a 4d 4d 2e 2d 27 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 5c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2e 27 27 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 5c 2e 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 2e 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2f 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2f 20 20 20 20 20 2e 3a 3a 3a 3a 3a 3a 3a 2e 2e 20 3a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2f 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 20 20 20 20 20 2e 3a 3a 3a 3a 3a 3a 3a 3a 3a 3a 3a 60 2e 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2f 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 7c 20 20 20 2e 3a 3a 3a 2d 2d 2d 2d 2d 2d 2d 2d 2d 2d 2d 2d 5c 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2f 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2f 20 20 20 2e 27 27 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 3e 3a 3a 27 20 20 2f 0d 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 60 27 2c 3a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 3a 20 20 20 20 2e 27

(Oops; looks like something went wrong with my keyboard there.)

Anyway, I'll see you soon. Hang in there!

Your friend.

| improve this question | |
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ Wow, my first-ever downvote on a question! I'm curious what the reason is... $\endgroup$ – GentlePurpleRain♦ Oct 21 '15 at 19:16
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Seeing the solution, I'm disappointed that the problem was a pure code conversion, and moreover the composition of two standard encodings that we've seen a bunch of times. Given the video games theme and the talk of the friend of the video game addict, I was expecting some video-game specific knowledge or ideas to come into play, like 64 cluing Nintendo 64. Of course, the result is video-game themed, but the solver doesn't actually do anything with it, so it could have been anything. $\endgroup$ – xnor Oct 21 '15 at 19:44
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @xnor Thanks for the feedback. I admit it's not my most clever puzzle ever. I thought that the decryption into ASCII art instead of a textual message was a neat twist, but I guess not everyone agrees, which is fine. $\endgroup$ – GentlePurpleRain♦ Oct 21 '15 at 19:54
  • $\begingroup$ @xnor. I would argue that though it is peripherally related to a video game, the friend in prison could have easily said "I like the cartoon X because of <the character below>" It was a cartoon before a video game, and does not break the prisoner's restriction on video game mentioning. $\endgroup$ – APrough Oct 22 '15 at 16:50
  • $\begingroup$ @APrough For the record, the first 2 games (1996) came before the show (1997). $\endgroup$ – David Starkey Sep 28 '18 at 18:25
8
$\begingroup$

Convert that string from base64. That gives a long string of two-digit hexadecimal numbers:

71 75 75 2e 2e 5f 5f 0d 0a ...

Then take the characters with those ASCII codes to get an ASCII art picture of

Pikachu.

enter image description here

| improve this answer | |
$\endgroup$

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.