Why arn't bad games funny?

[Scabadus]

Even terrible movies I see just because they're terrible and hence funny. Resident Evil 4 is the closest game I can think of to bad movie hilariousness (I havn't played 5) since it features workable controls (just) and it usually terrible simply because of writing/dialouge/common sence. But even that was more annoying than funny, and playing it at times just seemed to grind on and on (I steadfastly play the entirity of all games I buy at least once with one, mabey two exceptions in my entire life. Even Driver 3). Even if the video sequences are bad I find them funny as long as the gameplay itself is solid, and I honestly can't work out why.

So my questions are: why arn't games like this, with no particular bad points in control or other common frustrating elements, funny? And am I the only one who feels this, did other people laugh their way through games like RE4, Univerce at War: Earth Assault and the F.E.A.R. sequals?

 

[Sev72]

Because when you see a bad funny movie you saw it on TV for no extra cost, rented it for like $3 or you at worst saw it in theaters for $7 or so. When you play a bad game you realize you just dropped $50-$60 on that game.

 

[thiosk]

Not all bad movies are funny, I feel inclined to make that point.

Games aren't funny because they were significantly more expensive, and take significantly more time out of our lives to finish.

Its not funny when your character gets stuck inside a wall, or jumps on a crate you can't get off of. It was bad design.

 

[thatstheguy]

I always end up playing bad games that make you want to castrate yourself. I really would like to see a developer intentionally attempt to make a game so bad that it's good. That be pretty cool to see.

 

[Sgtkillalot0]

Because you wasted your money and time.

 

[Scabadus]

Wasting money is a good point, but I normally pick up games for £5 pre-owned so it's not really an issue for me.

As for getting stuck inside a crate or something, that's not really what I was talking about. I'm talking about where the game works perfectly, but is just terribly written with bad dialoug and perhaps a plot that doesn't make sence. Basically so it's like watching a bad movie except you've got a controler in your hand.

 

[IWCAS]

I don't think bad games are funny because of the price as well. That seriously sucks.... Left 4 dead..... damnit valve....

 

[dmase]

Imgagine how bad the actor feels to be in a bad movie. He is just doing it for a paycheck he is thinking to himself why am i in this piece of shit, my dialogue is horrible and i don't like what i have to do acting wise it just doesn't make a good movie. He isn't having fun most likely. Now imagine you were that actor except your paying to be the actor that hates the movie he is in.

 

[HellbirdIV]

Bad games are rarely bad for the same reasons bad movies are bad.

 

[HE Starwind]

When you say you don't think bad movies aren't funny... watch "Bad Taste" by Peter Jackson, hilarious. He even stars in it

 

[Supreme Defeatist]

When I see a bad movie, I see it with my friends, and it's almost always funny. I generally don't play single-player games when someone else is around, so if it's bad and I don't have anyone to share the experience with (I can try to explain it to friends, but they never have any idea what the hell I'm talking about), it even fails to humor me.

 

[grimreeker]

Because with a bad movie you can just sit back, relax and laugh at its passing. Games take far longer to finish, and if they're so bad that they're a pain to finish it's only frustrating. Bad dialogue/plot, however, with decent-good gameplay, can be hilarious.

 

[SantoUno]

Mostly because you have to get through the game to see any more cutscenes and dialogue, and there is a good chance that whatever makes the game bad will frustrate you too much to allow you to have a good laugh.

 

[squid5580]

When a game is bad it has usually got to do with bad gameplay. Bad gameplay usually equals frustration. It is hard to find something funny when it is frustrating you.

 

[-Drifter-]

Oh I don't know, I had my fair share of laughs while playing Alone in the Dark. The writing and acting are hilariously bad and the design choices are ridiculously, unbelievably poor, it's hard not to have some fun with it.

 

[Evil Tim]

Bad games are funny. I imagine more people have had hours of genuine fun playing Big Rigs than any middle-rung title you can name. Not for any reason the developer intended, mind.

The reason not so many of them have that Ed Wood charm is that usually a bad game is a lazy game which adheres to a formula and rapidly becomes tedious; these are the one-note sitcoms of gaming. The truly epically bad ones need more ambition; they need to try things in order to fuck them up. The true wonders of bad gaming will endlessly surprise you with how broken they are and how every idea is amazingly, fantastically awful. For this you need games like Big Rigs and Superman 64, not the dirges of non-entertainment like, say, Blacksite. If Resi 4 is your idea of bad, dive lower; you're looking for games like Daikatana, Legendary and Haze where nothing works right, you can sabotage cutscenes without really trying, the plot holes yawn into plot chasms and you can tell every voice actor is staring rigidly at his watch.

 

[DrDeath3191]

Eat Lead: Return of Matt Hazard was bad and funny.