10 Video Games That Were Sold On Stupid Gameplay Gimmicks

1. Everything - Seaman

The virtual pet sub-genre has always been full of naff, cookie-cutter games you wouldn't look twice at. However, none of that applies to Seaman.

The aim of this hellish title is to find out as much as you can about a brand new, nightmare-inducing species called the Seaman, freshwater fish that have human faces. Tasked with feeding the animal and giving him a bit of company, you care for the Seaman as he evolves from an egg to a fully-grown lovable monster, trying your best to keep it alive both through your own ingenuity, as well as help from narrator... Leonard Nimoy?!

Even better, the microphone peripheral for the Dreamcast plays a major role in the game, as the Seaman asks you questions and then relays bits of trivia based on your answers. You're supposed to bond with this monotone abomination and strike up a sort of weird friendship, a bit like you would have in Peter Molyneux's failed Kinect game Milo.

Weirdly though, this release about fish-man friendships still isn't quite as horrifying as that title would have been.