(Translated by https://www.hiragana.jp/)
Kusoge - Wikipedia Jump to content

Kusoge

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In Japanese video gaming, a kusoge (クソゲー, kusogē, pronounced [kɯ̥soɡeː] ⓘ),[1][2] lit. 'shitty game', is an unenjoyable or poorly made video game. Though the label is usually applied disparagingly, there is a subculture of celebrating kusoge.

Etymology

[edit]

The term kusogē is a portmanteau of kuso (クソ or 糞くそ, lit. 'crap') and gēmu (ゲーム, 'game'; a loanword from English). Though it is commonly attributed to illustrator Jun Miura [ja], and occasionally to Takahashi-Meijin of Hudson Soft, it is unclear when and by whom it was popularized – or whether a single source can be attributed in the first place. By the language used in video magazines of the time, it appears that the word was nascent in 1986 and a common expression by 1987. In 1985 and 1986, a variety of other, less codified terms were sometimes synthesized at the author's discretion, usually combining a pejorative with the word "game" or "soft" (a wasei-eigo abbreviation of "software") – examples include dame-soft (ダメソフト, lit. 'no-good software'), suka-soft (スカ・ソフト, lit. 'scat software') and kasu-gēmu (カスゲーム, lit. 'dreg game').[3]

A variety of similarly constructed terms exist to describe other subjective attributes – for example, kamigē (神かみゲー, lit. 'god game'; used as 'amazing game'),[4] bakagē (バカゲー, 'stupid game'),[5] and kigē (奇きゲー, 'uncanny game').[6] The same manner of portmanteau is also used for something more akin to genres, such as kakugē (格かくゲー, 'fighting game') and eroge (エロゲー, 'erotic game').

Culture

[edit]

"Kusoge" is in essence a disparaging term, and is typically used to recommend against a video game. Nonetheless, a subculture that celebrates kusoge and seeks them out has established itself. This is similar to paracinema or camp appreciation of works of art: often but not always ironic; reveling in what is incoherent, odd, absurd, flawed, or broken.[7][8] This counter-cultural appreciation of kusoge can at the very least be traced back to the Bishoku Club Bakagē Senka [ja] (美食びしょく倶楽部くらぶバカゲー専せん科か, lit. 'Gourmet Club Stupid Games Course'), a regular column in the video game magazine Used Games (later known as GAMESIDE), which started publication in 1996.[8] In the fighting game community, kusoge typically refers to fighting games that are severely unbalanced for competitive play through design mistakes or bugs, which can lead to ridiculous strategies, and thus these games are considered funny and not just bad.[9]

In later years, the word "kusoge" has occasionally been embraced by video game companies. Taito described Takeshi no Chōsenjō as "that legendary kusoge"[a] in marketing for the game's 2017 smartphone re-release.[10] Sunsoft similarly used the word in the marketing for the 2023 video game Ikki Unite[11] – a sequel to noted kusoge Ikki – stating in a press release that "It only makes us happy to still today hear people say that 'Sunsoft were the original kusoge makers'."[b][12].

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ あの伝説でんせつのクソゲー, ano densetsu no kusogē
  2. ^ 今いまでも元祖がんそクソゲーといえば「SUNSOFT」とお声こえがけいただき大変たいへんうれしい限かぎりです。, Ima de mo ganso kusogē to ieba Sunsoft to okoe ga itadaki taihen ureshii kagiri desu.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Bolding, Jonathan (August 12, 2022). "A retro publisher is updating Ikki, which literally defined the bad yet fun game". PC Gamer. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  2. ^ Handley, Zoey (February 22, 2021). "Meet Spelunker, one of Japan's most treasured bad games". Destructoid. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  3. ^ Tiny-P (September 18, 2018). "「クソゲー」という言葉ことばの起源きげんは、みうらじゅん？ 高橋たかはし名人めいじん？ 徹底的てっていてきに探さぐったら、意外いがいな人物じんぶつやあの雑誌ざっしが急きゅう浮上ふじょう！" [Who Coined the Word "Kusoge"? Jun Miura? Takahashi-Meijin? Exhaustive Research Turned Up Some Unexpected Names as Well as a Certain Magazine!]. Denfaminico Gamer (in Japanese). Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  4. ^ "【6万まん票ひょう突破とっぱ】「神かみゲー・オブ・ザ・イヤー 2022」は『ヘブン・バーンズレッド』に！ 『Ib』が平均へいきんリツイート数すうTOPなど最終さいしゅう結果けっかデータを公表こうひょう" [[Over 60,000 Votes] The Kamigē of the Year Is Heaven Burns Red! Ib Received the Most Retweets. This and More in the Newly Published Final Results]. Yahoo News (in Japanese). January 27, 2023. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  5. ^ "サンソフト『いっき団結だんけつ』のクローズドβべーたテストが10月7日にちより3日間にちかんにかけて開催かいさい。伝説でんせつの"バカゲー"『いっき』の令れい和わ版ばんをひと足あし先さきに体験たいけんしよう" [Sunsoft's Ikki Danketsu Commences Three-Day Closed Beta Test on October 7. Experience the Reiwa Version of the Legendary "Bakagē" Ikki In Advance] (in Japanese). October 5, 2022. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  6. ^ ""3大だい奇きゲー"の一角いっかくと言いわれる『ガラージュ』がSteamで本日ほんじつ発売はつばい。生体せいたい機械きかいと呼よばれる異形いぎょうとなった主人公しゅじんこうが精神せいしん世界せかいからの脱出だっしゅつを目指めざすアドベンチャーゲーム" [Garage, One in the "Kigē Trinity", Released on Steam Today. Adventure Game in Which the Protagonist, who Has Metamorphosed into a Grotesque Form known as a "Living Machine", Must Escape from the Mental World]. Famitsu (in Japanese). July 8, 2022. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  7. ^ Navarro-Remesal, Víctor (March 3, 2017). "Museums of Failure". Fans and Videogames: Histories, Fandom, Archives. Routledge. ISBN 978-1138679672.
  8. ^ a b Flynn-Jones, Emily (January 14, 2015). "Bad Romance: For the Love of "Bad" Videogames". Game Love: Essays on Play and Affection. McFarland & Company. p. 258. ISBN 978-1476618784.
  9. ^ Infil. "Kusoge". The Fighting Game Glossary. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  10. ^ "たけしの挑戦ちょうせん状じょうVR" [Takeshi's Challenge VR] (in Japanese). Taito. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  11. ^ "いっき団結だんけつ" [Ikki Unite]. Steam (in Japanese). Sunsoft. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  12. ^ "元祖がんそ"クソゲー"メーカー「サンソフト」が復活ふっかつ宣言せんげん" [Sunsoft, the Original "Kusoge" Makers, to Be Revived]. Yahoo News (in Japanese). August 12, 2022. Archived from the original on August 12, 2022. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kusoge&oldid=1241599139"