The art of comedy in games, is lost.

[Sinue_v2]

From Wikipedia...


Certain computer games have taken the idea of the boss key and used it to comic effect. Sierra On-Line's comedy/sci-fi adventure game Space Quest III had a so-called boss key available from the game's pulldown menu. However, when the user selected it, the screen would cut to black and inform the user that his or her boss wouldn't be happy if he or she knew how long the user had been playing the game. It then displayed the total elapsed game time

Another Sierra game, the adult-themed Leisure Suit Larry 2, had a boss key which would hide the game and show a screen designed to act like a Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet. Upon closer inspection, however, the spreadsheet was not exactly boss safe, being populated with order status on adult items. Upon trying to return to the game, it would say that when it panics it forgets everything, and the player must start over.

I wonder if those had anything to do with the origin of this famous clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCZAE9qioNQ)?

So I want a funny game to prove me wrong, any suggestions? (Already played Psychonauts)

[Tykwa]

What was the game GC i think that played with your volume and turned you console/tv off and all kinds of wierd shit it was cool http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[Weeaboolits]

I think Eternal Darkness pretends to delete your save file at one point.

[Sinue_v2]

Have it. Neat and enjoyable, but not really funny stuff. It's not supposed to kinda simulate going insane when your insanity bar starts to raise.

Sides... I'm not talking about a chuckle once or twice throughout the course of the game. I'm talking about games that were designed to be comedies. Games like Monkey Island or Quest for Glory, or at least Bards Tale level of humor at the very least.

[Tykwa]

http://www.addictingclips.com/Clip.aspx?key=7903FD1A94CEEAD2

A few tricks in there



oh yeah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iuv08Dd9anE&mode=related&search=
another mad guy http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif
spits inky stuff on him

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Tykwa on 2007-04-30 19:59 ]</font>

[UnderscoreX]

The Sam and Max games are meant to be funny. But i've never got around to playing them so i'm not sure.

[Kent]

WarioWare's good comedy if you like the random insanity stuff (the Wii version, at least). And seeing what it makes people actually do with the Wiimote...

From what I've heard, Contact (DS game) has really good, quippy dialogue, too.

And then, of course, EarthBound is made of all sorts of wacky comedy, while being a pretty good RPG in the first place.

Stetch Panic, albeit a very (excessively) weird, low-budget game, is pretty comedic in its caricatures at times, as well... Not to mention how you have to deal with some enemies or bosses.

[Weeaboolits]

I love the Paper Mario games as well as Superstar Saga. Those were hilarious.

[Sinue_v2]

I'll have to look into Contact. I have WarioWare for the NGC, and it's good - but one game of it is enough for me. Never cared for EarthBound.

Paper Mario games were rather tounge-in-cheek, but I didn't find them very funny.

This is kinda getting depressing... tho I hear that Penny Arcade are making their own game, which is supposed to be funny. Sam & Max FreeLance Police is out (if you have a GameTap subscription), and Al Lowe is supposedly making a new title. So maybe all hope isn't lost yet. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sinue_v2 on 2007-04-30 21:02 ]</font>

[DizzyDi]

Giants: Citizen Kabuto is sopposed to be pretty funny.
Fallout 1 and 2 are sopposed to be humours as well.
Psychonauts has some humor

Thats all I can think of off the top of my head, I know there are some others out there though.

[Sinue_v2]

Yeah, I liked Psychonauts. Tim Shaffer is brilliant, I wouldn't miss out on one of his games.

Might give a look into Fallout as well. Never got a chance to play them before, but I heard they're decent games.

[Firocket1690]

anyone else here played the original sam&max on pc forever ago? Money in the mousehole!
Mario/Luigi, both of them were a failed attempt at this.
Contact DS was pretty humorous though.

But still, we only find such things amusing because they usually poke fun at today's generation of netspeak and crabby insults. Truly funny, oldschool humor died out a while back. almost never seen it in videogames.

[BlueDagger]

Stuff like turning off TVs/consoles or flashing images or something could someone like me a heartattack. I'm too nervous already(in general)... And easily creeped out.
At the same time I want to write a horror story, because I'd probably be good at it http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[Solstis]

I think that Fallout's humor might fit well with Sinue, http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_lol.gif.

Pretty much any Bioware game is filled with pratfalls, puns, and jokes. That Neverwinter Nights Expansion (first one) cracked me up. Bioware doesn't really make any comedies, though. Star Control II was really funny, but that's from '92.

[RuneLateralus]

On 2007-04-30 21:06, Sinue_v2 wrote:
Might give a look into Fallout as well. Never got a chance to play them before, but I heard they're decent games.



Major understatement. They are some of the best RPGs ever made.

Maniac Mansion is another great game to check out. There is a fanbased version that works with XP, so try to see if you can find that.

[Sinue_v2]

Well the thing is, I've never really heard of Fallout being reffered to as a comedy before - which is what I'm really looking for now. But yeah... I did almost buy it once, but I decided to get PlaneScape instead.

As for Manic Mansion, yeah, I've played it. Day of the Tentical too. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[KodiaX987]

Maniac Mansion II: Day of The Tentacle is a comedy classic. Be sure to check it out too. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

Planescape: Torment also packs a good lot of witty humor, if you can read through the walls of text.

[Sinue_v2]

...

You're just fucking with me now right?

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

That or he's drinking hard liquor before 10 am. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_beer.gif

[amtalx]

You didn't think Planescape had its moments?

[astuarlen]

Sure, Planescape had its moments, but I honestly didn't find the dialogue nearly as omgawesome as it has frequently been described. I guess it does have an edge over a lot of game dialogue fare.

I am totally going to play Fallout and probably its sequel soon, soon, soon. Excitement!

[Moo2u]

Sam & Max and Day of the Tenticle are games that actually had me laughing out loud.

[Wyndham]

On 2007-05-01 14:35, Moo2u wrote:
Sam & Max and Day of the Tenticle are games that actually had me laughing out loud.


"it's a completely unusable thingamabob."

[Eihwaz]

I highly recommend Contact. I'm not very far into it (I keep get distracted by other games like Pokemon Fire Red), but it's got really good dialogue. The game is also really...surreal. It's also quite meta. You (the player) are actually a designated character in the storyline. This creates some rather interesting situations, as you might expect.

For instance, one character will specifically speak to you, the player, and will actually block out the person you control.

[Jeremiah]

"Snakes on a boat should be here!"

I second Contact for citing great humor.

Though it's not intended, Shemue's 2's voice acting is one of the most hilarious things I've witnessed.

The Shadow Hearts series also has some humor to it, though often sparse... well, save for the third one.

[Thrash777]

Why has no one said Conker's Bad Fur Day!? Funniest. Game. Ever!

[Sinue_v2]

Ugh, couldn't stand Conker's humor.

It seemed to me like Nintendo was trying way too hard to be funny, and just throwing around cuss words and situations they've seen others laugh at before. Despite being a "mature game", it still seemed very childish (as was the Nintendo stigma of the day) presentation - like a kid that goes around spouting obscenitys because they're "cool".

Grand Theft Auto suffers from this as well too durring it's comedy bits, but not quite as bad. Leisure Suit Larry:MCL was horrible for it... but then, they didn't have Al Lowe working on the project either.

No offence man, but I didn't care for Conkers.

[Thrash777]

Monkey Island and Broken Sword have their moments...

[Kent]

On 2007-05-01 20:26, Sinue_v2 wrote:
Ugh, couldn't stand Conker's humor.

It seemed to me like Nintendo was trying way too hard to be funny

...Because Nintendo totally made Conker's Bad Fur Day.

It has a few funny moments, most of them are movie parodies... Of course, the game's more about never having the same gameplay between two parts of it. The "humor" part is just them trying to push the envelope as much as possible.

The Xbox remake has great multiplayer modes, though.

[Sinue_v2]

Rare... whatever.. they were partially owned by Nintendo at the time, so they did have a say in how the game was developed, and Rare had a vested interest in producing games they thought would be good for Nintendo - rather than just their own companies bottom line.

Still.. guys, I've played most of these games before. That's why the art is lost... because it was there, and now it isn't. I'm really looking for examples of modern games (5 year old max) that are designed to be comedies, and are actually funny rather than just sarcastic, lighthearted, or tounge-in-cheek.

[Moo2u]

Again, Sam & Max dude! The new episodes of it are hilarious!
http://www.telltalegames.com/samandmax

[Sinue_v2]

Yeah, I've been wanting to pick that up for awhile now. Heard Steve Purcell was working closely with Telltale, but isn't it available only through GameTap?

[Moo2u]

Right now it is. They'll probably release Season 1 togeather in a package dvd style once Season 1 is done.

[Sinue_v2]

Awesome, I'll pick it up if and when it releases in a boxed set.

[Kent]

On the subject of GameTap...

At the end of this month, they're launching an ad-based Free service you can sign up for, but you won't be able to play all of the games they have available, just a monthly rotation at a time. Unless you feel like paying, that is, in which case you get no ads and access to the full library. They're also making the move to allow users to purchase standalone versions of the games, so you don't have to be online and connected to play.

I really need to play Sam & Max...

[DikkyRay]

Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon/Goemons great adventure.
You have no snese of humor if those games dont make you laugh

[opaopajr]

within the past 5 years? i can't think of one. well, not a very good example of the type of humor you are looking for. things are sadly serious in the land of games. here's what i would have suggested if i thought it fit the criteria:

Kyrandia series (god i loved that series)

Seaman (just over your 5 year mark, i believe)

Samba de Amigo/Space Channel 5/Jet Set Radio (a lot of lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek hilarity)

Tech Romancer (ultimate Godzilla/3D fighter parody)

Phoenix Wright (they *are* written to be funny, even though they have dramatic elements)

Katamari Damacy (seems damn close in filling conditions)

ChibiRobo might fit in here as well

but i do lament with you on the latest trend of gaming being "serious business." i thought Metal Gear Solid was hysterically funny -- unintentional, but funny! that dramatic scene resolving the parrot's role in the story still makes me bust a rib... http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_lol.gif

[Sinue_v2]

Kyrandia series

Have em. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif Malcom's Revenge was by far the best and funniest, but I still can't help but be biased a bit to Hand of Fate since it was the first in the series I beat. That's awesome that you mentioned them too, you don't often hear them brought up in even adventure game conversations. Very overlooked.

+2 Cool Points


Seaman

Own it. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif


Samba de Amigo/Space Channel 5/Jet Set Radio

Could never find a decently priced set of Maraccas, and it's just not the same without maraccas. SC5's gameplay just isn't my thing, but I have both JSR and JSRF. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif


Phoenix Wright

Yeah, I've been wanting to play that for awhile, but it's pretty rare up here. I need to get off my ass and make a PayPal account one of these days...

[Tay]

Anyone ever played Timespltters Future Perfect?