Top 5 Bad Ideas in Video Games

Thanks, XKCD!

Bad ideas seem to invariably start with a frat boy origin. "Guys, we should do this.  It would be totally awesome if we do this!"

And then, they fall flat on their face.  Every industry has its share of good ideas and bad ideas.  It just happens that the bad ideas in the video game industry are far more humorous than other industries.  Video games have had their share of gaffes, and some of these are worthy of making a Top 5 over it.  So, here's my Top 5 bad ideas in video games.

Review: Dragon Warrior Monsters

Platform: Game Boy Color

Rating: E for Everyone

Price: $12.00 - $35.00


There's a new 3DS coming out soon, and it's coming with a 3D re-render of the Game Boy Color classic "Dragon Warrior Monsters."  Since this is a classic game that inhabits so much of my childhood, I figure it's only fair to write a retro review about it.

AO Ratings: should they really be a kiss of death?

The Adults Only rating, or AO for short, has long been seen as a "kiss of death" to a video game.  Most if not all retailers will outright refuse to stock an AO game, and the rating itself is largely associated with porn, sex, and the most depraved violence out there.  But, perhaps the fear of an AO rating is doing more harm than good.  Here's a couple of ideas on how to make AO work, and where it can and should be used.

Top 5 video games based on movies

Ah, the ever classic movie tie-in.  It's the bane of quality video gaming, full of rushed games and frustrating controls.  Every now and again, however, a shining gem appears out of nowhere.  Here's five of them, epic games based on movies.

Review: I AM ALIVE

Developer: Ubisoft Shanghai

Rating  M for Mature (Blood, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language)

Players: 1

Platform: Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA)

Price: 1200 MS Points ($15)

When I AM ALIVE was first teased at E3 last year, I was intrigued. What happens when civilization collapses?  Who do you trust?  TV series like Jericho and The Highschool of the Dead touch on this topic, but I AM ALIVE takes a slightly different approach.  Everybody loves earthquakes!

Still more reasons why DRM isn't working

Destructoid had an interesting comment thread in an announcement about Ubisoft games going offline for server maintenance.  With this downtime, legitimate copies of some of Ubi's biggest PC titles will be unplayable, even in the single player campaign.  Here's an excerpt from the article:





The affected PC games are HAWX 2, Might & Magic: Heroes 6, The Settlers 7. Those using a Mac will be unable to play The Settlers, Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell: Conviction. Most other games will have their online modes unreachable for the day, although Just Dance 3 and Driver: San Francisco are said to be unaffected.

Understandably, people are less than thrilled about this.The comments in the Destructoid thread are funny, but they raise some good points.  This rant is continuing on the DRM rant that I posted a while back, and I'll be including some other topics that have come up since then.

Five video games that were marketing ploys in disguise

As long as video games have existed, there has been someone looking to advertise in them.  Some companies go a step further, making a game that serves as one big advertisement.  Some of these games are surprisingly enjoyable, and others are notable in a historical sense.  So without further ado, here's five video games that were marketing ploys in disguise.