Editing Crack intro (section)

==History==
Crack intros first appeared on [[Apple II]] computers in the late 1970s or early 1980s,<ref name="wired" /><ref name="jason_scott_2010" /><ref name="reunanen2010" /> and then on [[ZX Spectrum]], [[Commodore 64]] and [[Amstrad CPC]] games that were distributed around the world via [[Bulletin Board System]]s (BBSes) and [[floppy disk]] copying.<ref name="reunanen2010"/> By 1985, when reviewing the commercially available [[ISEPIC]] cartridge which adds a custom crack intro to [[memory dump]]s of Commodore 64 software, ''[[Ahoy!]]'' wrote that such intros were "in the tradition of the true hacker".<ref name="kevelson198510"/> Early crack intros resemble [[graffiti]] in many ways, although they invaded the [[private sphere]] and not the public space.<ref name="carlsson2009" /><ref name="kotlinski2009" />

As time went on, crack intros became a medium to demonstrate the purported superiority of a cracking group.<ref name="jason_scott_2010" /> Such intros grew very complex, sometimes exceeding the size<ref name="arstechnica2013" /> and complexity<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalekultur.org/files/dk_whatisthedemoscene.pdf|title=The Demoscene|publisher=Digitale Kultur e.V.|access-date=2010-10-25}}
{{better source|date= June 2015}}</ref> of the software itself. Crack intros only became more sophisticated on more advanced systems such as the [[Amiga]], [[Atari ST]], and some [[IBM PC compatible]]s with sound cards.<ref name="reunanen2010" /> These intros feature big, colourful [[2D computer graphics|effects]], [[chiptune|music]], and [[Scrolling#Demos|scrollers]].<ref name="demographics" /><!-- 4:12+ -->

Cracking groups would use the intros not just to gain credit for cracking, but to advertise their [[Bulletin board system|BBSes]], greet friends, and gain themselves recognition.<ref name="jason_scott_2010" /> Messages were frequently of a vulgar nature, and on some occasions made threats of violence against software companies or the members of some rival crack-group.<ref name="jason_scott_2010" />

Crack-intro programming eventually became an art form in its own right, and people started coding intros without attaching them to a crack just to show off how well they could program. This practice evolved into the [[demoscene]].<ref name="EuroGamer"/>

Crack intros and other small software created by [[Software cracker|software crackers]] such as [[Keygen|keygens]] and [[Patch (computing)|patches]] that remove protection from commercial applications often use [[chiptune]]s in the form of background music. These chiptunes are now still accessible as downloadable ''[[Module file#Music disk|musicdisks]]'' or ''musicpacks''.<ref name="chiptunes2009"/>