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Games Entertainment

The 25 Dumbest Moments in Gaming 129

Posted by simoniker from the dumb-dumb-dumb-dumb-dumb dept.
Gudlyf writes "GameSpy has a multi-part series this week titled The 25 Dumbest Moments in Gaming, highlighting some of the biggest debacles ever to plague our beloved pastime. While only the first part of the series is present, I can already think of a few that the list wouldn't be complete without. Anyone care to offer their own picks?" Predictions for the Top 5 also welcome, we'll run another story at the end of the week to see how people did.
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The 25 Dumbest Moments in Gaming More

The 25 Dumbest Moments in Gaming

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  • Why not go for the easy one (Score:5, Funny)

    by HunterZero ( 102709 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @10:25PM (#6158059) Homepage
    Daikatana?

  • Wow (Score:2, Funny)

    by Taral ( 16888 ) *
    If those are 25-21, I'm afraid to think about what might be coming up...

    • Re:Wow (Score:4, Insightful)

      by meringuoid ( 568297 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @08:47AM (#6160267)
      The #1 bloody awful mistake in gaming history:

      Nintendo cancelling the SNES CD and leaving Sony holding a half-finished CD-ROM superconsole. Which they promptly decided to finish by themselves, and used to thoroughly brutalise everyone else and take over most of the console market.

      • Yes you are right. How Nintendo doublecrossed Sony by teaming up with Philips, then doublecrossed Philips to join back with Sony--- only to cancel that too.

  • thats easy (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ddd2k ( 585046 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @10:36PM (#6158115) Homepage
    when they released starcraft and C&C for the console... what an atrocity that was... the horror... dragging units with a gamepad...
    • No way dude. C&C on the playstation rocked. I bought a used Sony mouse for £10 and it did the job fine.

      Saying that though, I did buy a PC 6 months later because I knew games like C&C would be so much better.
    • Actually the N64 version of Starcraft is fantastic. Somehow they actually made the controls fairly useful. And more importantly, they let you select more than nine units at once, which actually makes the game *more* playable than the PC version on occasion.

      Now Theme Park on the Mega Drive is another story.

      - Chris
    • hehe well, you can imagine the laughter on QIII forums all around the globe at the thought of people trying to play the game with a console controller when the Dreamcast version was released :)

      Especially funny was when someone finally assembled a map pak to allow PC users to play on Dreamcast servers. A very short and very bloody massacre ensued involving some fish and a barrel.

  • #26 - Gamespy decides all gamers run 800x600 (Score:3, Insightful)

    by wowbagger ( 69688 ) * on Monday June 09, 2003 @10:49PM (#6158177) Homepage Journal
    <gamespy>
    #26 - Gamespy decides that all gamers run their desktops at 800x600, and forces all their pages to be 800 pixels wide.

    Wowbagger - Yes, obviously gamers don't buy high-end video cards and monitors that can run at higher than 800x600. Gamers like to see lots of wasted space on their screens.
    </gamespy>

    Criticize the /. crew all you want for the way they have coded /., but at least /. will use the full width of your browser window, rather than

    forcing
    all your
    text into
    a few words
    per line
    because you are
    running high res
    and larger fonts
    so as to have
    a cleaner
    display.

    • Re:#26 - Gamespy decides all gamers run 800x600 (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Ruis ( 21357 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @10:51PM (#6158188)
      I think it's meant to make the content look longer than it is so they can split it up into 50+ pages so that they can show more advertising.

    • #27 - Gamespy Arcade

      Micro$will - Yes, all of those who bought a lifetime subscription to GameSpy3D now have to fork out $5 a month for all the new crap, like Roger Wilco and GameSpy Arcade. Joy!

      #28 - FilePlanet
      And for those of you that like to keep their games up to date (I.E. actually play them online) get the extra special benefit of shelling out more cash for access to FilePlanet! Don't bother trying to access id's ftp site, they're always full, just like our "free" 25 user ftp sites.

      Thankfull
      • Especially since for the longest time VilePlant-it was "Non-Windows Need Not Apply" - if you weren't running Exploiter and Windows you were SOL for access.

        I also love how VilePlant-It was able to completely muscle out all other sources - every game site went to them and that was that.

        Perhaps somebody will build BitTorrent into a game - you download the level and provide it as an upload as well...
    • There are a shitload of pages out there that are just like that. Some of them are even constrained to a width of 640 and it's horrible.

      There are a lot of shitty webdesigners out there...

  • Predictions... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Man In Black ( 11263 ) <<ze-ro> <at> <shaw.ca>> on Monday June 09, 2003 @10:53PM (#6158195) Homepage
    Some mention of the companies "Mystique" or "Playaround" must be in the top 5... these are the companies responsible for the X-rated Atari 2600 games, including Custer's Revenge, a game where you control Custer and rape an indian woman tied to a cactus. Why they even thought a game like this could work is beyond me... How can something even be erotic with such a low resolution?

    Although it's not as well known, Atari also made a video game called "I, Robot". In fact, it was the first game to use 3D filled polygons I believe. Unfortunately, the game wasn't accepted very well, and people couldn't figure it out I guess. So, out of the 1,000 machines they made, only 500 even sold. The rest were sitting in a warehouse. In order to get rid of them, Atari sent them to Japan... but none of the machines ever got there, as the crew of the ship were given orders to push the machines overboard on the way! I believe the point was to make sure that stockholders didn't see warehouses of unsold machines. In any case, this deserves at least a part in this list.

    And I didn't think the US Saturn pads were that bad... in fact, I like them better than Japanese ones. But then, my favorite controller ever was the enormous Jaguar controller, so what do I know?

    • Re:Predictions... (Score:2, Informative)

      by kazad ( 619012 )
      You liked the Jaguar [atariage.com] controller? =)

      It looks and feels like a TV remote control. Ugh.

      • Although the controller looked terrible, it actually felt great. It was contoured on the bottom, and at least my hands fit it perfectly (I believe I was in 6th or 7th grade at the time).

        I never owned a Jaguar, but I used to go over to a buddy's house to play Alien Vs. Predator all the time, still one of my all time favorite console games.

      • I don't get what people had against it... it fit in my hands well, and had lots of buttons to spare. People made fun of the keypad on it, but why? The buttons came in very handy in games like Doom for switching weapons. Besides, it not like you were constantly using it.

        I guess my hands are larger than most peoples though, I don't imagine the controller fits into smaller hands as well (Meanwhile I'm getting carpal tunnel from trying to play my GBA...)
    • I loved "I, Robot". I used to play it all the time. Hell, I used to put quarters in it to play with the 3D painting mode.

      I miss the arcade.

    • Re:Predictions... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by SheepHead ( 610180 )
      I believe you can get your I, Robot fix in MAME, for those of you who are wondering how weird it really is. Stylish, for the time.

      some info, screenshot, and history of I, Robot at mame.dk [www.mame.dk]

    • I do agree with one of the GS editors that said the Genesis 6-button pad was the best Sega pad. The older 3-button pad felt mushy and heavy in comparison. And the Saturn pads felt cheap to me after being used to the Genesis 6-button pad.
    • > Although it's not as well known, Atari also
      > made a video game called "I,
      > Robot"....Unfortunately, the game wasn't
      > accepted very well, and people couldn't figure
      > it out I guess. So, out of the 1,000 machines
      > they made, only 500 even sold. The rest were
      > sitting in a warehouse. In order to get rid of
      > them, Atari sent them to Japan... but none of
      > the machines ever got there, as the crew of the
      > ship were given orders to push the machines
      > overboard on the way!

      Sounds l
  • #1 Gamespy pretends to be a Gamer's site.

    But OMG OMG We're making fun of Romero!!!! Gee, you think they'll bring up DNF?

  • Some that come to mind: (Score:5, Interesting)

    by LordOfYourPants ( 145342 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @11:16PM (#6158302)
    Not in any order, but these ones cames to mind quickly...

    1) Intellivision II coming out and being non-backwards compatible [intellivisionlives.com] with some of its own library in an effort to break Coleco's Intellivision releases.

    2) John Romero's magazine ad that ran pre-Daikatana that said "John Romero's going to make you his bitch." (I can't find the image, but I know it's kicking around somewhere on the net)

    3) Sega's "blast processing" commercial in which they claim Sonic the Hedgehog's fast scrolling is due to some neat-o feature in the Genesis' processor which the SNES lacks.

    4) Making a movie [imdb.com] that's basically one huge commercial for the NES, the Power Glove, and Super Mario 3 (shamelessly savvy moment?).

    Those are about all that come to mind...

    • Romero Ad (Score:3, Informative)

      by misfit13b ( 572861 )
      is here [gamespot.com].
    • 2) John Romero's magazine ad that ran pre-Daikatana that said "John Romero's going to make you his bitch." (I can't find the image, but I know it's kicking around somewhere on the net)

      Ha ha. And like most men who say "I'll make you my bitch", Romero just goes to show that he's another whiny man with a big ego.

      Grow up Romero.
    • Sega's "blast processing" commercial in which they claim Sonic the Hedgehog's fast scrolling is due to some neat-o feature in the Genesis' processor which the SNES lacks.

      IIRC, the claim was Sonic's rotation (spinning) was only possible on that processor/platform, but since it was only a sprite, that doesn't make much sense now that I think about it. Still, I think that was what the commercial emphasized.

  • I don't know about Top 5, but Romero's ad campaign for Daikatana has got to be in there somewhere. I don't mean to slag on Daikatana just because it's Daikatana, but please, saying that I'll be Romero's bitch? Come on!

    Even if Half-Life, which many contend to be one of the best FPS's out there, had used this slogan, I wouldn't have bought it out of principle!

  • I know it won't make the list, but (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Dachannien ( 617929 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @11:29PM (#6158343)
    ...I'd like to see Sierra's decision to can the Babylon 5 game on the list. Then, I'd like to see, at the next "worst" position, Sierra's decision not to sell the completed portions of the game property to the developers (whom Sierra had earlier also canned) who were trying to pick up the game and finish it. Now it's all gathering dust, and the idea is being left up to the mod community and a few guys in Russia who have been working on a standalone game [firstones.com] for some time now.

  • two words: (Score:3, Insightful)

    by n0wak ( 631202 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @11:48PM (#6158433) Homepage Journal
    Virtual Boy

    Other possibilities: Daikatana, 3D0 (the system, the company, the Army Men...ugh), BMX XXX, maybe some of Acclaim's advertising practices (though not likely), and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (though technically not a game, it's massive failure certainly had repercussions for Squaresoft).
    • Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, was also briefly mentioned in the article. I find all the bashing of it a little disapointing; yes it sucked, but I think Square had the right idea. If only they'd put half as much effort into scripting their movie as they did scripting their games, it would have been awesome.

      I'd really like to see a well-developed Square movie. Unfortunately, now, I doubt it'll ever happen.
      • Final Flight of the Osiris on the Animatrix was done by the Square animation team. How, I don't know. I'm assuming their dismantling was a reallocation of resources to the highest bidder. The animation in Final Fantasy and Final Flight is awesome. There's still hope for a well-developed Square movie.
        • I don't think Square will sink much money, or many resources, into another movie project after the first.
          • According to this article [millimeter.com], Final Flight was Square's final feature anyway. It says they dismantled Square USA shortly thereafter. I guess that's an alliterative triple play: Final Fantasy, Final Flight, final feature.
            • If there's one thing I've learned about Square, it's that when they say "Final" they mean "Not Final". ;)

              The Final Fantasy series is up to what, 11 or 12 now?
      • I didn't think it was that bad at all. I have it on DVD =/
        • So do I :)

          And the animation was top rate.

          But the dialogue was nothing special, the plot mediocre, and, most importantly for me, the characters just didn't grab you the way they do in Square's games.
    • Hey now, I really loved the Virtual Boy....I think I was one of the 3% of people that could play it without my eyes hurting though. Mario Clash is one of the best games Nintendo ever put out.

  • ET not in top 5? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Kris_J ( 10111 ) on Monday June 09, 2003 @11:51PM (#6158446) Homepage Journal
    I'm surprised that 2600 ET has popped up so soon. I would have thought that to be in the top 3. My other suggestions for the list are:
    • Releasing the Saturn in Japan at the same time as the 32X in the US.
    • Not backlighting the first GBA.
    • The CD32's cheap-arse construction.
    • The Xbox.
    • The N-Gage.
    • Selling the Amiga to Commodore.
    • Selling the Lynx to Atari.
    • Every time a marketing drone opens their mouth to announce a release date for a game not yet finished.
    • Whats wrong with the n-gage? I'm not being critical, but I was contemplating getting one when the come out here in Oz in a few months. I need a new phone, and I thought it'd be cool. So what am I missing? I have to know!
      Also, I love my x-box.
      And no, I'm not some nuff-nut gaming retard. I've been playing games at least once a week since 1990. Hmmm 13 years, and what do I have to show for it?
      • Penny Arcade quote [penny-arcade.com]:

        Kiko and I hit this booth early as we were both interested to check out Nokiaâ(TM)s new handheld. Immediately upon picking one up, we each made a face like we tasted bile. It just feels terrible in your hands. The buttons are placed too close together and there are too many of them. I didnâ(TM)t know which of the hojillion buttons I had to push just to start the game. Once Tony Hawk started I made another face. The screen is super washed out and itâ(TM)s oriented in a real

    • Please, elaborite on why the XBox is one of the 25 biggest mistakes ever in gaming? I have an xbox and happen to love it. It's a great do-everything entertainment unit once it's been modded. Being able to stream media off my PC and in to my living room with zero hassle is fantastic. Near perfect emulator support is also great. I'd contemplated building a small PC to do all of this, but the xbox does it for about half the price.

      Plus it plays xbox games.

      So tell me again, why is it such a huge mistake?

      • Re:ET not in top 5? (Score:3, Interesting)

        by nathanh ( 1214 )

        Please, elaborite on why the XBox is one of the 25 biggest mistakes ever in gaming?

        Because it's not making a profit. No, sorry, simple as that, you can't argue. Games consoles are supposed to make a profit. The Xbox makes a huge loss for Microsoft. That's a mistake. In fact it would be a fatal mistake for almost any company except for Microsoft.

        Now we could argue all the little details. I think the original Xbox controller was shit. I think the original games lineup was worse; how many fucking snowb

        • Games consoles are supposed to make a profit.
          That's the first time I've ever heard that. Usually a console has to sold at a loss to the company just so they would have a big enough userbase to make money on the software.

          • Re:ET not in top 5? (Score:3, Interesting)

            by nathanh ( 1214 )

            Games consoles are supposed to make a profit.

            That's the first time I've ever heard that. Usually a console has to sold at a loss to the company just so they would have a big enough userbase to make money on the software.

            First thing when the revolution comes, shoot all the pedants. Don't be so damn literal. You could naturally assume that I meant profit from the whole franchise not just the bit of plastic that plugs into the TV. The "console as a loss leader" strategy isn't news to anybody on /.. Mic

      • Actualy he is correct

        at least in a business sense the Xbox is a massive mistake

        it has a huge loss attached to it (somthing like 33% loss)

        its only kept alive because bill gates has the money to keep it alive
    • Not backlighting the first GBA.

      Just being widely maligned by gamers isn't enough to make it stupid. It has to actually fail in the marketplace.
      • Nintendo had/has a stranglehold on the portable gaming market. The GBA was always going to be successful, but the number of people I know who held off for a [back/front]lit GBA is quite high, given the number of people interested in the device itself. There are degrees of success, and while Nintendo probably didn't hurt too bad from the reduced sales, the takeup of the GBAsp (10 a minute, world wide, since release) indicates that they got the GBA right on their second go, not their first.
        • here are degrees of success, and while Nintendo probably didn't hurt too bad from the reduced sales, the takeup of the GBAsp (10 a minute, world wide, since release) indicates that they got the GBA right on their second go, not their first.

          The GBA SP has sold over 1 million in 10 weeks. The original GBA sold 5 million from June 18th, 2001 to March 14th 2002, less than 40 weeks. A higher rate, for far longer. The GBA SP is a success, but the GBA is the biggest success in console history.

          --
          Peter Hatch
    • Not backlighting the first GBA

      You're kidding, right? Nintendo sold a boat load of GBAs when it was first released, touted so highly because of all the new cool games and the backwards compatibility. Now they're selling a boatload of GBA:SPs...so they've essentially doubled (well, not quite) their sales by releasing two different handhelds.

      I liken it to LOTR selling that first edition DVD that had 2 discs, then coming out with the behemoth 5 disc set a few months later. Half my buddies bought both, fri
      • Oh right. In that case the Saturn and Xbox's crappy huge control pads are bonus points then?

        Just because something is so retarded that people will actually pay good money to fix it (buy an Afterburner or a new pad) doesn't make it a good idea.

        Factory Panic on the Game Gear didn't have a save feature and took longer to complete than you could run it without the adapter in. Grrrrrreat thinking.

        - Chris

  • Ultime Online: Beta - Lord Britich is killed.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by malakai ( 136531 ) * on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @02:00AM (#6158891) Journal
    on-line, in public, after taunting a crowd "you can't kill me". The online character of lord british was actively being played by Richard Gariott.

    Classic moment in online history. I remeber the kid who used the fire-scroll on him to that day "Rainz". Lord British (Richard Garriott), Blackthorn (Starr Long), and a few others were on a balcony as LB gave a 'speech' for the end of beta. Next thing you know, the balcony is incased in a fire 'field'. Then LB taunts that fire doesn't hurt him (""nice try..."). 2s later his corpse is on the ground.

    Someone responds to LB's death by summoning 4 powerfull deamons, who slaughter the innocent crowd.

    A developer had made a mistake and not flipped his invlunerability flag (Developer name: "Grimli" what ever happened to that kid).

    Ahh the good old days.

    Rainz was banned for it, but it was the end of Beta.

    google for "Rainz" "Lord British" for pictures.
    -malakai

  • XBOX is #16 (Score:1, Funny)

    by bmnc ( 643126 )
    WOW! I can't believe the XBOX is #16. But then again, I guess they've got to make room for the rest of M$s blunders. =) You asked for predictions: Enter the matrix has to be in the top ten due to the popularity of the film and that fact its recent.

  • Oooh, a funny one (Score:4, Interesting)

    by isorox ( 205688 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @02:12AM (#6158934) Homepage Journal
    Nintendo's Japanese office received a telex from MCA Universal stating that the company had 48 hours to hand all profits earned from Donkey Kong over to MCA and destroy all unsold Donkey Kong inventory. The reason? MCA alleged that Donkey Kong infringed on Universal Studios' "King Kong" copyright.

    Unfortunately for MCA, Nintendo had a very good reason for refraining from a settlement: It had discovered that MCA did not own the "King Kong" copyright! Even more shockingly, in a previous lawsuit MCA Universal had actually gone to pains to prove that the "King Kong" property was public domain!

  • BMX XXX (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Alizarin Erythrosin ( 457981 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @02:20AM (#6158963)
    It's at #17. So I figured I'd post the obligitory Penny Arcade reference to BMX XXX [penny-arcade.com]

    Even my friend Jon, who's a pr0n fiend, said he would never think about buying that game.
  • Yeah, Daikatana has to be wayyyyy up there. I don't know if the PC Jr qualifies, but if it does it'll be on the list.

    What else.. Dwango was a so-so idea at a bad time. The whole Battlecruiser 3000AD (or whatever it's called) debacle. The Sims online? And Sierra released a game back in the early 90's that was so buggy that nobody could get it to run. Some space exploration simulation thingy... I've undoubtedly exorcised the title from my memory.

    • Outpost?
    • Outpost is definitely the game you're thinking of. I couldn't get the damn game to work for crap and then when they finally patched it, it turned out that the gameplay blew horribly as well. Outpost 2 actually wasn't that bad, however, so I think that goes to show that Sierra learned a little bit from the crappiness of the first one.

  • Unforgettable.... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Kynde ( 324134 ) <kynde@NOSpAM.iki.fi> on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @03:48AM (#6159193)
    With nethack one stumbles onto some really surprising situations, but this one remains unforgettable.

    Several years back, when I hadn't ascended any of my characters, I had a really really good game going on, the kind of game you though might take you all the way. Multiple Amulets of Life saving paving the way. Accidental step into a polymorph trap had caused that I wasn't waring my helmet. Met a mind flayer that started eating my brain.
    I didn't realize I didn't have my helmet on and my intelligence startted dropping rapidly. Didn't know exactly what that was about, I figured some "restore ability" and that's it and thought "fsck it, here, take some". Intelligence dropped to 2 or 3 and then...

    "You die of brainlessness. But wait. --more--"

    (I knew I had several amulets of life savings, so no worries)

    "Your medallion begins to glow. Your life has been saved. --more--"

    (but little did I know...)

    "You still have do brain. You die."

    "Do you want your possessions identified y/n ?"

    I can't begin to describe my astonishment there...
    • Part of Nethack is knowing what battles to fight... and how the hell to get genocides to wipe out mind flayers.

      Hate the bastards. Especially since they make you forget things you've identified.
      • Exactly, I've ascended few times since and knowing how the end game goes, it's pretty crucial not the let the bastards such you even once.

        Not only items, but also whole levels. I remember the first time I fought my way up from the depths with the AoY. Two thirds of the normal dungeon levels had to be rediscovered, which is, shall we say bitching, concidering the wizzy keeps spawning there every few hunded rounds...

  • Nolan Bushnell (Score:4, Interesting)

    by robbway ( 200983 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @06:34AM (#6159516) Journal
    Don't know if it'll make the list, but:

    What began as what I consider to be a series of colossal mistakes, Nolan Bushnell sells Atari for a mere fraction (who knew?) of what it was worth and signs a non-competition clause for an ungodly time like 10 to 15 years. It probably hurt like hell to watch all that money he lost, but I'm sure it was really painful to stay out of the market when his mind was probably sharpest in the area of innovative video games.
    • Oh Yeah, I'm sure it was a big blunder to get out of Atari when the getting is good and start a small restaurant chain that hit just as big: Chuck E Cheese. He sold that too for a profit. You're definately right though, he should have stuck it out at atari so he could experience the gaming crash of the 80s.
  • These are not worthy of karma bonus, but here are some things that should make the list:

    -Automan (TV series trying to reverse TRON formula)
    -Starcade (really bad gameshow that focused way too little time on video games--watch it on G4!)
    -G4 (bad content, but who said cable was good?)
    -Nintendo's dumping of Sony's CD ROM drive for SNES (can you say Playstation?)
    -Game.com B&W (even the Brady Bunch was In Color)
    -Best and worst lists on video games. These often change with items that aren't new since the la

  • A couple of picks of my own (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Gudlyf ( 544445 ) <<gudlyf> <at> <realistek.com>> on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @08:19AM (#6160006) Homepage Journal
    1. Bungie's Halo. Cool game? Oh yes. Released for the Macintosh first like Steve Jobs promised at MacWorld, causing Microsoft-based-OS gamers to squirm as they watched the Apple folks have all the fun? Nope. I remember staring in awe at the webcast of the MacWorld show a few years ago when Halo was announced, and was just a teensy bit jealous of Mac users when I saw what the game promised. It came through on the promises alright, all but one of course.
    2. Verant's Sovereign. I sort-of recall this game being announced not long after Everquest was released. We were going to see an awesome display of massive-multiplayer RTS, all by the fine folks who made the legendary MMORPG, Everquest. Screenshots were released here and there, but news of its advancement slowly petered out. Finally this year -- I'd say at least four years later -- the game was finally announced as dead. Now that I think of it, this might have been a smart move.
    The rest have already been mentioned, such as Nokia N-Gage, Daikatana's Ad Campaign, and Duke Nukem Forever. I don't need to go into details about those -- you know what they are.
    • Sovereign. They really did want this game concept to work (the designers, anyway) and managed to get some other good minds on the project (most notably, Geoff Zatkin, who did most of the spell design for EQ). Sadly, it proved too difficult to get a compelling game design that involved persistence *and* would be enjoyable for the casual player (they were working for Sony, after all, who wanted as many subscriptions as possible). They probably should have either canned it earlier, or else gone ahead and sa
  • I thought Dead or Alive was pushing the jiggle factor, but a volleyball game with fighting game characters? What's next, all our lovable Nintendo characters in a fighter?
  • Dungeon Siege, one of the most hyped games Microsoft has released, was given terribly high scores (96% in one magazine, etc), but it seems that nobody played it in multi-player mode - it was terrible! You effectively had to play for a day-and-a-half to complete a quest to move onto the next one, you couldn't do later quests without completing earlier ones, and there was no Save feature. It was Diablo2 done wrong. Then again the whole transportation system was a joke anyway, it really was more complicated
  • When I decided to I wanted to play PSX in the shower. :-(
  • Back in my SNES days, when the Houston summer was too hot for football, we'd break out John Madden every day. ANd it was good. Then, one day, we got Troy Aikman football and a little later Monday Night football. (Whoa Nellie, touchdown) Needless to day, these games sicked big time. We hated these games so much that we opened them up and spat upon them. It didnt make the any better, or unplayable, but it felt good!

  • Atari's biggest mistake... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Saige ( 53303 ) <evil DOT angela AT gmail DOT com> on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @10:42AM (#6161377) Journal
    Atari's biggest mistake has to be high up on that list, and I'm suprised nobody here has mentioned it yet.

    They had the opportunity to buy the rights to produce and distribute a console from a Japanese company, back in the day when American companies were doing all the game consoles. However, it was during the video game crash, and for some reason, they decided to pass, and stick with their own system they were developing.

    The system Atari could have had a huge chunk of? The Nintendo Entertainment System. Instead, they stuck to their own products, which really didn't go anywhere.

    One wonders what might have happened if they had made the other choice...

    Of course, we're talking about a company that had Jack Tramiel in charge, a man who was personally responsible for destroying multiple companies, and seemed to fight against turing the company around. During the Jaguar days, Atari hired someone to help get the company moving and going, a person who ended up quitting because Jack insisted in having control over everything, down to personally deciding when to approve overnight shipping of packages.
  • I don't think Interplay will ever get anywhere with the Lord of the Rings series of games. They tried DOS and got to the Two Towers...then puked out. So they tried again...this time on the SNES...and puked out after the first one. JUST FINISH THE SERIES!!
  • Okay, so Dynamix is forced to release T2 WAY before it was ready. A zillion patches later, the company that owns Dynamix (Vivendi?) closes the whole company... never mind that T2 (despite a too-early release) is quite successful.

    Kinda reminds me of farscape. "Successful? Great! Close 'em down."

  • If I recall correctly, it was announced a couple of weeks ago. And yet, several posters seem way too keen to include it in this list. Why?
    Genuinely curious.
  • Sega-CD - need I say more?

    Colecovision Expansion Pack - allowed owners to play Atari games on the Colecovision. Atari sued Coleco. Coleco sued Atari. Ended up in a massive lawsuit totalling somewhere close to $1 billion dollars. (This was a LOT of money circa 1983!) BTW, Colecovision expansion packs are now illegal due to the DMCA. :)

    Daiktana - a gimmie.

    R.O.B. - Nintendo's Robotic Operating Buddy, the little piece of plastic crap that 'helped' you play Gyromite.

    NES Power Pad - Basically Ninten
  • Now that would be a joke...

  • More Predictions (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Daetrin ( 576516 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @11:39PM (#6168225)
    So is the N64 sticking to cartridges going to show up later on the list? How about the poor support for 3rd party developers?

  • Railgun record (Score:3, Funny)

    by Zog The Undeniable ( 632031 ) on Wednesday June 11, 2003 @11:08AM (#6172113)
    Remember when someone went for the "maximum players fragged with one railgun shot" record in Quake II? They got 64 players on a server and (eventually) got 63 of them to stand in a line while the 64th player fired the railgun.

    The server crashed. It couldn't cope with sending 64^2 simultaneous death messages.

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