jeffbase34

10. Add – On Hardware -


Sometimes successful, mostly huge failures. Add ons for hardware have been around since the NES days with the gun zapper and Duck Hunt. Over the years, there have been countless new devices from power gloves, VR helmets, specialized controllers, steering wheels, joysticks, all designed to make the gaming experience more enjoyable and immersive. Most of these devices end up worthless after one game. Are is anyone really clammering for Eye of Judgement 2?

9. PS3 Arrogance –

Sony apparently thought the PS2 love was so high that fans would have no beef about dropping $600 bones for a gaming console. PS3 soon gathered dust on shelves.


8. Hormone Based Gaming


With the advance of 3D graphics, some dolts in a board room looked at the demographics and figured that guys would go gaga over video games featuring hot babes and not much else. The commercial for Dead or Alive Volleyball is still remembered as an embarrassment to the industry. And everyone just wants to forget The Guy Game ever existed.


7. No Save Anywhere

Are we still having this debate? Developers continue to think a game is more fun and challenging if they do not allow a save anywhere feature. Nothing sucks more than spending an hour progressing only to die a cheap death, and have to restart over. Far Cry 2 turned off many gamers to its elusive save structure. And Tales of Vesperia like many JRPGS will force you to go through lengthy dialogue screens if you die in the following battles. ARGH!!!!



6. Only Release on DLC

DLC was fine when it was restricted to demos and cheapo arcade titles. However, when full blown gaming titles started releasing exclusively on DLC, developers really froze themselves out of a full pontenial market. For one thing, not everyone has access to high speed internet especially people in rural areas. They have no way to enjoy GTA’s Lost and the Damned yet if the title released in store, there would be more sales. Plus some ppl don’t like fooling with entering in those card code numbers.



5. PC’s Piracy Fight

Back in the day, installing a PC game took nerves of steel, and lots of patience with decoder wheels, password decrypters and other clever ways to foil pirates. Piracy remains a problem for PC games, and the fight goes on. Unfortunately, the fight only manages to irritate legitimate customers, and not the pirates. Massive game file sizes and the need for multiplayer is a good deterrent as any.


4. Video Game as Sports!

Cyberatheletes? Does anyone take this serious? The push to establish video game as a competitive sport is one big joke. No one wants to root for some punk kid who is making tons of money by playing video games. Everyone depises the guy instead. And who enjoys watching people playing video games on a tv on your tv?


3. Video Game TV


Game Informer talks about this in their new issue. It’s a sad failure, yes video game tv is one big dud. It started 10 years ago with Tech TV, an excellent channel devoted to technology, computers and gaming. Then G4 came along and destroyed tech tv. Only Xplay survived . G4 was actually a great cable channel in the day. I enjoyed shows like Filter and Icons. Yet, due to lack of ratings, the show has been watered down to lousy Star Trek reruns. There just is no audience of video game related tv shows probably because the content is all online.



2. MMO madness

Everquest made it look easy. Design a MMO, rake in the money, release a few patches, rake in more money, a game that keeps on paying. So began the me too generation, and MMO after MMO bombed horribly. Even huge licenses like Star Wars could not duplicate the success of Everquest and later, World of Warcraft.



1. Over Hyping Duke Nukem Style

It has become a lame joke and general problem with the industry. Duke Nukem Forever was promised to us over 10 years ago. Is it even a real game in development? No one seems to know. The problem is when developers release info on their games years before the release. It creates huge hype and expectations, and the end result is that the game often disappoints when it finally comes out. Killzone 2 is a solid game, but the reaction feels deflated compared to the hype. Fable suffered greatly from this, while being a solid RPG, it failed to deliver the experience people had in their minds.

We would be better off not knowing about games until they are near completion.

flashburn

Were you just bored or did you lift this from somewhere?

Raul3

Either way it's a sad, sad, list. It seems the person that created that list didn't tried really hard.

Rockmjd23

I used to hate PC games that made me type in the 5th word on page 120 of the guidebook! I'm looking at you, Riders of Rohan.

murray731

Some of the stuff on this list doesn't make a lot of sense and appears to be the author's personal opinion. That's fine, but at least qualify it as such.

Groucho

Was this typed on a cell phone?

UncleGramps

How did the U.S. Sega Saturn launch not make this list? BOO.

RichC2

Is it me or does that list seem like it's from 2006-ish? If not sooner (I originally had 2004 but the PS3 mention gives it a boost).

Groucho

The rant against add-on hardware indicates that it pre-dates the Wii Balance Board.

RichC2

It also are is ignoring the reception of Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

Groucho

Whoa, yeah. Good point.

Rockmjd23

It also predates the AlphaGrip AG-5 PC Gaming and Text Entry Controller.

murray731

I see what you did there.

Derrich

How did the Atari 5200 non-centering controllers not make this list?

This list should be #2 on itself.

D

edstein

The first post should be on this list as well.

WMAangel

How did they ignore the "Nintendo spurns Sony in 1993, then has to spend more than a decade playing catch-up trying to regain the industry lead from them after the Playstation is introduced in 1995"?

Seriously, that's got to be at least a top 5, if not top 3, blunder right there....

RockyMtnBri

Add on hardware predates the NES - anyone remember the ColecoVision modules (including the keyboard and Adam computer) and the Intellivision keyboard? I specifically bring those up because the systems were built with ports (buses) for "future expansion." The OP is either relatively young or just opinionated.

Rockmjd23

The first video game console, The Magnavox Odyssey, had a pretty realistic looking rifle light gun. Image one like that today?

fujishig

These aren't even very specific blunders. Also, is this supposed to be US centric? I'm pretty sure "hormonal" games do well in JP, at least, and KR seems to love pro video game tourneys.

The PC piracy fight thing is laughable in what it describes... large file sizes and multiplayer? What if the game has no multiplayer? Should they artificially inflate file sizes in order to "combat piracy?" Now combating PC piracy with stuff like install limits is annoying, but it's not mentioned here.

Only release on DLC? DLC seems like a goldmine right now, I hardly think it's a blunder. If the list had referenced the many games that now seem to hold back content for DLC, I could see that making a list... maybe not a blunder list though, because it still rakes in the cash.

The lack of good shows about videogames on tv is somehow a gaming industry blunder?

I do totally agree with #9, and I'm annoyed by #7 though I can't call it an industry level blunder. The list has to include Nintendo's fall from grace in the PS1 era, Sega's fall from grace in the Saturn era, Nintendo's release of the Virtua Boy, the 3DO, the Jaguar, Atari's role in the crash of '83 which is usually symbolized by ET, etc. Maybe even the PSP launch and UMD, though I'm not sure that makes the top 10.

Tarantino

The Game Gear.

= J

RichC2

You spelt Nomad wrong.

Brent L

The Game Gear's battery life...

Rockmjd23

Sega thinking that this was an ideal setup for a video gamer:



should make any blunders list.

RockyMtnBri

At least that image is of the console and CD that sat side by side! I had the original ones that stacked! Imagine plunking the 32X module on that!

RichC2

Is bad, but not much worse than: