The Obligatory "Awards of the Year" post... Title most likely to make you throw your controller
Written by Dan Zuccarelli   
Monday, 29 December 2008 10:08

So each of us has chosen our top 5 games of the year, but we're also chosen a few other awards to give out as well. Today's is our most frustration inducing game, the one most likely to make us throw our controller across the room and into something breakable. Doesn't necessarily mean we didn't like the game, but at times felt like the game just hated us.

Feel free to agree/disagree/wish death upon our choices in the comments.

hdr_throw-your-controller

yea-homeHome on PS3 - nominated by Dan

What a mind-fuckingly dumb idea. Take Second Life and remove the only interesting part (the user created content) and replace it with sponsors and microtransactions for furniture and clothes for your avatar. I suppose I could walk over to the virtual theater to watch the Twilight trailer, but wouldn't I rather just download it somewhere? Having to wait for an arcade game to be unoccupied in order to play it was the final straw, and I quickly logged out before winging my controller in abject shock.

Braid – nominated by Ryan

And I am one of those who totally respect what that game is trying to do. But I also recall blacking out in a Tourette-esque haze of frustration at several of the puzzles, sometimes after finding out what the solution was. Braid wants to mock you. It's a good game, and I do recommend it, but it's fucking mean. (Special mention: PixelJunk Monsters, pre-difficulty patch.)

yea-pixeljunkmonstersPixelJunk Monsters - nominated by Jim

As a girlfriend game PixelJunk Monsters couldn't be more fun. Two people working together to annihilate hordes of adorable mosntrosities? Hottest date night EVER. But going it solo... you'd better have a Metal Slug level of patience. 14 tries, wave 18, death. You'll find yourself wanting to put your foot through the nearest household pet long before you want to undertake attempt 15.

yea-gta4Grand Theft Auto 4 - nominated by Kevin

This is the last time I shit on GTA IV, I promise. I just can't let it go without getting in one final dig for the year. I think if I actually had thrown my controller through a window it would have been more fun than trying to control a car in this game. I don't care that it's "more realistic" or whatever, the fact of the matter is it controls like shit, the cars feel heavy and it's a burden in a game already chock full of burdens. Sure, driving in previous GTA's wasn't perfect but at least it was fun and effective.

What about you? What title frustrated you the most this year?

Comments

avatar JJ BANKS
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NINJA GAIDEN II...NINJA GAIDEN II...NINJA GAIDEN II!!!

Somehow I had the patience or maybe its called masochism to play all the way through this game.

Fave/Most Unfair Moments: Beating the Rock Lava Monster but if you're not holding the block button (regardless of how far away you are or how much health you have) when he explodes you die.

After beating Zandious or whatever his name is for the second time down in the fiery pit of Mt. Fuji (he's a pretty tough boss too), you go to skip across the fire to reach the next save point, only to discover that the last patch of lava before dry land is littered with those floating bomb like creatures, hench killing you and making you start over from your last save point.

Honestly, the camera angles didn't bother me like it did most players, but this game could definitely be offered to people who want to improve their anger management.
Monday 29 December 2008, 10:35
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avatar Ryan Hewson
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Oh c'mon Dan, Home isn't a "title". I'm not going to quibble on its utility but surely the fact that it costs nothing and is totally optional mitigates some controller-flin ging aspects, no?

Jim: I just got 100% trophy completion on PixelJunk Monsters the other night. PH33R M3

JJ Banks - I have no doubt that NG2 is a worthy mention in this category, since i couldn't bring myself to play it after putting myself through the wringer that was Sigma.
Monday 29 December 2008, 12:12
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avatar Dan Zuccarelli
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It's existence alone means time was spent on it (and not on something worthwhile) alone justifies it's pick. Also, Sony is pushing the hell out of it trying to get everyone to log in and I suppose dance the robot and buy some jeans.

Waiting in a virtual line to bowl or play an arcade game? Bullshit, price is besides the point.
Monday 29 December 2008, 12:58
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avatar Xav
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HOME is a train wreck. Free or not and disregarding what it *could* be, right now it's a complete waste of time and nothing more than a poorly realized virtual world of potential ad space.

Sony doesn't want to make HOME work to keep people entertained, they want it to work so people will be busy downloading new areas "as brought to you by" some random company.

Waiting in line to play a virtual game? Not even being able to use the word "Hello." Outstandingly stupid.

It's in Beta, sure. But if Sony didn't expect flak for its mediocrity they shouldn't have pushed it out just to fulfill a promise no one remembers.
Monday 29 December 2008, 18:33
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avatar Deviation
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I've never seen Sony even push Home lately, let alone "push the hell out of it". Hell, I think they released the open beta to as little fanfare as possible because they were well aware of the state that it's in. The only reason it came out this year at all is because somewhere along the line, someone had promised that it would.

Home is an empty, vacuous black hole of suck. It's also not a game, so I don't see how it qualifies for this list.
Monday 29 December 2008, 19:04
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avatar Broodix
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Too Human
Tuesday 30 December 2008, 01:09
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avatar Ryan Hewson
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Well like I said, I won't quibble on Home's utility (answers from the peanut gallery all-too-predict able, it's vary fashionable to hate on ATM)...

...but Dan, you gotta show me where you've ever seen an ad or commercial for Home, anywhere. There's no "push" whatsoever. You just happen to follow this stuff. There's a lot of discussion, but marketing?
Tuesday 30 December 2008, 06:13
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avatar Kevin Alexander
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My second nomination for this category would have been Professor Layton & The Curious Village (of assholes).

Here solve this "puzzle": There are seven words in this sentence. Which one is blue?

It was infuriatingly frustrating to play. The charm wore off extremely quickly and just became annoying.
Tuesday 30 December 2008, 09:43
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avatar Dan Zuccarelli
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lol, I loved that game!
Tuesday 30 December 2008, 09:49
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avatar utopaline
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Surprised Too Human didn't make this list. I actually threw my controller quite a few time playing that joke.

Uto
Wednesday 31 December 2008, 14:40
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avatar Dr. Cossack
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No mention of Mega Man 9? The sheer difficulty level of the game and it's frustrating moments deserve a mention. No that those moments are bad, mind you, but it's annoying to die at the same place for the fifth time in a row!

Thankfully, I played the Wii version so I always had the control tied to my arm!
Friday 02 January 2009, 11:26
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avatar Dan Zuccarelli
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To be honest I haven't played more than the demo as of yet... but judging from the demo it definitely would've made my list :)
Friday 02 January 2009, 12:18
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