Chilean Newspaper Lists Shenmue, Okami as Part of "Worst Games of All-Time"

Riverwolf

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Okay, I get that Shenmue, of the classics on that list, is definitely one of the more polarizing games, and certainly not one that everyone can enjoy. But I think even the people who hated it would never compare it to games like DAIKATANA and BIG FREAKING RIGS!! At the very least, Shenmue is highly stable software, and features graphical and world detail that was WAY ahead of its time (by at least 5 years). Even now, almost 15 years later, I can still say that playing Shenmue feels like walking around in Japan (and I spent two weeks in Shizuoka, not too far from Yokosuka where the game takes place, so I think I know what I'm talking about... and yes, I'm a very sad Shenmue fan.)

But, seriously. Psychonauts? Grim Fandango?? FREAKING OKAMI???!!! OKAMI!!!!!!! Okay, so I did try playing Psychonauts myself for a few hours after all the critics reviewed it highly, and I didn't feel like it was the masterpiece they were making it sound like, but it's still a great game. As for Okami, what the blazes is wrong with that one?? It's fun, stable, funny, and absolutely GORGEOUS! (Admittedly, I haven't beaten it, yet, but I don't get many chances to play it.)

I haven't played Grim Fandango, yet, but if you're knocking it because it's a classic adventure game, there's PLENTY of absolute garbage in that genre that don't even do anything interesting.

And since the article asked for my worst games, well... I've bought into the mindset that states if you think you have constant top ten favorites/least favorites of games, you haven't played enough games. (...okay, that's slightly modified from the philosophy, but... I stand by it.) But I can provide a list of 10 games, in no particular order, that I consider terrible for various reasons. (Some of my entries and reasons might seem a wee bit controversial... understand that I don't want these games, or games like them, censored or banned in any way, nor do I believe game creators should be legally restricted on what they can or can't make. It's entirely possible to make games featuring offensive material and still be engaging, especially if there's actually a reason for it. [footnote]Not really a "game", per se, but see the artistic visual novel Song of Saya as an example... well, see it if you think Game of Thrones is too fluffy-bunny; if not, steer clear.[/footnote])

1. Big Rigs: for not even being a game, but a pre-alpha prototype sold for 20 bucks, and an excellent example of why outsourcing to save money is a bad idea... plus the fact that it apparently made a profit.
2. Custer's Revenge: for being offensive on so many levels.
3. Rapelay: yes, for those of you who didn't know, a rape game besides Custer's Revenge exists. I don't think I have to explain why I find that offensive.
4. Call of Juarez- The Cartel: just watch the Extra Credits episode for why this is on the list.
5. Finding Nemo- The Game: finally, a game I have a personal history with. 2 minutes of "gameplay", 5 minutes of loading times. Need I say more?
6. Awesome Possum Kicks Doctor Machino's Butt: an environmentalist propaganda Sonic-clone for the Genesis/Mega Drive. Being a bit of a tree-loving hippie myself, this game is offensive on so many levels, by failing to really educate kids on what the problems are and potential solutions(standard fare for propaganda), and instead doing the whole Captain Planet thing where ALL pollution/deforestation/etc. is done by evil people for its own sake, and going one step further by QUIZZING kids on environmentalist topics after each level, with looming heads of animals staring down with disapproving eyes, and they glare at you if you get it wrong. Oh, and the gameplay REALLY sucks, too. ...but I'm not gonna lie, this game's kind of a guilty pleasure for me.
7. Sonic '06: BETRAAAYAL!!!
8. Sonic Labyrinth: (no, I don't do the whole "one game per franchise") Sonic Labyrinth sucks on so many levels, from concept to execution. To be honest, while it's not as much of a betrayal, I actually think it's worse than Sonic 06... and no, you won't find Sonic R on this list, because I actually enjoyed that terrible mess of a game.
9. An-Indie-First-Person-Shooter-On-XBLA-Whose-Name-I-Can't-Remember: no, being indie doesn't mean you're excluded from criticism, or incapable of making bad games. I don't actually remember the name of this game, and I don't have my 360 with me to check. But a few years ago, I downloaded a demo of some indie XBLA FPS, and found a dull, broken, uninspired game that just failed on all levels.
10. A-Personal-Game-Propaganda-Concept: For years, I've had in mind a propaganda game of my own. There's no prototype, no design document, and no notes. It exists entirely in my head, and that's where it will stay forever. I may be highly opinionated on various issues, but I WON'T stoop to using propaganda to illustrate them. (No, I won't say what it is, or what issue it's supposed to be about.)

Wondering why games like E.T. or Daikatana aren't on my list? Well, I don't really know anything about Daikatana, and E.T., while terrible, is far from the worst game on that system, let alone of all time. Plus, this isn't really a list of games that I think are THE worst of all time, just 10 games that I think are terrible for various reasons.

TristanBelmont said:
Guess what, mate? People can have opinions that differ from yours. ^-^
'Course they can. We can still get mad about them, especially when they appear contradictory. ^_^ (But in light of your post, I have removed my "**** YOU" from my own post, and retract the statement.)
 

GabeZhul

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So, just to sum it all up: The paper interviews two experts, asking one about the worst games and the other about the biggest cult classics that were financial failures, then they mash the two lists of mentioned games together and put them into a chronological order, giving it the appearance it was a ranking order instead, and then label the whole thing as "worst games of all time"...?

...

Holy hell, you couldn't cram more abject FAIL into this thing even if you consciously tried...
 

Roander

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Johnny Novgorod said:
Tomás has replied on FB.

https://www.facebook.com/LasUltimasNoticias/photos/a.231372700297148.37376.231350380299380/485333034901112/?type=1

He says that he was interviewed by the magazine as a gaming dev, and did not have a hand in writing or co-writing the article. He publishes the questions they sent and the answers he gave back. I don't feel like translating the entire post, it's pretty hefty, but summing it up:

1) He talks about the 1983 game crash.

2) He mentions some of the worst videogames in history are ET "of course", Daikatana - mentioning its "insulting publicities" but nothing regarding the game - and Duke Nukem Forever, "a frankly embarrassing" product that took 15 years to develop.

3) When asked about Desert Bus he explains what we all know, that it was part of a game pack that never got an official release. He also mentions Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing.

4) He gives reasons as to why Atari buried the ET cartridges.

Bottom line is Tomás Cofré didn't come up with a Top Worst list for videogames. He was interviewd on a number of subjects and only mentioned ET, Daikatana, Duke Nukem Forever and Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing as being horrible. He does NOT mention Shenmue, Okami, Psychonauts, Pac Man or Grim Fandango at any point.
This is awesome. Thank you for going to the trouble. At the very least I no longer have to feel sick to my stomach thinking that someone who teaches game design thinks "commercial failure" means a game is bad.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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Lunar Templar said:
right ....

This is why I never listen to 'experts', an alarming amount of them have no fucking idea what they're talking about.
If you read Cofré's FB page you'll see he's grown tired of explaining that he was only asked a few questions about the gaming crash of '83 and only mentioned ET, Daikatana and Duke Nukem Forever as bad games. His answers are short and informed, and even goes on to correct the magazine about how Desert Bus is part of a game pack, NOT a game in itself. The magazine either got the controversial side of their ranking from the other "expert" (Marco Bocaz) or simply drew it based on some well known commercial failures. Either way the ranking has nothing to do with the article, which is about the gaming crash of '83 and recent discovery of the ET cartridges. It seems like they just needed some Top 5 nonsense to use as filler.
 

Gizmo1990

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What in the name of all that is good and pure is Grim Fandango doing on that list? Did these guys even play it because I am thinking the answer is no. It is impossable not to love Manny Calavera from the second the game starts.
 

Evil Smurf

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Nov 11, 2011
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Desert Bus is probably the greatest game ever, probably because I have all the great memories of LRR using up all my internet data with songs, skits and dancing.

Related: I can listen to caramelldansen all day.
 

Rblade

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SirBryghtside said:
Just to clear something up, listing Pac-Man for the Atari is justified, and pretty standard for these lists - it was a broken mess in the same vein as ET:


But yeah, the rest just makes it look like the guy's trying to look edgy. Then again, when asked my least favourite games I say Metroid: Other M and BioShock, so it's whatever :p
You are absolutely free to say you don't like Bioshock. But you can't call it a bad game, thats the problem, even if these games didn't make alot of money and you don't like them personally, calling them bad is objectivally lying.
 

MeChaNiZ3D

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Ah, yes, Chile, the oft forgotten centre of games criticism. Sony also declared Demon's Souls a horrible game. No-one is perfect.

But yes Daystar, I will enlist.
 

Riverwolf

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Rblade said:
You are absolutely free to say you don't like Bioshock. But you can't call it a bad game, thats the problem, even if these games didn't make alot of money and you don't like them personally, calling them bad is objectivally lying.
I wouldn't call it lying, because lying implies knowing what the truth is while expressing the falsehood. Confusing something one doesn't like for something that's "objectively bad" (whatever that even means) is a very common mistake, especially in language.

I tried playing Bioshock, myself, and found it to be a very boring experience. But I'd never call it a bad game. On the other hand, I still love Toejam and Earl, despite the fact that it's one of THE most poorly-aged Genesis classics.
 

Doom972

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Sounds like 2 people who either never played video games in their lives, or are to young to appreciate games with less than DX8-level graphics.

They even included Grim Fandango and Psychonauts.

Also, Duke Nukem Forever wasn't very good, but it wasn't an all-time failure like, for example, Daikatana - which is barely functional in addition to have extremely crappy AI.
 

Canadamus Prime

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I've not played any of these games except for Pac-man (unless they're talking about the Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man in which case it's perfectly reasonable for it to be on the list), but I find it unbelievable that games so universally praised as Grim Fandango, Psychonauts, and Okami would be on the same list as games as reviled as Atari's ET, Desert Bus, and Daikatana.
 

Mr C

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These guys are clearly professional trolls.

I do wonder how many people on this site have actually played ET on the Atari? I seen videos and it looks shit, but I've never played it. Anyone?

Cries of crapness is the reason I actually go out of my way to try the odd game with accolades of pants, as I reckon most of the people who write comments about them have never played the game in question. It's the reason I sought out Too Human and Killzone (original) when they were cheap. Any gripes I have are genuine, and I know to appreciate great games, unlike those twats who complain about 8/10.
 

Metadigital

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It doesn't look like anyone has noticed this yet:

Every single one of those games was one of the worst financial disasters in gaming history. That's how they were judged to be bad. Not on their content, but on their financial success or failure.

It's not a troll list or clickbait. It's just a purely capitalistic judgement on the value of games.
 

otakon17

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Casual Shinji said:
One industry darling, maybe. But 4 on one list!?

These guys are just straight up trolling, there's no other way. Even if you don't like Okami, seriously naming it a worse game than Duke Nukem Forever makes me question your sanity.
Agreed, there is NO way they've got Okami, Grim Fandango, Shenmue and Psychonauts are worse games then the likes of Duke Nukem Forever or Big Rigs. And PAC-MAN?! REALLY?! One of the DE FACTO titans of gaming in it's infancy. No way in hell that post is legitimate.
 

Scrythe

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I wonder if they're going by sales, because Okami holds the current record [http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-7000/least-commercially-successful-winner-of-a-game-of-the-year-award/] for the least commercially successful game of all time.

If I knew absolutely nothing about games and saw those numbers, I would assume that this "Okami" was a terrible product.

Oh. My. Gods.

I just realized how Hollywood works, now.
 

otakon17

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Daystar Clarion said:
*Eye twitch*

I see...

No, no, it's grand, I'll just be over here.

[sub]Shattering armies...[/sub]

[sub][sub]Burning worlds...[/sub][/sub]
I KNEW you'd have something to say about this mess.