Support NeoGAF

[toddhunter]

It is pretty harsh to say Konami. EA has done things that are way worse in the past, with killing Origin and then making their unwanted reboot of an unwanted delivery service named that being top of the list. Then they left the console industry years ago to only make F2P mobile games.

The fact that they still release those games on console shouldn't really change anything.

 

[BTM]

LJN thread? LJN thread.

 

[Carnby]

LJN hate is a little overzealous at times. They did make bad games, no denying that. But they had a few good ones here and there.

Thrilla's Surfari is one of my favorite NES games and it's a licensed game as well!

Is it impossible like T & C Surf?

 

[qualitydisc]

But my vote for the worst publisher of all time would go to

But but but Incredible Crisis!

Their shit mostly consisted of poorly dubbed cartoons (most famously Animal Soccer World) with a few jigsaw puzzles slapped on the disc. But their actual GAMES with GAMEPLAY were so much worse.

I'm not from the UK but I've heard of the infamy of Animal Soccer World through the magic of YouTube. Half of the voice actors sound like they can barely read.


High Voltage isn't a publisher, are they?

 

[joedan]

This is one of those... "You had to be there." Hardly any of those games hold up today, but they were pretty cool way back. I had a few of those things I played the crap out of before my parents finally shelled out for a Gameboy.

Thank you. Tiger games were the pinnacle of handheld gaming for me before Gameboy came along. Kids with Tiger handhelds were automatically famous and I had a lot of fun with a bunch of these games.

My contribution...

You were almost guaranteed a bad game.

 

[erawsd]

Might not be too familiar these days, but LJN was pretty much the logo for "shitty licensed game"

So I found out a couple years ago that LJN was "secretly" owned and operated by...

A few good games and a shit ton of crap/duds.

It wasnt really a secret but I only found out a couple years ago. Back in the 80s and 90s Nintendo imposed limits on how many games a single publisher could release in a year. To get around that, some companies established Satellite Publishers -- Acclaim's was LJN. So when thinking about the worst publisher you really have to think of all the shit that LJN put out, then pile on all of Acclaim's shit, and hope that you live to post about it.

 

[Princess Viola]

It wasnt really a secret but I only found out a couple years ago. Back in the 80s and 90s Nintendo imposed limits on how many games a single publisher could release in a year. To get around that, some companies established Satellite Publishers -- Acclaim's was LJN. So when thinking about the worst publisher you really have to think of all the shit that LJN put out, then pile on all of Acclaim's shit, and hope that you live to post about it.

Except Acclaim bought LJN in 1995 when the company basically shut down.

 

[GnawtyDog]

My contribution...

You were almost guaranteed a bad game.

Nah...

Two examples:

We gotta dig deeper for that horrific title.

 

[Alec]

Did you ever get sick just by looking at a logo on a game box? Back in the days, whenever I saw Flying Edge, I thought the game was shit without even trying it.

But my vote for the worst publisher of all time would go to

Wikipedia list of their releases



The only thing I see here that I would touch is Worms World Party.

In your opinion, what is the worst publisher of all time?

You wouldn't touch Incredible Crisis?!

 

[...Scatter...]

THQ thread

 

[Major B.S.]

Might not be too familiar these days, but LJN was pretty much the logo for "shitty licensed game"

Maximum Carnage was the only slight saving grace. Still love that game, for some reason.

 

[GnawtyDog]

Maximum Carnage was the only slight saving grace. Still love that game, for some reason.

It's f****** good.

 

[DiscoJer]

Thank you. Tiger games were the pinnacle of handheld gaming for me before Gameboy came along. Kids with Tiger handhelds were automatically famous and I had a lot of fun with a bunch of these games.

My contribution...

You were almost guaranteed a bad game.

Ocean might have sucked on consoles, but they were pretty good on computers. Rambo on the C64 was brilliant, and their TFX was a really remarkable combat flight sim on the PC

 

[bobawesome]

Those publishing rape games in Japan and such, I guess.

Rape games? What?

 

[Manmademan]

Might not be too familiar these days, but LJN was pretty much the logo for "shitty licensed game"

thread over.

 

[Manmademan]

Hello London Cab Challenge.

MY GOD.

I've changed my vote.

 

[GnawtyDog]

MY GOD.

I've changed my vote.

Pop-in as an actual difficulty setting. Damn lol.

 

[erawsd]

Except Acclaim bought LJN in 1995 when the company basically shut down.

From the Wiki..

In 1989, MCA decided to sell LJN after years of losses[6] since 1987 when fallout surrounding toy guns made by LJN's Entertech division plunged MCA's profits 79.5% in the second quarter of that year.[8][11] MCA finally agreed to sell to Acclaim Entertainment in March 1990 for cash and Acclaim common stock for 30 to 50 percent.[12][13]

Acclaim era[edit]
During the time the company was owned by Acclaim Entertainment, LJN continued with the same licensing direction it had pursued under MCA or as an independent company. Acclaim rid LJN of its toy division and reorganized it exclusively as a video game publisher.

During the 8-bit gaming era, Nintendo, as a form of quality control, regulated the number of titles to appear on its console, the Nintendo Entertainment System.[14] As a result, companies like Acclaim used divisions such as LJN to produce more products than Nintendo would have traditionally allowed.[14] Konami also utilized such tactics with its division Ultra. Even after Nintendo dropped its rule in the early 1990s, Acclaim kept LJN operating, which published several titles for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy.[15] Although Acclaim distributed the video games, they were self-published and marketed by LJN.[16]

LJN, along with the Flying Edge and Arena Entertainment labels (the latter two labels which published Acclaim's games to Sega's consoles), were folded into Acclaim in 1995.[15]

In 2000, LJN made a return in name only when Acclaim used the brand to publish the Dreamcast port of Spirit of Speed 1937.[15]

 

[Altazor]

Phoenix Games.

Animal Soccer World is a masterpiece that needs to be seen to be believed. Words can't do it justice.

 

[Manmademan]

Animal Soccer World is a masterpiece that needs to be seen to be believed. Words can't do it justice.

the fuck is this

THE FUCK IS THIS

HOW

 

[TreasureHunterG]

People saying Konami are just frustrated by the moment and not being actually serious.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, 3 and 4, Suikoden II, Silent Hill 2, Sexy Parodius, Zone of the Enders 2, TMNT: Turtles in Time, Gradius III, Goemon, Boktai... yeah... worst of all time all right. Yeah, current Konami sucks big time, but c'mon...

Now serious answer to this thread:

Titus

Ugh. Superman 64. Carmaggedon 64. They were notorious for one of the biggest gaming blows of all time.

Active Enterprise

Action 52. Cheetahman 2. Need I say more?

Mystique

Infamous Atari developer responsible for busts like Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em, Bachelor Party and Custer's Revenge.

 

[LeonSPBR]

EA and LJN.

LJN made a lot of bad games and EA killed a lot of awesome studios, so my vote goes to those two.

 

[silvermember]

I see a lot of Konami but they are not the worst, it seems most of that comment is just out of misplaced anger.

Just like IBM, they decided that their future is somewhere else.

I mean the alternative was ending up like THQ.

 

[CharminUltra]

Hehehe I bet no one has posted LJN yet so I'll post tha- oh.

 

[Leon S. Kennedy]

I though Conspiracy games were the publisher of ninjabread man and Anubis II

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_Entertainment

• Action Girlz Racing
• Anubis II
• Billy the Wizard: Rocket Broomstick Racing
• Classic British Motor Racing
• Hamster Heroes
• Kawasaki Quad Bikes
• Kawasaki Jet Ski
• Kawasaki Snowmobiles
• Kidz Sports Basketball
• Kidz Sports Ice Hockey
• Kidz Sports International Soccer
• Kidz Sports Crazy Mini Golf
• LEGO Rock Raiders
• London Taxi: Rushour
• Mini Desktop Racing
• Monster Trux: Arenas
• Monster Trux Extreme: Offroad Edition
• Myth Makers: Orbs of Doom
• Myth Makers Super Kart GP
• Myth Makers: Trixie in Toyland
• Ninjabread Man
• Nickelodeon Party Blast
• Offroad Extreme! Special Edition
• Party Pigs: Farmyard Games
• Rock 'n' Roll Adventures
• Urban Extreme

Source

 

[erotic grandpa]

Gonna echo dissent on Titus and say that Incredible Crisis was amazing. Evil Zone wasn't too bad, except that it stripped the amazing voice cast Eretzvaju had in favor of some awful voice work (Paul Eiding's reading of the character bios are kinda hilarious, though).

To answer the thread: LJN. I know everyone's mad about Konami now, but trust me, LJN. All the movies you loved? The cartoons you watched? Probably had a terrible game slapped together by LJN. And you probably bought 'em anyway.

 

[Altazor]

the fuck is this

THE FUCK IS THIS

HOW

'tis the best thing sliced bread.

UH EEH UH EEH UH EEH UH EEH UH EEH

 

[Infernal Monkey]

Skateboard Madness and Drag Racer USA are other fine examples of Phoenix Games attempting to make actual games. =')

I was just about to post them. I don't think they ever published a good game. And how cheap were the games that they released? With how fast quality titles seem to drop price in the UK, it's hard to imagine how a company known for awful games could be around for several years.

Not sure what the pricing was like in the UK, but in Australia, Phoenix Games' stuff was so insanely cheap. Like, next to a typical $100 PS2 game, you could buy a brand new Phoenix published mess for $15. Some retailers like Kmart even ran official deals with them where it was two for $20.

And due to their sheer output (seriously they released well over a hundred PS2 games, all from about four different developers) there was decent 'variety', probably making for good (terrible) stocking stuffers over Christmas and such. They also started re-releasing titles that were just a few months old with new names and boxes to pad shelves further.

Even their shortlived range of Wii and DS games (right before they went under) were just PS1 and PS2 stuff, but with a new name. For example 'Dalmatians 3' on PS2 and 'Dalmatians 4' on Wii are the same thing.

I think the weirdest part in Phoenix Games' history was a brief moment during the end of the PS1, where they suddenly picked up about two or three cool Japanese games.

Then they just went MENTAL with PS2 shovelware.

 

[Big Blue]

I greatly dislike the idea that the US Army publishes a first-person shooter video game. It's gross. So, that's the worst publisher.

Yeah, but it was actually pretty good so I have to disagree.

 

[Manmademan]

Skateboard Madness and Drag Racer USA are other fine examples of Phoenix Games attempting to make actual games. =')



Not sure what the pricing was like in the UK, but in Australia, Phoenix Games' stuff was so insanely cheap. Like, next to a typical $100 PS2 game, you could buy a brand new Phoenix published mess for $15. Some retailers like Kmart even ran official deals with them where it was two for $20.

And due to their sheer output (seriously, they released well over a hundred PS2 games) there was decent 'variety', probably making for good (terrible) stocking stuffers over Christmas and such. They also started re-releasing titles that were just a few months old with new names and boxes to pad shelves further.

Even their shortlived range of Wii and DS games (right before they went under) were just PS1 and PS2 stuff, but with a new name. For example 'Dalmatians 3' on PS2 and 'Dalmatians 4' on Wii are the same thing.

I think the weirdest part in Phoenix Games' history was a brief moment during the end of the PS1, where they suddenly picked up about two or three cool Japanese games.

Then they just went MENTAL with PS2 shovelware.

PS2 games were $100 in australia??? good lord

 

[Princess Viola]

From the Wiki..

wait yeah i was wrong i conflated the 1995 folding into acclaim with the actual purchase

 

[richiek]

How did LJN secure the rights to so many movie licenses? You'd think that movie makers would have pulled their licensing deals after the first couple stinkers, but they doubled down instead. LJN never published a good game, and the label was even resurrected for one of the worst Dreamcast games of all (Spirit of Speed 1937). A horrible publisher all around.

LJN was originally a toy company that got licencees from movie studios to make tie in toys.

Check this video out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdeDtiobyNc

 

[Eusis]

THQ thread

There was like one THQ answer earlier. This is more "Konami thread" if anything, and that's largely because of the Kojima bullshit going on.

 

[KaoteK]

Konami because I'm super salty about silent hills, and it's much worse seeing a once great publisher turn to dust, than a company who only ever release shit games, release shit games.

Edit: I said stream should get a mention, but realised, they don't make the shit, they just sell it.)

 

[LewieP]

Phoenix Games.

Came to post this.

And this.

 

[joeygreco1985]

Fuck off with the EA/Konami/UBISOFT posts. You can't compare them to the shit heap that is ljn

 

[score01]

I feel like I must be from a different era.

Ocean were an awesome dev in the 8 bit gen. Along with Imagine, their output in the C64/ZX Spectrum era was usually top class.

Also - Titus' Crazy Cars and Crazy Cars II were crazy good for their time esp CCII. That game had jaw dropping graphics and a full map area of somewhere in the states to drive.

 

[The Main Event]

Titus published some fine games. Thats bullocks

And they gave us Superman 64.

 

[Compsiox]

THQ...a little harsh but they did release a lot of crap.

 

[Neff]

My contribution...

You were almost guaranteed a bad game.

If we're plumbing the depths of UK computer game publishers, then I'll see your Ocean and raise you a

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Gold

 

[DOWN]

THQ. Never put out a game of the year contender in a baffling number of years. Gambled on a peripheral that killed hundreds of jobs. sold off 1666, thus killing it.

 

[Azalean]

Might not be too familiar these days, but LJN was pretty much the logo for "shitty licensed game"

First post nails it.

 

[NoFaceNico]

Is it impossible like T & C Surf?

Not at all actually! This game is technically the sequel to the T & C Surf game but it's completely different and you would never think the two were related aside from the main character appearing in T & C.

It's a really cool game. Here's a quick rundown of what it is: video cued up

 

[Infernal Monkey]

If we're plumbing the depths of UK computer game publishers, then I'll see your Ocean and raise you a

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Gold

Hahaha, U.S. Gold. Yeah, to this day I can't believe Sega let them use the Out Run IP to make this garbage factory.

 

[redcrayon]

How did LJN secure the rights to so many movie licenses? You'd think that movie makers would have pulled their licensing deals after the first couple stinkers, but they doubled down instead. LJN never published a good game, and the label was even resurrected for one of the worst Dreamcast games of all (Spirit of Speed 1937). A horrible publisher all around.

Weren't THQ almost as bad? I remember they did stuff like Home Alone on the NES, and were another logo to avoid. They were a laughing stock in the UK games press (particularly Total!, Future's NES mag) for a while, every review treating their touch the way AVGN does with LJN.

 

[KHlover]

Fuck off with the EA/Konami/UBISOFT posts. You can't compare them to the shit heap that is ljn

EA ruined like a dozen of different companies. Good companies. That's worse than publishing bad games to me.

Follow your own advice, please.

 

[JC Sera]

this or zygna

 

[ClivePwned]

It has to be Titus.

 

[Converse]

People saying Konami, Ubisoft and EA clearly didn't live during the NES days. Yes, all three of those publishers have done some very, very unsavory things and they should be ridiculed as such. But they've also put out more than their fair share of games that range from "good" to "classic." There are so many more publishers out there that have nary a decent game to their name -- just look at the first reply for reference.

 

[redcrayon]

People saying Konami, Ubisoft and EA clearly didn't live during the NES days. Yes, all three of those publishers have done some very, very unsavory things and they should be ridiculed as such. But they've also put out more than their fair share of games that range from "good" to "classic." There are so many more publishers out there that have nary a decent game to their name -- just look at the first reply for reference.

It wasn't even just the NES games. Konami were solid for a good 15-20 years, between Gradius, Contra, Castlevania, Suikoden, etc etc.

I must have several dozen of their games, the idea that they could be the 'worst publisher of all time' for dropping the ball in the last generation they took part in is some revisionist nonsense.