• • • The following are noted for their negative reception. They include games that won ironic and humorous awards (such as ), games that have been listed as the 'worst' by major video gaming publications or websites, games that have received low review scores from such publications (often determined by low aggregate scores on sites such as ), and games that have been recognized to be poorly received by players. Some of the older or rarer games have gained attention more recently through videos produced by popular personalities, such as. Games can be considered bad for a number of reasons, including but not limited to: low quality or outdated graphics, large numbers of glitches, or having poor controls.

The list below is not comprehensive, but represents the most visible examples of games with negative reception. With some exceptions, the list below omits licensed tie-in games for movies or television shows, which are generally accepted as by the industry and not expected to have high production values.

For similar reasons, the list also omits, which are developed by smaller teams that typically lack the ability for full quality control of their product, as well as, of which there are thousands of developers with the ability to self-publish on app stores and frequent of more successful titles driven by unpopular. This list excludes games that are subject of short-term that are unrelated to gameplay aspects. Contents • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1980s [ ] Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em (1982) [ ] is a developed by for the in 1982. Players control two nude women with the goal of catching falling from a man on a rooftop. The game sold 80,000 copies. Sean ' Reiley included it in his 2002 list of the ten 'naughtiest' games of all time: 'I suppose we shouldn't expect the designers of a game about a penis with a head stroking itself to be geniuses.' Founder Niero Gonzalez listed it as the second-most sexual Atari 2600 game ever made, while Brett Elston of criticized the depiction of women in Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em and Mystique's similarly explicit release: 'No personality, no motivations, just a disgustingly disproportionate body and the loosest morals this side of.'

Ei system drivers. In 2011, Steven Poole of imagined a fictional parody of Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em based on the, Whack 'Em & Hack 'Em, in an article published after the 's ruling that the could regulate video games without government intervention. Custer's Revenge (1982) [ ] is a game made by Mystique in 1982 that is widely considered offensive due to its plot involving the apparent of a woman. The game was also poorly received for its quality; it was listed as the most shameful game of all time by, as the third-worst game of all time by, and and the ninth-worst game by in. In 2008, the professor Tom Keenan cited 'the hideous Custer's Revenge game', 26 years after its release, in an op-ed piece about current video game violence issues for the. That same year, the game was credited by Australian as being one of the worst games ever made. Pac-Man (Atari 2600) (1982) [ ], a port of the for the Atari 2600, was altered from the original in order to meet the Atari's limitations. Some of these changes included simplified graphics, a modified maze layout, and 'flickering' ghosts—a result of the game rendering one ghost on screen per frame.

In 1998, magazine called it the 'worst coin-op conversion of all time' and attributed the mass dissatisfaction to its poor quality. In 2006, 's Craig Harris echoed similar statements and listed Pac-Man among his own list of the worst home console ports of arcade games. Another IGN editor, Levi Buchanan, described it as a 'disastrous port', citing the color scheme and flickering ghosts.

In retrospect, critics often cite Atari's Pac-Man as a major factor in the drop of consumer confidence in the company, which led to the. Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton of stated that the game's poor quality damaged the company's reputation. Buchanan commented that it disappointed millions of fans and diminished confidence in Atari's games. Former Next Generation editor-in-chief Neil West attributes his longtime skepticism of Atari's quality to the disappointment he had from buying the game as a child. Calling the game the top video game disaster, Buchanan credits Pac-Man as a factor to the downfall of Atari and the industry in the 1980s. Author also attributes the game, along with Atari's, to severely damaging the company's reputation and profitability.