When Nintendo announced WiiWare was going to pave the way for a new and more open world of videogame publishing, we were all fairly happy. After all, we all want to see the little guys of the software world get a fair slice of the pie, right? And WiiWare will undoubtedly open the window for more original and innovative gaming experiences.
Unfortunately, as the old saying goes, the further you open the window, the more crap flies in. And from where we’re sitting, the ‘crap’ in question would appear to be JV Games’ recently announced Frat Party Games - Beer Pong.
We’re a little lost for words here, so we’ll allow the press release to do the talking for us:
Beer Pong, a game born on a college campus in the early 80s, has grown from a college drinking game to a competitive sport in bars across the country. In mid June 2008, Beer Pong is going to be available for WiiWare™, Frat Party Games™ – Beer Pong is the first slated game in the Frat Party Games™ series.
Featuring two distinct competitive games, Frat Party Games™ – Beer Pong will offer a traditional tournament-style game of Beer Pong for one to four players and Speed Pong, during which two to three players compete at the same time, each trying to be the first to eliminate all of his or her cups.
Frat Party Games™ – Beer Pong has been designed exclusively for WiiWare™, with accurate and easy to use controls. Frat Party Games™ – Beer Pong will feature three different play environments and allow players to choose from multiple tabletops to enhance the playing environment.
Some might argue that this pastime is best left in the smelly college dormitories in which it was born, but who knows, we might be proved wrong here. Stranger things have happened!
No screens have been published as yet but you can rely on WiiWare World to bring them to your attention when they do eventually surface. Providing that the developers can tear themselves away from watching episodes of Beavis and Butthead and indulging in drinking games, that is.
Update: Behold the official trailer for the game:
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1. AlexSays
21 May 2008, 23:08 BST
wow, here comes the shovelware.
i seriously hope nobody buys this game.
2. Bass X0
21 May 2008, 23:16 BST
I don't care if shovelware exists or not. I won't be buying it either way.
3. Corbie
21 May 2008, 23:25 BST
I never judge a game before I get my hands on it, but this is a stretch. Of course I thought that about Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Biker Mice From Mars too, and they turned out okay.
4. thewiirocks
21 May 2008, 23:28 BST
Hmmm... Beer Pong. And you can even play it on your Wii.
5. pdrydia
21 May 2008, 23:52 BST
A long-distance booze-with-your-bud aid?
6. Objection_Blaster
22 May 2008, 00:43 BST
Well, at least we have Strongbad in June to make up for this filler release! GOOOOOOOOOOOO SCG4AP!!
7. Wiireview123
22 May 2008, 01:01 BST
why! why do we get the crap! i dont want crap! i want fun!
8. SuperSonic1990
22 May 2008, 01:12 BST
Oh no...you have got to be kidding me!
9. Tony
22 May 2008, 01:13 BST
I hope this is this a joke? Wow! there goes Wii Ware's credibility down the toilet. And I hope Mario is not in this game. Send this one back to campus
10. Kawaiipikachu
22 May 2008, 01:16 BST
The thing is i never heard of Beer Pong before this & now im trying to figure out what opn earth Beer Pong meant to be ???????????????????????????
11. SuperSonic1990
22 May 2008, 01:19 BST
I'm getting tired of WiiWare games that insults Americans like this and Major Leauge Eating.
12. Hilanderous
22 May 2008, 01:21 BST
Frat Party Games™? NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
I play videogames to AVOID frat guys! They've embraced the 360 because of the macho shooters; I thought they would stop there...I was wrong! Now they are invading my innocent Wii, when will this nightmare end?
13. Tony
22 May 2008, 01:27 BST
Well spoken Supersonic 1990. I am with you man, were not all gluttons and drunk frat boys here in the USA.
14. tehub
22 May 2008, 02:01 BST
What a great idea... psyyyche.
15. poggydude
22 May 2008, 02:04 BST
seems poor
16. jg233
22 May 2008, 02:12 BST
What will this be rated?
17. konkerdoodle
22 May 2008, 02:22 BST
"there goes Wii Ware's credibility down the toilet."
No need to get bent out of shape, this was bound to happen. Maybe if we just don't look at it it will go away...
18. Zelda_Guy
22 May 2008, 03:03 BST
Why would anyone think we'd buy this
19. lockelocke
22 May 2008, 03:19 BST
WOW, people. Pretty heated over this game, are we?
Look, just because DK Math came out on the VC, I didn't turn my back on the service. And Soul Caliber Legends isn't going to cause me to boycott Capcom or new SC games in the future. That said, I think WiiWare's credibility is still very much intact. This game just looks crappy.
Really, I'm not that surprised. After all, Nintendo made a big deal about using the Wii as a tool to appeal to "non-gamer" types, it was pretty much the mission statement of the console. And actually I can imagine a market for this game, probably one born out of novelty interest, but whatever, it will sell copies. Personally, though, I don't see the draw. Who wants to play a round to Beer Pong that doesn't get you DRUNK?
20. AlexSays
22 May 2008, 03:31 BST
@ lockelocke
i agree.
where's the joy in watching someone in a game get drunk?
hopefully this game only sells 1 copy,
which will be Corbie's because we'll still need a review
21. Corbie
22 May 2008, 03:37 BST
At the very least, it should be an interesting reviewing experience.
22. Cashman3000
22 May 2008, 03:56 BST
Wow people! Please take it easy on this game...I think you are all looking at this game in the wrong perspective. Especially if you are thinking:
"where's the joy in watching someone in a game get drunk?"
I think in the spirit of Wii Sports....the Wii is best played with Friends in a social gathering. With a game like this it could be fun to take on friends with beers on the side...And if its only 500 points , it might be fun.
Just a thought. Please discuss.
23. Virus
22 May 2008, 04:32 BST
Oh, funny, funny... what a concept... the question is, how much alcohol can five dollars buy? God knows it'll probably offer the same experience.
Then again, Defend Your Castle turned out to be a gem even though it was a flash game, so I guess I'll just wait to pan the game when it comes out. Heh, the Wii is sure for everyone. There's a game for the immense eaters, a game for the alcoholics, and, well, a series of games for attractive people (although those actually look good).
24. Tim
22 May 2008, 05:41 BST
LMAO. The wii has got to be the champion of crapware this generation. Nintendo went from having no games (game cube) to having all the shitty games you could probably imagine (wii).
Some of these developers are thinking real small. WiiWare games are suppose to be a big experience in a small package, not the other way around.
25. calculon
22 May 2008, 07:51 BST
@Virus - LMAO
@CashMan3000 - Are you one of the developers?
@Any Sane Person - Don't buy this junk - unless you're drunk. Considering I made half of my dodgy VC purchases drunk, alcohol will probably account for some questionably high sales figures on this game too. Like both copies
26. Bluezealand
22 May 2008, 10:56 BST
LOL
http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/3487/wiiwarehi8.jpg
27. Zelda_Guy
22 May 2008, 12:50 BST
lol @ Bluezealand
28. KnucklesSonic8
22 May 2008, 16:04 BST
SuperSonic:
"I'm getting tired of WiiWare games that insults Americans like this and Major Leauge Eating."
Indeed. Despite the fact that I'm not American.
29. Lazer Smooth
22 May 2008, 17:26 BST
You folks are out of your minds... or you've never played Beer Pong. It's fun as hell and buying beer is going to be a necessity for this game here. Good times and much cleaner. (No beer covered tables or fuzz stuck on ping pong balls- which end up in your beer) This could rock
30. i8cookie
22 May 2008, 17:33 BST
Major league eating sounds like a little bit of fun... this doesn't. Normal pong is pretty boring nowadays, I can't imagine beer making it more fun. I mean having the name 'Frat Party Games' doesn't give the developer much credibility, I can't imagine them coming out with the next level of game innovation. I do hope they come out with Frat Party Games™ - Wet T-Shirt Contest™ though
31. A_link_to_the_VC
23 May 2008, 01:11 BST
idk depending on price and controls i could see this game being a fun way to play beer pong in a small area, so i figure if you got some beer and few friends but little space why not, but i do agree its nothing special but if its cheap it might sell
32. ChocoDK
23 May 2008, 05:48 BST
I can't believe nobody even noticed this in the trailer. I guess you were all getting worked up with the shovelware in the game but didn't anybody even see?! What an amaturish trailer that was because guess what?! THE PEOPLE IN THE TRAILER DIDN'T EVEN USE THEIR WII WRIST STRAPS! I hope that the remotes all fly into the TV while they are drunk so there goes their money.
I don't see why people are getting worked up though about this. There will always be a bad apple in every bunch. Hell the PS2 was arguably the best system ever made and it had its fair share of shovelware. However, the good titles out did the bad titles. So if Wiiware still gets more good titles then bad titles then the service won't be bad. And I am looking forward to the Major League Eating competiton game.
33. Boringman54
23 May 2008, 12:28 BST
@ChocoDK I have to completely agree with you about the trailer. Not the fact that they aren't wearing wrist straps, but it looks like they filmed it in 10 minutes using a home video camera. It xould just be a fan trailer for all we know (not there is going to be many fans of this game anyways
).
34. ReaperJ21
23 May 2008, 22:59 BST
@ Boringman54- I agree, the only fans will probably be the ppl who don't have much of a life, and i on't get why there actually putting this on wiiware, i mean im only 13, and soon 2 be on wiiware theres a drinking game, doesn't giv the best feeling 4 me, but ChocoDK, u also have a point, there are always gonna be a few bad titles out there and the best thing we can do is ignore them i guess.
35. ravelbone
26 May 2008, 17:13 BST
this is awesome! me and all my friends said we are going to get this. we play a lot of drinking games as it is, this will add a nice twist and collection to the wii! GOOD JOB! AND EXCELLENT IDEA!
36. Damo
27 May 2008, 09:16 BST
How much did they pay you to say that, ravelbone?
37. Quimby
27 May 2008, 14:56 BST
Yeah, thats a bit suspicious... but if you and you're friends love it, it must be cool!
I haven't actually played or know anything about this game, but I can say without a doubt, that it will be one of the best wiiware titles we're likely to see and it will definately destroy the boundaries of our imagination, blur genre lines, and warp minds. A must buy!!!
GOOD JOB! AND EXCELLENT IDEA!
If you enjoy alcoholism and substance abuse, this is the game for you.
Giraffe.
38. Adamant
04 Jun 2008, 21:31 BST
Beer Pong without beer?
....why? It's called beer pong for a reason.
Wonder if we'll see a Flip-a-cup game from these guys too.
39. Objection_Blaster
05 Jun 2008, 00:18 BST
@lockelocke
Soul Calibur is made by NAMCO not CAPCOM. Whoa~!
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