Zero Punctuation: Daikatana - John Romero's B****

[schwegburt]

Never really heard of that game before. Forced me to do some digging and see which other great 'critical and/or commercial failures' might be unearthed before too long. Some I knew to be bad, lazy, or merely overambitious (ET, Duke Nukem Forever, Shenmue etc). What surprised me was to see Physconauts, Okami, and Beyond Good and Evil in that list as well. The former was actually no great shock. Part of its fame was that it sold very poorly initially.
However, the other two. I think a future episode could be done using either of those titles as an example of why 'high quality and great originality is no guarantee of success'.

Psychonauts and Beyond Good and Evil were commercial failures The difference being that when they were initially released they didn't have the massive advert budget so they kinda slipped under the radar ... but both of those games have enjoyed somewhat of a revival thanks to steam and GoG.

Daikatana too. I actually made a point of trying it out...dear god it is a perfect case study for every video game designer... seriously. The mistakes start with the game and never stop. Playing through should be a course work exercise.

I vividly remember photos of "Not Released Yet" signs on the betseller racks where Daikatana would soon sit. It may have been the power of preorders but seriously looked like counting the chickens before they hatch.

 

[Thanatos2k]

I am so glad I never had expectations for Daikatana.

 

[Poetic Nova]

Well, I'll credit Romero one thing: He did give us "I can't leave without my buddy, Superfly.
A phrase so ridiculous and strangely, so conducive towards co-op gaming. (even if it's in a semi-sarcastic sort of way)

Hell, the name 'Superfly' alone is already strange if you ask me.

 

[JimB]

The word "butthole" never stops being laugh-out-loud funny to me. It's possible I'm immature.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

Danm, I was really hoping this week was Five Night At Freddy's. I know it was out weeks ago but still given that it's the dry period of game release now.

Ditto. Given his predilection for horror games, it seems right up his alley. And if he was being serious about having a phobia of theme park mascots, I can only imagine what he must think of deliberately-creepy animatronics.

I think the trick might be somehow convincing him that it's not just 2014's answer to Slender. Maybe if I pointed out that the mechanics are reminiscent of Papers, Please?

 

[Something Amyss]

That didn't take long now did it?

If you're assuming I meet your criteria, you're wrong. But that's kind of unsurprising.

Of course, the fact remains you wouldn't have even got that comment if you hadn't struck pre-emptively.

 

[Something Amyss]

The word "butthole" never stops being laugh-out-loud funny to me. It's possible I'm immature.

Trust me, I've tried maturity. It's overrated. Buttholes for all.

 

[JimB]

As someone with a few mental disabilities I found the whole "Retarded moments in retarded retards" joke absolutely.... hilarious.

Now let's all wait for someone with no disabilities to call you a horrible person on my behalf.

And while we're at it, let's ignore anyone with intellectual disabilities who might dislike the word "retarded" being thrown around.

That didn't take long now did it?

Uh, no one called anyone a horrible person, and no one has said anything on your behalf. Zachary Amaranth was explicitly talking about people who are not you. I get that you're spoiling for a fight, Loki_The_Good, but you might wait to for someone to actually say what you're accusing them of before yelling at them for saying it, because it doesn't do your position any good when you yell at people for things they didn't say.

 

[Evonisia]

So this retrospective lesson mini-series will be a monthly occurrence on the first week? Fine with me.

Now to cautiously wait as the game released begin piling up after these months of drought.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

Really enjoy the new format and looking forward to other fresh directions for the show.

 

[Something Amyss]

well, why did you respond then?

Because I wasn't just speaking for other people.

You do understand you can address multiple people including yourself, right?

You assumed I was doing what you wanted me to be doing because it was convenient. Nothing more.

 

[Mahoshonen]

Are releases that slow Yahtzee?

Why not take a crack at a Civilization game? Or are you waiting for After-Earth? (if so you can always look back at Alpha Centauri.)

Alternatively, there's the Dynasty Warrior series now that 8:XL is out on Steam, although I suspect your saving up your ammo for when the Zelda tie-in gets localized.

 

[vdrandom]

Are releases that slow Yahtzee?

Actually I was wondering too.

Why so slow?

 

[Drake the Dragonheart]

"Let's all laugh at an industry that never learns anything te-he-he!" Not only have you got it stuck in my head, you have me saying it out loud to myself!

 

[JimB]

It's comes from the same problem though. People ignoring the happiness of an actual real disabled person to defend some hypothetical other who are quite capable of speaking for themselves.

That didn't happen either. You used your mental disabilities to claim you have some kind of authority to declare what's acceptable (and for the record, you do not have such an authority; nothing about whatever developmental problem you have obligates me to cede my own sense of right and wrong to you), and Zachary Amaranth points out that your claim cuts both ways, since anyone else with a disability can claim that same moral authority of declaration, thus more or less invalidating yours.

It's the implication that jokes like these do harm when in reality there can be a wide variety of responses as individual as the people that make the group up.

I do not know what Zachary Amaranth believes on this topic, since he has not said one word about it. However, I will say that in the hypothetical situation you have presented, I would not be in the least inclined to dismiss the hurt others feel as an acceptable price to pay for your laughter, nor to prioritize your laughter over their pain.