There's something spectacular about watching a highly anticipated and heavily hyped game flop. That may sound like a terrible thing to say, but if you were to be near the Titanic when it hit that iceberg (let's just say you were fishing in the north Atlantic or something), then you wouldn't be able to resist gawping at the unfolding catastrophe in horrified fascination, would you? Admit it! It's on a similar basis that commercially catastrophic video games are so fascinating, except you've got no reason to feel guilty about it, because in so many (though not all) cases, the publishers or developers brought about their own demise. You can't feel too much sympathy for a publisher that rented a $1 million a month luxury office space, only to end up creating one of the most underwhelming games of all time, or for another to spend many millions on a game with only a three-hour campaign. On the other hand, we should spare a thought for the developers who were at the mercy of crazy publishing deadlines to deliver huge titles, and emit a cry of rage over how the disastrous impact of a couple of games managed to send the entire industry into a dark age. Here are ten catastrophic games that lost money, ruined lives, and should probably never have been released.
Gamer, Researcher of strange things.
I'm a writer-editor hybrid whose writings on video games, technology and movies can be found across the internet. I've even ventured into the realm of current affairs on occasion but, unable to face reality, have retreated into expatiating on things on screens instead.
