Watchmen: The End is Nigh - XBLA/PSN, Beat-Em-Up, Deadline Games, $20
Don’t Look Back - Flash, Platformer, Terry Cavanagh – LINK
Exploit – Flash, Puzzle, Gregory Weir, suggested by Nels Nelson – LINK
Schizophrenzy - Flash, Platformer, Smashing Ideas Inc.,
suggested by Jonathan Tung – LINK
Watch Geeks With Issues at http://www.GeeksWithIssues.com
This week’s question: What’s the worst licensed game ever? Call (845) 704-7158 or leave a video comment below!
Some music this week provided by II music (http://www.iimusic.net), including:
The J. Arthur Keenes Band – Stoic
Alex Mauer – Monstrox
http://www.iimusic.net/catalog/2008/06/heartcode
IQTU – lemme, aiken
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I really didn’t get the reviewing of the Watchmen: The End is Nigh, that was no Indie, downloadable – well ok, still not an indie.
My vote goes for Schizophrenzy
Guys, you got the URL of Geeks With Issues wrong!
Its pointing to http://www.geekwithissues.com (geek is singular!)
Thanks for another show!
I think the subtitle of Bytejacker is “The best in downloadable and independent video games.” Translating from English to boolean logic, English “and” usually becomes boolean “or”. I think this case is no exception. So Bytejacker reviews games that downloadable OR independent or possibly both. That’s my take on it. That and that since Anthony and Jon are in charge, they’re probably allowed to review whatever games they want.
Haven’t watched the episode yet (I’m saving it for when I’m not rushed getting ready for work), so I’ll have to comment on it later.
@ Matthew Rathbone – Fixed! Thanks for picking that up!
@jon My pleasure!
Dude, love the episode. especially the last three seconds.
Schizophrenzy looks absolutely adorable.
btw, you should update your banner.. I’m talking about “reviewed every monday and thursday”
@Bjrn – That’s in the works. Thanks
@ori – Most of the console stuff we review isn’t independent. theparticleman got it right with how we interpret it: we cover independent games AND downloadable games. If those overlap, great, if not, also cool.
@Trev – you’re a dick.
Aladdin for the SNES is an awesome game. That’s chick knows nothin’, and that’s why she’s still a kid.
Worst licensed game? Superman 64. It’s a million times worse than anything else out there, including E.T.
Finally, my Halo sticking skills are up for the world to see. Mwahaha.
Great job, guys!
@Ashkc88 – What did you like about Aladdin for the SNES? I thought the Genesis version was superior in every way (except audio).
Superman 64 made my heart break into a million pieces.
Holy … In another brothel won? How in the world did in another brothel win? I mean, not that I feel bad about that, it’s just what it was up against… that didn’t seem likely. Or possible. Must have been a lot of people voting for the underdog.
Worse licensed videogame of all times. {seesmic_video:{“url_thumbnail”:{“value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/N3CkVa59wP_th1.jpg”}”title”:{“value”:”Worse licensed videogame of all times. ”}”videoUri”:{“value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/bl7UGQ9GYb”}}}
The Zelda games on the CD-I were horrible. They were a mockery of a truly great game character and story.
@Anthony
I personally liked the SNES version the best because Aladdin is more of an acrobatic ‘run away from enemies’ kind of character, rather than a sword wielding fighter. The Genesis version is awesome though.
My vote for this week goes to “Schizophrenzy.” That game speaks to me, man.
Guys, I sent a suggestion to you of my game ‘Opposite Day…’ do I get any feedback from you? I haven’t got any review or a video space or anything…
Thanks! I’d love to hear some feedback from you guys
Oh, sweet! I won :D
I’d like to thank my mom, Jacob Zinman-Jeanes, Joe Larson, Barack Obama, Michelle Pfeifer and that lady who works in our school cafeteria. You’re all the best!
And well, Anthony too, of course. He don’t beat Mr. Obama, though.
i didnt win but i would also like to thank my mom :]
Great show this week, and the worst licensed game I’ve played in a long while is Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games for the Wii. Yuck.
Guys: you should always thank your mom.
Thanks, mom.
my vote? Schizophrenzy. The worst licensed game i ever played? Animorphs: Shattered reality. i LOVED that series growing up, and the game was just an abomination.
I’ve heard Superman 64 was pretty bad, but I never played it. Worst game I’ve personally played? I’d have to go with Clue for the SNES. I guess it got the game down okay, but I mean, come on. It asked you to not watch the screen while the other person was taking their turn. Yeah, it was pretty bad.
I voted for Schizophrenzy. What’s not to like about a game where you can go crazy?
Don’t look back plays like a I Wanna be the Guy demake. I loved it!
ps tnx for the music its awesome!
More Comments, less Phantom Menace! {seesmic_video:{“url_thumbnail”:{“value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/hX4Oz1doy8_th1.jpg”}”title”:{“value”:”More Comments, less Phantom Menace! ”}”videoUri”:{“value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/NKMoPCTnhU”}}}
Everybody, do more video comments. {seesmic_video:{“url_thumbnail”:{“value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/ua3WbgYl4x_th1.jpg”}”title”:{“value”:”Everybody, do more video comments. ”}”videoUri”:{“value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/sVWTGEFYh7″}}}
Jon, I wanted to back you up on that one about video comments. Then my son came in and wanted to see himself on the camera, so there you go.
Everyone, video comments are fun and stupid easy. If you’ve got a web cam you’ve got no excuse for not doing them. They’re easy to do on this site. You can re-record them until you get it right. Don’t tell me you don’t have a pretty place to do them. Look at me, I’m in my unfinished basement. That’s my programming space.
If you don’t have a web cam you can still do audio comments. Every computer has an audio jack. Chances are you got a cheap mic when you got your computer. If not they’re, what, $5? $3? Free if you steal them from someone who already has one, which I wouldn’t recommend unless you could get away with it.
Don’t tell me your voice sounds stupid. Everyone voice sounds stupid. Guess what, it’s the same voice everyone else has been hearing your entire life. Sorry to shatter your fantasy. I’ve been told that I have a “hypnotic and annoying” voice. Not sure how that works. I personally think it sounds like a cross between James Earl Jones and Kermit the Frog, slightly favoring James Earl Jones in my own ears, slightly favoring Kermit in the audio recordings.
But on the subject of not having a web cam, Jon, Anthony, I wanna suggest something. Call Logitech or some other manufacturer, tell them you’ve got a popular web show and that you want to do a contest and see if you can’t get a few freebies for a plug on the show. I know you guys are busy probably busy, but for a few hours work I’ll bet you could pull it off. Obviously the contest can’t be “best video comment gets a webcam” but you can come up with something, I’m sure.
Wow, that was alot more comment than I expected.
hahahaha that was awesome
Worst Licensed Game {seesmic_video:{“url_thumbnail”:{“value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/1tDSaahiiS_th1.jpg”}”title”:{“value”:”Worst Licensed Game ”}”videoUri”:{“value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/ZB5z8xOFIP”}}}
I think the problem with the Watchman game is while it’s a good game it’s not a good Watchman game. If it had been called Slam Fighter 2009 it probably would have gotten pretty good reviews. But throw the word Watchmen on it and folks expect more than the characters, they expect existential b.s. in a 3×3 format. And aside from a new Comix Zone or another attempt to revitalize the “adventure game” genre, I don’t see how they could have done it.
It was cashing in, yes. But it’s far from the worst attempt at cashing in ever. At least it’s a good game, even if it’s not a good Watchman game.
@ Joe – I think the way you put it is perfect. I did actually enjoy playing the game although it DID get repetitive after the second level but I find it as a good game to play when I’m frustrated and I wanna combo the crap out of someone. The finishing moves actually give you some satisfaction when you’re pissed off.
Although as Anthony put it, the fact that it’s “Watchmen” is certainly the downside.
@ Francisco – Thanks for the comment, you’re not a bad person.
Superman 64 nuff said.
I have to say, I can not agree with you in 100%, but it’s just my IMHO, which could be very wrong.
p.s. You have an awesome template for your blog. Where did you find it?
Spam, spam spam spam. Spam, spam spam spam. Spammietty spam, spamspamspamspam spam spam spam. Kill that comment, and this one.
@Joe –
Your son wins commenter of the week.
The Watchmen game is definitely a poor use of a license, but it ALSO definitely grinds after a level or two. Its very repetitive. I think if it was ‘Slam Fighter 2009′ it would’ve gotten the same review, only without me railing on the license.
re: the spam – Nope. It stays because your response made me laugh.
@Francisco –
WHAT? I friggin’ loved Jaws! I actually beat Jaws! You’re high!
You beat Jaws?! I didn’t think that game could be beaten!
I bow to your superior shark-hunting skills.
If Zelda is considered as a licensed game, then it would definitely be the two Zelda on CDI (wasn’t it a Philips machine?). Worst games ever haha.
@Anthony. You should at least de-link the spam comment. It’ll at least defuse it.
When heard about the Jaws game I figured they were just trying to recreate the experience of being attacked by a shark. Hard to get away without leaving behind a pound of flesh. But after Anthony’s comments now I just think you must have sucked. Sorry.
@Anthony: Please could you answer my question.
@TD Games –
We definitely check out every submission that comes in, but unfortunately we can’t give personal feedback on each one or guarantee whether or not a game will make it onto the show. It’s just an issue of time and workload. Thanks for understanding!
dang, there were some good games this week. all of them were worthy of winning IMO. exploit broke my brain. don’t look back kept me going back for more. but schizophrenzy just had too much going for it. i’ve got a thing for games with sanity meters.
and if i can figure out how, i’m going to try hooking my camcorder up to the computer to leave video comments… my old webcam is a real peice.
Worst Licenced Game {seesmic_video:{“url_thumbnail”:{“value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/xKLukhmsax_th1.jpg”}”title”:{“value”:”Worst Licenced Game ”}”videoUri”:{“value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/dXSTp919u3″}}}
[...] weekly contest. It’s gotten linked by Jay is Games, Play This Thing!, and (niftily) Bytejacker. It’s cool seeing your game in someone else’s [...]
E.T. sucks at life (Zachary from Rochesterm NY)
{seesmic_video:{“url_thumbnail”:{“value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/Mv6RVOmnRa_th1.jpg”}”title”:{“value”:”E.T. sucks at life ”}”videoUri”:{“value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/UI31WthoeN”}}}
-Zachary from Rochester, NY
Three excellent free indies this week.
Don’t Look Back definitely earns nerd points by virtue of it being a retelling of the legend of Orpheus. For some reason Orpheus has a gun rather than a harp but, you know, it’s a videogame. Whatever. The platforming and boss fights were both frustrating, but the hard work you have to put in makes the ending all the more moving.
Then there’s Exploit, which is totally sweet. The mood the game creates is superb, especially through the music which kicks arse. The story was a little trite, I would certainly have preferred something a little less boilerplate, but it didn’t stop me feeling like some leet hacker. So yeah, totally sweet.
Finally we have Schizophrenzy, which has the most visual flair of the bunch but not a great deal more. The subliminal images and hallucinations were fun at first, but they’re just the same things over and over. After a minute or two they’re nothing more than annoyances that get in the way. The Memento like premise was a good one, but it was never expanded into any kind of story which is a real missed opportunity. I’m coming across quite harsh here, which isn’t my intention – there’s a lot of good ideas it’s just none of them were done particularly well.
Overall, my vote has to go for Don’t Look Back. It was a great effort at retelling a classic story in an interactive medium that I thoroughly enjoyed.
@ Anthony: I understand, but next time I will come back with a better game! You’ll see. :P
a last minute vote.
now, it’s not that i have a single thing against Exploit in perticular, but for me, this week’s free indie rapid fire was just Schizophrenzy vs Don’t look back. at least i thought so back on thursday when i saw the nominations.
it’s because i love 2d platformers so much that nothing can compete with them if you ask me. except for shmups. if exploit was a shmup i’d vote for it even if it sucked.
but anyway as i said: before playing the games, it was Shizo vs Don’t. the battle didn’t last for too long though.
Schizophrenzy is kinda innovative, and does feature some fresh ideas, which we all saw, so i won’t go into details. but even though they’re theoretically more or less based around improving the gameplay and not just being decorative, theoretically is the key word for me there. there’s not much improvement in the gameplay, only a few shiny tricks. it’s like special effects in movies – no matter how fresh and shiny they are, they can’t make an average movie rock. so yeah, the guy is imagining he’s a detective and goes crazy as you play the game and has flashbacks, but… so what? and i was kinda sad because the detective person doesn’t die when he falls off a building.
on the other hand, don’t look back is 100% gameplay. add 100% kickass retro graphics to that. that makes it a 200% game. and you also have to shoot a huge ass boss dog in his… ass. ^^
don’t look back wins.
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[...] over the pedigree of developer Terry Cavanagh (especially at the highly well-received Don’t Look Back), it’s apparent the guy can make a mean platformer. But what happens when he makes a mean [...]