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I always knew that the 95% of gamers (casual gamers) were a dumb breed. Naturally, there has to be someone who buys games like Army Men, or they'd cease to exist (If you hear this God, please.......). However, while I always had a rough idea of this breed, I never knew how stupid they would get.
A few weeks ago I met someone in town who wasn't my friend, but we hang out a bit in school. He was looking for a good multiplayer game for the PlayStation. So, we went into our local CEX. I found plenty a good game that he might enjoy; Micro maniacs, CTR, Crash Bash, Speed Freaks, and none for more than a tenner. However, he liked the look of Army men Land Sea and Air. I strongly advised him not to, so we went to game in search of a game. We couldn't find a game to his liking their, so he left me in order to meet someone else.
On Monday morning, I spoke to him in the form. The conversation turned to video-gaming, as it naturally does, and we got onto the topic where he told me what he got at the weekend. Guess What? Yup, you're correct, the stupid fool bought Army Men: Land Sea and Air. He said it was literally a toss up between this and the original Army Men, but he got it due to being a newer game. Oh dear. Anyway, although I hardly believed it, he thought the game was OK.
The next day I received a rather obscene comment from him due to me 'not persuading him hard enough' to not get the game. Not only had he wasted about £16 in favour of cheaper, better games, but the shop don't have a refund policy of over a week. (Not that they'd take back an Army Men game) So now he is stuck with one of the worst games in existence, and while I laugh at his misfortune, it truly opened up my awareness that consumers will, and do, buy games purely by the brief on the back. After all, as the saying goes, 'You can't judge a book by its cover'.
But what insults me more, is that the manufacturers, and shops, truly do con these consumers. On the back of a PS2 army men, there is a quote from PSM2 saying 'plentiful action', and in one of the EB catalogues, where they reviewed PS2 games about a year ago, they had a quote for another game (the name slips my mind), which was a terrible 1/10 achieving game. Another magazine, PSW I think, said 'Swashbuckling action'. I think that it is a very lucrative business, and that if magazines aren't friendly, they'll give consumers the wrong opinion of a game, which will result in money for the developers and hence more of the same. Also, in places like Game and EB, the only PS2 bundles they have involve crap games. I saw one with 4 Army men games being bought by some man with an 8 year old child. I find it funny, but it just shouldn't be happening.
And then there are gems sitting on the shelf being ignored. Brilliant games like Mr. Driller only sold a few thousand copies, and the relatively un-heard of launch of Twisted Metal: Black haile revolutionarily low sales. Most shops didn't even have copies.
So it is this continuous trade of conning the punters that means that terrible developers like 3DO can get away with such atrocities. In an ideal world, they'll be a law against this kind of thing, but until that happens we have to put up with the trash that we are getting.
A few weeks ago I met someone in town who wasn't my friend, but we hang out a bit in school. He was looking for a good multiplayer game for the PlayStation. So, we went into our local CEX. I found plenty a good game that he might enjoy; Micro maniacs, CTR, Crash Bash, Speed Freaks, and none for more than a tenner. However, he liked the look of Army men Land Sea and Air. I strongly advised him not to, so we went to game in search of a game. We couldn't find a game to his liking their, so he left me in order to meet someone else.
On Monday morning, I spoke to him in the form. The conversation turned to video-gaming, as it naturally does, and we got onto the topic where he told me what he got at the weekend. Guess What? Yup, you're correct, the stupid fool bought Army Men: Land Sea and Air. He said it was literally a toss up between this and the original Army Men, but he got it due to being a newer game. Oh dear. Anyway, although I hardly believed it, he thought the game was OK.
The next day I received a rather obscene comment from him due to me 'not persuading him hard enough' to not get the game. Not only had he wasted about £16 in favour of cheaper, better games, but the shop don't have a refund policy of over a week. (Not that they'd take back an Army Men game) So now he is stuck with one of the worst games in existence, and while I laugh at his misfortune, it truly opened up my awareness that consumers will, and do, buy games purely by the brief on the back. After all, as the saying goes, 'You can't judge a book by its cover'.
But what insults me more, is that the manufacturers, and shops, truly do con these consumers. On the back of a PS2 army men, there is a quote from PSM2 saying 'plentiful action', and in one of the EB catalogues, where they reviewed PS2 games about a year ago, they had a quote for another game (the name slips my mind), which was a terrible 1/10 achieving game. Another magazine, PSW I think, said 'Swashbuckling action'. I think that it is a very lucrative business, and that if magazines aren't friendly, they'll give consumers the wrong opinion of a game, which will result in money for the developers and hence more of the same. Also, in places like Game and EB, the only PS2 bundles they have involve crap games. I saw one with 4 Army men games being bought by some man with an 8 year old child. I find it funny, but it just shouldn't be happening.
And then there are gems sitting on the shelf being ignored. Brilliant games like Mr. Driller only sold a few thousand copies, and the relatively un-heard of launch of Twisted Metal: Black haile revolutionarily low sales. Most shops didn't even have copies.
So it is this continuous trade of conning the punters that means that terrible developers like 3DO can get away with such atrocities. In an ideal world, they'll be a law against this kind of thing, but until that happens we have to put up with the trash that we are getting.
it's not the magazines fault, there just picking words out of a review.
i do feel sorry for people when they end up with such a s****y game. my little sis had to learn the hard way when she bought a cack PC game now she asks me before she gets a game. if we don't know what it is we stay well away.
i've seen games in shops that have never got reviewed at all. do you remember OPSM when they used to buy a cack game and review it cause the game makers wouldn't send them a copy cause they knew it sucked.
i do feel sorry for people when they end up with such a s****y game. my little sis had to learn the hard way when she bought a cack PC game now she asks me before she gets a game. if we don't know what it is we stay well away.
i've seen games in shops that have never got reviewed at all. do you remember OPSM when they used to buy a cack game and review it cause the game makers wouldn't send them a copy cause they knew it sucked.
i do often wonder who actually buys those games that are rubbish but somehow sell loads...
½pint wrote:
> ...business, and that if magazines aren't friendly,
> they'll give consumers...
I meant to say, 'If magazines aren't careful', but I must have been thinking of something else at the time.
> ...business, and that if magazines aren't friendly,
> they'll give consumers...
I meant to say, 'If magazines aren't careful', but I must have been thinking of something else at the time.
I always knew that the 95% of gamers (casual gamers) were a dumb breed. Naturally, there has to be someone who buys games like Army Men, or they'd cease to exist (If you hear this God, please.......). However, while I always had a rough idea of this breed, I never knew how stupid they would get.
A few weeks ago I met someone in town who wasn't my friend, but we hang out a bit in school. He was looking for a good multiplayer game for the PlayStation. So, we went into our local CEX. I found plenty a good game that he might enjoy; Micro maniacs, CTR, Crash Bash, Speed Freaks, and none for more than a tenner. However, he liked the look of Army men Land Sea and Air. I strongly advised him not to, so we went to game in search of a game. We couldn't find a game to his liking their, so he left me in order to meet someone else.
On Monday morning, I spoke to him in the form. The conversation turned to video-gaming, as it naturally does, and we got onto the topic where he told me what he got at the weekend. Guess What? Yup, you're correct, the stupid fool bought Army Men: Land Sea and Air. He said it was literally a toss up between this and the original Army Men, but he got it due to being a newer game. Oh dear. Anyway, although I hardly believed it, he thought the game was OK.
The next day I received a rather obscene comment from him due to me 'not persuading him hard enough' to not get the game. Not only had he wasted about £16 in favour of cheaper, better games, but the shop don't have a refund policy of over a week. (Not that they'd take back an Army Men game) So now he is stuck with one of the worst games in existence, and while I laugh at his misfortune, it truly opened up my awareness that consumers will, and do, buy games purely by the brief on the back. After all, as the saying goes, 'You can't judge a book by its cover'.
But what insults me more, is that the manufacturers, and shops, truly do con these consumers. On the back of a PS2 army men, there is a quote from PSM2 saying 'plentiful action', and in one of the EB catalogues, where they reviewed PS2 games about a year ago, they had a quote for another game (the name slips my mind), which was a terrible 1/10 achieving game. Another magazine, PSW I think, said 'Swashbuckling action'. I think that it is a very lucrative business, and that if magazines aren't friendly, they'll give consumers the wrong opinion of a game, which will result in money for the developers and hence more of the same. Also, in places like Game and EB, the only PS2 bundles they have involve crap games. I saw one with 4 Army men games being bought by some man with an 8 year old child. I find it funny, but it just shouldn't be happening.
And then there are gems sitting on the shelf being ignored. Brilliant games like Mr. Driller only sold a few thousand copies, and the relatively un-heard of launch of Twisted Metal: Black haile revolutionarily low sales. Most shops didn't even have copies.
So it is this continuous trade of conning the punters that means that terrible developers like 3DO can get away with such atrocities. In an ideal world, they'll be a law against this kind of thing, but until that happens we have to put up with the trash that we are getting.
A few weeks ago I met someone in town who wasn't my friend, but we hang out a bit in school. He was looking for a good multiplayer game for the PlayStation. So, we went into our local CEX. I found plenty a good game that he might enjoy; Micro maniacs, CTR, Crash Bash, Speed Freaks, and none for more than a tenner. However, he liked the look of Army men Land Sea and Air. I strongly advised him not to, so we went to game in search of a game. We couldn't find a game to his liking their, so he left me in order to meet someone else.
On Monday morning, I spoke to him in the form. The conversation turned to video-gaming, as it naturally does, and we got onto the topic where he told me what he got at the weekend. Guess What? Yup, you're correct, the stupid fool bought Army Men: Land Sea and Air. He said it was literally a toss up between this and the original Army Men, but he got it due to being a newer game. Oh dear. Anyway, although I hardly believed it, he thought the game was OK.
The next day I received a rather obscene comment from him due to me 'not persuading him hard enough' to not get the game. Not only had he wasted about £16 in favour of cheaper, better games, but the shop don't have a refund policy of over a week. (Not that they'd take back an Army Men game) So now he is stuck with one of the worst games in existence, and while I laugh at his misfortune, it truly opened up my awareness that consumers will, and do, buy games purely by the brief on the back. After all, as the saying goes, 'You can't judge a book by its cover'.
But what insults me more, is that the manufacturers, and shops, truly do con these consumers. On the back of a PS2 army men, there is a quote from PSM2 saying 'plentiful action', and in one of the EB catalogues, where they reviewed PS2 games about a year ago, they had a quote for another game (the name slips my mind), which was a terrible 1/10 achieving game. Another magazine, PSW I think, said 'Swashbuckling action'. I think that it is a very lucrative business, and that if magazines aren't friendly, they'll give consumers the wrong opinion of a game, which will result in money for the developers and hence more of the same. Also, in places like Game and EB, the only PS2 bundles they have involve crap games. I saw one with 4 Army men games being bought by some man with an 8 year old child. I find it funny, but it just shouldn't be happening.
And then there are gems sitting on the shelf being ignored. Brilliant games like Mr. Driller only sold a few thousand copies, and the relatively un-heard of launch of Twisted Metal: Black haile revolutionarily low sales. Most shops didn't even have copies.
So it is this continuous trade of conning the punters that means that terrible developers like 3DO can get away with such atrocities. In an ideal world, they'll be a law against this kind of thing, but until that happens we have to put up with the trash that we are getting.