♪ He's gonna take you back to the past ♪ ♪ To play the shitty games that suck ass ♪ ♪ He'd rather have a buffalo ♪ ♪ Take a diarrhea dump in his ear ♪ ♪ He'd rather eat the rotten asshole ♪ ♪ Of a roadkill skunk and down it with beer ♪ ♪ He's the angriest gamer you've ever heard ♪ ♪ He's the Angry Nintendo Nerd ♪ ♪ He's the Angry Atari Sega Nerd ♪ ♪ He's the Angry Video Game Nerd ♪ Remember back when I first warned you about the HORRORS of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on NES? Well...there were a few other games I mentioned there. 2004 NERD: They're just, you know...rare, obscure games like, you know, McKids or...uh...Tax-Man...or whatever... What the hell is Tax-Man? I didn't even know what the hell I was talking about! I had too much to drink... What I meant to say was Wall Street Kid, a game about the stock market. Who would ever want to play a game like that? But it just so happens by some fucking coincidence, there actually IS a game called Tax-Man, for the Apple II computer. I've heard that there's nothing much to this game, it's just a Pac-Man clone. I figured that probably means that it's a game that's very SIMILAR to Pac-Man. I was wrong. By clone, they meant an EXACT COPY. It's PAC-MAN. Have you played Pac-Man? Then you've played TAX-MAN without even knowing it! But that's not what I'm here to talk about...I'm here to talk about something that I've feared since the beginning. 2004 NERD: Those little Tiger, like, electronic wrist-games...those are better than Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Have we gotten to that point now? Is it time to scrape the bottom of the toilet bowl of the WHOLE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY? Yeah. It's time to talk about...TIGER Games! Since the advent of video games, the idea of portable games was a novel concept, like the Nintendo Game & Watch series. Everybody liked the idea of being able to bring a game with you wherever you go. There were many examples, but none so common as the Tiger handheld games. They used the most primitive technology possible. The graphics (if you could even call them graphics) work like this: The background is a fixed image that's printed onto the console. In front of that is a clear screen, kinda like an animation cell, with a bunch of static images that represent all the characters and objects. When the game plays, these images light up individually, to simulate the illusion of movement. It's sorta like a calculator, or a digital watch. I can't think of a more crude way to make a video game. Of course, you don't need TECHNOLOGY to make a GOOD game, but these were all UNGODLY. But that didn't stop these games from flooding the market! They were EVERYWHERE! And EVERYBODY bought them! Everybody I KNEW had at least one of these things! On the school bus, people were playing 'em! At lunchtime, everybody was swapping 'em around and playing each other's games! It was like CHICKEN pox! We all got it! It was the cheapest option for a handheld game. You could find them at any store, they were convenient for birthday presents, and each one was its own individual game! You didn't need to get any other game cartridges to play on them. And all you needed was two AA batteries! The Game Boy, on the other hand, was more expensive, needed four AA batteries, and you'd still need to buy games for it. Tiger was like the poverty version. For a lot of us, it was either this, or nothing. And nobody minded! These things BRAINWASHED us! They had colorful artwork that looked WAY better than the shit that came on inside the screen. It somehow gave you the impression that you were holding an arcade machine in your hands. The commercials made them look awesome, but really, they were GARBAGE. These games were SO mass-produced, it was like a SWARM of mosquitoes sucking our blood! And we ALL got bit. The most shameless part of it is that these games tried to be more than what they were. With this kind of technology, they could've stuck to Solitaire, or video poker, but no! They took it all the way, and adapted action-adventure games! They took Konami games, Capcom games, Sega games, like Altered Beast, Shinobi and Sonic the Hedgehog. ANY VIDEO GAME FRANCHISE ended up BUTCHERED on one of these things. ANY LICENSED PRODUCT! Movies, TV shows...this Tiger got its claws on EVERYTHING. When you adapt a well-known game, everybody knows what the REAL game is supposed to be like! You have something to compare it to! The difference is NIGHT and DAY! But, hey! The idea of playing Mega Man 2 on the go? Why not? Mega Man using a GUN instead of his arm cannon? Sure! I guess somebody just looked at the atrocious cover to the original Mega Man and thought, "Okay, he's got a gun! Put it in the game!" And how about running out of ammo? Have you ever wanted to play a Mega Man game where you can run out of ammo? Well, this is it! Street Fighter II! Really? First you have the arcade, then you have the home console versions, then you have the Game Boy version, and then at the very bottom you have the Tiger version. The only thing less than that would be using your imagination! Or playing the board game. But even THAT was better! How about the TV shows, like Dinosaurs? Listen to that awful music. You'd rather listen to the "'I'M THE BABY, GOTTA LOVE ME!" Remember that shit? How about FULL HOUSE? That's right. FULL HOUSE: THE TIGER GAME! You play as Michelle (I think) going around slapping high-fives, while fighting against inanimate objects. Apparently, everything in the Tanner household came alive and is trying to kill you. Personally, I prefer the Super Nintendo version of Full House: Tournament Fighter. JOEY (in-game, imitating Popeye): Well, blow me down! JESSE (in-game): Have mercy... For games that are so basic, you'd think they'd be easy to pick up and play! But many of them, I can't even figure out what you're supposed to do! I just mash buttons and wait for something to happen! A game this simple should not need an instruction manual! Some of them, I wonder if they're DEFECTIVE! In the bowling game, I haven't even been able to hit ONE PIN! The ball goes straight for the pins, then it DISAPPEARS! WHAT IS HAPPENING?! The controls, a lot of times, are counter-intuitive. Anybody who's played a video game knows that the D-pad controls your movement, and the buttons perform actions. With Tiger games, ANYTHING GOES! In Castlevania II, the whip is up or down on the D-pad, while the buttons on the right are Jump Up, Jump Right, and the Sword (which is actually a throwing dagger, by the way). Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers had Jump and Pick on the left, and on the right, to move it's just one big button that says Forward. Every one of these games had some kind of quirky control when they should've just emulated what's on an NES controller. Half of these games, the controls BARELY work at all because they're so fragile, and don't age well. Another thing I hate about them is that they're hard to record! It's almost impossible to see the objects on the screen without careful lighting, and the glare makes it even WORSE! So there's NOTHING good about these games. In 1989, the Nintendo Game Boy hit the scene. It revolutionized portable gaming. Yeah, the games were black and white, there was no backlight, and the screen was still hard to see, but the games were like REAL games! It was closer to having a mobile NES! You'd THINK this would be the Tiger-killer, but NO! Other game companies like Konami released a lot of their own games on handheld devices like this. But most of them died out when Game Boy became popular. TIGER, on the other hand, continued WELL into the 90's! In fact, I remember these things being MORE common in the 90's than EVER! They were pouring obsolete games into stores and we were still buying them! They wouldn't die off! They were like cockroaches! By giving people a cheap alternative, they managed to co-exist with the Game Boy. Yeah, this Tiger sure rose up to the challenge of its rivals! Had the guts, got the glory, went the distance, now it's NOT GONNA STOP! It's literally A SURVIVOR. There's a difference between something that's "old-school" and something that's "outdated". "Old-school" is like Atari 2600. The games are primitive, but they're still fun to play. You can always go back to them. "Outdated" is something you NEVER want to go back to. Tiger games are SO outdated, they were never INdated! They were a fad! Like Pogs! If they were an experiment in the 70's and they only made a few of 'em, then I could accept that! But no, they MILKED these things for all that they're worth! You thought LJN was the grand champion? The almighty shitty game factory? TIGER put LJN to shame! Yeah, LJN laid down turd after turd after turd, but Tiger was like a machine gun ass shitting out TURDTURDTURDTURDTURDTURDTURD... These are the WORST games I ever had the honor of playing! If you even count them as video games! People have discussions like, "Are video games art?", or something like that. Well, I have a better one! "Are Tiger Games video games?" These are a CAVEMAN'S version of video games! These were a STEP BACK in human evolution! These are the most desperate attempt at entertainment! You could save up for a Game Boy! Or just go, EH EH EH EH EH! Yeah, well... EH EH EH EH EH EH...EH EH EH EH EH... Just-WHAT THE HELL? These-these-things! How did they waste so much plastic to make these things?! It brought the game industry down as low as it could go! It's proof that Jesus died in vain and legally changed His middle name to "FUCKING"! The only thing I could think of to use these things for is to WIPE YOUR ASS WITH IT! You might as well save that toilet paper...it's worth a WHOLE LOT MORE! But I'm not done, am I? Oh no. I've actually gotten to this point. It's time...to talk about...the wrist games. Ugh... What... the... ass. Talk about desperate. I'd have more fun setting the time on a digital watch. This is shits for the BIRDS! Now check this out! Batman Returns: THE WRIST GAME. Oh boy... Wait... I can't get it open! Good. God, I hate this shit! You know, you know what's bullshit? ♪ ("You Know What's Bullshit?" theme) ♪ Bullshit Man: You know what's BUUUULLSHIT? Packaging that you need SCISSORS to open! Even with the scissors, it's still a pain in the ass! Why is this plastic so fuckin' strong? This stuff is bulletproof! Nobody wants this shit! SO WHY DO THEY DO IT? They use it on EVERYTHING! This kind of packaging should be OUTLAWED! Why does it still exist?! I especially love when you buy scissors and you need scissors to open the scissors! What FUCKIN' IDIOTS think this is a good idea? They don't care! By the time you're having this problem, you already bought it! Packaging like this is BULLSHIT! Nerd: Thanks, Bullshit Man! Wow! Look at how badass this game is! Yeah, this is the hot shit right here! You'd be so cool goin' around wearin' this thing! YEAH! You'd be walkin' around school, and you've got this on and everybody else is talkin' about what the new hot game system is gonna be! Heh, Nintendo 64. The Bit Wars, heh! (high pitched voice) 64-bits! (slightly deeper voice) 32-bits. (in normal voice) 16-bits. 8-bits. 4-BITS! 2-BITS!! 1-BIT!!! HALF-BIT!!!! QUARTER-BIT!!!!! THEEEE WRIIIIST GAAAAAAAAME!!!!!! And you thought that was it for Tiger, huh? Handheld games, wrist games... Tiger (in walkie-talkie voice) POKÉMON WALKIE TALKIES?! YEAH! (in normal voice) That's not enough? Well, how about... A WHOLE FUCKING TIGER GAME CONSOLE! In 1997, this was Tiger's belated answer to the Game Boy. You'd think it was called the "Game.com", but it's actually the "Game Com". *clang*
Game.Com Speaker: Game Com active. Nerd: This thing tried to be hip and cutting edge. It had a stylus pen, making it the first touch-screen game console. And PDA features, like a phone book, a calendar, a calculator, and a built-in Solitaire game. You could even connect a dial-up modem to it to access the Internet, text only. I don't believe it myself. Imagine reading your e-mail on this thing. And you'd have to hook it up to a modem, so you couldn't leave your house, anyway! WHY NOT JUST USE A COMPUTER?! It was supported by cartridge games. The game included with the system was a mediocre puzzle game called Lights Out, where the object's to turn out all the lights. Beyond that, it was a bunch of shitty ports, like Mortal Kombat Trilogy. I don't see Scorpion or Sub-Zero. Trust me, they're not there. There's Rain and Reptile. How could you have a Mortal Kombat game without Scorpion or Sub-Zero? And who would want to play THIS on a crappy black and white portable console, anyway? Then there's Duke Nukem. At least the voice sounds pretty good. Duke (in-game, with a very distorted voice): Damn! That's the second time those alien bastards shot up my ride! Then there's a Batman & Robin game. Batman (in-game): Ahh! Every time Batman gets hit, he sounds like he just got done taking a big dump! Batman (in-game): Ahh! Batman (in-game): Ahh! Batman (in-game): Ahh! Then there's The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Isn't it always fun to dodge things that come from behind? Then there's Resident Evil 2. The same thing happens to me when I tried to play the real Resident Evil 2. You get about three seconds to figure out the control, and a zombie latches itself onto you and kills you. Great! Why do they have to start you right next to the zombie? Can't I get a CHANCE? Turning yourself around is like waiting for a minute hand on a clock! Ugh! Finally, I got him! So, that's the Game.com. Needless to say, it flopped. Especially with Nintendo dominating the portable gaming market. So, HEY! Why not just follow whatever Nintendo's doing? That mentality is what brought us, what I think, so far, is the WORST VIDEO GAME CONSOLE I have EVER PLAYED. The R-Zone. This is basically a shitty version of the Virtual Boy. YES. I SAID THAT. As if the Virtual Boy isn't already shitty enough! Just LOOK at it! What planet did this thing come from? Here's how it works. You take the game cartridge, you slide it into the system, then the screen lights up. Then, you strap the thing on your head. And that's ONE thing I have to give it credit for, is that they actually thought to have a HEAD STRAP. Anyway, the image gets projected right here - there's supposed to be a piece of reflective plastic; it's missing, but you can use almost anything. So you put it there, and then it projects the game RIGHT THERE! And keep in mind, this is portable, so, you'd be going around public like, "Hey, guys! How ya doin'? I'm just playin' a game here!" Just when you thought the most sorry, pathetic excuse for a video game was the Tiger wrist games, oh no! Imagine playing one of these, up close to your eye in red and black! Good lord! You thought I was kidding. But it's true. This actually happened. Unlike the Virtual Boy, which causes eyestrain and headaches within minutes, this thing does it immediately. Having it over one eye meant you had to go cross-eyed to look at it. Or, cover the other eye. By the way, the game itself sucks just as much as the other Tiger games. Thought you could turn around? Yeah, right. I love how the advertisements always show a kid playing it. Look at his expression! He's horrified! And in the commercial, the kid's screaming in agony! ANNOUNCER: "You'd better not wait!" (AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!) "Indy 500 roars into the R-Zone!" Was this thing intended as a torture device? What made them think this was a good idea? They did it, because Nintendo did it! It couldn't have been a coincidence. Both systems came out in '95. Tiger saw what Nintendo was doing and thought, "That's the new hot ticket, see! Red and black video games that you play close to your eye!" If it was blue and black, I'm sure it would've been the same thing. The original idea of the Virtual Boy, so I thought, was to emulate virtual reality. To make you feel like you're really there! Well the R-Zone got as far away from that idea as possible. It's so far removed from common sense that it's baffling! What were they thinking with this shitload of fuck? I know what I'm thinking! I might carve a giraffe outta wood and decorate it with Christmas lights so I can put it up in an albatross nest. Did you expect me to say that? Probably not! Neither would you expect this CRAZY idea of a video game! Case closed. It sucks! ♪ (AVGN Rock theme by Dorman T. Reign) ♪
Oh my, so many good memories linked to this episode.
Classic episode.
Despite having a game boy, like Jamea, our family had loads of these. I think I had the sonic, street fighter, and batman ones, amongst more forgettable ones. I always wanted the super mario watch one though
64 bit!
Love this episode!
I especially love it when you need scissors to cut open the scissors!
This might be my favorite episode of the series. Lots of great lines plus the historical background as well.
Easily in my top 5 favorites.
P O K E M O N W A L K I E - T A L K I E S
what a coincidence... https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/19/21136607/hasbro-tiger-electronics-lcd-handheld-games-xmen-sonic-transformers
maybe the Nerd can revisit it in 2020, lol.