Your Favorite Developer's Worst Titles
by Benjamin Yoder, posted on 30 August 2011 / 5,271 Views
While they may not as recognized as they should be for their work, at the very least gamers around the world know the name of the teams behind the biggest hits of this generation. Just knowing a title is developed by BioWare or Naughty Dog instantly develops interest for those of us who stay on top of the gaming world. Despite their many successes, occasionally they have one title that just doesn't go as planned. It may be far from the worst game of all time, but considering the standards of the studio, the title came to be a bit lackluster. We look at some of the less fruitful releases from some of our most beloved developers.
Gearbox and Duke Nukem Forever
Let's get the most recent one out of the way right off the bat. While Gearbox didn't start the Duke Nukem Forever project, that would be 3D Realms, they were tasked in finishing the title after it nearly went down the drain. A year later, it was actually released, and some probably wish it did go down the drain. The title was subject to some harsh criticism, and that's putting lightly. It seems to deserve most of its reviews as the title was missing quite a bit. For a developer that has had a generally good track record, it became a bit of a stain on them in terms of their reputation. It's hard to argue the choice though as, sales wise, it did its job.
Nintendo and Wii Music
While core gamers may have quickly lost interest in the Wii series, it became a force to be reckoned with. Casual fans may not know it, but they are probably unconscious fans of Nintendo Software Development Group 2's work, as they created Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort and Wii Play. They did make one other Wii series based title. Wii Music! Not only was Wii Music a bit infamous amongst core gamers, especially after Nintendo E3 2008 press confrence, it didn't strike a chord with the casual consumers. Sure, it sold 3 million units, but that's a mere fraction of the sales of other titles in the series. With public domain music, dog suits, cowbells and no real underlying gameplay elements, it was pretty much expected.
Rockstar North and Manhunt
After the blowout success of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, all eyes were on Rockstar North and their next project. Nearly a year after Vice City they released Manhunt. While far from a horrible game, it was met with rather mixed reactions. If it wasn't for the brutal violence in the title, it would have most likely slipped off into obscurity. Even then, the title only really remained in consumer's minds when it was playing an active role in video game violence concerns. Many consider Manhunt 2 an inferior title, but the development was only overseen by Rockstar North. Thankfully, ever since Rock Star North has been delivering nothing but AAA experiences.
Wayforward and Ping Pals
Wayforward may not be the biggest developer on the earth, but they definitely have recently built themselves quite a portfolio on DSiWare, as well a some older classics across handhelds. While they have produced many licensed titles that are prime for the picking, none of them compare to Ping Pals , an extremely early Nintendo DS title. For those unfamiliar with the title, it was essentially Pictochat... Which already came free with the handheld as is. The title ended up being of the worst software releases on the Nintendo DS, often scoring less than a one rating on a ten point scale. I'd guess that the blame is probably more pushed toward the publisher of the title, THQ, rather than Wayforward themselves, but their name is stilled attached to it. Now, go buy their DSiWare games.
Of course, considering what content they offer us now, these are small blemishes on their gaming records that, over the years we have or will most likely forget about as they pump out more quality content. Will there be more bad games from great developers? Definitely. Considering how many fantastic experienecs we get per year though, it's hard to complain after a single mistep.
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