Modern gaming

[CorruptCor3]

I just watched a review for Mindjack, and this brought something to my attention...
When did it become alright to release a buggy game that barely works? Is playtesting a thing of the past?

 

[Hal10k]

I can't think of a single console generation where I can't name a dozen games off the top of my head that shipped with game-breaking bugs. The thing is, with a few notable exceptions, these are the games we usually forget, whereas the ones that were better produced or received better support go on to be presented as proof that everything new sucks and everything old was awesome.

I honestly doubt the people who made Mindjack remember that it exists.

 

[Vault101]

gltichs have existed...

though thease days instead of blowing the cartridge you just download a patch

 

[scorptatious]

There have been tons of games like that in the past. Remember Superman 64? Action 52?

 

[Lucem712]

Eh, there will always be subpar buggy messes. We're either nostalgic or too young to remember buggy/shovel-ware of the past.

In the words of Bethesda, "They aren't bugs, they're features!"

 

[Lucem712]

Damn you, buggy captcha. >.<

 

[Moonmover]

http://cinemassacre.com/category/avgn/avgn-2004-2006/

Listen to this man. He will enlighten you.

These sort of barely-finished games are nothing new, and have been just as common in the past as they are now. It's not a matter of modern culture, it's a matter of some people not taking pride in their work and not trying to make their product as good as they can.

 

[Vault101]

no matter how bad, or bug ridden or glitchy or unplayable a game release it they will still be better than big rigs over the top racing and ET

oh god yes..big rigs..

YOURE WINNER!!!!

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

In some games, I'm relatively willing to overlook bugs. Saints Row and Skyrim are massive enough that I understand when significant bugs make it through development. In other games I'm less tolerant. Running into game stopping bugs in Homefront was irritating given how few variables I, as a player, was given to play with.

 

[CorruptCor3]

Actually, I've seen all of the AVGN stuff,and he is awesome! But you do have to factor in age to the games and consoles for that. Even in those games though, you have to wonder if anyone ever played the game before releasing it, and this concern increases exponentially with the ever-ballooning cost of making the game in question.

This was supposed to be quoting one of the earlier posts. Daaaammmmn.

 

[Twilight_guy]

I'm sure the QA department really loves all your concern and doesn't wish to strangle you in your sleep for berating their work. A wise man once said that every time you see a bug in a game stop and consider the fact that at some point the developers knew about that bug and decided not to address it because their time was better spent elsewhere. Think about how big the other bugs must have been to warrant not address the bugs you are seeing. (oh and a programmer myself, I'm obligates to say 'fuck you' to anyone who doesn't think people care about bugs or test for them).

 

[krazykidd]

When they realised we can download a patch to fix the game . Do you have any more easy questions?

Also games have been buggy in the past , but games are more complicated now . But seriously i have never ever come across and game breaking glitch in all my years of gaming . I'm just lucky like that.

 

[Poetic Nova]

When they realised we can download a patch to fix the game . Do you have any more easy questions?

Also games have been buggy in the past , but games are more complicated now . But seriously i have never ever come across and game breaking glitch in all my years of gaming . I'm just lucky like that.

Never played True crime Streets Of LA then? That one was fun but the amount of bugs where ridiculous with some game-braking ones.

 

[Grimh]

Since when!? Since the very dawn of this entire medium!

...or the Atari or something, I dunno.

Since very early on, is the point I'm trying to get across here.

 

[HardkorSB]

I'm sure the QA department really loves all your concern and doesn't wish to strangle you in your sleep for berating their work. A wise man once said that every time you see a bug in a game stop and consider the fact that at some point the developers knew about that bug and decided not to address it because their time was better spent elsewhere. Think about how big the other bugs must have been to warrant not address the bugs you are seeing. (oh and a programmer myself, I'm obligates to say 'fuck you' to anyone who doesn't think people care about bugs or test for them).

I know it's hard work but you can't expect gamers to just go:
"Well, the characters don't break into single pixels during gameplay and you can see what's going on so I won't complain". Gamers make your career possible, they have every right to ***** and whine about whatever pisses them off in your product. What the developers should do is listen to the bitching and whining, pick out the stuff that makes sense and apply it to their future projects.

As far as Mindjack goes, I didn't see any bugs (the again, I played it only for 2 hours), I jut thought the game was shit in general. If I didn't get it for free in a 3 for 2 sale, I would be angry.

 

[Mr. Omega]

Bugs and glitches have been around since the dawn of gaming. That hasn't changed.

What's changed is now people don't actually hold it against developers anymore. Case in point, Bethesda.

 

[masticina]

Well there always have been buggy games out even during the age of games on audiotape.

But yeah mindjack is one of those in what the studio really doesn't care. A good studio cares.. enough to get the product to a certain level before pushing it out. They rather cut features then have a half broken "full" experience.

Sadly Mindjack is made by jackasses.. that don't care. Or some might have cared.. but the publisher pushed it out prematurely. Obviously someone didn't care! Someone with power that is..

So really that is why it sucks.. someone didn't care.

Now some buggy games ended up great, remember Vampire the Masquarade: Bloodlines. Oh yes more bugs then a roach motel but the fans took it up and with the unofficial patch it works fine.

See as long as someone cares things can be fixed. But mindjack? Nobody cared! It is like a child with 4 arms, 3 eyes and teeth in its tongue.. nobody cared.

And in the future people will have forgotten it exists. It isn't terrible enough to warrant remembering either you see.

 

[krazykidd]

When they realised we can download a patch to fix the game . Do you have any more easy questions?

Also games have been buggy in the past , but games are more complicated now . But seriously i have never ever come across and game breaking glitch in all my years of gaming . I'm just lucky like that.

Never played True crime Streets Of LA then? That one was fun but the amount of bugs where ridiculous with some game-braking ones.

Was that the first one? Yes i have actually . I even played through every ending , that game was fun as hell. I liked the kind of morality system they have in that game , just that when you get too bad a rep , it's almost impossible to pick yourself back up . The final boss fight was fun and hard as hell though . I also loved the music in that game ( back then i was really into rap music) and the fact you could choose what track plays is something most games should add.

Any other easy questions ? XD

Edit: i told you , i'm a natural fluke when it comes to these things . I think i rolled double 12s in luck when i was born .

 

[loc978]

I must say, I rather disagree with most of the sentiment here, if only because the question is "when did it become okay..." and it never really was until games became so big that the occasional gigantic glitch seems minor when taking in the entire game (about the time they started puttin' 'em on CDs, really).

Mind you, in the case of games such as Mindjack... it was never okay, it's still not okay, and sales reflect that. But yes, they always existed.

 

[malestrithe]

Grand Theft Auto was created because of a gaming glitch. It was originally meant to be a top down racing game, but it became GTA. The playtesters thought the game was shit, but noticed that a particular effect took place. For no reason, the police officers in the game went ballistic and wanted to end you ass.

Elder Scrolls 1 has a list of known glitches that are still around today.

The original Sim City did not work on Windows 3.1. It essentially took up all of the ram of a computer, even though it only needed a few megabytes to run. Was not a problem with dos because you can only run a program one at a time, but windows needs that ram and playing Sim City would constantly crash it. Microsoft had to write a specific patch to prevent this from happening.

Mega Man 1 had a little thing where if you jam on the select all the time, certain weapons would register multiple hits.

Mario 64 had a ton of glitches when it was released, one of which allowed you to essentially powerslide into Bower's room as soon as you get access to it.

I could go on, but the point is the same: glitches have been around for a long time and will still continue to be around.