Comments on: Randy Smith Has The Worst Game Design Ideas Ever

By: TomP

TomP — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:54:36 +0000

Yes but an you "intercept [a] kid as he creeps back from the bathroom" ? Surely that would be great fun.

By: Jason L

Jason L — Fri, 30 May 2008 19:09:33 +0000

That's one of the few ideas that doesn't translate to 'I want a frustrating depression simulator', but also (probably not coincidentally) one of the few that's already been made; Haunting on the Megadrive is the implementation I know about, and I have no doubt there are a couple of others in the genre. Echoes in Black and White, too.

By: Pentadact

Pentadact — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:38:18 +0000

That wouldn't be uninteresting, if done to impossible levels of detail, but if you'd actually made a world like that, it would seem an absurd waste to not make an actual game within it beyond a noclip invisibility mode.

By: SenatorPalpatine

SenatorPalpatine — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:45:16 +0000

Those ideas were almost completely retarded.

The "You're invisible/a ghost and have crappy powers" idea might work if the world was enormous. You could go explore wherever the hell you wanted in the city, listen to what people say, go inside buildings, watch people work, mess with them if you wanted to. Observe everything, discover conspiracies, I don't know. That's part of what we'd do if we suddenly turned invisible. Start off small, observing people, and then eventually go see what the government is really up to.

Obviously this idea would never work, but not because it's a bad idea, but because it could never be made correctly. I'm talking free range city here.

(Feel free to tell me that my idea is retarded if it is, guys.)

By: Rob

Rob — Fri, 30 May 2008 09:58:39 +0000

(lest we forget, though, Molyneux used to be the god of turning high concepts into brilliant addictive and fun games. My 90s playlist mostly consists of playing the hell out of Bullfrog's latest title, and then pining for the next one).

I know it's pretty hard to remember that because he's lost his touch these days.

By: Rob

Rob — Fri, 30 May 2008 09:56:02 +0000

Haha, yeah I was going to tell him to get in touch with PM, at least half of those ideas could be spun out into pretty but completely shallow action games that would sell shitloads but be worthless as far as Saving The Future of Videogames goes.

..at least I think that's what we're in the business of doing.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 29 May 2008 23:41:22 +0000

If he wants a game with all of those brilliant ideas in I'm sure Peter Molyneux will agree to put them in his next one....although whether they'll be in the finished product is another thing.

By: dudekazoo

dudekazoo — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:23:10 +0000

This guy cannot seem to see the line between cutting edge and flat out retarded. His idea of a "game" is pretty loose because none of those involve a plot or goal and most do not seem like something you could "play". Also, he asked for a game with intentionally homoerotic characters or situations, and he wanted it to involve wiggling the wiimote......hmmmm.

By: Jason L

Jason L — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:34:29 +0000

In addition to the winceable ideas, I do not think 'unilaterally' means what he thinks it means.

By: Pentadact

Pentadact — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:09:23 +0000

I should emphasise, by the way, that the first sentence is about the many, many other game designers who've penned rants like this. I don't know what Randy's next game is - who knows, maybe it's the awkward job interview one? CAN'T WAIT RANDY.

By: Zeno Cosini

Zeno Cosini — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:40:10 +0000

They're pretty shit. The "job interview" thing sounds like something you might find languishing on an educational laser disk from the early 90s. The "modest looking girl" who eventually "turns gay" thing actually induced a slight cringe of embarassment as I read.