Quote:
Originally Posted by dubiousSwain
I can't speak of '09 and '10, because I wasn't around then, but I don't consider 2012 a themed game. Sure, you could say it was "basketball themed" but that's not the idea I'm trying to capture when I say themed. "Themed" is something bigger. Its the unprofessionalism and childishness that arises when you make a game about recycling or medieval times. Sure, basketball and soccer are technically "themes", but they're also sports. Recycling is not a sport.
P.S. If were debating whether or not themes make games flop, I'm not sure '09 is the best counterexample.
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If you're going to draw a distinction between sports-themed games and non-sports-themed games, then yes, there is a distinct difference in "not being a lousy game".
However, for your information:
2008, Overdrive: Auto racing theme
2009, Lunacy: Moon landing theme (and whether or not that's actually a flop is a matter of personal preference. I happened to like it.)
2010, Breakaway: Soccer theme
2011, Logomotion: Theme of FIRST logo. (If there had been significant changes with the minibots, this could have been a fairly reasonable game.)
2012, Rebound Rumble: Basketball theme
And they all had their "hated" items. 2010, one of the best games FIRST had done in several years, rewarded 6v0 games due to the rankings. 2012, "coopertition bridge" was fightin' words to teams that got burned by it. 2008 had penalties that were out of whack--10 points for spinning around in the wrong place wasn't uncommon. 2009's lack of traction led to a lot of scrums and a lot of human players draining shots. And 2011 had the minibots (OK, you all can go back to pretending those didn't exist now).
If you're going to say that 2012 isn't a themed game, then you basically get 2009, 2011, and 2015 as "themed" games ('08 and '10 were also sports themed). And as far as I'm concerned, those three ALL pale in lousiness to 2001's 4v0, which had no theme. Others may add in 2003's 2v2--stacks weren't made because it was easier to knock them down--again, no theme.
If you were to make a list of the all-time worst games, I'd say that the very worst a themed game would do would be #3. (Assuming that you asked people who actually played those games, mind you.)