Why are Comedy Games so Rubbish?

[Jack and Calumon]

Duke Nukem is funny as hell, and that wants to be taken about as seriously as we take George Bush seriously, but only if he was more badass.

Calumon: "I'm here to show my talent and to do nothing, and I have never had talent." -Bush.

 

[loremazd]

Monkey Island, Sam & Max, Armed and Dangerous, and Giant: Citizen Kabuto were all hilarious and fun to play.

I'd also consider the Phoenix Wright series to be primarily comedies.

 

[Oinodaemon]

What about Sam and Max? Or Penny Arcade:On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness ?

 

[WolfLordAndy]

Don't think I've seen TF2 mentioned... for a game with no real story, it has so many laugh out loud moments when the characters start talking to each other!

I'd say Baldurs Gate 2/Fallout 2 both had some great jokes in them aswell, tho they arn't comedy games as such, they had alot of comedy bound into the general chatting between party members and random encounters.

 

[Highlandheadbanger]

What do you mean by "comedy games" - can you give some examples?

The Futurama game, Postal, the Family Guy game, Leisure Suit Larry, (actually kinda decent until his recent misadventures) The Secret of Monkey Island, etc...

I've noticed that a few old-school comedy adventure games can be alright due to their focus on story above all else. Modern comedy games still remain rubbish, however.

Your missing some very crucial examples my friend: the Sam and Max games, Psychonauts, Brutal Legend, the Sims, Plants vs. Zombies, Grim Fandango, Overlord, Armed and Dangerous, Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard, Maniac Mansion and its sequel Day of the Tentacle, all these are great games focused on comedy but still highly entertaining.

And if you want to include games that aren't specifically focused on humor all the time, but the vast majority of it: Battlefield: Bad Company, the Grand Theft Auto Series, Portal, Team Fortress 2, No More Heroes, The Timesplitters series, I could go on.

I'm afraid I found your examples a tad bit lacking, as games based on television shows/movies generally always suck. I agree that Postal was indeed terrible (really it seems to have been designed to be edgy and controversial rather than funny per say). Leisure Suit Larry is an attempt to cash in on teenage perversion (like the American Pie series), though it is a comedy series that isn't well done.

But since you've had to suffer through the worst comedy games have to offer, I recommed the other titles above for any attempt at redeeming a genre (though I don't think Comedy is really a gaming genre...).

 

[Iron Lightning]

What do you mean by "comedy games" - can you give some examples?

The Futurama game, Postal, the Family Guy game, Leisure Suit Larry, (actually kinda decent until his recent misadventures) The Secret of Monkey Island, etc...

I've noticed that a few old-school comedy adventure games can be alright due to their focus on story above all else. Modern comedy games still remain rubbish, however.

Your missing some very crucial examples my friend: the Sam and Max games, Psychonauts, Brutal Legend, the Sims, Plants vs. Zombies, Grim Fandango, Overlord, Armed and Dangerous, Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard, Maniac Mansion and its sequel Day of the Tentacle, all these are great games focused on comedy but still highly entertaining.

And if you want to include games that aren't specifically focused on humor all the time, but the vast majority of it: Battlefield: Bad Company, the Grand Theft Auto Series, Portal, Team Fortress 2, No More Heroes, The Timesplitters series, I could go on.

I'm afraid I found your examples a tad bit lacking, as games based on television shows/movies generally always suck. I agree that Postal was indeed terrible (really it seems to have been designed to be edgy and controversial rather than funny per say). Leisure Suit Larry is an attempt to cash in on teenage perversion (like the American Pie series), though it is a comedy series that isn't well done.

But since you've had to suffer through the worst comedy games have to offer, I recommed the other titles above for any attempt at redeeming a genre (though I don't think Comedy is really a gaming genre...).

You're quite right insofar as most of your examples go. Let me tell you why Comedy is not really a gaming genre. It is because comedy in games, when compared to comedy in other mediums, comes across as comparatively rubbish.

What I mean to say is that most games, at best, inspire chuckles in me more than actual laughs. I simply do not find the comedy in games to be as comedic as, say a good stand-up act or a good comedic film.

I own some of your examples, namely Overlord, Armed and Dangerous, and Psychonauts and I simply don't find them to be great as comedies. They are certainly very good games enhanced by a sense of humor, but I simply find them incomparable to a good George Carlin stand-up, Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke, or hell even Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam (better known as Turkish Star Wars, aka Insanity: The Motion Picture.)

When I find a game that has me laughing to such a degree that I need to pause it, then that's a truly great comedic game (Conker's Bad Fur Day came close.) Perhaps my sense of humor is not-quite-so-compatible with those games which I have been exposed to, although I doubt that is the case.

 

[Swifteye]

I'll have you know that sam and max and strong bad's cool games for attractive people are hilarious games. That said comedy is like romance in that it's best used as a compenant and not the main part. When everything rest on telling jokes things get vapid and empty quick. If the joke is an add on to something that can stand on its own it becomes a valuable asset. Such as the case with the aformentioned games I mentioned. Both are puzzle games in which you have to run around and click on stuff. That could get boring fast if it wasn't for the humor that keeps things entertaining. Heck even when you desperatly clicking on everything and everyone to find the answer you could still have fun because you stumbled on a hilarious gag that you could have missed.

 

[zHellas]

Like Paraptor said, most comedy is rubbish.
"Funny" is entirely subjective.

The second sentence contradicts your 1st one.

I do agree that "funny" is subjective, though.

 

[Irridium]

Dr. Nefarious in Ratchet and Clank is usually good for a laugh.

Spoiler

But like what was said above, funny is subjective, and different people have different tastes.

I found Portal clever but not laugh-out-loud funny. As close to highbrow humor as gaming gets---Erik Wolpaw's a hell of a writer.

My Sims always find ways to make me laugh, proving that unintentional comedy is the best kind. Death taking a shit in a Sim's toilet after he got done collecting her...priceless.

And Sam and Max. SAM. AND. MAX.

Yeah, agreed. Sam and Max.

 

[Monkfish Acc.]

Like Paraptor said, most comedy is rubbish.
"Funny" is entirely subjective.

The second sentence contradicts your 1st one.

I do agree that "funny" is subjective, though.

I guess I should have said "rubbish to all but a select few".
I assumed it was implied, though.

 

[Jennacide]

What do you mean by "comedy games" - can you give some examples?

The Futurama game, Postal, the Family Guy game, Leisure Suit Larry, (actually kinda decent until his recent misadventures) The Secret of Monkey Island, etc...

I've noticed that a few old-school comedy adventure games can be alright due to their focus on story above all else. Modern comedy games still remain rubbish, however.

Postal and Family Guy are parody games. The Futurama game wasn't so bad honestly, and kept the shows concept of humor, so you can't like the show and dislike the game, that makes no sense. You're looking in the wrong place for them honestly. Most of the Telltale games are pretty good, in particular the Strong Bad games were amazing. (No, I'm dead serious, they're hilarious) Or play most of the classic LucasArts games, Grim Fandango, Sam and Max, Day of the Tentacle, etc.

Also, how the hell can you not like Monkey Island games? Do you mean the less than great new ones, or have you no funny bone? (The one batch of Telltale games that aren't terribly great)

 

[Oktanas]

I heard of the game called Eat Lead that is build on jokes.

 

[P.Tsunami]

My Sims always find ways to make me laugh, proving that unintentional comedy is the best kind.

It's apparently also good for intentional comedy (and drama, for that part). If you haven't, I highly recommend checking out "Alice And Kev".

http://aliceandkev.wordpress.com/2009/06/09/alice-and-kev/

 

[DrDeath3191]

Rabbids Go Home would like a word with you...

 

[tce11]

I've found that there are a lot of really funny games, the paper mario and mario & luigi series, most of Suda51 games, especially Flower Sun and Rain, and the no more heroes games. I find games at their funniest won't really induce extended periods of laughing for me, but that's because they are mostly text based still so they are a lower energy medium. Take books for example, I think that Hitchhikers Guide is guide is one the funniest things ever, but it doesn't actually make me laugh. TV and movies are able to really immerse you in them and bring you up to their comedic energy because we can more easily connect with real people. And I still find that nothing can make me laugh as hard as joking around with friends. Laughter is really dependent on your level of connection with the source of the comedy and I don't games have been able to reach that level yet.

 

[SnowdensOfYesteryear]

Space Quest, Sam & Max, Bard's Tale (The new one, not the old one,) Psychonauts, and if you're into tabletop gaming, Paranoia.

None of those games are rubbish, and they're all comedy, so...

 

[zHellas]

Like Paraptor said, most comedy is rubbish.
"Funny" is entirely subjective.

The second sentence contradicts your 1st one.

I do agree that "funny" is subjective, though.

I guess I should have said "rubbish to all but a select few".
I assumed it was implied, though.

Kinda, but I wanted(or at least felt the need) to nitpick.

 

[BlindMessiah94]

Has anyone mentioned CBFD?

that game was awesome and a comedy game.