How many times have you played a game and felt like it was not very well suited for the system you were playing it on? Whether it was poorly designed, or just a bad game, there are many games that could either benefit from being on another system, branching out onto additional systems, or even being released later. Much later.
Let’s breathe a little life into some games that either died a quick death, or are heading in a direction we don’t agree with. And just to be clear, not all the games below are bad. It’s just that some of them have alienated a large potential base of fans, and in the case of a certain company (Electronic Arts), it doesn’t help their public perception one bit.
Enjoy the list, and feel free to disagree with me in the comments below. These are only my top five missteps, but we could probably talk for days about other games that should be on this list, and I encourage your feedback.
Survivor – 2000 (should have been on Xbox 360 Kinect)
If you love the hit show on CBS, you’ll love the game! At least, that was the idea. As it turned out, the game was awful. Atrocious. Abysmal. It’s not that the idea was bad though, and in fact, if it had worked, it could have been a really fantastic game. I think what really happened was it was ahead of its time. If this game had been released a few years later, right around the time the show seemed to find its groove and settle into a steady rhythm, AND if it had been released on a more appropriate console, then things may have been different.
For example, if this game released on the Xbox 360 Kinect, and of course had been updated with a few years’ worth of graphical enhancements, I think it would have been slightly better received critically, and maybe even been a cult hit with families. The show has really come into its own in the last few years, and while you either love it or hate it, those that love it REALLY love it. So there is a passionate fan base there to target. Just imagine it, a family gathering around the TV, taking turns participating in challenges and pouring out each other’s rice. Those would have been the good old days!
Obviously Survivor was never destined to be as well received as something like The Last of Us, but I certainly believe it could have been much more than what it was.
Sonic the Hedgehog – 2006 (should have been on Nintendo 3DS)
Sonic the Hedgehog is another game that came out ahead of its time. Who could have known back in 2006 that only a few short years later we would have a Nintendo 3DS, a system designed to make 3D gaming mainstream? Granted, we do now have Sonic on the system, but if only we could have been patient to resurrect our favorite hedgehog, rather than pushing it out to consoles ill-suited for it. Sure the 360 and PS3 are powerful systems, but they weren’t designed with Sonic in mind, and the 3DS is pretty much a perfect fit. It’s a sad, missed opportunity.
Tiger Woods – 2000s (should have been on PC)
I am not only a huge golfer, but a huge golf simulator fan as well. Going all the way back to Links 386 on the computer, I have played nearly every golf game ever made, and the Tiger Woods series is definitely one of the best. But it never comes to the PC, and it’s too bad. The Links series made its name by creating a great simulator, and opening up the game to allow fans to make their own courses. It made for endless replayability, as there were thousands of courses, both real and fantasy that could be found for free all over the internet.
Electronic Arts decided to suck all the fun out of that and not bring it to PC or allow players to make their own courses. The game is still fun, but by leaving out the PC community, they have missed out on some incredible creativity from the community. Sure, there was one version of the game on PC that was basically just a hack job of the online game that was somewhat decent for a short time, but it was never as deep or in-depth as the console versions of the game. It was a disservice to hardcore golf sim fans everywhere (yes, there IS such a thing).
Perhaps someday we’ll get a true version of the Tiger Woods series on PC, and if we do, I may never stop playing it. Especially if they open it up to the modding community and let fans show EA just how creative and inspired they really can be.
Halo – 2001 (should have been on PC)
I understand the reason for giving consoles exclusive titles. Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo all need to push their systems, and what better way to do it than with a killer game you can only find on their console? But when it comes to shooters, I have always preferred to play them with a keyboard and mouse. It’s a personal preference, but I spent several years angry with Microsoft that Halo wasn’t available on PC.
When it finally got the port treatment, I was disappointed in the results, and it was too late anyway. If Halo had been an Xbox/PC dual release, similar to what Microsoft is doing with Titanfall, I would have been very happy. The controls were a pain on that massive controller, aiming seemed impossible, and I could never get over just wanting to play it on PC. However, clearly Halo was a massive success, so I may be in the minority on this one.
Madden NFL 25 – 2013 (should have been on PC)
Football fans love Madden games, and usually being available on one of the big three (or more recently, big two) consoles is good enough, but it’s time to bring Madden back to the PC. With the graphical capabilities available to high-end video cards, America’s sport could look absolutely gorgeous on a gaming PC. And with the Xbox 360 controller being so easy to connect, there’s no reason to have some funky control scheme on the keyboard.
The last Madden game that made an appearance on PC was Madden NFL 08, which is obviously pretty old by now. Things have changed drastically since then, and especially with Madden 25 being a special anniversary edition, I had high hopes we’d see it on all consoles and systems, including PC. I believe we will see another PC version at some point, but with EA’s track record of not always making decisions that consumers completely understand (putting it nicely), it could still be a long way off.
So there you have it, five games I feel were either released on the wrong system, or perhaps should have at least been released on an additional system. What about you? What five games do you feel would have been more at home on a different console? Share them with us in the comments below.
Published: Sep 11, 2013 01:43 am