WEBVTT - The Worst Video Games of All Time 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.960 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:08.920 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 0:00:09.000 --> 0:00:17.599 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello everyone, 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.360 welcome to tech Stuff. My name is Chris Pett and 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:22.479 I'm an editor here at how stuff works dot com. 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:26.840 Here to discuss one of the most anticipated podcasts we've 0:00:26.840 --> 0:00:31.840 recorded in the last ten minutes is senior writer Jonathan Strickland. 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:34.960 What a wicked game you play to make me feel 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:40.360 this way? Oh man, you had to use that one, yes, 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:44.640 So hey, guys, you know you might remember from the 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:46.800 fact that we had pre roll in front of every 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:50.040 single podcast up to this point that Chris and I 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:54.040 wanted to do a crowdsourced episode where we asked our 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:57.760 listeners to submit to us the worst video game of 0:00:57.800 --> 0:01:00.760 all time. And uh, we didn't get of any real 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:03.920 parameters about that. We said it could be on any platform, 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:06.520 it just had to be a video game. And because 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:12.120 of that, it meant that our listeners could literally, uh 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:16.520 nominate any game ever made. So it's a miracle at 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:20.120 all that we had enough votes for any particular title 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:23.360 to have this this podcast, But we actually have the 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:29.400 top ten or perhaps bottom ten worst video games, as 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:33.319 voted on by you, the listener. So please keep in 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:37.240 mind this is not the opinions of Jonathan and Chris, 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:39.480 although maybe we'll talk about some of the bad games 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:42.560 we've played in the past two This isn't our opinion. 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:46.720 This is your opinion. We're just reporting it. Well, I 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:49.960 have to say that one one person did right in 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:52.600 and ask us why we would bother recording an episode 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:57.480 on this, and uh, the simple answer is because it's fun. Yeah, 0:01:57.560 --> 0:01:59.400 for us, this was actually really a lot of fun. 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:02.240 It was a lot of work because we had to 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:07.760 collect votes from multiple sources. We collected votes from email, Facebook, Twitter, 0:02:07.880 --> 0:02:10.400 and people left votes on my Google Plus account too, 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:13.880 So um, I actually did separate out all the votes 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:16.200 in a big spreadsheet, so I knew how many votes 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:20.800 came in from which, uh particular source and that that 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:22.840 actually was kind of interesting too, just to see, you know, 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:25.799 what our listeners prefer to use in order to get 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:29.079 information to us. That was pretty fascinating. That was not 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:31.320 my intent, by the way, when I came I came 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:33.919 up with this idea on the spur of the moment 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:36.720 and sprung it on Chris just before we started recording, 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:39.000 and Chris was like, do I have to do I 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:40.640 have to record all the votes? I said, no, it's 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:44.000 all right, let's do it. So you know, I'm easy 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:48.360 like that. Let's let's start off with what would be 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:51.360 number ten. But actually it was a tie for ninth place. 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:54.440 So the first two games we're gonna talk about received 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:56.600 the same number of votes. And the first one that 0:02:56.600 --> 0:03:00.800 we're going to talk about is dragons Lair the arcade 0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:06.640 game specifically, So for those of you who, uh who 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:10.040 missed out on the early eighties and the great arcade 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:13.119 culture of the early eighties, you may not be too 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:17.520 familiar with this game. But it was groundbreaking, Yeah, it was. 0:03:17.600 --> 0:03:21.240 It was a an innovative way of presenting a video 0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:26.480 game that had not been attempted before Dragon's Layer. Yep. Yeah. 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:31.079 Previously we were talking about the different the difference in 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:33.960 in vector and raster graphics, and and you know there 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:36.880 was there were blocky graphics for the most part at 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:41.720 the time, and they had limited animation, limited sound, um. 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:47.560 But but Dragon's Layer actually featured uh animation from one 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:52.480 of the industry giant animators, Don Bluth, former Disney animator 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:56.120 UM who has gone on to you know, with his 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:58.560 own company to do many many other titles. In fact, 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:02.640 I have Don Luth title on my iPad. Yeah, which one. 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:06.520 The new version of Tapper features Don Bluth artwork, so yeah, 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:08.920 because he also you may know some of his work 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:12.520 from from movies like The Secrets from the Secret of 0:04:12.600 --> 0:04:18.480 Nim Yes, and Before Time series, Before Time it was 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:22.000 was it the Five Old Movies too? Yes? Um, those 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:26.279 were Don Blue films, so somewhere out there, yes, thank you. 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:30.560 So Dragon's Lair was featured animation from Don Bluth and 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:34.240 it was published by Cinematronics. Yeah. Yeah, But but but 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:37.039 how you might say, exactly is this great leap in 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:40.440 graphics and sound? Because the sound was awesome too. How 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:42.400 how is that possible? Because you know, you're looking at 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:45.560 other games like Donkey Kong, which you know I loved 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:49.240 Donkey Kong, but you would not call the graphics advanced 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:51.200 or state of the art. Well for the time, they were, 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:57.720 but not now crazy. Yeah. Well they they accomplished this 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:01.680 by using the laser disc vide format, which we've talked 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:04.440 about before. So the entire game was on laser disc 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:08.440 and there was an actual laser disc player inside the cabinet. 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:11.240 Of this Arcade game. Now, the fact that there it 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:15.359 was on laser disc was both it's its biggest strength 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:20.440 and its biggest weakness. The weakness is that you couldn't 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:24.520 create too much interactivity for the player and the game. 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:29.359 The you know, you couldn't have complete control over the 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:32.680 main character who do you remember? The guy's name Dirk 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:36.800 the Daring, and he was rescuing a princess Daphne from 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:41.919 a dragon named Singe. And so you couldn't just control 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:44.400 Dirk the Daring, You couldn't just make him run around 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:46.640 and jump and stuff. Instead, what you would do is 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:50.039 you would initiate a video sequence, because again this is 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:53.800 recorded on laser disc. There's only so many variations of 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:56.920 Dirk's movements that can be recorded on a single laser disc. 0:05:57.560 --> 0:06:01.440 So what your input into the Cade machine would translate 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:04.880 to is was that the correct button to press or 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:07.800 direction on the joystick to push in order to trigger 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:12.560 the next sequence to further the storyline. Yeah, So you, 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:16.520 for example, you might be having to jump, and you 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:18.800 did have to jump at one point, and if you, 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:21.920 you know, move up, that might be the right thing 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:25.320 to do. If you move left, you die. If you 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:28.200 do nothing, you die if you if you push the 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:30.880 sword button, you die if you push yeah. So in 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:34.760 other words, there'll be one correct response to a particular 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:37.320 moment in the story, and sometimes, uh there'd be like 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:39.480 a little flash that would indicate this is when you 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:43.039 do something. So for a lot of the game, you're 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:46.320 you're just watching, You're just you're you're watching a movie. 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:48.599 And then occasionally in the movie there's a moment where 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:50.560 you have a chance to put in an input, and 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:52.520 if you put in the wrong one, the movie's over. 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:55.400 And so that was probably what costs a lot of 0:06:55.440 --> 0:06:58.719 people to vote for Dragons Layers, that it almost feels 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:00.920 like less of a game and more of a film. 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:03.000 It's just a film that you don't get to see 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:05.159 the end of it unless you happen to shift in 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:07.799 your seat at just the right moment so the film 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:10.640 will continue. And also I would like to point out 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:12.920 this was one of the first games I can remember 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:16.800 that cost two credits or fifty cents to play. And 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:19.920 also remember that a lot of them had two monitors 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:23.360 because they were so popular that people would try and 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:26.880 gather and cram around the system. Because if someone knew 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:30.440 how to play it, if someone had memorized the sequence 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:33.000 of movements they had to do to get through a 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:36.800 particular part of the game. You know, most people didn't 0:07:36.800 --> 0:07:40.480 have the time or energy or change to learn all that, 0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:43.960 so they just like to watch the game because again 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:45.960 it was like a movie. I saw a lot of 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:48.000 our kids that would put a second monitor that was 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:51.280 mounted on the top of the cabinet so that you 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:53.720 could see what was going on without having to be 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:57.320 right up on whoever is playing the game. So anyway, 0:07:57.360 --> 0:08:01.600 that was tied for ninth play uh. And the other 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:07.080 one was a game on the Nintendo Entertainment System which 0:08:07.200 --> 0:08:10.880 was Back to the Future. And I have never played 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:13.200 this because I didn't own an any s. From what 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:18.200 I read, we're going from beautiful graphics and and and 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:24.640 sort of poor gameplay too, horrible graphics and yeah, Back 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:27.960 to the Future is just one example of a licensed title, 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:31.280 and by licensed, I mean it's something that already existed 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:35.040 that a video game publisher purchases a license from the 0:08:35.160 --> 0:08:38.160 license owner to be able to create a game based 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:41.000 on that. And as far as Back to the Future goes, 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:47.120 the basis was really pretty uh difficult to spot, especially 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:48.880 in that first stage, like in the very first stage, 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:52.040 you are going down a street and the way the 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:54.760 view is it's an over the head view. UM. The 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:57.720 street is laid out so that the top of the 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:01.240 screen is where you're headed to the bottom of the 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:04.080 screen is where you are, and you're moving your your 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:07.880 character around Marty McFly. You're moving Marty McFly down the street. 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:11.439 You're trying to avoid enemies and pick up little alarm clocks. 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:15.280 And it's only by picking up enough alarm clocks that 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:18.240 you're allowed to move to the next stage. And so 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:20.400 you're also you also have a timer, so if you 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:23.000 don't pick up enough alarm clocks within the time limit, 0:09:23.280 --> 0:09:25.439 then you lose. If you get hit by an enemy, 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:29.240 you lose. If you run into an obstacle, you lose. UM. 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:31.720 You would eventually be able to pick up a bowling ball, 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:35.160 which would let you shoot enemies, because of course, you 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:37.440 remember that great scene and back to the future where 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:39.800 Marty McFly picked up a bowling ball and then shot 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:43.160 someone with it. Um, who can forget that scene that 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:47.080 never happened? Uh. And then you can also get a skateboard, 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:50.200 which at least that was featured in the film. But 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:51.959 with a skateboard what that would mean is that you 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:54.920 would move through the the you would move through the 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:58.840 level faster, which meant the poor gameplay became excruciatingly poor 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:02.360 gameplay because you're going so fast you can't even react. Um. 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:05.560 And then if you got through that, you would hit 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:08.200 a mini game. And some of the mini games included 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:11.880 a dinner stage where you're behind the counter and Biff 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:13.880 and his bullies are coming in after you and you 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:16.320 have to throw milkshakes at them to stop them. But 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:19.320 it was really hard to line up your character so 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:22.360 that you were throwing the milkshake at the right plane 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:25.480 in order to hit the enemy. Like the enemy is 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:26.920 coming at you from the left side of the screen. 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:28.600 You're on the right side of the screen, and you've 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:30.560 got a bar between you and the enemy. You just 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:33.320 have to figure out exactly where, like vertically you need 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:37.240 to align yourself, and you you'd be like, oh, that's clearly, 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:39.520 that's it. That's that's the sweet spot, and you push 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:42.160 the button and the milkshake flies like three ft over 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:45.520 the bully's head and he reaches the bar and throws 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:48.160 you against the wall. Um. It was a little rough. 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:50.679 And then there was another stage where you had to 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:54.880 block kisses that were sent to you from Lorraine because 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:57.800 you're playing Marty McFly and his Marty's mother. You know, 0:10:57.800 --> 0:10:59.880 he's back in time and he's met the teenage version 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:02.360 of his mom, and so you would have to block 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:04.160 her kisses to you. And then there was another one 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:07.280 where you had to position a guitar just right so 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:10.960 that you were playing music so that Lorraine and George, 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:14.640 your your mom and dad would actually kiss. And the 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:18.960 very final stage involved driving the DeLorean, the time travel device, 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:23.040 through the street at night, dodging enemies, dodging obstacles, trying 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:26.199 to get up to eighty eight miles per hour. Um. 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:28.800 It looked awful. Oh and Bob Gayle, who was a 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:31.960 screenwriter for Back to the Future, called it one of 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:36.360 the worst games ever made. Heavy Yeah, yeah, Why do 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:38.640 people keep saying, is there some problem with gravity in 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:41.880 the future? So that moves us up to our eighth 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:47.160 worst game? Do you wanna unveil what this one is? Well, 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:50.079 it certainly has a tough road to home, yes it does. 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:54.680 But it is extremely popular. It's something you may have 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:57.640 seen once or twice on Facebook, at least once or 0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:01.800 twice a minute on Facebook only if you follow people 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:05.120 who play this, and how could you not. It's Farmville 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:10.559 from Zinga. Farmville has had a lot of criticism directed 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:14.120 toward it. It's one of those games. It's a it's 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:17.280 a freemium game, yes it is, and that means that 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:19.160 you can play the game for free. But if you 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:23.800 want to have the most advantageous stuff in the game, 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:26.679 you have to pay real money to get it. Um 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:29.840 and say, which is a perfectly valid business plan. You know, 0:12:29.880 --> 0:12:32.520 there's no reason I'm not. I don't want to say 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:34.839 that that's a bad thing to do. I mean, people 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:37.200 should be compensated for the work they do in order 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:39.880 for them to make more work. Otherwise, no one has 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:42.800 any incentive to do anything. You know, well, you know 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:46.240 it's it's got millions of fans, yes, um, something like. 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:49.400 I once heard a statistic that something like ten of 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:52.600 all people who use Facebook play this. And I have. 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:54.880 I played, I played it in some of the other 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:57.719 Zinga games, but I don't It's funny though, I don't 0:12:57.760 --> 0:12:59.360 think of it as a game. I think if it 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:02.760 is more of a boy because there's no objective that 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:06.160 you're trying to accomplish to win the game. Basically, you're 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:09.600 trying to if you've never seen or or played it. Um, 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:13.440 the point is to grow your farm. So you know, 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:16.680 at some point you you uh add little plots of 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:19.840 land on which you can grow your crops, and you 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:23.400 can choose which crops to grow. Um. You know, each 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:26.120 time you plant something, you have several choices to you know, 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:29.400 you could say corn or tomatoes or you know, you know, 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:34.280 potatoes or something else. Um. And each crop costs a 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:36.840 certain amount of money and your you know, your fake 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:40.920 gold money. Actually it's their their dollars. I think farm coins, 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:43.920 farm coins and uh. You also it's been a while 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:47.520 since I played. And each crop takes a certain amount 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:49.440 of time to grow, and if you leave the game 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:52.199 for more than that amount of time a reasonable amount 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:54.520 of time, once it's grown, the crop will wither and die. 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:58.480 So the point is to I mean, it's not just crops. 0:13:58.520 --> 0:14:01.800 You also add you know, a fence around your your garden, 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:04.439 and you add a farmhouse and what kind do you want, 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:07.400 and you know, bales of hay, and you basically you 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:11.200 you add in size to the farm, and you add 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:13.920 different plots, and you upgrade your stuff. And there's also 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:16.760 a social factor where you can interact with your friends 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:19.040 farms and they can interact with yours, which is why 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:22.200 you see like all these notifications pop up on Facebook 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:24.040 until you get fed up with it and block them. 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:27.040 Well yeah, I mean you can visit your friends farm 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:31.120 and fertilizer crops so they grow faster or unwier them 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:33.680 when they've gone bad and stuff help them. You can 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:35.600 send them gifts and they can send you gifts, and 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:38.120 that that can be kind of fun. But the thing is, it's, 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:41.720 like Jonathan pointed out, uh, Zinga is really hoping that 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:44.960 you'll invest some actual cash into this and you can 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:49.360 get uh, certain kinds of crops or certain kinds of 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:52.680 decorations for your farm if you fork over some real 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:57.560 coin um. And that's kind of annoying for people like 0:14:57.640 --> 0:14:59.440 me who are cheap and don't want to give them 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:02.400 any money. And the thing is, at a certain point, 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:05.560 the game or software toy, it's like, like I said, 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:07.880 you don't like to call it, it's sort of semi 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:11.760 unplayable because there's a point at which everything to make 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:14.440 it fun you really need to give them money for 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:17.400 it really doesn't change, and it's the point of where 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:20.200 you go, yeah, you know, I'm really don't want to 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:22.920 do this, and the game also encourages you to try 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:26.760 and loop your friends into the games. Yeah, so yeah, 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:29.320 that's that's probably I'm guessing that's why people voted for it, 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:33.240 because it feels almost invasive, um when you're on Facebook, 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:35.400 unless you you go so far as to block it. 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:38.760 And we had other Facebook games, like games that are 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:41.960 similar to this uh nominated as well, but Farmville was 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:44.600 the one that actually got the most votes. And also 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:48.600 I think has been accused of sort of copying earlier 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:52.560 game called farm Town that had very similar game mechanics. 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:55.320 Some people would say similarity to the point of identity. 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:59.960 But well, this this model has uh has extended across 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:02.880 Facebook and and other venues as well. I mean, there 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:07.040 are some iPad games um that I've you know, tried 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:10.960 out on my tablet that basically they're the same kinds 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:13.560 of things at your friends Otherwise you're not going to 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:15.760 get very far in this game. I'm like, I don't 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:17.640 know anybody else who's playing this. Plus I don't want 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:22.360 to spam everybody with email blasts saying join my game. Yeah. 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:24.960 I mean, if Jonathan's playing and I'm playing, then yeah, 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:27.240 I'll send Jonathan a note, Hey, send me a free chicken. 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:30.880 But I don't want to send that to everybody on 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:35.080 my list because you know it's annoying. Yes, it would, 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:38.720 So let's move on to our next nomination. Now, this, 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:43.120 this next nomination is interesting because it's a terrible, terrible 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:47.320 game that was designed to be a terrible, terrible game. 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:52.240 And it's called Desert Bus. Now, Desert Bus was actually 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:54.720 a mini game that was part of a larger package 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:59.760 of games for a product that never saw full production. 0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:04.800 It was for the Sega c D system. Gosh, barely 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:07.280 remember that the whole system was a failure. Not just 0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:09.679 this game, um, but it was a mini game that 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:14.280 was included in Penn and Teller's Smoke and Mirrors. Um. 0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:16.119 A lot of the stuff that was in Penn and 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:18.880 Teller's Smoke and Mirrors ended up being used in other 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:21.960 Penn and Teller products like Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:26.679 and things like that. But this one idea, which supposedly 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:30.719 came from Eddie goad det Ski, who is a producer 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:34.480 in Hollywood. Uh, this one idea is to create an 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:38.800 and ultra realistic and by that I mean boring game 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:44.359 in which you drive a bus from Tucson, Arizona, to 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:48.200 Las Vegas, Nevada, in real time, and the buses top 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:51.160 speed is around forty five miles per hour. And there's 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:56.080 no scenery, there's there's no traffic, there are no passengers 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:58.359 on the bus. It's just you driving this bus to 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:01.639 Las Vegas. And in real time, that takes, by the way, 0:18:01.680 --> 0:18:04.280 about eight hours. And if you get all the way 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:06.800 to Las Vegas, you get a point and then you 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:10.000 have to drive back. Well, but what happens if you 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:12.359 need to, you know, stop and eat dinner, go to 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:16.639 the bathroom. Well, the game does not have a pause function, 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:20.520 so the time would just keep going. I mean also 0:18:20.600 --> 0:18:22.960 the bus, you might say, why don't you just set 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:25.240 it up so that the bus drives automatically, like, you know, 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:29.680 just put something on the up arrow key on the pedal. Yeah. Uh, Well, 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:33.359 the bus also has a problem with its suspension and 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:37.480 it pulls to the right, so you have to constantly 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:40.520 adjust the bus so that it will it will be 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:43.400 on the road. Now, there is a port of this 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:45.879 game on the web. You can play a web based 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:49.920 version of Desert Bus if you want to. Now, you 0:18:49.960 --> 0:18:51.639 might ask, why would you want to, well, some of 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:54.600 it's just kind of like grousing slash bragging rights that 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:57.720 you know, you actually bothered to take eight hours of 0:18:57.760 --> 0:19:01.080 your life and get this virtual bus from Tucson to 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:06.520 Las Vegas. But another group called Loading Ready Run had 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:10.600 an interesting idea. UM that's a four person comedy group, 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:14.760 and they decided to hold a desert bus marathon session 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:18.560 as a fundraising effort to raise money for the charity 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:23.080 child Child's Play. Child's Plays a charity that gets a 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:26.960 lot of attention particularly around Penny Arcade Expo or Packs 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:32.000 because the Packs guys also hold um auctions for Child's 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:36.520 Play and it's it's providing video games and other kinds 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:39.800 of stuff like that to kids who are in hospitals 0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:43.800 and who are recovering or suffering from serious illnesses and 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:48.199 conditions as a nice charity to do something nice for 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:52.639 the kids. Right. So, these four members of Loading Ready 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:59.920 Run took shifts at driving the desert bus UM they 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:02.879 ended up driving for more than four and a half days. 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:06.679 The first time, which was in two thousand seven, they 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:09.160 drove for around four and a half days and they 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:13.960 scored six points that four and a half days driving 0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:16.520 the bus back and forth. Uh. And since then they've 0:20:16.520 --> 0:20:19.960 held the marathon several more times and have raised more 0:20:19.960 --> 0:20:24.200 than four hundred thousand dollars collectively. That's impressive. Yeah for 0:20:24.280 --> 0:20:27.560 child's play, which is pretty impressive. Um. But yeah, the 0:20:27.600 --> 0:20:30.800 game is online, so if you just do a search 0:20:30.880 --> 0:20:34.120 for Desert Bus, you can find a web based version 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:37.560 of this game and play it yourself. Should you hate yourself? 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:42.800 Apparently our number six game. It's also a game for 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:47.399 people who are into really not happy driving experience. Oh 0:20:47.400 --> 0:20:51.600 my gosh, this game is probably it's amazing to me 0:20:51.680 --> 0:20:54.159 that this game was ever released, because it is. It 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:56.800 is as unfinished a game as I have ever seen. 0:20:56.840 --> 0:20:58.800 And I've seen the reviews for this game, like I've 0:20:58.800 --> 0:21:02.120 seen video reviews of this and show the problems, and 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:04.840 it's you can't believe that such a product was ever 0:21:04.880 --> 0:21:07.520 released to the public. I guess we should say what 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:10.399 it is. Well, racing games are so popular, and you 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:14.040 know that you can race just about anything in all 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:16.560 kinds of video games, so you would imagine that one 0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:19.400 that would allow you to race tractor trailers would be fun. 0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:23.840 But big rigs over the road racing for the PC 0:21:24.200 --> 0:21:28.720 isn't It was a two thousand three third person racing game. 0:21:28.880 --> 0:21:32.640 So you're outside the truck, looking at the truck, and 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:35.240 let's see if we can figure out where some of 0:21:35.280 --> 0:21:38.800 the problems of this game may reside. Shall we? What's 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:42.800 a racing game in which you don't really race anyone else? Right? Well, first, 0:21:43.160 --> 0:21:45.119 the first problem is that it was build as a 0:21:45.200 --> 0:21:48.920 game where the object was that you were transporting illegal 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:52.240 goods uh and you were being chased by police, So 0:21:52.320 --> 0:21:53.840 it was built as a game where you had to 0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:58.200 drive fast and evade the cops. What cops? Right, So 0:21:58.320 --> 0:22:00.760 when you actually get the game, it turns up there's 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:03.280 nothing has nothing to do with any of that. Instead, 0:22:03.359 --> 0:22:06.480 it was supposed to be, at least once you've got 0:22:06.480 --> 0:22:08.679 the game going, it was supposed to be a racing 0:22:08.680 --> 0:22:11.679 game where you're racing against other competitors. But um, the 0:22:11.720 --> 0:22:16.560 game developer never actually bothered to put artificial intelligence competitors 0:22:16.600 --> 0:22:19.240 in there, so they they never leave the starting line. 0:22:19.960 --> 0:22:23.720 It's a race where all the other people racing don't 0:22:23.880 --> 0:22:27.359 do anything. They just sit there. So you're you're running 0:22:27.359 --> 0:22:30.320 and and they're behind you and they don't do anything. Um. 0:22:30.680 --> 0:22:32.800