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Worst Gaming Decisions Of 2003 Rated

Posted by simoniker on from the boo-and-hiss dept.

Thanks to GameSpot for their feature rating some of 2003's videogames that deserve negative awards. Some of the 'winners' among this motley crew of letdowns include most pretentious game awarded to Namco's Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht ("a game that takes itself far too seriously"), most disappointing title to Capcom's Devil May Cry 2 ("a complete letdown in the face of the first game's genius"), and flat-out worst game to Activision Value's Gods And Generals ("looks and sounds absolutely horrendous.")

23 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. How about that dud Matrix game? by AtariAmarok · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How about the dud Matrix game that came out just before "The Matrix Reloaded". It was an early hint that the franchise was going very far south very fast.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
    1. Re:How about that dud Matrix game? by CFTM · · Score: 3, Funny

      Did you play Enter the Matrix?
      The game was engaging, fun and it filled in some of the holes between the first and second movie. In my opinion, the game kicked ass, particularly on XBox.

  2. My pick: overly gratuitous games by Gothic_Walrus · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I don't have a problem with video game violence for the most part, but there are a few titles that have taken it too far.

    The worst one this year was Manhunt by far, but it's not alone. As it stands, the gaming industry is still not looked positively upon by most people. Games like Manhunt aren't helping the industry at all.

    Same thing goes for games like DOA Volleyball and BMX XXX - the sexual content adds nothing to the game, and only hurts the industry.

    If we ever want to get to a point where we don't hear constant stories about how gaming influences murderers or makes people violent, reclusive, horny old men, these games will have to stop coming out...or possibly become so mainstream that no one blinks at DOA Extreme Nude Hockey

    *shudders at the thought*

    My $.02

    --
    Goo goo g'joob.
    1. Re:My pick: overly gratuitous games by Kyouryuu · · Score: 3, Funny

      Between boobs and the ability to dynamically pee on anything in sight and reduce everything to a bloody pulp, I'll take the boobs. ^_;

  3. Worst Gaming Decision by happylight · · Score: 4, Interesting

    N-Gage

    1. Re:Worst Gaming Decision by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative
      The article is only five crap games, nothing really worthy of a /. thread.

      Look on the right side of the page, and there are links to the rest of the article:

      * Most Embarrassing Game
      * Most Despicable Product Placement in a Game
      * Worst Use of Celebrity Voice Acting
      * Most Disappointing Delay
      * Most Pretentious Game
      * Most Disappointing Game
      * Flat-Out Worst Game
      * Best Game No One Played

      They don't exactly stick out, though. I thought the article was pretty short until I noticed them.

  4. Video Game Reviewers... by JavaLord · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's becoming more obvious that people who review video games are becoming more and more snobbish against violence and sex in video games. It's kind of silly for them to attack postal 2 because you can pee on people. The fact is a game geared twards adults can be fun. Postal2 is fun if you play it for what it is (a virtual violence sandbox).

    1. Re:Video Game Reviewers... by MWoody · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "Postal2 is fun if you play it for what it is (a virtual violence sandbox)."

      No. GTA is fun if you play it for what it is (a virtual violence sandbox), and that game was a critical success. Postal 2 is liquid shit in a box.

      Remember, kiddies: "Dark humor" requires both the "dark" AND the "humor" to work; simply peeing on dead people is not immediately amusing in and of itself.

    2. Re:Video Game Reviewers... by American+AC+in+Paris · · Score: 5, Insightful
      It's becoming more obvious that people who review video games are becoming more and more snobbish against violence and sex in video games.

      ...actually, I'd say that video game reviewers are becoming less easily impressed by violence and sex in lieu of good gameplay. They've seen one too many half-assed games that slap a bit of skin or gore on to sell more copies, and they're getting sick of it.

      Consider that GTA3 and Vice City continue to be lauded as ass-kickingly good games. If the reviewers are going all snobbish on us, why didn't they denounce GTA as some half-baked game that gets old once you've finished picking up hookers for extra life and shooting transients in the head with a sniper rifle?

      --

      Obliteracy: Words with explosions

    3. Re:Video Game Reviewers... by JavaLord · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Except that Postal 2 is a horrible game with way-too-long loadtimes.

      Agreed, the zones are annoying.

      Take away the peeing and exploding anthrax cow-heads and you have a boring, repetative game that takes forever to load.

      That is like saying "Take the guns out of quake and you have aboring repetative game

      Plus, you didn't mention taking out the anal raping of cats with shotguns, the priests with guns, making women vomit and pee themselves by shocking them with a tazer, the insane amount of politically incorrect humor in the game, etc etc.

      I grant you, this isn't Final Fantasy, Quake, KoTR, Madden 2003, etc. It isn't innovative in anyway, it's just funny, and fun to play.

      There are plenty of movies that appeal to nothing other than crude humor, and that is their selling point. Why is this an invalid selling point for a game?

    4. Re:Video Game Reviewers... by The_dev0 · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Playing GTA for an hour pretty much gives you the whole game. I do like mindless killing though, just saying it's a very overrated game.

      You might like True Crimes: Streets of LA by Activison. It's almost a GTA clone, but with a depth that leaves GTA for dead. It boasts branching storylines with multiple endings, an elaborate karma system, and an entire map of LA to drive around solving/committing crimes. I found it a much more rewarding experience than GTA, which left me feeling a little ripped off, after all, as you say, "Playing GTA for an hour pretty much gives you the whole game". Check it out, it's currently my favourite game.

      --
      Never fight naked, unless you're in prison...
  5. Am I the only guy that finds it funny that ... by doublesix · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There's a 'check latest prices' link next to all the box shots?

    These games suck, now go buy them

    1. Re:Am I the only guy that finds it funny that ... by th3space · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It just goes to show, that even when you're 'bashing' a game, you've got to pay your bills and shill it, at the same time. Bad press is still press, and some people might buy some of those games based on what they've read...

      --
      "How like you to drag your keyboard to a gun fight." - Aaron Bedard (BANE)
    2. Re:Am I the only guy that finds it funny that ... by wed128 · · Score: 3, Funny

      i kinda wanna buy Gods and Generals now, just to see if a game could really be as bad as they said...are they exaguratting?

  6. A game that takes itself far too seriously by ivan256 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Really, what business does a game have taking it self seriously? How dare a game company assume it has an educated audience or incorporate satire and history? It's a video game it's supposed to be mindless entertainment for children and lazy ass 20-sometings. Somebody needs to tell those Xenosaga folks that they're not artists before they put any thoughtful storytelling in episode 2!

    1. Re:A game that takes itself far too seriously by Black+Hitler · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Somebody needs to tell those Xenosaga folks that they're not artists before they put any thoughtful storytelling in episode 2!
      I wouldn't worry about that, seeing how there wasn't any thoughtful storytelling in episode 1, just a bunch of cliches dressed up with sub-Evangelion religious symbolism and endless anti-war speechifying.
    2. Re:A game that takes itself far too seriously by ivan256 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Right. There aren't any new storylines out there. Everything is old and cliche. We should stop taking ourselves seriously altogether because our golden days as an artistically creative species are all behind us. We should be satisfied with a string of first person shooters with progressively fancier graphics, because live action is the only thing that can be "real" anymore. We should give up on reinterpreting the classics and make all directors and fantasy authors do some actual work for a living. All of our shildren should play football in lieu of all other potential activities. All television series should become "reality" shows.

      Excuse me while I go shoot myself.

  7. Xenosaga might take itself too seriously, but... by Lightwarrior · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...it's still one hell of a game - though people either tend to love it or hate it.

    http://gamerankings.com/itemrankings/itemcomment s. asp?itemid=519264

    -lw

    --
    Mods: Disagreeing with me != my post Offtopic / Flamebait.
    World without hate or war, invaded. Tragic?
  8. yeah. right... by Ender+Ryan · · Score: 4, Informative
    *Ender Ryan rolls eyes*

    Please... That's ridiculous.

    People wanted "Mature" games, just like people want "Mature" movies, magazines, books, etc.

    If you don't like it, that's fine, but please don't shove your morals down others' throats.

    My $0.02 USD

    --
    Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
  9. I read a funny interview somewhere... by JFMulder · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ... with some TECMO head, where he said that the guys who did the bathing suit designs were completely blown away by the female designers because the women were the one who came up with the most revealing bikinis and the most explicit poses for the DOA girls.

    1. Re:I read a funny interview somewhere... by DeadScreenSky · · Score: 3, Informative

      But, but, but, mildly sexual titillation featuring completely virtual women is EXPLOITATION!!!

      (...stupid Gamespot...)

      And yes, Itagaki (head of Team Ninja) did say something like that in an interview. (scroll down about halfway, or just search the page for 'female')

      And for what it is worth, my GF loves the game...

      --
      There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. -- Francis Bacon
  10. Re:yeah. right... by LordLucless · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yeah - except that the "mature" games are just crap. Making a volleyball game and then taking the players clothes off doesn't make it "mature". A truly mature game would be a game that deals with content in a mature manner, not one that just shows as many titties as possible.

    --
    Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
  11. Typical sell-out media by jvmatthe · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Maybe I'm just a pie-in-the-sky idealist, but I'm more and more disappointed that the "media" are really just vehicles for pushing the products they claim to evaluate. Do all media outlets now provide "check prices" and "buy now" links when they're supposed to be evaluating products?

    As another poster pointed out, what's the deal with a "Check prices" link on every game, even the ones that are supposedly terrible? The answer is that GameSpot is probably obligated to provide those links because of deals they have with publishers or game retailers. Not only does that particular category reveal them for the captialists that they really are (i.e. not independent press), but then they actually have a category called "Most Disappointing Delay" populated with games that are not out now and (in the case of Half-life 2, at least) may not be out for several months yet.

    Frankly, I think they could have listed themselves among the category "Most Despicable Product Placement".

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    Curmudgeon Gamer: Not happy