Games based on licensed IPs are the unpleasant body odour of gaming. No-one really likes them, but they're inexorably tied to the medium and just keep coming back no matter what we do to get rid of them. As crap as most of these games are though, the licenses they're based on usually make sense. Big movies, popular, action-packed TV shows and successful sports stars are all perfect subjects to stick on a box in order to persuade the unsuspecting buyer to pick it up. It's a system that works, and many a piece of digital yak poop has topped the charts as a result.
Every so often though, the licensing guys just seem to lose the plot. In amongst the sensible tie-ins, Games Radar have seen more than a few that have loudly set off their WTF alarm over the years. Some are based on unpopular or out of date IPs, some are obscure to the point of the surreal, and others are classic cases of a publisher buying the license to a big name property without ever giving a second's thought to whether the material would translate to videogame in any sane or logical way. Over at Games Radar you'll find some of their favourite examples from the land of the unmarketable, so click on and prepare to raise those eyebrows.
Chalgyr's Game Room writes:
Well, we are up to day 3 here. The format is pretty well established by now. We are taking a look at forty of the most ridiculous covers ever to 'grace' the cover of a video game box. This marks our halfway point in our list. Tune in tomorrow and we will have our last ten.
Snow White and the 7 Clever Boys
Out of the two notorious Disney rip-off games to appear on the PS2 - the other being Animal Soccer World - this game is the more Satanic of the two evils. I mean wow, look at the extremely bad character models. Wait, can you EVEN call them "models"? Escaped souls from the River Styx possessing mannequins sounds about right. This is making my head hurt.
Whether they just missed the point or simply terrify, Joystick Division looks at the all-time worst examples of video game box art.
lol at the guy all the way on the bottom. Looks like he's trying to take a dump.
Cheggers' Party Quiz is packed with thousands of entertainment questions, all brought into your front room by the eternally ebullient host, Keith Chegwin.
As a games journalist, one winds up asking a lot of questions, albeit mostly internally. "Is this good?" is naturally the most common, while "Why on earth was this made?" is fortunately less of a concern. Usually. Cheggers' Party Quiz answered the first question rather quickly, but has left lingering doubts over the second.
The way I see it it's really simple. If you don't like these games then quit buying them. I know I don't.
Why isn't the Burger King games on this list? Geez.
edit: NM
Were is Friday the 13th? I mean come one you CANT exclude a game were left is right and right is left (try navigating the map like that!) and were a squared room has like 6-7 different sides for some reason...did I mention the eternal frustration?
Pretty bad stuff there, but they didn't even mention some of the more egregious examples of licensed shovelware, like Beowulf, M&M Racing, Deal Or No Deal, or the Aqua Teen game.