With advertisers offering fatter cheques, less gaming sites are giving out awards to video games that bring shame to the industry. So at Windy Corner we're going to honour these video games that do stupid and annoying things in various ways or flat out suck.
THE WORST COVER - ASHES CRICKET 2013 (PS3/WII U/XBOX 360)
When I first laid eyes on that cover, I honestly thought it was a placeholder created by a video game shop. Turns out it was the actual cover and I don’t know why the players look so miserable. Maybe because they knew what a terrible game it was going to be, but were forced by their agents to grace the cover in an effort to boost their career. The game was originally planned for June 2013 before being pushed back to November where it appeared on Steam for a brief period. However after receiving an overwhelming amount of negative feedback, publisher 505 Games pulled the game from Steam and cancelled the home console versions. Which means we’ll never be able to actually own a physical copy with that terrible cover.
RUNNER UP:
Bandfuse: Rock Legends (PS3/XBOX 360)
Farming Simulator (PS3/PS VITA/XBOX 360)
When I first laid eyes on that cover, I honestly thought it was a placeholder created by a video game shop. Turns out it was the actual cover and I don’t know why the players look so miserable. Maybe because they knew what a terrible game it was going to be, but were forced by their agents to grace the cover in an effort to boost their career. The game was originally planned for June 2013 before being pushed back to November where it appeared on Steam for a brief period. However after receiving an overwhelming amount of negative feedback, publisher 505 Games pulled the game from Steam and cancelled the home console versions. Which means we’ll never be able to actually own a physical copy with that terrible cover.
RUNNER UP:
Bandfuse: Rock Legends (PS3/XBOX 360)
Farming Simulator (PS3/PS VITA/XBOX 360)
THE MOST OVERPRICED GAME – PUTTY SQUAD (PS4)
Every year Activison, EA and Ubisoft somehow manage to tack on an extra 20% or 30% to the digital price of their games and why does Angry Birds cost $50 on the PS4, when you can play the same game for free on mobile phones? But the winner goes to System 3 and Putty Squad, a game that could have been sold as a $5 downloadable indie game, but instead sold it for a ridiculous $60. There’s a reason System 3 is the UK’s only independent publisher, because nobody in their right mind would want to buy their inventory.
RUNNER UP:
Angry Birds: Star Wars (Console version)
Every Digital version of a game published by EA or Activison or Ubisoft
Every year Activison, EA and Ubisoft somehow manage to tack on an extra 20% or 30% to the digital price of their games and why does Angry Birds cost $50 on the PS4, when you can play the same game for free on mobile phones? But the winner goes to System 3 and Putty Squad, a game that could have been sold as a $5 downloadable indie game, but instead sold it for a ridiculous $60. There’s a reason System 3 is the UK’s only independent publisher, because nobody in their right mind would want to buy their inventory.
RUNNER UP:
Angry Birds: Star Wars (Console version)
Every Digital version of a game published by EA or Activison or Ubisoft
THE MOST UNNECESSARILY LONG TITLE - BIT.TRIP PRESENTS...RUNNER 2: FUTURE LEGEND OF RHYTHM ALIEN (PS3/PS VITA/WII U/XBOX 360)
I hate video games with extremely long titles. It’s painful saying it to a shop assistant who later gets confused and can’t find the game. The winner is the sequel to Bit. Trip Runner, which simply could have been called Bit. Trip Runner 2. But Gaijin decided to make a title with nine words and a single number. Fortunately the game makes up for the stupid title, in fact it’s one of the best games of 2013.
RUNNER UP:
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner – Soul Hackers (3DS)
Adventure Time: Explore The Dungeon Because I Don’t Know (3DS/PS3/WII U/ XBOX 360)
I hate video games with extremely long titles. It’s painful saying it to a shop assistant who later gets confused and can’t find the game. The winner is the sequel to Bit. Trip Runner, which simply could have been called Bit. Trip Runner 2. But Gaijin decided to make a title with nine words and a single number. Fortunately the game makes up for the stupid title, in fact it’s one of the best games of 2013.
RUNNER UP:
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner – Soul Hackers (3DS)
Adventure Time: Explore The Dungeon Because I Don’t Know (3DS/PS3/WII U/ XBOX 360)
RIDE TO HELL: RETRIBUTION (PS3/XBOX 360)
This award goes to the game that aims for new levels of disrespect for the opposite sex. In 2013 the media went berserk over Dragon Crown and it's over sexualised character designs. But at least those female characters could pick up a weapon and kick some serious butt. Plus it's actually a really good game, while in the terrible Ride To Hell: Retribution, women exist only for two reasons. To get naked and have sex with the protagonist. Even a woman you save from being rape, awards the hero with sex in the exact spot people tried to rape her. How on earth did Dragon's Crown get all the hate and not Ride To Hell?
RUNNER UP:
Grand Theft Auto V (PS3/XBOX 360)
Hyperdimensional Neptunia Victory (PS3)
THE MOST UNBEARABLE LOADING TIMES –
SPLINTER CELL: BLACKLIST (PS3/WII U/XBOX 360)
Since optical media has become the norm and the file size of games are only going to get bigger, loading times are here to stay. But if a programmer is doing his job probably, loading times can become almost non-existent. Unfortunately laziness will rear its ugly head and we get games like Splinter Cell Blacklist with ungodly load times. Especially with the Wii U version, which is inexcusable given the system’s superior architect and RAM. Let's give you a run through of the issue. When you start the game up, you’re forced to sit through a unskippable intro that goes on for a minute. Then you reach the Press Start screen and after you press said button, it's time to endure another loading time. But you still have to choose a mission and that’s another minute of loading. So it can take around 5 minutes to go from starting the game and actually playing a mission. Even upgrading the plane ends with a one minute load time. Why?
RUNNER UP:
Aliens: Colonial Marines (PS3/XBOX 360)
Lego City Undercover (WII U)
SPLINTER CELL: BLACKLIST (PS3/WII U/XBOX 360)
Since optical media has become the norm and the file size of games are only going to get bigger, loading times are here to stay. But if a programmer is doing his job probably, loading times can become almost non-existent. Unfortunately laziness will rear its ugly head and we get games like Splinter Cell Blacklist with ungodly load times. Especially with the Wii U version, which is inexcusable given the system’s superior architect and RAM. Let's give you a run through of the issue. When you start the game up, you’re forced to sit through a unskippable intro that goes on for a minute. Then you reach the Press Start screen and after you press said button, it's time to endure another loading time. But you still have to choose a mission and that’s another minute of loading. So it can take around 5 minutes to go from starting the game and actually playing a mission. Even upgrading the plane ends with a one minute load time. Why?
RUNNER UP:
Aliens: Colonial Marines (PS3/XBOX 360)
Lego City Undercover (WII U)
THE MOST UNSTABLE FRAMERATE – CODE OF PRINCESS (3DS)
Graphics don’t make a game, but a terrible frame rate can make them unplayable. Especially in a fast paced action game with multiple enemies like “Code of Princess” on the 3DS. But the framerate is so appalling; it’s like playing a game on Microsoft Powerpoint with noticeable delays between a button press and action. It breaks the game and the framerate becomes even more unbearable if you switch on the 3D effect and ask three of your friends (I mean former friends) to play multiplayer with you.
RUNNER UP:
Motorbike (PS3)
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus (PS VITA)
Graphics don’t make a game, but a terrible frame rate can make them unplayable. Especially in a fast paced action game with multiple enemies like “Code of Princess” on the 3DS. But the framerate is so appalling; it’s like playing a game on Microsoft Powerpoint with noticeable delays between a button press and action. It breaks the game and the framerate becomes even more unbearable if you switch on the 3D effect and ask three of your friends (I mean former friends) to play multiplayer with you.
RUNNER UP:
Motorbike (PS3)
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus (PS VITA)
THE GREEDIEST AMOUNT OF MICROTRANSATIONS AND DLC –
GRAN TURISMO 6 (PS3)
At the same time, the internet has become gaming’s greatest asset and it’s worst enemy. Thanks to the internet we can now enjoy online multiplayer and indie games. But it also introduced a new breed of greed where publishers ask gamers to pay extra money, sometimes more than the original price of the game to access features or content that should have been included for free in the first place. Gran Turismo 6 might be a technical marvel for the aging PS3 and a fantastic driving game. But it’s hard to ignore those greedy microtransactions, where you can pay real money to buy in-game cars. The most expensive car, the Jaguar XJ13 will cost over $200 and that’s just one car out of 1200 on the disc!!!
RUNNER UP:
Battlefield 4 (PS3/PS4/XBOX ONE/XBOX 360)
Forza 5 (XBOX ONE)
At the same time, the internet has become gaming’s greatest asset and it’s worst enemy. Thanks to the internet we can now enjoy online multiplayer and indie games. But it also introduced a new breed of greed where publishers ask gamers to pay extra money, sometimes more than the original price of the game to access features or content that should have been included for free in the first place. Gran Turismo 6 might be a technical marvel for the aging PS3 and a fantastic driving game. But it’s hard to ignore those greedy microtransactions, where you can pay real money to buy in-game cars. The most expensive car, the Jaguar XJ13 will cost over $200 and that’s just one car out of 1200 on the disc!!!
RUNNER UP:
Battlefield 4 (PS3/PS4/XBOX ONE/XBOX 360)
Forza 5 (XBOX ONE)
THE WORST GAME OF 2013 – R.I.P.D. - THE GAME (PS3/XBOX 360)
Coming to the conclusion for the worst game of 2013 was actually pretty easy. Which game did play without having any sort of fun? With no redeeming factors or any small glimmer of quality (I hated the game, but the menus sure were pretty). R.I.P.D. - The Game fits the bill perfectly. The game play is broken beyond belief, the graphics are ugly (look at the screenshot I took) and there’s no depth to the experience. It’s hard to think Atlus published this game, the same people who gave us one of best RPGs of all time (Persona 4) and even though I only paid $5.25 for this game, I still feel like I was ripped off. But at least the money will probably go towards the budget of Persona 5.
RUNNER UP:
Aliens: Colonial Marines (PS3/XBOX 360)
Let’s Fish! Hooked On! (PS VITA)
Motorbike (PS3)
Ride To Hell: Retribution (PS3/XBOX 360)
Coming to the conclusion for the worst game of 2013 was actually pretty easy. Which game did play without having any sort of fun? With no redeeming factors or any small glimmer of quality (I hated the game, but the menus sure were pretty). R.I.P.D. - The Game fits the bill perfectly. The game play is broken beyond belief, the graphics are ugly (look at the screenshot I took) and there’s no depth to the experience. It’s hard to think Atlus published this game, the same people who gave us one of best RPGs of all time (Persona 4) and even though I only paid $5.25 for this game, I still feel like I was ripped off. But at least the money will probably go towards the budget of Persona 5.
RUNNER UP:
Aliens: Colonial Marines (PS3/XBOX 360)
Let’s Fish! Hooked On! (PS VITA)
Motorbike (PS3)
Ride To Hell: Retribution (PS3/XBOX 360)
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