Crap titles

[RCBH928]

Hello everyone

I wanted to see whats the opinion of other people on crap titles.
But what are crap titles?

This is my definition, they are games that no one cares about. Games like High school musical, my horse and me, you get the idea...For me crap title is anything that scores any thing less than 7/10 .

Games are expensive, and time is scarce, so why would any one invest in such games when greater titles like mario, dead space, metal gear are out there, not to mention the xbl psn and wiiware games, add to that retro games that are still better to buy like mario 64, zelda 64, final fantasy 7, the list is non stop.

So why would any one buy those kind of titles?
Sometimes i get the urge to do so just to check whats in them, if they are making them some one is buying them and they are making profit.
Can there be some fun element them, does a perfect scored game does not mean you get the best time?

[Cassidy]

To me it just signifies that there are all types of gamers out there and certain games are made to cater to those markets.

High School Musical might not be yours or my cup of tea, but pre-teen girls love those titles.

We all have guilty gaming pleasures in our closet, so who are we to judge? This is why I don't draw a line between casual and hardcore gamers. I think gamers are gamers as long as they're playing, and it is hurtful to segment the gaming population. The more games out there, the better.

Ultimately we all vote for quality with our wallets.

There are a lot of "perfect score" games that I just can't get into. I've tried, Lord, I've tried. MGS4 is a great example. When I play it, I love it and it is a great game - but I don't think about it constantly when I'm not playing it like, say, Zelda 64 or Super Mario Galaxy - games which completely took over my life.

[Pulsar_t]

Perfect scored games? I'm sorry but to me those come once every 4-5 years or so. Forget the media hype and the deluded mainstream if you don't like a game you're simply going to feel ripped off (e.g. I found GTA4 and Fallout 3 to be largely devoid of fun). Recently I got Lego Indiana Jones on the DS and I'm enjoying it very much.. There's no need to feel obliged to belong to a 'gamer group' at all if you know what your preferences are.

[Anayo]

I don't even TRUST mainstream review sites anymore with GTA4 and MGS4 getting perfect 10/10's! Sure they said they were "perfect", but on the smaller forums where I hang out I've heard quite to the contrary from folks who bought them and played them themselves. That sort of score is the thing you reserve for epic, time transcending stuff, like Ocarina of Time.

[Elwood]

You know, whether you like him or not, Yahtzee brought up a good point back when he did that "Mailbag Special" episode when he addressed all of the hate mail he got for bashing Super Smash Bros. BRAWL. Someone claimed he wasn't even a "real" reviewer because he didn't score games, which he argued was pointless because:
1. Complex opinions on matters aren't easily broken into simple number or letter scores
2. If you actually read/watch the review you should be able to figure out if you'd like the game without a point score at the end, and
3. These scores tend to lead people to rely on other people for a mere yay or nay without putting their own personal preferences into the equation.

Fact is personal opinion is a strong decider for a lot of things. For instance, Tecmo Bowl Kickoff has with a few exceptions received pretty mediocre scores, but I still plan on getting it because I love the series, and besides one minor gameplay gripe, the only real issues anyone seems to bring up is how it's not that much different from previous incarnations of the series. And since all I wanted from this was a slightly touched up Tecmo Bowl with a few new bells and whistles, that's fine by me.

There are games that have gotten pretty good scores out there, sometimes fantastic scores, that wound up doing nothing for me, where as some lower scored games are actually a fair bit better then some will lead you to believe.

Also, you must remember that there's people out there who aren't as aware of what goes on in the games industry that buy these games for loved ones. You know, the mom who knows her young daughter loves High School Musical, so she picks it up for her not even thinking that the game might suck. That's still pretty common nowadays.

And besides, sometimes lower "rated" games aren't "crap", just "niche". A lot of 2D fighters these days still get lower scores due to be "unoriginal", and while Mega Man 9 and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix are making retro games a bit better received by the mainstream, there's still a retro bias (after all, plenty of FPS's are pretty unoriginal, yet that doesn't get mentioned as much by the mainstream rags). Sometimes a game is gunning for a very specific set of gamer, and depending on whether or not the person reviewing falls in or outside of that set, the scores will change accordingly.

Eh, now I'm rambling, but I got some kind of point across there.

[RCBH928]

This is the thing,
when people out there actually go and buy high school musical or some other "crap" title, then it sure means it can be fun, or there is some kind of fun aspect to it?

I learned from my short videogame experience that high scores does not mean fun game, they tend to judge on stuff like control , graphics, music, while you can measure these but this does not mean it was fun. Fun is why they make videogames. I can prove this because am sure all of you at some point bought a low rated game(less than 7/10) and enjoyed it. Which proves that "crap" titles can be fun.

Is the review system flawed? Does it not send the right idea about which game you should get? I bought halo 3, while I loved halo 2, and think halo 3 is a great game, but i really didn't get any kick out of it. I would've rather played rayman 2 on dreamcast and code veronica which I enjoyed more(maybe because they are different), so neither sales or graphics cuts it for you to know which game you would like to play.

do you think there is a way to find those games that might appeal to you , given that review scores are not enough cause its all on personal appeal. I can hate red steel, some one else might think its the funnest thing ever. Tons of games out there, how to chose?

[fastbilly1]

Years ago I came to the realization that all reviews are just
someone's opinion. And while that may sound like common sense, you
would be surprised at how many people consider reviews gospel. Sure
that individual may have more experience with what they are reviewing,
but in the end it is still just their opinion. If I am not sure of a
title I will hit up Gamefaqs, read one or two of the highest scores,
one or two of the lowest, and usually two in the middle. Get a quick
feel for what others are saying about the title. Numerical scores
mean little to me nowadays, Ill explain that in one moment.

Now I consider myself a fairly knowledgeable gamer. I have over
twenty consoles, remember buying Atari games at ToysRus and have owned
about half a dozen arcade games over the years. I use to go to
tournaments and still enjoy a lanparty or two a year. And on more
than one occasion I have started playing through every game supported
by Mame – latest attempt I got to the mid Cs. I may not be as
uptodate as I use to be, but I think I have a fairly justified
opinion, I may just not be able to express it as well typed as I do in
person.

With that in mind, my top three games last generation were: Zelda
Windwaker, Ribbit King, and Super Monkey Ball. Why? Well Windwaker
was a given, I am a big Zelda fan and a sailing enthusiast, Monkey
Ball was the best Gamecube launch title and still a lot of fun to play
with others, and Ribbit King is one of the few games my little brother
is good at. Some of my fondest memories growing up were playing games
with my little brother, both video and board, but as time rolled on,
so did he. We did spend one evening playing through Bubble Bobble
again when I was in high school, but he was never really a gamer – in
the strictest of senses. Well one day several years ago he approached
me with a magazine and told me he would go in on the game if we bought
it. The game was ofcourse Ribbit King for the Gamecube. While I was
hesitant, he seemed very enthusiastic about it. So I took the chance,
spent $20, and that evening we played it for eight or nine hours. Is
it a good game, not really, there are some pretty bad glitches and an
unfair amount of luck the computer seems to achieve. But I consider
it one of my favorites since it let my little brother and I spend a
lot of quality time together over the past few years. It was decently
received, 5s and 6s mostly, but I would rather sell off my entire
Saturn collection (sans Baku Baku) than this title for that reason
alone. Call me a fool, but to me a fun game trumps a "good" game most
of the time.

Don't get me wrong, if the choice is between Okami and Ninjabread Man,
Im choosing Okami. But when one of my coworkers bought Ninjabread Man
he said he laughed the entire time, which made me rethink my opinion
on it and while it is not a great game, there is fun to be had in its
discount package.

Really what all this boils down to is if the game is fun and the price
is justified, do the reviews matter? Sure $50 for Highschool Musical
is a ripoff to you and me, but to that twelve year old girl who loves
the film, it could be the one of her favorite gifts, right up there
with Princess Unicorn. Granted I have met people from way back who
buy games based solely on their cover art. And you know, I cant knock
them that much, in that I have done the same once or twice…

So how do I end up finding new titles? Well over the years I have
realized a couple things that help me narrow it down. Usually it
comes down to either filling a genre gap or something that catches my
eye. Both are fairly obvious, ie if I have haven't had a new FPS
title in a long time, I would be more inclined to pick up STALKER than
Patapon, but the second is alittle more complicated.

There are ofcourse series I follow, Zelda for one, and usually have
those titles before I have to make these kinds of decisions. However
when I do, I usually stick to things that look interesting to me. I
have found that in my case the three companies I usually buy the most
are Nintendo, Natsume, and Atlus. They usually bring interesting
titles to the table and usually I enjoy the ones I buy. So if it was
released by one of them, more than likely Ill give it a look.
Secondly I refer to the experience of my friends. Ack and Xentrix get
the most calls since they are on my cell provider, and we know roughly
what each other like in a game. So if I haven't heard of a title, I
can usually call one of them and they have heard of it or will start
investigating it. Thirdly if a new game comes out in a genre I really
like but there are not enough of I usually buy it to show interest in
the genre, ie point and click adventures and lightgun games. I know I
will get atleast some enjoyment out of it and hopefully they will keep
making them – heck it worked for Vamypre Chronicle. And finally I
have been interested on name alone enough to look more indepth into
titles – Kororinpa, Alien Syndrome, and Blast Works to name a few.

I have more but have run out of time to type this, I will add to it when I can.

EDIT:
Stupid gmail changing the format...