FARK.com: (3909603) The story of "Twisted," an obscure videogame that helped create the concept of "casual gaming." You could play it today "and it would not feel one bit out of touch 15 years after its debut"

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		The story of "Twisted," an obscure videogame that helped create the concept of "casual gaming." You could play it today "and it would not feel one bit out of touch 15 years after its debut" (startribune.com)		41
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9438 clicks; posted to Geek » on 30 Sep 2008 at 12:26 PM | Favorite | share:

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dletter		2008-09-30 11:29:35 AM

S'ok.

The first few "You Don't Know Jack's" were funnier (both the show and the fake commercials).

haliphax		2008-09-30 12:40:42 PM

I thought "casual gaming" was.. well.. gaming?

/or tetris?

maddogdelta		2008-09-30 12:53:30 PM

I thought that game was called "Solitaire"

Asteroth		2008-09-30 12:54:39 PM

dletter: S'ok.

The first few "You Don't Know Jack's" were funnier (both the show and the fake commercials).

To this day I still say "German judge gives NEIN"

Courtney Cox-Zucker		2008-09-30 01:06:13 PM

I refuse to ride all those double decker buses all because there's no driver on the top.

MDGeist		2008-09-30 01:08:52 PM

I have this game and it's really boring.

VonAether		2008-09-30 01:08:55 PM

I was going to say that I was positive this came out for the Xbox, but double-checking, I appear to be thinking of "Whacked!"

Honest John		2008-09-30 01:11:28 PM

mr. Fez approves

Maximusclay		2008-09-30 01:30:04 PM

I remember that game. My buddy (who's parents were pretty rich) had a 3DO, I use to go over his house all the time to play Twisted, Gex and Road Rash. Yeah Twisted was awesome.

ignorantalmond		2008-09-30 01:32:02 PM

We useda play Twisted over at a friend's house. I remember it being pretty awesome in terms of a party game... I also remember a totally badass "Twisted Metal" type game that was more race-based, but you could upgrade your car with weapons and armor...

3D0 was a fat sack of failure, but there were a couple shining stars in that shiatfest.

Hebalo		2008-09-30 01:34:00 PM

Fail subby.

A crappy puff piece about a game that not even hard core gamers give a shiat about.

Gordon Bennett		2008-09-30 01:34:51 PM

I liked the 3DO. Twisted was amusing. A pity it won't work on Freedo, my 3DO died a while ago and I was hoping to be able to rip and play all of my old games again.

Zhadnost doesn't work either. For some reason Station Invasion does, so for now I have to settle for the kiddie version od Twisted. It's not the same without the big spirally board and the Pez dispenser.

Mayhem of the Black Underclass		2008-09-30 01:35:44 PM

Can an obscure game on an unappreciated game console really be said to have revolutionized gaming?

Galactica Actual		2008-09-30 01:36:43 PM

Article is useless. Way to give no explanation of how the game is played other than "Simple trivia questions and a team play experience." Sounds... thrilling.

ButteryDamage		2008-09-30 01:37:26 PM

Sorry, but when Neo-Geo snickers in your general direction, you know you got a massive fail on your hands.

\Yea, NG was a total fail for the Home
\\May it rule the arcades forevar.
\\\NGCD for the FAIL

root88		2008-09-30 01:56:45 PM

Yeah, because casual games didn't exist before 15 years ago

upload.wikimedia.org

Yes, I know I could go back a lot farther than that, but that is the video game my mom used to play when I was little.

root88		2008-09-30 01:57:32 PM

Oh yeah...

upload.wikimedia.org

Jamesac68		2008-09-30 01:58:54 PM

Twisted was a great party game for the time, and would do quite well for itself if, like the article suggested, it was released today at a budget price. Yeah, the 3D0 failed, but what's that got to do with anything? Twisted was a ton of fun, as was Road Rash, Star Control 3, Gex, and even the pack-in game Crash & Burn. Hell, it even had the best version of Star Fighter, which runs on Freedo just fine. Laugh at the 3D0's poor sales all you want, it wasn't a total waste of time if you bought it once it was cheap.

The_Time_Master		2008-09-30 02:02:39 PM

at first I thought it was a reference to the Porn movie starring Christy Canyon.

/disappointed

TheSuperFunk		2008-09-30 02:10:31 PM

I'm still not exactly clear what constitutes as Casual and Hardcore.

I'm just a heavy gamer... I play games of all types and genres for different reasons.

Though, admittedly, I definitely play more casual/arcade/xbla games than full-on retail games... but I play a shiat load of both, really.

Ashyukun		2008-09-30 02:11:34 PM

Wow, never thought I'd see this show up on Fark. 'Twisted' holds a special place in my heart for being the origin of a long running joke between my ex-wife and I that eventually became the name of my AMV 'studio'. I still have a copy of the game- and a borrowed 3DO, which may eventually actually find its way back to its owner (if he even remembers that I've still got it :P).

And it was a lot of fun to play with a bunch of friends. Thinking back, I guess its full-motion video was pretty impressive for its time...

TDUsGamer		2008-09-30 02:29:43 PM

Grind up a pig, put it in a can. Scrapple!
Grind up a pig, put it in a can. Scrapple!
Yes I am a Scrapple man!
Think I'll have another can!
Grind up a pig, put it in a can. Scrapple!

/any game that can introduce someone to the fact Scrapple exists earns a few points in my book.

Tofino		2008-09-30 02:33:14 PM

I would have sworn that You Don't Know Jack came before Twisted. I beta'd the original Xbox Live (they even sent me an Xbox!) and Twisted was one of the games IIRC. Horrid.

dletter		2008-09-30 02:46:45 PM

Tofino: I would have sworn that You Don't Know Jack came before Twisted. I beta'd the original Xbox Live (they even sent me an Xbox!) and Twisted was one of the games IIRC. Horrid.

According to Wikipedia, YDKJ came out in 95.

Fleet		2008-09-30 02:51:45 PM

dletter: S'ok.

The first few "You Don't Know Jack's" were funnier (both the show and the fake commercials).

I'll never forget the day I learned you could type in "fark you" as an answer to the jumbled-word questions, and Cookie would respond "Wait, fark me? No, no... fark you!" and take away like $50,000. Then he'd say "Wait... did I say fark you? I'm sorry, I meant fark YOU!" and take away another $100,000.

If you did it three times, he'd quit the game.

Lord that was fun.

Fook		2008-09-30 03:07:34 PM

Jamesac68: Twisted was a great party game for the time, and would do quite well for itself if, like the article suggested, it was released today at a budget price. Yeah, the 3D0 failed, but what's that got to do with anything? Twisted was a ton of fun, as was Road Rash, Star Control 3, Gex, and even the pack-in game Crash & Burn. Hell, it even had the best version of Star Fighter, which runs on Freedo just fine. Laugh at the 3D0's poor sales all you want, it wasn't a total waste of time if you bought it once it was cheap.

A friend of mine had one, and it was not a bad system at all. Just lacked a bevy of developers making games for it. Oh, and you forgot The Horde.

/Keep peeled eyes
//Mmmmmmmm, peeled eyes...

amplexus		2008-09-30 03:40:39 PM

Asteroth: dletter: S'ok.

To this day I still say "German judge gives NEIN"

I still say "It's tary!"

andrewabc		2008-09-30 03:53:22 PM

ignorantalmond: I also remember a totally badass "Twisted Metal" type game that was more race-based, but you could upgrade your car with weapons and armor...

You can download and play Twisted Metal 2 on your computer. Look for it, although hard to find since HOTU went down. The best twisted metal game released.

Doc Daneeka		2008-09-30 04:03:47 PM

All gaming used to be "casual gaming."

Whether board games, or card games, or chess and checkers and dominoes, etc. that one would play with one's friends and family.

Gaming is recreation, and recreation is almost by definition something engaged in casually.

So "casual gaming" is not some new crazy concept or fad. "Hardcore gaming" is the more recent development. It's only in the last couple decades that people started to take games so completely seriously.

That's why I find it so amusing when these "hardcore" types scoff at "casual gamers" and look down their noses at the Wii and call it a fad. Dude, they're games. Simple recreation. That's all.

Dirtball		2008-09-30 04:14:18 PM

Is that the author's phone number at the end of the article?

BigG		2008-09-30 04:28:17 PM

root88: Oh yeah...

img90.imageshack.us

/someone had to

Uncorrect		2008-09-30 05:10:05 PM

Fook: Jamesac68: Twisted was a great party game for the time, and would do quite well for itself if, like the article suggested, it was released today at a budget price. Yeah, the 3D0 failed, but what's that got to do with anything? Twisted was a ton of fun, as was Road Rash, Star Control 3, Gex, and even the pack-in game Crash & Burn. Hell, it even had the best version of Star Fighter, which runs on Freedo just fine. Laugh at the 3D0's poor sales all you want, it wasn't a total waste of time if you bought it once it was cheap.

A friend of mine had one, and it was not a bad system at all. Just lacked a bevy of developers making games for it. Oh, and you forgot The Horde.

/Keep peeled eyes
//Mmmmmmmm, peeled eyes...

EA screwed the pooch in marketing and support, but the 3DO was some pretty decent hardware for the time. It had a great deal of potential - of course, you could say that about dozens of other systems that died out.

Then again, I'm also one of those people who liked Intellivision better than Nintendo or Atari.

Twisted came out when I was managing an EB. Many an hour was spent ignoring customers while we were playing that game.

marxychick1		2008-09-30 05:41:02 PM

I have this game for 3DO. Being a hard-core trivia buff and an obscure gaming freak, I though I'd love this one when I picked it up from Vintage Stock (new window). Meh. It's not bad, but it's no YDKJ. I think I'd like it more if I had someone to play with- my husband detests trivia games.

/Psychic Detective- best 3DO game EVAR!

bionicjoe		2008-09-30 05:45:58 PM

amplexus: Asteroth: dletter: S'ok.

To this day I still say "German judge gives NEIN"

I still say "It's tary!"

Does anyone remember the old online game that involved moving up a pyramid based upon your answer matching the majority of other players from the same people (I think) that made "You Don't Know Jack" & "Acrophobia"?

You could move up 1 to 4 levels at a time and there were missing levels and traps so you sometimes would need to choose the 2nd or 3rd most popular answer. It was like a real-time Family Feud survey question game. Plus occasionally weird shiat like asteroid storms would send you back if you didn't use points to buy Magneto Shoes insurance. Or you could double your move with Rocket Shoes.

Very fun...Never found anything else like it.

BlakeyRat		2008-09-30 05:51:42 PM

root88: Oh yeah...

I'd live to solve: The Meaning of Life?!

Babobeebo		2008-09-30 07:43:14 PM

Wow, I had completly forgot about Twisted. I was always the Pez character. It was the perfect combination of matching sound clips that come out of JibJab style presidental heads and stock footage of nuclear explosions.

MrEricSir		2008-09-30 11:08:21 PM

Solitaire
Tetris
Snake/Nibbles

What's this "Twisted" you speak of?

Former Lee Warmer		2008-09-30 11:15:26 PM

I've been trying to remember the name of this game for years.

Yeah, it was a fun "party" game when I was in high school.

Mangoose		2008-10-01 12:16:51 AM

Doc Daneeka

Your logic and insight are sure to bring you nothing but grief. Enjoy what you can.

Geotpf		2008-10-01 12:57:36 PM

I'm surprised this many Farkers have even heard of this game, much less played it. As far as I can tell, it was an obscure game on an equally obscure gaming system. I'd never heard of the game before this stupid article. It does sound very "You Don't Know Jack"-y, which was actually popular.

Nightmaretony		2008-10-02 12:10:55 AM

ButteryDamage: Sorry, but when Neo-Geo snickers in your general direction, you know you got a massive fail on your hands.

\Yea, NG was a total fail for the Home
\\May it rule the arcades forevar.
\\\NGCD for the FAIL

Am begging to differ. I worked for SNK during the glory years, the home system did fairly decent. It wasnt a million seller like the arcade but it held its own. Definitely NOT a fail.

Agreed on the NGCD. Coming out single speed in a time of 2X and 4X, FAIL. Plus the price point was too high.

Still remember a 3D0 coming in, went apeshiat for 7th guest, kept on begging to get it ported to Neo Geo :)

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