I Sorta Miss The Flops And Epic Fails
Back in the day, all sorts of broken games made their way to store shelves. Screwed up translation was common, for instance; where do you think "All your base are belong to us?" came from, anyway?
During the infancy period of this industry, it really wasn't hard to find games that should never have made it through QA testing...and that was probably because many times, there was no such thing as QA. But even up through last generation, we'd occasionally get the hotly anticipated title that just flopped big time, leading to months - and even years - of good ol' mocking laughter. Oh, make no mistake, I'm a very optimistic person in general and I hate to see games fail. It's quite depressing.
But now it's almost...I don't know, boring, I guess. It's almost inevitable that most any game on your "most anticipated" list will end up being great. It's an absolutely absurd thing to complain about and in fact, someone should really take notice of this phenomenon, 'cuz it doesn't happen in other entertainment venues. I mean, there's basically no chance Assassin's Creed III will flop. There's basically no chance Bioshock Infinite will be disappointing. There's basically no chance that you'll play God of War: Ascension and go, "damn, I'm surprised, this sucks."
In fact, even games that you may have been on the fence about, that weren't guaranteed hits, are coming up big. Look at this past week; both Darksiders II and Sleeping Dogs turned out great. Besides Duke Nukem Forever (which could very well be the most epic fail of all time) and Haze, I'm not sure I can put my finger on many colossally disappointing titles. Sure, we've seen games that suck but 95% of the time, we all expected them to suck. If we expect them to be fantastic, they most often are.
That's really pretty amazing when you stop to think about it; I can't think of a game that totally betrayed me this generation. I was even iffy on Haze so I wasn't completely shocked when it blew. It's actually a lot easier to find diamonds in the rough, titles that didn't get a ton of attention but were still really good. Who thinks The Last Of Us will flop? Seriously? Crysis 3? Right. Dead Space 3? I'm guessing not. You can always tick off hardcore fans but in terms of quality, it's just so rare to see out-and-out flops from hotly anticipated projects.
It's awesome but still, I kinda miss the floppity flop flops. They could be amusing. By the way, anybody who complains about the state of video game quality today needs a sock to the head, or they need to go back in time and stand in front of the game rental shelf at Blockbuster. Maybe in the late 80s or early 90s. Good luck with that.
Tags: gaming, video games, gaming culture, gaming industry
8/17/2012 9:18:12 PM Ben Dutka
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Comments (67 posts)
WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, August 17, 2012 @ 10:12:02 PM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Friday, August 17, 2012 @ 10:16:04 PM
FM23
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 12:07:21 AM
BikerSaint
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 12:52:26 AM
FM23
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 12:15:38 PM
Axe99
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 5:04:35 PM
Beamboom
Sunday, August 19, 2012 @ 10:28:37 AM
WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, August 17, 2012 @ 10:09:51 PM
Reply
There's a certain stagnation in top quality games, which is why I found a lot to enjoy in dark horses like WET, Dark Void, Saboteur, Two Worlds II, and Condemned 2. You gotta get your hands dirty. There was a time when 95% of games were unplayable.
DazeOfWar
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 12:19:03 AM
Dark Void had it's flaws but I really enjoyed the story. Saboteur was a great and fun game with a cool story overlooked by to many. I will say I loved the first Condemned more but 2 was almost as good and pretty crazy.
**SPOILER BEGIN**
Not sure if you played the first Condemned World but I now one of the scariest parts in the game was when you go into the mall and there are all the mannequins. When you first see them and it feels like they're all staring at you. I remember when I saw the first one move out of the corner of my eye. Freaked me the hell out.
**SPOILER END**
I probably didn't need the spoiler parts since the game is so old but I thought I would be nice.
BikerSaint
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 12:58:26 AM
WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 1:24:24 AM
Rogueagent01
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 4:07:02 AM
The majority of the highly anticipated titles this gen are just boring to me and I would rather play games that interest me. I still think though that this gen has had more "broken" games than many of the previous gens, but I am also not using the word "broken" in the same way as previous gens either.
DazeOfWar
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 10:01:13 AM
@Biker: No offense but just wanted to correct you on Condemned. The first one was Criminal Origins and the second one was Bloodshot. No biggie though considering how many games you have. Can't remember them all right. lol
BikerSaint
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 11:59:06 AM
DazeOfWar
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 3:29:41 PM
Temjin001
Friday, August 17, 2012 @ 10:27:37 PM
Reply
cLoudou
Friday, August 17, 2012 @ 10:59:48 PM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 10:11:10 AM
WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, August 17, 2012 @ 11:04:47 PM
Temjin001
Friday, August 17, 2012 @ 11:15:57 PM
WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, August 17, 2012 @ 11:21:13 PM
Temjin001
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 12:31:13 AM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 10:12:48 AM
TheIllusiveMan
Friday, August 17, 2012 @ 10:54:32 PM
Reply
La_Bete12
Friday, August 17, 2012 @ 11:22:17 PM
DazeOfWar
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 12:23:11 AM
Reply
I'll play pretty much anything at least once. There was Azurik on the original Xbox. Talk about garbage. I finished the game though and I will say it had the best credits in any game ever. Had me dying laughing.
Another game that flopped but I thought was amazing was Advent Rising. The game had such an awesome story and it never got finished.
Ultimadesires
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 4:03:25 AM
Reply
I also found Resistance 3 to be very disappointing, I know it got good reviews but I just found it really lacking in comparision to the previous games. They tried to make us character about an old minor character with his family but I just couldn't connect with him. The story as a whole was flat and we learn't nothing new about the Chimera. Not to mention the Co-op is buggy. For me this lead an AAA series to average.
Then there have just been other games which I cannot stand the direction they have gone in, like Tekken 6 resembling anime or Resident Evil taking action over horror, I can say they're flops I just hate the direction the series have taken.
But when it comes to flops, I think gamers rely on reviews now to avoid the bad experiences. I look at myself of PS3 games and they all easily 7+/10 titles (I tend to get rid of titles if I really cannot stand them like Farcry 2). I know I do, however if a game really interests me with unique features but is not received well I will give it a try. Many gave Nier mediocre reviews, but I regard it as one of the most enjoyable games I have played this gen. But often reviews have put me off games due to low scores, bugs, poor mechanics ect.
BikerSaint
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 12:05:28 PM
Ultimadesires
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 1:20:18 PM
But I mention Silent Hill for anything set after The Room, there has just been nothing redeeming about it's downfall at all.. well Shattered Memories is okay, but it is more of an experiment than an actual game.
WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 11:12:41 AM
___________
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 5:46:57 AM
Reply
oh come on, this gen has had PLENTY of flops!
were forgetting about naughty bear, rouge warrior, thor, xmen destiny, APB, too human, ninja blade, ninja gaiden 3, RE5, DMC4, wet, AVP, inversion, DNF, resistance 2, GT5, GTAIV, GOW3, quantum theory, R&C quest for booty, R&C all for one, red faction armageddon, lost planet 2, bionic commando, starhawk, LBP2, the noobified spiderman, whole NFS series, every guitar hero after 3, every rock band, the darkness 2, midnight club LA, dark sector, syndicate, dead rising 2, dark void, infamous 2, ape escape, playstation move heroes, kungfu fighters, hell pretty much every playstation move game!
hell 1 game mass effect 3!
if you were to tell me 2 days before ME3 released that it would get the backlash it did, and a massive portion of its fans would LOATHE it i would of personally driven you and not left till i saw you locked in your own mental cell!
thats how a surefire hit the game was looking!
and how did that turn out?
now a massive portion of bioware fans have sworn to never buy another one of their games ever again!
games are just as picking straws as they ever were, its really hard to tell if a games going to end up being really good or a flop!
simply because we only see a small portion of a game, and allot of the times things that matter, like story for instance they wont show to avoid spoilers.
hell, 70% at least of games this generation that were assured to be sure fire hits ended up sucking!
remember how much hype APB had behind it?
how did that turn out?
remember how much hype too human had behind it?
it was called the GOW for the 360!
how did that turn out?
we have as much of a guess of how well a games going to do as much we have the ability to pick next weeks lottery numbers!
Kevin555
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 6:21:04 AM
& Mass Effect 3, other than the ending (which has been improved upon now, to help dry the tears of fans with sore arses) what else was actually wrong with the game from a gameplay perspective in your view? Compared to say ME2? Not having a crack at you or trying to mother you or anything, i just find some of your decisions bewildering.
I enjoy opinions & all but some of the games you've listed there, to me anyway, is bordering on absurd! If those are flops in your book, where the **** do you rate commercial turds such as Haze, Lair & Dino Crisis 3?
Out there opinions & no online handle. You mysterious little whippersnapper, you. ;)
Last edited by Kevin555 on 8/18/2012 6:22:43 AM
___________
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 9:56:31 AM
ME2 was so addicting because you spent so much time helping your crew you REALLY cared for them!
ME3 though the opposite is true, so i could not care who burned and who did not.
the only part of ME3 that was better than 2 was the big epic set pieces, everything else was a massive step back!
absolutley they were flops, simply because they did not live up to what they were suppose to be!
especially GTAIV, it was the first next gen game so everyone was expecting a massive HD open world like san andreas.
but so much of that was stripped away!
you couldent fly jets, you couldent do outdoor activities, there was no weapon customization, there was no gang wars, it was the most basic simplistic dumbed down game possible!
DazeOfWar
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 10:04:06 AM
CanadianGuy420
Sunday, August 19, 2012 @ 3:55:54 PM
sirbob6
Sunday, August 19, 2012 @ 10:17:14 PM
Simply because a game doesn't meet every single one of your bizarre expectations does not mean its a flop.
berserk
Monday, August 20, 2012 @ 4:38:30 PM
T2X
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 8:37:59 AM
Reply
BikerSaint
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 12:17:11 PM
I can't comment yet on Lair just because that's another one that's still in my backlog of games to play.
BTW, when I get ready to play Lair, what's the best way to play it, pre-patch or after-patch?????(I don't know exactly what the patch did)
Last edited by BikerSaint on 8/18/2012 12:18:35 PM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 10:11:50 AM
WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 11:15:11 AM
Reply
WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 1:24:58 PM
WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 1:40:00 PM
Reply
Thankfully Hideo Kojima has stepped in to say it would get a boost on his new FOX engine.
http://www.psu.com/a016615/Hideo-Kojima-wants-a-Silent-Hill-game-made-with-the-FOX-engine
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 8/18/2012 1:40:10 PM
Fane1024
Monday, August 20, 2012 @ 8:05:03 PM
Axe99
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 5:08:37 PM
Reply
Temjin001
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 5:22:21 PM
Last edited by Temjin001 on 8/18/2012 5:24:35 PM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 5:42:39 PM
Axe99
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 10:01:25 PM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 7:19:17 PM
Temjin001
Saturday, August 18, 2012 @ 8:24:50 PM
Beamboom
Sunday, August 19, 2012 @ 11:19:10 AM
letherclad
Monday, August 20, 2012 @ 9:42:58 AM
berserk
Monday, August 20, 2012 @ 4:42:17 PM
berserk
Monday, August 20, 2012 @ 4:43:02 PM

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Killa Tequilla
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Friday, August 17, 2012 @ 9:55:24 PM
In retrospect the game was nice.