We all know them. These are the games that give you bad gaming memories when you walk by them. From Duke Nukem Forever to Aliens: Colonial Marines, there are plenty of games that just didn't sit well with you, like bad gas station sushi. I'm not going to run through a list of bad games that I have played, but I'm going to, rather, talk about whether or not these bad games are necessary or not, and I hope that you, as a reader, are surprised by why I say that they are needed.
I think that the gaming industry has a good balance. With every good game that you really love and you just don't want to put down, there is also that bad game that you feel has thrown you in a mudhole and made you unclean. While many don't want these bad games to exist, I think that they are actually very good, for one reason only. While these horrible games are just not fun to play, and you regret that you ever bought them, they actually make playing games like Skyrim more fun. If every game was great, no bad games what so ever, I think that those games might not be as interesting, because you, as the player, have had fun with every game out there, so it might get old after a while. I don't want game devs to just make bad games, but I think that this is the best way to describe it. For every Skyrim and Far Cry 3, there is a Duke Nukem Forever and an Aliens vs. Predators. These bad games just make the great games feel that much greater, when you think about it.
Say that you just had to endure the torture that is Aliens: Colonial Marines. No multiplayer, just the single player. Afterwards, games like Bioshock Infinite are going to look even greater, because you had this bad game that was just a drag to play, and then there is this great game that doesn't get boring for even a second. When looked at like that, these horrible games that shouldn't exist actually aren't that bad, because they make gaming as a whole actually better.
I find bad games actually good, if they aren't too bad. If they function and aren't broken, then they can be fun, or even funny, mattering on how bad the graphics are or how bad the written dialogue is. From time to time, I think to myself that I wished that certain games didn't exist, but I always think that they might help out the industry, at the very least for being a posterboy for what kind of game not to make, quality wise.
To try and prove my point even further, let me tell a little story, and this is all true. I went out and bought Metro 2033 and AvP. I played AvP first, and I thought, and still think, that it is just not a good game. It wasn't interesting in the slightest. Then I played Metro 2033, and it was like Batman: Arkam Asylum to me. I didn't see anything wrong with it. But after playing it a second time, I saw that there were problems, like the controls and the glitches. While Metro 2033 isn't the best game out there, I was okay with forgetting it's shortcomings because AvP disappointed me so badly.
This is just my opinion, so please don't take it as a fact. I would like to know whether or not you guys think that bad games are a necessary evil in gaming, or do they need to just not be made. I hope to get some unexpected answers. Have a nice day!