Video Game Collecting

Q*Bert is a game that needs no introduction or explaination. It was popular for a variety of reasons and it’s been mostly forgotten for a variety of reasons.

If Q*Bert has contributed anything to the history of videogaming it’s not the 3D pyramid or the censored cursing but the gameplay of covering territory while being chased. City Connection had it’s freeways whilst Q*Bert has it’s cubes. At it’s core both games are the same, they are just executed differently.

Sometimes the execution of a game can completely blind the player into thinking that they are not playing a clone but rather something new or different. Donkey Kong 3 is a clone of a variety of shooters, most notably Galaga while Popeye is a clone of the gameplay of Pacman. Yet side by side these games do not appear to be anything alike. But when you really analyze it there is no mistake about it… they are all clones of clones.

This industry continues to rehash classics. Earthworm Jim was recently re-released, Sonic 4 is right around the corner, and many more are coming down the pipe. It’s amazing that for all of the millions upon millions of dollars going in to game development on the most cutting edge of technology we’re still spending our hard earned dollars on games that do not offer any better of an experience than games release two and almost three decades ago. And sadly, side by side, these games require no analysis to find their inspiration because they look and feel the same. Of course if Q*Bert was re-released today it would cost 11 million dollars to develop with a crew of 45 people working six days a week for 18 months and an over priced voice actor to translate *$#! into “Mother F–!” and the consultation from a doctor specializing in reptiles to advise the artists on how a snake might bounce around on the pyramid. Oh and don’t forget that Nine Inch Nails is doing the soundtrack and if you preorder the game from Gamestop you’ll receive a voucher for the ‘cool breeze’ skin for the pyramid on XBox live and a poster of Q*Bert for PlayStation home.