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Post by Discoalucard on Jan 7, 2011 23:18:48 GMT -5
www.hardcoregaming101.net/kusoge/kusoge.htmI've also been wanting to start up more weekly columns, so to launch this campaign I present Your Weekly Kusoge, which will highlight a new and hilariously terrible game with each update. We promise to steer clear of the style usually featured in these types of articles - we have no problem with the Angry Video Game Nerd, but heaven knows the Internet doesn't need any more of them - and will seek to dig up stuff that isn't usually featured. Yes, it will have its fair share of inscrutable Famicom games, mascot platformers and licensed dreck, but there's a huge library of awful PC games also worth mocking. That being said, out first entry will be one familiar if you've listened to Retronauts - Ikki, a rather noteable (for being awful) Famicom game about a Japanese farmer's rebellion. We picked it because, according to the Japanese Wikipedia, it was the game that inspired the term "kusoge" to begin with.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2011 9:18:08 GMT -5
Here's waiting for Bokosuka Wars.
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Post by theallseeingmole on Jan 8, 2011 9:49:40 GMT -5
I hope to see an article about Friday The 13th (both the NES and C64 version).
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Post by Jave on Jan 8, 2011 10:10:54 GMT -5
I remember this game more as "Ninja" than Ikki, because that's what it was renamed on 31-in-1, which all the kids had back in the day. Now, I've got it on a pirate plug and play and it's called "Knights Fight" for some reason.
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Post by wyrdwad on Jan 9, 2011 4:01:43 GMT -5
I hope to see an article about Friday The 13th (both the NES and C64 version). Is Friday the 13th really a kusoge, though? To be honest, I actually QUITE enjoyed that game as a kid, and consider it one of the best examples of LJN making a half-decent title (which DID happen from time to time!). For what it is, I actually think it's pretty good! -Tom
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Post by theallseeingmole on Jan 9, 2011 6:05:30 GMT -5
Is Friday the 13th really a kusoge, though? To be honest, I actually QUITE enjoyed that game as a kid, and consider it one of the best examples of LJN making a half-decent title (which DID happen from time to time!). For what it is, I actually think it's pretty good! Let's say that I think that while the NES version is "simply" bad,the C64 version is a different (and uglier) beast and is a glorious piece of gaming poop.
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magus
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Post by magus on Jan 9, 2011 9:43:22 GMT -5
so what happens to kusoge HG101 already covered like stargazer?
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Post by derboo on Jan 9, 2011 11:04:16 GMT -5
From what we discussed, those are not exactly taboo due to the different format, although I think that for the time being we'll mostly concentrate on titles that don't have full articles, yet (maybe with a few exceptions).
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Post by Jave on Jan 9, 2011 12:44:35 GMT -5
Is Friday the 13th really a kusoge, though? To be honest, I actually QUITE enjoyed that game as a kid, and consider it one of the best examples of LJN making a half-decent title (which DID happen from time to time!). For what it is, I actually think it's pretty good! It's probably not worth getting too hung up about whether something is "really" kusoge or not. It's something that can and, likely will, vary from person to person.
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Post by kyouki on Jan 9, 2011 13:30:21 GMT -5
I agree, disagreeing about what is a poor game or not is missing the point. If you can make a case using the criteria listed in the main article it should go in there.
I think using the Japanese term is sort of not necessary. We have an equivalent term in English- shitty games. It's not like kusoge is a term that is impossible to translate simply because it carries a lot of cultural baggage. They are just poor games that are awful for any number of reasons.
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Post by wyrdwad on Jan 9, 2011 13:40:26 GMT -5
I don't think it's as simple as all that, though. A true kusoge isn't just bad for bad's sake... it may even be a GOOD game. It's just... a poorly-MADE game. And that's why it never crossed my mind that Friday the 13th might qualify: because Friday the 13th (on the NES) is *not* a poorly-made game. Same with, say, Deadly Towers -- a completely functional, well-designed, bug-free game that a lot of people hate because of its difficult gameplay balance. Or Roger Rabbit -- another completely functional, well-designed, bug-free game that a lot of people hate because of its arguably monotonous gameplay elements.
Those may be "shitty games" (though I would disagree, as I actually like all three of them!), but I would argue that they are NOT kusoge.
When I think kusoge, I think... Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing. Super Pitfall. Athena. That sort of thing. Games that appear to have been programmed by people who clearly didn't know HOW to program. Games that amaze you with their unprofessionalism and general lack of quality.
Friday the 13th isn't that. Whether or not you think it's shitty, I really don't believe it counts as a kusoge. The term DOES carry with it a different meaning than simply "shitty."
(And just so you don't think I'm playing favorites here, I ALSO like Super Pitfall and Athena quite a bit -- Super Pitfall probably even more than Friday the 13th or Deadly Towers! -- but I'm still willing to admit it's a kusoge.)
-Tom
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Post by Jave on Jan 9, 2011 14:14:53 GMT -5
Honestly, I don't think I've ever come across any source that defined kusoge as only and specifically this.
Irrespective of that, I would still recommend not getting too concerned over whether everything posted fits the bill exactly.
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Post by muteKi on Jan 9, 2011 15:05:58 GMT -5
I'd liken it to the videogame equivalent of outsider art -- something that might completely eschew any design conventions relative to the genre it fits best in, and often not for the better. As a result it's filled with a lot of new and occasionally interesting ideas, but due to not being well-established as many or more of these ideas fall flat than succeed.
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Post by wyrdwad on Jan 9, 2011 15:17:21 GMT -5
No, you're right. I just don't want this to become a "this game sucks"-a-thon. Kusoge are fascinating because of their failed direction, poor programming and terrible ideas... and it's fun to explore those aspects of game design, and theorize about them. But as Kurt said, there are already plenty of AVGN clones out there -- and I'd be sad if this just became another excuse for people to say, "this game sucks, let me show you why!"
-Tom
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Post by Jave on Jan 9, 2011 15:34:33 GMT -5
That's cool. I think we're totally on the same page in that regard, I certainly wouldn't want this to just be another "ha ha that game is fail" page, and I can't speak for everyone, but the overall tenor seems to be about the same.
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