Can the phrase "so bad it's good" really apply to a game?

[polymath]

First I want to clarify what I mean by this. While a film or book can be so bad it's good because of terrible writing or acting, that's because a film or book depends on that to work. So a badly written game that is fine mechanically doesn't count.

What I'm talking about is a game that's either so glitchy or so badly designed in some way that the game becomes enjoyable. Personally I just don't think a game can truly fall into this category because a game that's glitchy or that has bad mechanics would be frustrating or awkward.

For comparisons sake I'll give an example of why it doesn't work by comparing the argument to films. A film like The Room, is so bad it's good because as a film it's badly written, acted and the production values or awful. This means it can be fun to watch even it is fundamentally a bad film. On the other hand a film like the recent GI Joe film is just boring. It's technically sound and nothing in it leaps out as being exceptionally bad or good in any way. This makes the film boring to watch either as an example of a good cinema or comically bad cinema. In my view a badly made game would only be like GI Joe, a game could never survive being as badly made a game as The Room is a film because it wouldn't be fun to play through that kind of a mess of a game.

But maybe I'm wrong. I kinda hope I am because I'd like to see The Room of video games. So if you know of one suggest one, or if you can think of a reason why I'm wrong and why a game can be enjoyed for flaws on a fundamental level as a game can still be fun I'm all ears.

 

[Kahunaburger]

I think the book equivalent of glitches would be typographical errors or something like that.

But there are plenty of games that are fun in part because of bad A.I., terrible story, and similar things. The combat sections in Morrowind are mostly fun because of how stupid and outmatched the A.I. is, and Resident Evil 4's half-baked b-movie plot is part of the game's charm.

 

[Shirastro]

Depends really.

Is the game bad on a technical level (glitches, bad AI...) or is it bad on an artistic level (bad story, bad "acting"...).

If its on a technical level, than i don't think it can be considered good by anyone.
On the artistic level however.......well lets just say someone calls them bad, i call them camp

 

[Je Suis Ubermonkey]

Big rigs over the road racing.

That game looks suspiciously fun to muck about with, purely because it is so crap.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

I think if they made My Immortal, the game, it would fall into this group. The only problem I can see with this is her saying something like "Preps, stop flammming ma game! If u flam, then Ima slit ma wrists"

I find FFX so bad it's good due to the hammy voice work and supid plot. But it is rather bug free.

 

[Adamd1990]

I kinda found this with Saints Row 2. The gameplay was awesome, but some of the glitches were annoying. But when you really get into the game the glitches just add to the mindless fun

 

[mjc0961]

Big rigs over the road racing.

That game looks suspiciously fun to muck about with, purely because it is so crap.

I was just going to say the same thing. Big Rigs is so bad that it's good. You can have a bit of fun driving through everything and playing with the broken mechanics. Watching videos of it makes me laugh at how bad it is every time.

 

[Akytalusia]

there might be a sweet spot, but if a game is too bad, then it's just bad. i posted the worst game ever on a post asking for awful games, and everyone hated it. it was even too bad to be accetable on an awful level

 

[Azaraxzealot]

people say Earth Defense Force: 2017 is "so bad it's good"

what do you think? it fits?

 

[The Wykydtron]

Two words... Deadly Premonition

The very definition of "So Bad It's Good Game Edition"

EDIT: Fuck it i'll post this to showcase the awesome

 

[NickCaligo42]

Snip

Go out and pick up Deadly Premonition for the Xbox 360. It's about an FBI Agent named Francis York Morgan who fights monsters that may or may not be in his head, deals with people who may or may not be crazy, and talks regularly about these things with his best friend Zach, who may or may not be imaginary. Also, it looks and plays like a Dreamcast game.

 

[WanderingFool]

R.A.D.


Or to be percise, Robot Alchemic Drive [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_Alchemic_Drive].

From the same guys that made EDF: 2017. If you dont cringe at the horrible translation work, you're doing it wrong. But if you dont have fun leveling an entire city with a giant robot, you are seriously doing it wrong...

 

[The Rockerfly]

I would have to say either Gears Of War or Bulletstorm. In fact most things made by Epic because they are so fucking stupid, glitchy and ridiculous but they are usually pretty fun to fuck about with

 

[Sutter Cane]

Snip

Go out and pick up Deadly Premonition for the Xbox 360. It's about an FBI Agent named Francis York Morgan who fights monsters that may or may not be in his head, deals with people who may or may not be crazy, and talks regularly about these things with his best friend Zach, who may or may not be imaginary. Also, it looks and plays like a Dreamcast game.

You know i was just about to make a post about how deadly premonition is the perfect example of a so bad it's good video game. The music is grating, the controls aren't very good, and the entire game feels like it should be awful and unenjoyable. Paradoxically it was incredibly fun to play. Also it has this

 

[Cosplay Horatio]

E.D.F. 2017 is a great example. The ability to kill giant insects, alien fighters, giant robots, giant alien spacecraft carriers, and a giant alien mother ship with machine guns, shot guns, rockets, missiles, grenades, and special type weapons that would seem like it's boring with the simple graphics and gameplay but taking down a giant insect with an acid gun or flamethrower is awesome. I wish more people would take the time to play this game.

 

[mikey7339]

Two words... Deadly Premonition

The very definition of "So Bad It's Good Game Edition"

EDIT: Fuck it i'll post this to showcase the awesome

You beat me to it! Also, creepiest smile ever at the 1:00 minute mark.

 

[Warachia]

Yes, ever try playing co-op Daikatana? Hours of enjoyment, becomes even better when you learn the N key is the hotkey for noclip.

 

[Cogwheel]

No, I don't think a game can be so bad it's good.



...Okay, bad gameplay will very rarely make a game entertaining. It can be bad in other ways, though. See above.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Just go and see how many hilarious AI fails and glitches in Oblivion that you can find on the internet.