Which games do you enjoy that are not meant for you?

[ManutheBloodedge]

I am just interested in what games you people play that are not usually expected to appeal to you, be it because you are not the target demographic at all or you don't usually enjoy the genre etc. Think Yahtzee and Driver 3.

For example, I love the Inazuma Eleven games. They are essentially football games crossed with Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z (I am not calling it soccer. My country's team is the current World Champion in that sport, we use football. So Americans, win a few world cups, and MAYBE then you get a say in what to call it.)
They are very much geared for kids, and I am not interested in the slightest in real life football, so these games were never made for me. And I love them. Not only for the gameplay and cool special moves (I guess I would watch more real sport if the athletes started making up special moves and give them cool, ridicoulus names), but the story as well. These games feature an evil tycoon trying to take over the world (with the help of football), aliens trying to take over the world (with the help of football... twice), time travelers trying to erase football (with the help of football, ironically) and that is only the tip of the iceberg. It is as silly as it sounds, and I love it. I am roughly twice the age of the target demographic, and I don't care.

Or are more concise example, I usually don't like to play shooters, but I really liked Star Wars Republic Commando. Very atmospheric. And the Metroid Prime trilogy, now that I think about it. Mainly for the same reasons, though the more complex gameplay and subtle story also helped immensely.

So what games you love to play that are not meant for you?

 

[CritialGaming]

Isn't any game meant for you if you enjoy it?

Games are meant to be enjoyed, and if you find enjoyment in a game...then it was meant for you.

 

[ManutheBloodedge]

Isn't any game meant for you if you enjoy it?

Games are meant to be enjoyed, and if you find enjoyment in a game...then it was meant for you.

My, how philosophical!

Nice way of thinking, and while I agree, this thread is more for games that outward factors determine are "not meant for you". Hence the target demographic angle. Though I will concede that the thread topic was meant to sound a bit hyperbolic. I guess to formulate it better, it would be "games that shouldn't have been meant for you". Or to put it more simply, games that others would be suprised you like, or that you yourself are surprised you liked. For example, no one who knows me would have guessed I like Inazuma Eleven. Everyone who knows me is fairly certain I like Street Fighter V. That kind of thing.

 

[CritialGaming]

Isn't any game meant for you if you enjoy it?

Games are meant to be enjoyed, and if you find enjoyment in a game...then it was meant for you.

My, how philosophical!

Nice way of thinking, and while I agree, this thread is more for games that outward factors determine are "not meant for you". Hence the target demographic angle. Though I will concede that the thread topic was meant to sound a bit hyperbolic. I guess to formulate it better, it would be "games that shouldn't have been meant for you". Or to put it more simply, games that others would be suprised you like, or that you yourself are surprised you liked. For example, no one who knows me would have guessed I like Inazuma Eleven. Everyone who knows me is fairly certain I like Street Fighter V. That kind of thing.

In this case. Hello Kitty Island Adventure was awesome!

err....I mean I like pokemon. Yeah...Pokemon...

 

[ManutheBloodedge]

As for games that the creator claims I'm not the target genre of, usually those creators are being pretentious pricks and their games aren't that good anyways.

Well, I can imagine that has to do with the fact that one should focus on making a good game, not a demographically appealing one.

If you can do both, ok, but always focus on the first one. That way, even people who are not your demographic can find something to enjoy. On that note, I find it ironic that people who say that limiting innovation is bad, and on the other hand say to others that they "don't matter". Disregarding a demographic because it is smaller that the others is admittedly not a new problem in gaming, but this is still very stupid. It brings to mind the "all the money or no money at all" mentality that plagues AAA-publishers.

 

[Neverhoodian]

I've been known to play the My Little Pony mobile game on my phone during work breaks. Not only am I definitely not the target demographic, but it's a Farmville-style game, a genre I normally despise. What can I say, watching a bunch of ponies prance around can be a stress reliever.

I'm not normally a fan of sports games, but I played the hell out of Mario Tennis back in the day. I liked it so much that it was actually the first N64 title I outright purchased (I was a late adopter of the system in 2000, my previous experiences being rentals and playing at friends' houses).

Hmm...I can't really think of any games I play which I don't usually enjoy the genre, at least none that I overly enjoyed.

As for games that the creator claims I'm not the target genre of, usually those creators are being pretentious pricks and their games aren't that good anyways.

Case in point, this relatively recent gem:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/166870-Core-vs-Casual-Gamer-Debate-Limits-Innovation-Developers-Say

I'd just like to point out that someone who claims to be co-founder of the company asserts the quote was taken out of context and meant to be a joke:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.935961-Own-10-Or-More-Games-On-Steam-You-Are-Too-Core-For-Many-Developers?page=3#23570725

I'll leave it to you to judge the veracity of the claim.

 

[someguy1231]

I think a better way to phrase this question is "What are games you enjoyed that are part of genres you usually don't enjoy?" Every game should be targeted at whoever might find that kind of game fun. If there are some people who don't find it fun, then don't worry about them. Simple as that. Trying to appeal to absolutely everyone is the way to bankruptcy.

Anyway, to answer the thread, Mortal Kombat is pretty much the only fighting game I enjoy.

 

[WindKnight]

Not normally a racer fan, let alone a realistic racer fan, but forza 2 and 3 really sucked me in.

And gave me a real world car I'll never ever own to call my dream car (lotus Exige)

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Dead or Alive series. I loathe fighting games. Boring, story is usually beyond stupid even by gaming standards, and I'm just generally not good at them. I suck, actually.

But those games I enjoy. Yeah, the girls are cute, but I like the stories going on in them--even though they are pretty silly, which again flies in the face of what I just said. But for some reason, I just like them. Playing the Ninja Gaiden games probably helped with that.

 

[FalloutJack]

Isn't any game meant for you if you enjoy it?

Games are meant to be enjoyed, and if you find enjoyment in a game...then it was meant for you.

I have to second this. Other people do not determine what I will play, I do.

 

[NPC009]

I'm pretty sure I did not belong to the target demographic of MySims Kingdom (Wii), but I had a great time with it and still happily recommend.

I also have this strange love/hate relationship with the Ar Tonelico series. Ar Nosurge went as far as downright assume the player is male. You use a robot to interact with the world. At first you're kinda like a bodyguard, but you can develop a relationship with the girl who built te robot. She will assume you are male and the dialogue options never let you correct her. Asde from that, the game isn't shy of otaku pandering and will look for excuses to put the girls in bikini's and other revealing outfits. However, I adore the music and battlesystem, and I honestly believe that if the series didn't aim for the lowest common denominator so often, atleast several games would have been remembered as classics.

 

[spartandude]

Pokken Tournament and Smash Bros. Generally I do not like fighting games but theirs something about these 2 games which I really like.

 

[veloper]

Games are for kids and I'm supposed to be some sort of adult weirdly enough, so all the games I enjoy are not meant for me.

It's mostly Teen and M rated crap though. I don't have any preschooler games to showcase for the TS I'm afraid.

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

Europa Universalis. Because i'm pretty sure i suck in those compared to rest of the fanbase. That doesn't make the ability to become next Genghis Khan and/or take the world's history off the rails less fun.

 

[Wrex Brogan]

...All RPGs and Shooters with a straight protagonist and/or plotlines involving rescuing a female love interest. The games might be fun, but unless I'm rescuing an oiled up Smoke Mc'Manmuscle that my hunky protagonist then deep kisses, it's just not pandering to me the right way.

...or, more seriously, Pokemon, I guess. I'm 10 years outside of it's age-range already, and I'm pretty sure I'm outside the Japanese age-range for the series as well. Still going to end up playing it until I'm into my 80s (if they keep making games for that long... probably).

(though if we're going by 'not your usual genre' then it'd be Sunless Sea, since it's a Roguelike and I normally keep my distance from those, but I've put something like 300 hours into Sunless and am still loving the hell out of it.)

 

[Rasputin1]

I got very into Viva Pi?ata for a while, and the whole time playing it, it was obvious I was significantly older than the target audience.

I'm not sure what so appealed about it either, something about encouraging brightly coloured, sweet-filled animals to come visit your garden and admire all your hard work. And not breaking them open with a shovel for their sweets.. no.. Never that.

 

[Aerosteam]

A few times someone's asked me "aren't you too old for Pokemon?" which is kinda annoying because I know more people about the same age as me nowadays who play it than when I was a child.

 

[EyeReaper]

Oh yeah, plenty if you go by the ESRB. I have a hard time calling myself "mature," I stopped being a teen a couple years ago, and I most certainly cannot speak for everyone. In technicality, The only rating I purely and accurately represent is AO.


Well, anyways, If we're going by "This was meant for the childrens, you legal adult" I guess my 400-500 dollars worth of skylanders speaks for itself. And I don't even regret buying most of them.

Also, a little PS2 gem known as Blitz: the League. As a doughy nerd I am contractually obligated to absolutely abhor Football (the American Kind, not that the real kind is any better). Wanna know how to make football fun? allow the defensive man to piledrive the running guy into the ground, snapping his neck. Mortal Kombat totally stole their X-ray move Idea from this game. Also, the cheat code that makes every tackle into a fumble is great for multiplayer. Essentially turns the "ball" into the world's biggest jumping bean.