Why Do People Buy Games That Are Rubbish

[Beertiger]

Well all this talk on a certain racing game got me thinking. Why do people buy games just because they feature a certain aspect even when the game engine is rubbish.

I mean i love South Park a hell of a lot, however i didn't go out and buy that shit FPS game or the bloody Mario Kart rip off because they were damn poor to play. Sure they featured some funny parts but that wasn't enough to get over the piss poor gameplay.

So with this racing game all you hear in it's defense is that you can mod cars. Sure you can mod cars, great. But erm you can't do anything fun with them because the game engine is dreadful. If it was average then yeah fine the premise can make an average game good, see Futurama for an example.

Nightfire was an average FPS but if you liked Bond it made it slightly better so there's another example. Oh and Battle for Middle Earth is another one.

I don't think anyone on here bought Goldeneye 2 so we'll never know what drove people to buy that but i'm interested in what games you bought that were shit. I know people who buy the racing game say because it's the best of a bad bunch. Well smelling shit is better than eating it or rubbing it on your eye. Still not gonna do it though.

So what sold you the game and if you carried on playing it then why when there are other games with way superior gameplay released at the same time.

[Spunky Monkey]

People buy them because they are not informed. They hear the tv adverts going 'BUY ME! IM THE BEST BUY ME' and they form their opions on that. For example many people buy computers based on the advert telling them its got 733MHZ GAMEPLAY! and a super fast graphics card that lets you play burnout 3 on the pc.

Some people are just idiots and believe everything they see and read and thus buy products totally unsuitable for them.

[Readybrek]

how many copies did double dash sell?

I pissed away 40 notes on it and most of my gc owning mates bought it aswell

[Beertiger]

well yeah but it's not really about just bad games that sell well it's more that people buy it admit the game is rubbish but then say "well it's the only one where you can do this/play this character"

[SeanR]

I buy shit games cos they're cheap

[Qazimod]

Marketing. Crap games get good marketing because they are games that the "mainstream" feels "safe" with.

[Readybrek]

I bought it cos it was the only one where you could kart as Mario, I guess

[Mogget]

The simple fact is that far too many people are uninformed about the games/PCs that they are buying. As far as games are concerned, they buy stuff that is familiar to them (whether that is because the game is based on a movie or TV licence, or because it is a recognisable franchise). In the case of PCs, they are swayed by adverts that make the Intel Pentium 4 processor seem like nectar from the Gods. They fail to realise that a great PC specification involves far more than just the CPU at its heart.

[Dimahoo]

Because they are teh outcastz!

[PaB]

So what sold you the game and if you carried on playing it then why when there are other games with way superior gameplay released at the same time.

Superior in whose opinion? Yours?

Just because you decide a game is "shit" doesn't necessarily make it so. People might actually prefer South Park racing to Mario Kart, regardless of what us geeks say. They may find it more accessible, more fun.

I mean people may prefer the scissor sisters verion of "Comforably Numb" to the Pink Floyd original, of course, in my opinion they are wrong, but that doesn't mean that I am right, in any sense other than my own preference.

All this "uninformed" mainstream talk is just bollocks IMO - its no different from film affectionados saying we encourage shite by going to see Spiderman 2.

At the end of the day, who gives a fuck what other people buy, as long as you buy what you like then that's all that matters surely.

[Dimahoo]

Elite gamers just want everyone to be REALLY happy and play good games so that can socialise.

If my mate bought Black Monday he'd say, excitedly,

"oh, oh, oh, have you played it steve, eh, have ya, its good innit mate?"

And i'll say, "Yes. Yes I have. And Its shite." (wushes hand).

[Sabreman]

I reckon it's just because being a fan of something softens the blow of rubbishness.

[McFly]

I reckon it's just because being a fan of something softens the blow of rubbishness.

Like every star wars game except the x-wing series. My brother bought Jet Rider and i bought lone soldier for the ps1 jet rider was ok actualy

[fasteasyfree]

My mate went and bought Shrek2 for his SP. He asked me if I wanted to borrow it so I spat in his face.

[Dimahoo]

Ok. I've got to admit something.

I've never told anyone this before so don't flame me or take this piss because this is a highly personal thing to me that not even my wife knows.

Sometimes, when i go shopping with her in Tesco's i get this urge.

This urge to buy a midas game.

And one day i'm going to actually do it.

I can't help myself.

[Robo_1]

I reckon it's just because being a fan of something softens the blow of rubbishness.

I'd go along with that. It's no secret that I'm a big Robocop fan, so I was fairly gutted by Titus's miserable effort. However, the fact that they got the sounds, the movement and a lot of the presentation spot on, does indeed make the game far more bearable.

A bad game is a bad game whichever way you cut it, and in pure critical terms I wouldn't give Robocop shelf space, but playing the role of your favourite character (whoever it may be) is something rather special, and given that this idea is going to appeal to younger players more than older, the cynicism involved with the spate of rush job Disney and block buster tie-ins is truly deplorable.

[Fry Crayola]

I've played many a game "just because it feels right".

It's what licenses are often built on, though I often stray away nowadays. I'd kill for an ace Robocop game though. I've always thought it should really play like Metroid Prime, except without as much jumping. A puzzly, Robo-detective game. That'd be nice.

With robot ninjas, of course.

[Mike1812]

I'm tempted to buy every Simpsons game, regardless of quality but I usually stop myself(except for Hit n Run, which was pretty good) and I bought Futurama, which I would have hated were it not for the licence. I've also bought every Tony Hawk game except the first even though they're all the same. I'm so stupid.

[SomeNaiveChump]

Superior in whose opinion? Yours?

Just because you decide a game is "shit" doesn't necessarily make it so. People might actually prefer South Park racing to Mario Kart, regardless of what us geeks say. They may find it more accessible, more fun.

I mean people may prefer the scissor sisters verion of "Comforably Numb" to the Pink Floyd original, of course, in my opinion they are wrong, but that doesn't mean that I am right, in any sense other than my own preference.

All this "uninformed" mainstream talk is just bollocks IMO - its no different from film affectionados saying we encourage shite by going to see Spiderman 2.

At the end of the day, who gives a fuck what other people buy, as long as you buy what you like then that's all that matters surely.

because in games some aspects can be definitely BAD. bad framerates. unresponsive controls. unbalanced gameplay. lack of car damage. etc.

there is an element of opinion, but some games are most definitely shit whether someone likes them or not. another game will perform every aspect better, and is therefore a better game.

and as for giving a fuck what people buy? oh come on. if people bought good games instead of shit games then I'd be sat here playing Shenmue 3 right now. THAT's why it makes a cocking difference.

if people buy crap games, it lets the publishers know that they can sell crap games. this leads to 8 month dev periods and lots of shit games. which sell. the cycle continues. no-one will risk dev time (=money) on an original game as it isn't guaranteed to sell nowadays.

saying that people buying shit games makes no difference to us is a nonsense, and that's a fact. it means less creativity, less game quality in general, and more money for those people intent on producing and selling what basically amounts to SHIT.

[jigger_jay]

I'm tempted to buy every Simpsons game, regardless of quality but I usually stop myself(except for Hit n Run, which was pretty good) and I bought Futurama, which I would have hated were it not for the licence. I've also bought every Tony Hawk game except the first even though they're all the same. I'm so stupid.

futurama game, was pretty funny, but was horribly shite.

simpsons games have always been terrible, even hit and run was "average" at best

[buster_broon]

i wanted to have a complete set of neo cd and neo pocket games and to do that i needed to buy some rubbish

feck me pocket reversi - what a load of shite, but for a complete set it has to be bought

[Hawkeye]

The plain fact of it is most people want these franchise games to be good if they are fans of the film, cartoon, book, TV series etc. It's far easier to get excited about a Star Wars game if your a fan of the films than any other Sci-Fi based game.

I've found that people who buy lots of these games do so knowing they didn't get great reviews, but they still yearn for that title as they know it "should" be fun.

I guess part of the blame must fall on publishers/developers. A great section of the gaming market wants these titles, so it's really in their hands to deliver good games based on them.

[Burai]

Well all this talk on a certain racing game got me thinking. Why do people buy games just because they feature a certain aspect even when the game engine is rubbish.

Which racing game was that?

[Beertiger]

yeah Star Wars is my weakness but even then Obi Wan can cock off. Nice to see some people got the idea of the thread rather than this being a straight crap game bashing thread.

[Fry Crayola]

Hit and Run is the only Simpsons game I've ever bought, and I've wanted one for ages. And it hit the mark by being a damned entertaining title, allowing me to run around Springfield, beat up Hans Moleman and knock Milhouse off a cliff.

Reasons enough for me. Futurama will also be purchased based on its connections to the TV show and I don't feel guilty about that. I hear it's average... so what? Average is fun.

[Jim Miles]

People buy these games because they don't see games the same way (jaded) veteran gamers do. Remember when you were first getting into games and they all had novelty value because playing 'computer games' was such a new experience? I for one found myself enjoying the games with lots of 'cool' features which showed me things I'd not seen before far more than games with 'depth' which went completely over my head.

I think most people never play games enough to get out of that stage. Yes, and marketting plays a large role in persuading people what is 'cool' too.

[Project 2501]

I think the reason these games do so well is that most of the so called "casuals" see these games as a chance to act out a well known fantasy rather than a "gameplay" experience as such. The average joe doesn't care much for play mechanics so much as the theme of the game, as long as he gets to push the buttons to shoot the nazis or drive the fast car then that's all that's important. Subjects such as handling models, risk/reward structures, AI and weapon balance are irrelevent to them as long as they get to act out their own (usually violent) fantasy.

It's the reason the likes of Medal of Honour an Need for Speed do so well, they are based on premises people are already familiar with in real life. Even ostensibly good games such as Halo and GTA sell not because of their gameplay, but because of good marketing and the fact that these games follow themes which johnny casual is already well aquainted with and require little in the way of imagination to assimilate. It's also the reason games like Beyond Good and Evil, Ico and Metroid Prime 2 tank at retail, because the massmarket has no common frame of reference for the content of these games, they're just too damn surreal, and they're not going to spend 40 quid on a game who's premise makes no sense to them.

[ryodi]

I bought Buffy Chaos Bleeds last year from the play.com sale purely because I like the show. Game was OK, not brilliant but was well put together with decent voice acting and some nice extras. I would never have paid £40 for it but it was as good as I thought it would be I'll buy average games but not at full price providing that they are at least fun.

[bcofn]

because in games some aspects can be definitely BAD. bad framerates. unresponsive controls. unbalanced gameplay. lack of car damage. etc.

People that are a bit anal about film say the same things though. Shit camera angles, crap lighting, stuff like that. I have a mate that whines about stuff like that. He hated Troy (latest example that I can think of) cos of reasons like those above, but I quite liked it because when it comes to film I really don't care about that kind of thing and it was (in my opinion) an entertaining film.

I can kind of see both sides of the argument really, but yeah I wish I was sat here playing shenmue 3 too

[PaB]

because in games some aspects can be definitely BAD. bad framerates. unresponsive controls. unbalanced gameplay. lack of car damage. etc.

there is an element of opinion, but some games are most definitely shit whether someone likes them or not. another game will perform every aspect better, and is therefore a better game.

and as for giving a fuck what people buy? oh come on. if people bought good games instead of shit games then I'd be sat here playing Shenmue 3 right now. THAT's why it makes a cocking difference.

if people buy crap games, it lets the publishers know that they can sell crap games. this leads to 8 month dev periods and lots of shit games. which sell. the cycle continues. no-one will risk dev time (=money) on an original game as it isn't guaranteed to sell nowadays.

See, you have just highlighted exactly what I mean. Shenmue, as far as a lot of people are concerned, was unmitigated shite, boring as hell and about as much fun as pulling teeth. I actually thought it was "ok" but not fantastic by any stretch of the imagination. But, you thought it was good, and hey, good for you, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Of course, the fact that some people think it is shite, blows your whole "Some games can be definitively BAD" arguement out of the water.

If someone enjoys more unresponsive controls, prefers the lack of (entirely inconsequential in the car of PGR) car damage, and unblalanced gameplay (whatever the fuck that is), then good for them - Just because peope might find it shite, doesn;t make it so (see Shenmue)

saying that people buying shit games makes no difference to us is a nonsense, and that's a fact. it means less creativity, less game quality in general, and more money for those people intent on producing and selling what basically amounts to SHIT.

See this is groundless too - because you have absolutely no basis for making this statement. Despite the endless stream of "mainstream" cack, we still get gems. And we always will. The fact that gaming is going more and more mainstream makes quality niche title more likely, not less, the bigger your audience, the more likely you are to take a risk.