Great Gaming Gaffes of 2005

[Evil Avatar]

Next Generation has posted an article detailing what they consider to be the Top Five Great Gaming Gaffes of 2005 (http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1933&Itemid=2). The first choice on their list? The Nintendo Revolution.

Maybe, just maybe, Nintendo is ready to take the world by storm. Maybe it won't matter at all that PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 games won't degrade gracefully to the weakling Revolution. Maybe developers will make exclusive, innovative games utilizing Nintendo's funky remote control. Maybe Nintendo really will still seem relevant after their new business model is revealed to be an iTunes-like store selling SNES games as 99¢ downloads. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Then again, maybe Nintendo will just go back to selling playing cards.

[CaptStu]

My chips are all-in on playing cards.

[devicelimit]

Or maybe the gaffe is putting the Revolution in this gaffe list.

[MajSheppard]

It is boom or bust. I believe I will enjoy the hell out of it, thats as far as I will predict. As for any system "winning" I highly doubt in America we will see anything more then a mud slinging campain by fanboys alike. In Japan I feel this will truely be a Revolution.

[UnderHero5]

I can't stop staring at that womans mouth on the first page of that article. It looks like she's about to lean over and go down on the camera man.

Edit: I can speel!

[Stupid Fat Hobbit]

The first choice on their list? The Nintendo Revolution.

Um, no. The Revolution is fifth in the list. You can tell by how it says "#5 – Nintendo's Revolution Revelations".

Honest mistake? Anti-Nintendo bias? You decide!

[SMES]

I love how a system that will be released in 2006 is considered a gaffe of 2005.

Just goes to show how much pre-conceived notions affect and direct taste and opinion in the gaming world.

[devicelimit]

It's actually first on the list as it is the first one you'll read in the article. But EA makes it sound like it's number one on the list which it is not. It's actually the least gaffy of the gaffes. (I love the word gaffe)

[Racknahm]

I can't stop staring at that womands mouth on the first page of that article. It looks like she's about to lean over and go down on the camera man.
Now all I see in the article is that.

[thecrazyd]

Next Generation = Trolls.

[devicelimit]

I love how a system that will be released in 2006 is considered a gaffe of 2005.

Just goes to show how much pre-conceived notions affect and direct taste and opinion in the gaming world.

And it goes to show for all the posturing on how much gamers want innovation, they actually are just fine with the status quo and don't want innovation.

[Rafer]

The 360 launch seems to be doing okay, I think the pre-launch was a bigger gaffe, with that awful MTV unveiling and underwhelming screenshots (remember wallguy).

And some bigger gaffes... S.T.A.L.K.E.R delay, Zelda delay, David Jaffe implying Romero was fired from Midway, the SWG revamp (debatable?)... anything else?

[Blade]

As an objective gamer, I think the person who threw Revolution on the list needs a kick in the balls. More anti-Nintendo propaganda probably stemming from their games being not edgy enough for the author.

If the iTunes-style game downloads are true, I'd consider that reason enough to buy it for many casual gamers.

GBA-level games (i.e. SNES) for $5 or less is a bargain.

[doyama]

To be honest this list is a bit of a sham. The inclusion of the Revolution defnitely isn't fair. One quote there is the mocking of "gameplay is more important than graphics" to which I say YES! I mean lets face it GTA doesnt have 'awesome' graphics, and Katamari Damashi is really bad if you were to simply judge it on that. But both are greate GAMES, and you can make a great game with just 'ok' graphics if its compelling enough. I think game makers are too caught up in making things look cool instaed of making cool games. But I digress.

The PSP is somewhat debatable i'd say like 50/50. Hot Coffee was hardly a 'gaffe' but more just something the politios and the Christian Right latched onto like a succubus. In reality, all that showed was that the US is de-evolving into the 18th century.

If you want TOTAL gaffes/failures/bombs, I think you could name a few other things that are much more severe

Gizmondo - A marketing and sales disaster. Hundres of millions of dollars pissed down the tubes especially in the UK launch. It wasn't even a slow death it was shot dead right out of the gate.

EverQuest2 - Ok maybe this is somewhat debatable, but coming out pratically weeks before WoW was probably about as good an idea as releasing a movie the same weekend as StarWars Episode 3 or a Harry Potter movie. I haven't played EQ2 (tho I did play EQ), but considering the milestones and popularity of WoW has reached, you can say EQ2 was at least up there in terms of a gaffe (or maybe just bad timing).

[CapnBob]

And it goes to show for all the posturing on how much gamers want innovation, they actually are just fine with the status quo and don't want innovation.

Which gamers? You mean the editors of the magazine?

[bapenguin]

Um, no. The Revolution is fifth in the list. You can tell by how it says "#5 – Nintendo's Revolution Revelations".

Honest mistake? Anti-Nintendo bias? You decide!

Technically its their first choice because it's first in the article...not that it's the biggest Gaffe but the first one mentioned.

ANYWAY...

That said, I think Nintendo will be just fine....but it's definitley boom or bust.

[Dirty Harry]

Next Generation = Trolls.
I kinda agree with this.

[Switcher]

Evil posting misleading, pointless anti-Nintendo articles for no other reason other then he's bored?

Say it ain't so!

[Blade]

Switcher: True! Usually he's pretty passionate about it, but this is just lazy!

[Neosho]

This just sort of made me sad as to the state of the RETARDS in the industry.

"OMG LOOKS TEH REVO IS A TOUCH! LOLZ"

That's the problem with the internet...any retard can write anything. Garbage in, garbage out.

[BleedTheFreak]

Technically its their first choice because it's first in the article...not that it's the biggest Gaffe but the first one mentioned.

ANYWAY...

That said, I think Nintendo will be just fine....but it's definitley boom or bust.

Uh... No. The "First Choice on their List" is clearly the Hot Coffee debacle. Evil just needs to edit his news post, is all. You can't convince me otherwise, and you don't need to. I assume EA is a human, and as a meat-bag, is prone to errors.

You can argue that it shows up first in sequence of clicking NEXT all you want, but almost any count-down is the exact same. That's like saying Gamespy's GBA Game of the Year is Final Fantasy IV, just because they list it first.

http://goty.gamespy.com/2005/gba/index2.html

[easi]

Stop posting this partisan drivel.

We'll see who the 'weakling' is when Sony and MS are copying everything Nintendo do a few years from now.

edit: Just how much money DO MS give you for these posts Evil?

[baz]

Yeah, the first choice on the list thing is a bit annoying.

It's more of a 5 greatest contraversial moments of 2005 than anything else. I think they need to look up the definition of gaffe.

gaffe also gaff
n.

1. A clumsy social error; a faux pas: “The excursion had in his eyes been a monstrous gaffe, a breach of sensibility and good taste” (Mary McCarthy).
2. A blatant mistake or misjudgment.

[Citizen Philip]

I can't stop staring at that womans mouth on the first page of that article. It looks like she's about to lean over and go down on the camera man.

Edit: I can speel!

Your comment inspired me to look at the article/photo, that I otherwise would have ignored. I looked for two reason: what you considered to be potentially provocative was potentially curious and the off hope what you considered provocative would be similar to myself.

I was very disappointed, that photo looked quite plain. :(

[BleedTheFreak]

Your comment inspired me to look at the article/photo, that I otherwise would have ignored. I looked for two reason: what you considered to be potentially provocative was potentially curious and the off hope what you considered provocative would be similar to myself.

I was very disappointed, that photo looked quite plain. :(

I disagree. That woman is clearly smoking invisible meat.

[jacktion]

How can Nintendo telling the public a small amount of information about their unreleased product be a gaffe? It isn't out yet. No one knows if it is awesome or lame. Where is the gaffe?

2. A blatant mistake or misjudgment.

Where is the mistake? Are they saying it is a mistake to tell people about their product? Nintendo needs to advertise, so that can't be it.

Are they saying that the Rev and the Controller is a mistake? That it is a mistake to make them? That would assume that NextGen knows everything about Nintendo and also knows that they are going to fail. I am impressed by NextGen's psychic powers about a product that isn't out yet and that they haven't played or used. They must be very very smart.

Basically the Mistake that Nintendo made is not doing what NextGen wanted them to do. "Nintendo didn't run their business the way I wanted them to!!1 Waaaahh!!"


The authors name is Matthew Matthews. Don't parents know that naming their kids sadistically will mess them up. Poor bastard. He never had a chance.

[Balthasar]

Technically its their first choice because it's first in the article...not that it's the biggest Gaffe but the first one mentioned.

How could their first choice be the last on the list? What about reverse-order listing is tripping so many people up? And let's be honest here: the implication that the Revolution was #1 on the list from EA's comment was obvious. Especially when you consider that the launch of the 360 was higher on the list (#2), his decision to make that the news story is more than a little suspecious.

[Cubfan]

People sure react when someone disparages Nintendo. Even their most adamant fan has to admit Nintendo is taking a chance, and there is a very real possiblity that the Revolution and it's controller could fail. That being said, I don't see how this belongs on a list of "Top Five Great Gaming Gaffes of 2005", when the console is being released in 2006, that and we don't know yet whether the Rev fall into the 'gaffe' category.

But I think most important:
http://www.next-gen.biz/images/stories/Abstracts/shocked.jpg

[jacktion]

People sure react when someone disparages Nintendo. Even their most adamant fan has to admit Nintendo is taking a chance, and there is a very real possiblity that the Revolution and it's controller could fail. That being said, I don't see how this belongs on a list of "Top Five Great Gaming Gaffes of 2005", when the console is being released in 2006, that and we don't know yet whether the Rev fall into the 'gaffe' category.


I agree. Nintendo is taking a chance. But that isn't saying much. Everyone takes a chance everytime they do something. The future is uncertain. Microsoft is taking a chance with their 360. Sony is taking a chance with their PS3. I take a chance when I mail a letter. It could get lost.
But when you make a list the biggest mistakes of the year, and then say that once we read the article we will "see those so-called achievements for what they really are: failures. Utter failures." That is not leaving much wiggle room. The Nintendo Rev is an utter failure... according to Matthew Matthews.

[zeeeg]

I guess someone didn't learn their lesson from the DS. Didn't we see the same predicitions of doom and gloom for Nintendo a year and a half ago? Wait, what am I saying, we've been seeing those predictions for at least 5 years now.

[nonchalance]

Somebody didn't learn the definition of a 'gaffe'. Every single one, bar Hot Coffee, is arguably not a mistake.

[F3nyx]

I'm only barely interested in the Revolution, but Nintendo has made no obvious blunders. So far, they're just hyping it, and the only unusual thing about the hype is its focus on the controller. A "gaffe" would be Nintendo retracting all of the information they've released, or something publicly stupid like that.

[Kelegacy]

When everyone owns a Revolution by 2007, we'll forget about this retarded list. In the meantime the 360 will burn down your home and family and the PS3 will require a monthly system purchase/swap to keep up with the inevitable DREs.

People hate "different". That's why shit movies, music, and games sell so well. Then again, 97% of all people are legally retarded, as can be witnessed by visiting threads like this each day.

[mister_slim]

Next Generation = Trolls.
That was kind of the point. Every article is pretty heavily spun towards the negative.

Maybe the list coming from the "Curmudgeon Gamer" should have tipped people off. I thought it was pretty entertaining myself.

[AversionFX]

Reading the bit about the Nintendo makes me want to punch the person who wrote it, and not stop.

[Phanto]

Selling old games.....

That sound very interesting indeed, but what a shame that i already got all the old games in *cough* emulator *cough* , lol.

Anyway it sound like a very good idea indeed :rolleyes:

[B_Money]

Somebody didn't learn the definition of a 'gaffe'. Every single one, bar Hot Coffee, is arguably not a mistake.
Microsoft probabally didn't mean to release the 360 with overheating problems, and Sony didn't want the PSP to have button problems and dead pixels.

[Heretic Machine]

That's the problem with the internet...any retard can write anything. Garbage in, garbage out.

Ya, because print and television has been so spot-on lately.

[nonchalance]

Microsoft probabally didn't mean to release the 360 with overheating problems, and Sony didn't want the PSP to have button problems and dead pixels.

But the Xbox 360 launch overall went pretty fucking well, as did the PSP launch. Sure, both have had a few problems, but "Sony's PSP Launch" and "Microsoft's Xbox 360 Launch" were both very well received. Neither console has suffered from their launches.
"EA and Madden Next Gen" has sold very well, and EA has not suffered one tiny little bit from it's decision.
The Revolution thing is pure crystal-ball gazing.

[fushi]

Microsoft will go third party.

Edit: holy shit this news item and it's comments are a semantic nightmare!
Stop posting this partisan drivel.

We'll see who the 'weakling' is when Sony and MS are copying everything Nintendo do a few years from now.

edit: Just how much money DO MS give you for these posts Evil?
laaf.

[mattwier]

That chick TOTALLY looks like she's smoking poll.

[LilAbner]

As a former journalist in the industry, here's my take on the article:

It's a poorly written piece, for several reasons:

- Revolution's not out yet, so it really shouldn't apply to the list.
- The writer says no one owns HDTVs. In journalism, never say never or no. HDTVs are at a sweet price point in which a lot of people are buying them. No, I'm not talking about the $3,000 plasmas, I'm referring to the 30-inch widescreen CRT HDTVs. I've seen these things sell for $500....or less.
- Console shortages at launch are far from anything new. Let's remember, PSP didn't launch in the holiday season so there were plenty to go around. Look at the PS2, GameCube and Xbox 1 launches....all sold out quickly and replenishments were slow.

[Montgomery_Python]

But the Xbox 360 launch overall went pretty fucking well, as did the PSP launch. Sure, both have had a few problems, but "Sony's PSP Launch" and "Microsoft's Xbox 360 Launch*" were both very well received. Neither console has suffered from their launches.
"EA and Madden Next Gen" has sold very well, and EA has not suffered one tiny little bit from it's decision.
The Revolution thing is pure crystal-ball gazing.

*EXPECT FOR THE BLOODY MASSIVE SHORTAGES

[nonchalance]

*EXPECT FOR THE BLOODY MASSIVE SHORTAGES

The shortages that ensured the Xbox 360 was news on every major media outlet and turned it into the gift to have this Christmas, you mean?

[baz]

The shortages that ensured the Xbox 360 was news on every major media outlet and turned it into the gift to have this Christmas, you mean?

Thats only useful if you can actually buy it... after Christmas everyone gets a bit tight with their dollar, so if you can't supply the masses pumped up on high interest credit before next year rolls around, you're going to have more trouble shifting your stock next year when they come available.

Especially in the UK where 99% of people seem to have some massive Sony hard-on and will wait for the PS3 if the launches are seen to be "close".

[Player 1]

Um, no. The Revolution is fifth in the list. You can tell by how it says "#5 – Nintendo's Revolution Revelations".

Pay attention folks. This is an example of common sense. Try to remember what it looks like - it's a dying breed if this topic is anything to go by.

I love how a system that will be released in 2006 is considered a gaffe of 2005.

I love how, when anyone has anything positive to say about said system, the fact that it's not out, has no games, has no indication of what it can genuinely do and countless other MASSIVE GAPS IN KNOWLEDGE don't seem to matter. All I hear is "BUT IT'S REVOLUTION MAN!!!!1".

Yet, when criticism is levelled at it all of a sudden the technicalities come rolling in.

Additionally, if you READ that particular gaffe is labelled "#5 Nintendo's Revolution Revelation" which, if you check your calendar, happened in 2005.

Is that clear or is the burning rage you get when someone dares to criticise your chosen empty box still making you see things that aren't there?

Moving on...

Next Generation = Trolls.

Holy shit. That's the most retarded comment I've read on Evil Avatar in a long time (and I've read a few). Next Generation is regarded as one of the fiinest examples of online games journalism. A considerable amount of their content is based around Edge magazine (it's British you know) which is regarded by PROFESSIONALS as the best and most enlightened gaming magazine in the western hemisphere.

But, you know, just becuase they post an article and it says something you disagree with they must be trolls.

Good ol' gamer mentality: if you're not with me, you're against me. If you were mature enough you'd be able to tolerate an alternative opinion without throwing childish names at someone. I guess you've demonstrated just how mature you are. Right?

This just sort of made me sad as to the state of the RETARDS in the industry.

"OMG LOOKS TEH REVO IS A TOUCH! LOLZ"

See my comments above. The RETARDS aren't in the industry - they just like to pretend they are.

That's the problem with the internet...any retard can write anything. Garbage in, garbage out.

Oh, how very, very true.

Stop posting this partisan drivel.

We'll see who the 'weakling' is when Sony and MS are copying everything Nintendo do a few years from now.

edit: Just how much money DO MS give you for these posts Evil?

Another fine example of "LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU. I will not listen to this. Instead I shall make a cheap shot as a response. In fact, I'll do anything but tolerate a view that doesn't match my own one"

Looks like civilised debate is an undiscovered country to some folk..

How can Nintendo telling the public a small amount of information about their unreleased product be a gaffe? It isn't out yet. No one knows if it is awesome or lame. Where is the gaffe?

By the same token, how can the same (lack of) information and action be seen as a resounding victory/proof of innovation/guaranteed success?

It's all in the eye of the beholder.



Well done Evil Avatar members. Once again you have shown just how far down the intellectual food chain you are when it comes to discussing topics like adults.

Additionally, this topic also demonstrates why pro-Nintendo gamers are so fucking annoying: you can't EVER have a proper conversation with them unless it's about how great Nintendo are.

Believe it or not, it's these examples of poor behaviour that make non-gamers make generalisations about the behaviour of ALL gamers. If you stand outside your littler gamer bubble and have a read of this topic as though you were a non-gamer you'd see nothing more than a bunch of chimps throwing food at one another.

And finally: get the fuck over yourselves. Last time I looked, this site was called Evil Avatar. And run by the guy who calls himself Evil Avatar. I reckon he can post whatever he likes.

Internet communities and forums are not democracies, they are dictatorships. Unless you're the boss you're just another pleb - like me.


I wonder if anyone will bother to give a reasoned reply to this post?

[fushi]

La La La I Can't Hear You.

[fushi]

And you know, replying to this ...
How can Nintendo telling the public a small amount of information about their unreleased product be a gaffe? It isn't out yet. No one knows if it is awesome or lame. Where is the gaffe?
... with this ...
By the same token, how can the same (lack of) information and action be seen as a resounding victory/proof of innovation/guaranteed success?

It's all in the eye of the beholder.
... makes you look about as smart as those you lecture.

[SMES]

Additionally, if you READ that particular gaffe is labelled "#5 Nintendo's Revolution Revelation" which, if you check your calendar, happened in 2005.

Is that clear or is the burning rage you get when someone dares to criticise your chosen empty box still making you see things that aren't there?



LOL, burning rage?

And yeah I read the article. They say it's about the "revelation", but then just make fun of the unreleased product. They don't really say anything about why the revelation had any negative impact or anything that would qualify as a gaffe. Did Nintendo's stock price take a hit after the announcement? They say that the act of revealing revolution information was a gaffe, then rather than explain what the consequences were, they mock the product.

Nintendo made some announcements. Next Gen is saying that announcement was a gaffe. How? The only fallout of their revelations has been people speculating on the Internet about the quality of the product before it's been released. People bickering on the internet does not make it a gaffe.

I stand by my disrespectful response to Next Gen.

Burning rage sounds like something the human torch would have said in the Fantastic Four movie. "Argggh, this guy totally fills me with burning rage dude! I need phone numbers and shots dude, cause BMXer superheros love foursomes and alcohol!" <insert laugh track>

[SMES]

Also, I agree that the Revolution's market performance is unproven. I'm not one of those people whose brains automatically start equating the product with an actual revolution just because it's the name of the thing.

And whoever said that Next Generation is considered respectable- I subscribed to Next Gen when it was a print rag and it was indeed respectable. If this web site is run by the same people (is it? I would like to know because the vibe of the site is different from the old magazine) then that's all the more reason to call them out on sloppy editorializing. It's beneath them.

[Stormwatcher]

Holy Crap,
read these numbers and tell me that Nintendo is going down...
http://finalboss.uol.com.br/fb3/ctu.asp?cid=28841
http://finalboss.uol.com.br/fb3/ctu.asp?cid=28858

[zombiekiller13]

like other people have said, the Revolution isn't even out yet. yes, the launch will either be a boom or a bust, but the same goes for the PS3 and, before it arrived, the XBox 360. all three of them are hyping (or have hyped) up their system.

the only one so far that has really gone out on a limb, whether you like it or not, is Nintendo. a remote control styled controller? slightly more powerful than the Gamecube? insanity! :rolleyes:

you just gotta laugh at these lists. especially ones that call a system that isn't even out yet a "gaffe".

I want to start a list..."Biggest Gaming Balls of 2005". Revolution would be #1, or at least the Revolution hype would be. the other two systems pretty much are staying status quo, just upping the performance of their previous console. Nintendo is saying "screw that, we're going to make a system with gaming innovation in mind". to do that while the other two are fighting over how is more powerful...that takes a big set of cajones in my mind.

[dr_wily]

i started reading and scrolling this huge post and was thinking to myself
jesus christ, how many fucking quotes can you put into a post? This has got to be Player1
I scroll up and lo and behold.

man, all you do is compile and stand on your soapbox.. if you would quit whining about whatever everyone else is saying then you might belong on EA..

go troll somewhere else. 250+ posts since april, thats fucking one rant a day. Holy shit.

Now, my contribution to this post is that I think the revolution should not be on there.. theres far more deserving "gaffes" out there. How bout something that actually freaking exists?

And next-gen maybe british and "classy" but using penny arcade as a primary source for the madden thing? That's pretty damn lowbrow. While I agree it should be on the list, (madden 360 is just ASS), penny arcade is a industry source? shesh. I'd like to see that in a magazine.

[Balthasar]

Pay attention folks. This is an example of common sense. Try to remember what it looks like - it's a dying breed if this topic is anything to go by.

I'm not clear on what that is supposed to mean. #5=#1? 1+1=3?

I love how, when anyone has anything positive to say about said system, the fact that it's not out, has no games, has no indication of what it can genuinely do and countless other MASSIVE GAPS IN KNOWLEDGE don't seem to matter. All I hear is "BUT IT'S REVOLUTION MAN!!!!1".

I think the problem is that it's not clear how the Revolution, or any information about it, can be a gaffe when there is nothing to actually substantiate a mistake. Have sales suffered? Did Nintendo dip in the red? Are employees fleeing like a sinking ship? It's impossible to say what Nintendo will do is a gaffe if it has not actually happened yet. Good job kissing ass to the admins, though.

And no, I am not a Nintendo fanboy. Don't waste your time jumping to that argument.

[mister_slim]

Holy shit. That's the most retarded comment I've read on Evil Avatar in a long time (and I've read a few). Next Generation is regarded as one of the fiinest examples of online games journalism. A considerable amount of their content is based around Edge magazine (it's British you know) which is regarded by PROFESSIONALS as the best and most enlightened gaming magazine in the western hemisphere.
Next-Gen is pretty good, but this article is pretty self-evidently a troll. And not that much of the content comes from Edge, by the way.

[Neosho]

Player 1, i'm not dealing with all your quotes.

Holy crap, these guys are the leet dudez from britens?

Incidentally, even "esteemed" people can be wrong/trollish. And in this case they are...so go fuck yourself with your big quote trees and crap.

[ElPresidente]

I love how, when anyone has anything positive to say about said system, the fact that it's not out, has no games, has no indication of what it can genuinely do and countless other MASSIVE GAPS IN KNOWLEDGE don't seem to matter. All I hear is "BUT IT'S REVOLUTION MAN!!!!1".

Yet, when criticism is levelled at it all of a sudden the technicalities come rolling in.

Additionally, if you READ that particular gaffe is labelled "#5 Nintendo's Revolution Revelation" which, if you check your calendar, happened in 2005.

Marry me... err... I agree. ;)

Please Nintendo fans. Realise that Nintendo are just a company, they are not some gaming deity and they are not the sole developer of good games.

For the record I agree with the statements about the way the Revolution has been announced so far, I honestly believe Nintendo's comments are not going to wash with the greater public, only the hardcore fans. Great for them but as far as smart business goes, I'm not 100% sold. But that is just me, you're welcome to disagree but just realise that there is a chance Nintendo got it wrong just as there is a chance they have got it right.

I should also point out it was a shitty article all round and that I'm not suggesting that everyone who was critical of the mention of the Revolution is a fanboy but there are a few out there and they know who they are.

On the subject of Nintendo I just want to say "Thank God" for Animal Crossing... my DS is being used again.