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long-lost Penn & Teller video game

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long-lost Penn & Teller video game

Old 03-03-06, 09:26 AM
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long-lost Penn & Teller video game

Sorry if this is a repost, but I couldn't find it anywhere.

There was always a legendary unreleased videogame from Penn & Teller for the Sega CD, and now it has not only been confirmed, it's out there and playable!

http://www.waxy.org/archive/2006/02/28/penn_tel.shtml


Years ago, I'd heard about a mythical unreleased videogame developed by Penn & Teller for the Sega CD and 3DO. The game was supposed to be an oddball adventure game, with some cruel magic tricks and minigames thrown in for good measure. This Absolute Entertainment press release from March 1995 sums it up nicely.

The most infamous part was "Desert Bus," a "VeriSimulator" in which you drive a bus across the straight Nevada desert for eight hours in real-time. Then you drive it home. Also, I'd read the bus veers to the right, so you can't just leave the joypad propped up. The rumor was that if you won the game, you got one point.

I'd assumed for years that the entire thing was a hoax, but last September, Frank Cifaldi (founder of Lost Levels) received a backup CD-ROM made by a fellow videogame writer of a review copy he'd received a decade earlier. He posted extensive screenshots and a review.


March 1, 2006: Penn Jillette talked about the game today on his podcast! He talks extensively about, among other things, the background history behind "Desert Bus" and the secrets behind some of the minigames. Tons of great trivia, including the tidbit that they were planning a massive Vegas trip prize to the person (or group) with the highest score.






This game sounds so weird and nonsensical, I have to play it! I LOVE the Desert Bus mini-game. It's absolute genius!

Last edited by Professor Frink; 03-03-06 at 09:34 AM.
Old 03-03-06, 10:20 AM
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That is awesome.
Old 03-03-06, 02:03 PM
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I got this off of bit torrent awhile ago. The games are fairly sucky, but the opening with Penn has some funny bits. Its a really weird assortment of games though. There is a fortune telling machine and a really bad side scroller with Penn and Teller among other stuff.
Old 03-03-06, 03:02 PM
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They had a segment on this game on "Attack of the Show" on Thursday. It is cool that this game really does exist, but it looked really, really bad.
Old 03-03-06, 03:32 PM
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Oh yes, I agree 100% that it's a sucky game. But I have to check it out just for the absudity of it all. And besides, you have to admit that it's pretty funny to have that bus-driving side game for 1 point.


MadMonk -- AOTS is where I heard about it.
Old 03-03-06, 06:55 PM
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I almost had the definitive word on this today. I'm aquainted with Penn and as luck would have it, ran into him today. We talked about our wives and such. I came thisclose to mentioning this thread, but couldn't think of a way to bring up the game without seeming like a celeb-obsessed geek, so I let it be. Still I thought about it, FWIW.
Old 03-03-06, 07:22 PM
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Damn, I am so jealous of you. I would love to have even a 10 minute conversation with him, but don't have the guts to call his radio show. Doubt I would do anything but freeze up if I spoke on a radio show. Can't wait to download this week's shows so I can hear him talk about this odd game.
Old 03-03-06, 08:46 PM
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I love that they played the game for FOUR DAYS STRAIGHT for a high score of...

12!!!

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