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Gaming's Biggest Blunders of 2006
Ground Glass writes "After all of the self-awarding that goes on in the games industry this year, it's nice to be reminded that there were actually some pretty big industry disasters in 2006. Who can forget that timeless Gizmondo car crash story, for example? Or the onset of microtransactions for cheat codes? One of the Curmudgeon Gamers, Matt Matthews, lays out the worst the industry had to offer this year, from game hype to journalistic screwups, and everything in between." From the article: "3. Bill of Rights -- Void Where Prohibited by Law. We should also sit back and enjoy a steaming hot cup of schadenfreude at the expense of those tireless defenders of morality and the souls of our children: the state governments of Michigan, Minnesota, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and of course Illinois. Each has passed a law restricting the sales of videogames, and each has been stopped by the courts. Apparently there are things called 'constitutions; which grant 'rights' like 'free speech' which 'activist judges' are using to strike down the very laws which will protect our children from rock and r...videogames." He also offers up some of the cut content that didn't make it into the final article.
Nah, because it'll sell like hotcakes no matter when it's released. Sad, but true.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
How exactly would not releasing a product that isn't ready for release be a blunder? If only more companies would spend time fixing their software instead of throwing it at the market for the holiday rush. Releasing unfinished games is a blunder, not the other way around.
Somewhere, Darwin is smiling.
PS3 being #1 makes sense ...
...
Last year at this time everyone was bashing how poor the XBox 360 launch and how expensive it turned out, many people even said "Why would you spend $400 on an XBox 360 when you can buy the more powerful PS3 (that comes with a Blu-Ray player) for less?"
It's amazing how much change 12 months can bring
Neverwinter Nights 2
Frag 'em all...
I also enjoyed GameSpot's coverage ( Dubious Honors 2006 ). If anyone's keeping track, the biggest "loser" this year was EA who was mentioned several times in both articles. I'd have to agree. Next year, everyone can get their hand on whatever hardware they want. Bad games will stay bad and be lost to history. But we're still going to be dealing with overuse of in-game ads and microtransactions for in-game cheats thanks to EA.
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
When some people from Southern Illinois told me about how Chicogans were all self-absorbed snobs I thought it was bias...
I stand corrected.
Of course, I shouldn't make hasty generalizations based on one slashdot comment... afer all, most generalizations are wrong.
Yes, you can dance to Radiohead.
Looks like Mario and Luigi may have to pay this gentleman a friendly visit.
The enemies of Democracy are
Yes, as I was about to say :
From TFA:
"7. Nintendo Says 'when hand gets sweaty, simply wipe 'em'
The Nintendo Wii, current darling of the videogame press, has a dark side...
It's really inexcusable. If your commercials show beautiful people thrashing about in the throes of videogame ecstasy, you have to expect that consumers are going to want to do the same. But those models in your commercials are trained professionals working in a controlled environment. As soon as you take that lethal Wii remote out into the Real World, accidents are possible, even likely. "
Yes, Nintendo made a huge blunder by showing professionals using their console. We all made the same mistake: we assumed these were professional models and/or actors. In reality, they were professional "hold'er-on'er"s, who had abundant professional experience which allowed them to maintain a grasp, however tenuous, on the wiimote, instead of letting go like blithering retar... I mean, your average user.
No disclaimer Nintendo? For shame.
Let's not forget how Sony Slammed Microsoft for botching a World wide launch (despite MS shipping greater numbers and actually making it world wide), and how they also Slammed the Wii for being 'just a gimmick' before adding tilt functions into their controller. I wonder how Sony's investors, (and executives) keep being "overly optimistic".
I speak for the general public when I say that it's probably a good thing you aren't an engineer or manager. From the consumer's perspective (the only one that counts), the strap IS part of the controller because it came with the controller.
Again, if you're developing for consumers, you need to assume that a significant portion of your buyers will be dummies. Smart companies spend time testing their products in "dummy" sitations precisely for this reason: to figure out what bad things can happen when consumers use their products in a way other than was originally intended around a theoretical white board.
Kudos to Nintendo for trying to fix their fuck-up, but it was a fuck-up, and one that could have been avoided with a better "beta" program.
Last year's #5? Nintendo's Revolution's big thing was being a Gamecube with a motion-sensing controller. In 2005, derided for being underpowered and gimmicky. ... yeah, looks like that -really- screwed up Nintendo there. They made a terrible mistake, making a system that out-sold the PS3 (Yeah, yeah, they had more available... still counts!).
Makes me wonder, at the end of 2007, which item from this list will we look back on and say, "Y'know, that really wasn't a bad thing..."
Your inner manly-man is a pansy; a real inner manly-man would be punching through walls.
D6 63 0D 70 89 81 BB 8E 7B 7C 5F 5D 54 EA AB 73
Nevermind that if you look at the PS2 launch price, throw in inflation, and oh looky there! PS3 launch price.
...
PS2 Launch Price 2000 dollars = $300, adjusted for inflation $348.08
Then you try to compare it to 3D0. How many games play on the PS3? Care to hazard a guess? Anyone? Lets just say that it is, right now, exponentially more than 3D0 EVER had.
List of 3DO games: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_3DO_games
Does anyone remember the PS2 launch? Anyone at all? Same pile of shit, different console. Ahh, and look at how the PS2 crashed and burned...riiight.
The PS2 launched with over 700,000 systems in Japan on day one and had sold over 1 Million by the end of its first month (March 00); in North America there were 500,000 systems at launch and they sold over 1 Million by the end of 2000 (2.5 months). The PS2 was unavailable largely because the demand was so great that Sony could not produce them fast enough; the PS3 is unavailable because Sony has produced too few of units.
Christmas sales don't matter for WOW because most players don't know what day it is anyway.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
What do you mean, don't know what day it is? It's Onyxia reset day!
Well, quite a lot of people do seem to be fumbling it lately...
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
I was under the impression that that's exactly what they'd done...
Sigs are for the weak.