Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/11/28/no-exit.html
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It requested my age before it would let me see the steam version. I wonder why…
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I am guessing because of this
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It’s bad, sure, but I don’t think it’s the worst videogame ever made - that’s a title that goes to an old mystery game Hareraiser.
A game that was, to paraphrase the Ashens video I’m about to link below, A videogame based around a puzzle where the game is used as a medium to give information to solve the puzzle, except the puzzle quite possibly doesn’t exist, the information is absurdly obscured, meaningless, and practically useless for solving the puzzle, and which sold copies almost entirely on the prospect of winning a large cash prize if you solved it. And, it was made by the chap who won the previous game(which was a book), essentially by cheating, and the game was quite possibly designed to be unsolvable so that the company could retain ownership of the golden hare prize so that they could keep making money selling the game based on the prize.
Oh, and apparently there’s a plausible argument (Which isn’t included in the video, but bears mentioning), that the book preceeding it is actually the precursor to modern ARGs, which is interesting.
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Couldn’t they have included a road-raging tractor trailer (think “Duel”) just to inject a teensy bit more interest?
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Humblebrag: The Desert Bus for Hope charity drive ran an art challenge this year for viewers to submit sticker designs that would appear in the game, and my “Tucson or Bust” entry* was one of the five winners (I fixed the spelling before they sent it to Gearbox 
). I need to load up the game and see where they all ended up…
*It’s a reference to the song in LoadingReadyRun’s post-Desert Bus 3 sketch of the same name.
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Ahh, I missed that one. Mr. Ashens has been doing some fine original work plumbing the depths, as opposed to harping on Big Rigs for the bazillionth time.
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His second book just came out, too, about three weeks ago I think, called “Attack of the Flickering Skeletons: More terrible old games you’ve probably never heard of” - Judging by the release video, and the quality of his last book, well worth picking up, I’d think!
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I don’t think it’s the worst video game ever made; rather, it just takes a lot of mental reconfiguring to find it fun. I think that makes it qualify as one of the most brilliant games ever made.
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Wasn’t this an Easter egg in the Penn & Teller mini-game compilation released for Sega CD?
[checks the webs]
Ah. Turns out it was never released:
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There were 7000 games released on Steam last year, and I’m pretty sure 6500 of them were essentially the worst game ever.
*Purchase of air freshener required for full effect.
They always get you on the DLC.
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Yeah, P&T didn’t exactly release the ‘worst video game ever’, it was a leaked game never actually released. That said, they always considered Desert Bus to be the best part of their proposed video game and have tacitly approved of all of the Desert Bus marathons.
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Big Rigs, for what it’s worth, is a bit of fun once you realize that it’s not at all what it claims to be. Driving straight up the side of a mountain and then shooting off the edge of the world as you endlessly accelerate backwards is pretty entertaining. Plus, “You’re Winner!” still makes me smile.
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Hey everybody, IT’S A DRINKING GAME!!!
Given that I strive not to increase my opportunities to drive drunk by drinking most of the time at home, it totally can be!
ETA: I just realized I can’t 'cuz Fluoxetine.
Shit.
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Off topic - reminded me of a discussion in another online forum about the electric trucks Tesla has just presented.
Someone suggested a remake of Duel with all-electrical vehicles.
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This is a Desert Bus:
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I wonder how long it will be before Amazon is doing a “Threefer” for this, an Oculus and one of these…
Linky NSFW…
Duel 2: Electric Truck Bugaloo
Exterior: Desert Road. The Truck enters from the right, pulls up to a halt, and then revs its motor, menacingly.
Sound Effect: barely audible whine
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Plus Smoke and Mirrors was more of a toy than a game to begin with. The whole thing is fucking with you and lets you fuck with your friends. Desert Bus just happens to be the part that most closely resembles an actual game with “meaningful” progression. Either way it’s bad on purpose in a very specific style that eventually lets the player in on the joke. Truly bad games at some point were intended to be good games.
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