Blame It On The Joystick

[IntvGene]

Well, I just picked up a nice Wico Joystick from a thrift today.. I loved these when I was a kid. It's a nice grip, sturdy and durable too. One of my favorite joysticks ever.

Anyway, I got around to remembering all of those classic lines that people would use to "cover-up" for their losing especially in those heated 2-player games. One of which was almost always "This controller doesn't work"... A very famous line in our gaming group was always "Tis a poor craftsman that blames his tools".

Anybody have any other memorable excuses? Any stories or memories?

[rbudrick]

Well, sometimes it really is the controller.

Tis not a poor craftsman who blames others' tools.

Like at another person's house or using a crappy brand controller (cuz your butthole brother or something took the good one).

Other times, there is no excuse. Sometimes, one just sucks.

And I can name many a frustrating game where I'm pressing the button repeatedly and it decides to not cooperate at the most crucial moment. I've even seen my system reset for no reason at crucial moments before.

Is it just me or does Fist of the North Star for the NES always crap out just before the last level?

But other excuses? Hmmm, how about "You cheated!"
Well I don't see a fucking gameshark anywhere, hmph.

Classic.

-Rob

[GameGuru]

Back in the N64 days I had 4 controllers and one of them had something spilled on it (some pop I believe) so someone of the buttons stuck occasionally. Since they were all different colors we knew which one it was so when we would all sit down to play we would alternate the "bad" controller every game. It gave bragging rights to the user of that controller if they happened to win a race in Mario Kart 64 or won a match in WWF Wrestlemania.

Sometimes having the bad controller could be cool.

[NE146]

Yep.. anyone who's played games for years knows.. sometimes it really IS the controller. That worn button that doesn't make contact unless you press it hard enough. That worn joystick that leans to the left, or right, or up, or down... on it's own. That worn joystick that doesn't register a direction unless you push it hard enough. Or maybe it's simply playing a game that was made for four directions (arcade donkey kong) with an 8-directional controller. eg. If you push somewhat diagonally when trying to climb a ladder... you're stuck! Or if playing a game made for 8 directions with a 4 direction joystick (Hello Bosconian on the Jakk's Pacific controller).

But yeah when challenging someone, that was always one good tactic to pull on the clueless.. "give them the bad controller" :P