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Worst game ever played for charity

Worst game ever played for charity

The wheels on the bus go round and round for 64 hours straight. Oh, somebody shoot me please.

The first question on your mind has got to be; what is the worst game ever? Pro Cycling Manager 2007? Dirty Dancing: The Game? Train Cab Simulator? Nope.

The worst game ever is...Penn and Teller's Smoke and Mirrors. Although not actually released, it was an old Sega CD non-game in the style of Takeshi's Challenge. The game was essentially a bundle of mini-games which were supposed to be used by gamers to trick their friends, with the exception of the Desert Bus mini-game which was a trick on the gamer.

The game involved driving a tour bus from Tuscon, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada. In real time. At a maximum speed of 45 MPH. For one point. There's no scenery to give the player anything to look at - only a bug which hits the window on the return journey (which nets another one point) and the bus constantly glides to the right, so you can't just tape a button down. The whole journey takes eight hours each way and there's no save option. At night you have only headlights to guide you and leaving the road means you have to be towed back to the start - also in real time.

So, yeah, it was pretty bad. Torturous even.

As part of a charity event though, the team at LoadingReadyRun has signed themselves up for the torture. Fans can donate or sponsor the team and over $1000 dollars has already been raised on the condition that the team does the journey back and forth for a constant 64 Hours.

If you think that's bad then you should have seen the time I discovered Morrowind. I didn't come out of my room for a week and almost missed the hand in date for my dissertation. That's hardcore.

There's gameplay footage if you want to check out the real mundane reality, otherwise just head to the forums and let us know what you think is the second worst game ever.

18 Comments

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Paradigm Shifter 23rd November 2007, 09:52 Quote
I thought the worst game ever was "Plumbers Don't Wear Ties" but this sounds like it could draw level with it. :)
Bauul 23rd November 2007, 10:19 Quote
That's just.... genius! Quite simply the most awesome game since... anything!

Ah Morrowind, I remember well that week long stint of your Joe. It was quite a sight, witnessing this pale, Gollum type creature emerge occasionally from his room at the end of the corridor in our basement flat, to eat occasionally, before dissapering back behind his door for another 13 hour stretch. Lol.
Jamie 23rd November 2007, 10:19 Quote
I really want to play that game, sounds like a challenge.
steveo_mcg 23rd November 2007, 10:24 Quote
Presumably you could just park up for a few hours and get some kip? Just like RL.
CardJoe 23rd November 2007, 10:29 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by steveo_mcg
Presumably you could just park up for a few hours and get some kip? Just like RL.

No parking, no pausing, no refueling. Just driving.

I think Takeshi's Challenge could be somewhat worse though. From wikipedia:

"The game is infamously known for giving the player several ludicrous, near-impossible or otherwise vague tasks to complete. Some examples include forcing the player to sing karaoke numerous times in a row (utilizing the second Famicom controller, that has a built-in microphone) and leaving the game at a certain point for one hour without touching the controller.

Despite the controversial game design, the game is regularly listed by the Japanese public in the top 50 best Famicom games (perhaps as sarcasm). However, many others believe the entire game was a cruel joke on the gaming community by Takeshi Kitano. Indeed, when the game is eventually completed, a caricature of Kitano's head pops up along with the message "this game is pretty bad. What are you going to do?"
"
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bauul

Ah Morrowind, I remember well that week long stint of your Joe. It was quite a sight, witnessing this pale, Gollum type creature emerge occasionally from his room at the end of the corridor in our basement flat, to eat occasionally, before dissapering back behind his door for another 13 hour stretch. Lol.

I remember that first weekend. You all went home for two days and I stayed in the flat alone. I didn't know how to cook, didn't go out because of the game and didn't know how to use the central heating. Hannah came home first and found me wrapped in a blanket, wearing three jumpers and a leather jacket, unshaven and unshowered, eating cold plain pasta with a jar of mayo. Because it was a basement there were slugs everywhere too.

Good times.
<A88> 23rd November 2007, 11:21 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jamie
I really want to play that game, sounds like a challenge.
The YouTube comments suggest you can get an emulator and run it. If your PC can handle the visuals and physics, that is.

<A88>
mclean007 23rd November 2007, 12:56 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by CardJoe
I remember that first weekend. You all went home for two days and I stayed in the flat alone. I didn't know how to cook, didn't go out because of the game and didn't know how to use the central heating. Hannah came home first and found me wrapped in a blanket, wearing three jumpers and a leather jacket, unshaven and unshowered, eating cold plain pasta with a jar of mayo. Because it was a basement there were slugs everywhere too.
I think I speak for a large number of bit-tech members when I say that you've just given us a far too detailed insight into your world... :D
Bungle 23rd November 2007, 13:00 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by CardJoe

I remember that first weekend. You all went home for two days and I stayed in the flat alone. I didn't know how to cook, didn't go out because of the game and didn't know how to use the central heating. Hannah came home first and found me wrapped in a blanket, wearing three jumpers and a leather jacket, unshaven and unshowered, eating cold plain pasta with a jar of mayo. Because it was a basement there were slugs everywhere too.

Good times.
LAN gamers rule;) Like the slugs...nice touch.:D
nakchak 23rd November 2007, 14:20 Quote
world cup italia 90 on the megadrive, that game blew
johnnyboy700 23rd November 2007, 17:46 Quote
Sheesh, I would have said Plumers Don't Wear Ties as well but at least something happens in that one, the bus driving sounds like an excercise in tedium as well as being a terrible game.

Either that or its a true hard core simulation where you really do experience what it would be like to drive a bus for that length of time. Does anybody remember that bloke who played a full Atlantic patrol in Silent Hunter 3 in real time? He actually spent a week on one mission, I think there was something posted on You Tube about it about a year or so ago, I can only presume that did it just to get noticed as I can't belive that somebody would think that was a good idea.
ChromeX 23rd November 2007, 18:50 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by nakchak
world cup italia 90 on the megadrive, that game blew

GORL! hehe im gonna play it for old times sake! :D
MiNiMaL_FuSS 24th November 2007, 11:42 Quote
while that game might be terrible, u expect it to be terible, so there's no disapointment involved.

Now DeusEx2 had both mind numbing awfulness and dispointment...........
Kipman725 25th November 2007, 01:24 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by MiNiMaL_FuSS
while that game might be terrible, u expect it to be terible, so there's no disapointment involved.

Now DeusEx2 had both mind numbing awfulness and dispointment...........

Deus EX is nowhere near the worst games of all time infact its one of the better ones. It was only a disapointment due to what came before it. This however I have seen before I think the only way of winning is to get like 900 points aswell :|
Rocket733 25th November 2007, 02:09 Quote
DuesEX != DuesEx2, the first was good and the second was quite disappointing.
johnnyboy700 25th November 2007, 10:44 Quote
I think the main problem with DE2 was that too many people focused on what it wasn't rather that what it was. Although admittedly it probably had too tough an act to follow and probably wouldn't have made any difference how good it was - mind you DE itself was far from perfect.
The thing that I remember that irritated me the most was that if you wanted to pick up a body and dump it out of sight you could only do so after you had emptied its pockets, annoying when I usually had only one inventory space free. And if I ended up with one more bloody combat knife I think I might have shot my monitor! It would have been soooooo much better if you had the option to pick up the items from a corpse instead of being forced to collect them in the order determined by the game - however this flaw, whilst immensley irritating, was not a deal breaker when it game to making DE one of the best games ever.
CardJoe 25th November 2007, 11:08 Quote
Deus Ex 2 wasn't really all that bad. If it had been a stand alone game it could have stood up well enough, but it just couldn't match the hype and the change of developers had a massive effect on the gameplay. The thing which irritated me the most was the tiny levels which you had to run back and forth through. There were a lot of elements to like in retrospect though - like the way there were a core selection of characters which you could alter and mess with, mirroring but shifting the focus on changing the whole world in Deus Ex.

Deus Ex 1 was better by far though.
Captain Slug 26th November 2007, 18:28 Quote
Well, it does accurately depict how unexciting the drive from Tucson, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada is...
DougEdey 26th November 2007, 23:41 Quote
$12,000 has been raised! And bit-tech get a thanks from the site too:
http://desertbus.org/2007/11/26/the-support-has-been-amazing/
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