Author Topic: Judging games by their title and cover is a bad idea  (Read 3305 times)

Warmsignal

Judging games by their title and cover is a bad idea
« on: April 15, 2014, 01:36:10 pm »
This is something that plagued my purchasing decisions for several years. I would often fall victim to buying games I could do without, because I didn't know anything about them and just thought they looked cool when I found them. The truth is, not every game that looks or sounds good, is good, or is worth your dollar. This happens a lot less often to me now, because I've spent a lot of time researching games across many consoles, just out of curiosity of what's out there. There are still a few systems I I'm not too familiar with. Yesterday, I made another lame purchase based on not knowing what the heck I was looking at. I did a trade with a guy for Wario's Woods. I assumed it was a platformer, but no, it's a freaking Bust-A-Move clone. If I knew that, I never would have got the game. I only know the SNES essentials, so I wrongly assumed first party on SNES meant quality, I never would have dreamed it was a cash-in clone title with a Nintendo IP on the cover.

I guess I need to set aside another day to research every SNES game out there. Knowing absolutely everything is essential to not screwing yourself when you go game hunting. It's too bad you can't judge a book by it's cover. It seems like that's something you can do with NES games generally without having to look them up, but SNES it's a bad idea. Many SNES covers and titles are weird and misleading.

fazerco

PRO Supporter

Re: Judging games by their title and cover is a bad idea
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2014, 01:48:06 pm »
Luckely you have internet these days, so finding out what a game is like is easy  ;).

dreama1

Re: Judging games by their title and cover is a bad idea
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2014, 02:47:50 pm »
Check out that megaman box art.


Warmsignal

Re: Judging games by their title and cover is a bad idea
« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2014, 03:21:49 pm »
Luckely you have internet these days, so finding out what a game is like is easy  ;).

Finding out what every game is like is still not easy. Too many games.

hexen

Re: Judging games by their title and cover is a bad idea
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2014, 05:54:37 pm »
You apparently still haven't played Wario's Woods... it's an interesting take on puzzle games having to run around and physically the pieces. Bust-A-Move is an inaccurate comparison to type of puzzle game.

Either way, in our age of information, it really is true that you should have no problem finding anything. If you have a smart phone, you can look up a game on the spot. Trading for something without knowledge of what you are trading for seems... I don't even know what to call it. It seems like something someone would do only if they wanted the game to be a surprise.
Take a spin, now you're in with the techno set! You're going surfing on the internet!


Re: Judging games by their title and cover is a bad idea
« Reply #5 on: April 15, 2014, 05:59:26 pm »
Mega Man box art looks amazing compared to the boxes of most US TurboGrafx-16 games.

I like most retro box art, they've got a weird sense of style that you don't find anymore. But TG16 games are pretty rough...


dreama1

Re: Judging games by their title and cover is a bad idea
« Reply #6 on: April 16, 2014, 10:12:46 am »
Mega Man box art looks amazing compared to the boxes of most US TurboGrafx-16 games.

I like most retro box art, they've got a weird sense of style that you don't find anymore. But TG16 games are pretty rough...
final zone 2 lmao


Re: Judging games by their title and cover is a bad idea
« Reply #7 on: April 16, 2014, 12:07:58 pm »
Why the hell would you buy a game without knowing anything about it? XDDD

Warmsignal

Re: Judging games by their title and cover is a bad idea
« Reply #8 on: April 16, 2014, 12:52:34 pm »
Why the hell would you buy a game without knowing anything about it? XDDD

I think it's a pretty common thing to do when you're out looking at flea markets for games, and you come across something that looks compelling. You don't go to flea markets looking for specific titles, that's what eBay is good for. When you see a game called Wario's Woods, being that most Wario games are platformers, and you like platformers, one would think this is a safe gamble.

hexen

Re: Judging games by their title and cover is a bad idea
« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2014, 01:11:09 pm »
Also at a flea market... you buy things you don't know what they are FOR CHEAP. $10 is the absolute maximum I would pay for an unknown,  with it likely being more like $5. How much could you possibly have payed?
Take a spin, now you're in with the techno set! You're going surfing on the internet!


scott

Re: Judging games by their title and cover is a bad idea
« Reply #10 on: April 16, 2014, 01:11:41 pm »
This is how I missed out on Persona 3 originally, I had seen P3 FES sitting on the shelf, but for some reason I thought it was a DDR clone by the look of the front cover. I never even picked up the box to read the back.

Now, years later, It's one of my favorite games of all time.  :)
Now Playing: Persona 5 Scramble, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Mario Kart 8

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burningdoom

PRO Supporter

Re: Judging games by their title and cover is a bad idea
« Reply #11 on: April 16, 2014, 02:07:07 pm »
I'm sorry, but in today's day and age of the internet and review shows and such I just have to say it: "Duh."

Warmsignal

Re: Judging games by their title and cover is a bad idea
« Reply #12 on: April 16, 2014, 02:46:16 pm »
Also at a flea market... you buy things you don't know what they are FOR CHEAP. $10 is the absolute maximum I would pay for an unknown,  with it likely being more like $5. How much could you possibly have payed?

As I stated above, I payed nothing. I traded, for something I had that was free in the first place. Yes, I'm still complaining. :P

dreama1

Re: Judging games by their title and cover is a bad idea
« Reply #13 on: April 17, 2014, 01:58:22 pm »
I remember when I was young there was a certain magic about blind buying a game just by the art. I remember doing it with VHS tapes anyway mixed results ah.


turf

PRO Supporter

Re: Judging games by their title and cover is a bad idea
« Reply #14 on: April 17, 2014, 02:25:54 pm »
I did a trade with a guy for Wario's Woods. I assumed it was a platformer, but no, it's a freaking Bust-A-Move clone. If I knew that, I never would have got the game. I only know the SNES essentials, so I wrongly assumed first party on SNES meant quality, I never would have dreamed it was a cash-in clone title with a Nintendo IP on the cover.


Give Wario's Woods a try.  It's actually a really good puzzle type game.