Hell, we imagine, might be a place where you're forced to plug
The Naked Brothers Band art assets into the Random Kids Game Generator® year after year in the labyrinthine basement of some corporate complex, right until the bros age into drug-riddled obscurity and it's onto the next
new thing to become a licensed game. The real burn comes after you learn that your pitiful existence is paying for the expensive habits of the suits, some 50 floors above you where fabled glass walls look out onto majestic horizons. Hell, it would seem, is THQ Inc.
The publisher responsible for all that is Nickelodeon in the industry has confirmed that success makes for a better headline than hard-earned respect. THQ's long-term licensing agreement with Nickelodeon has paid off -- to the tune of $1 billion and growing! With no shortage of kids who eat, sleep, and pray for Nickelodeon, THQ has sold more than 50 million games of this stuff. And there's no end in sight.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Adam @ May 5th 2008 2:01PM
Hell...is game testing at THQ.
Anonymous @ May 5th 2008 2:12PM
As someone who does exactly that, I can tell you that this is far from the truth. True, playing 40 hours of Bratz each week (if you're unlucky enough to be assigned to it) is no picnic, but it beats the hell out of working retail, believe me.
I'd also like to add that I fail to see how GIANT SOULLESS PUBLISHER MAKES LOTS OF MONEY FROM SHOVELWARE is in any way news. You might as well make an entry on how EA makes mediocre sports games that sell pretty well, or how Nintendo makes a lot of money.
Oh, right.
Adam @ May 5th 2008 2:17PM
Oh don't worry. I used to work there too as a tester. I never tested bratz...but I did see my fair share of wrestling and Spongebob. I'm now a game designer...so I never have to do that again. Thank God. I think I would prefer retail.
AoE @ May 5th 2008 7:12PM
Anonymous, I don't believe you. There aren't enough Saint's Row titles in development for any of us to actually believe you when you say it's not a living hell testing for THQ. ;)
And for the record... who told you this was a news site? It's a gaming blog bro, to put things in perspective, they post stories about video game cakes too.
TheGuy @ May 5th 2008 2:08PM
I think I just lost faith in mankind.
samfish @ May 5th 2008 2:27PM
Just now?!
Where've you been the last, oh...7 and a half years?
NoHitHair @ May 5th 2008 3:45PM
Probably hiding in a McMansion with their eyes closed and their fingers in their ears. Like the rest of America.
JJ Rooster @ May 5th 2008 2:09PM
This show, this band, the band name and the in mid-air freeze pose all smack of such cutesy garbage I want to barf! The kids need to be bent over by a priest!
ruibing @ May 5th 2008 2:12PM
Do they (or maybe it's just one kid) play actually play any instrument? Or have any talents at all?
Ibere @ May 5th 2008 5:11PM
At least the two brothers are real musicians (the older one is the songwriter for most of their songs), the rest of the band I'm not sure if they play their instruments (I imagine the bassist girl don't, as she's an actress, not a musician). I would say they are not that bad for a buch of 10 yo kids...
deaftly @ May 5th 2008 2:22PM
The Naked Brothers band?
WTF.
samfish @ May 5th 2008 2:28PM
I have a friend who's an intern for this show. They said it's referred to in-house as The Horny Pedophiles Show.
Fernando Rocker @ May 5th 2008 2:38PM
I don't know about the Naked Brothers show... but Drake and Josh can be funny sometimes.
=p
TheOverlord#2 can has Mario Karts?(MK:2578-3517-9859) @ May 5th 2008 3:07PM
Yea Drake & Josh has that non-kiddy humor but keeps it clean.
Too bad it's not coming back.
marauder800 @ May 5th 2008 2:40PM
WTF? Never heard of it or even knew that there were Nickleodeon branded games.
samfish @ May 5th 2008 2:46PM
'eh, Hillary Duff is hotter. She makes me want to have a seat with Chris Hansen.
tmacairjordan87 @ May 5th 2008 3:02PM
She's legal now though.
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ May 6th 2008 1:38AM
HARVEST SEASON IS COMING SOON.
Oh wait, that's Hannah Montana...
Monthenor @ May 5th 2008 2:46PM
Was there anything in their press release about making a not-crappy Avatar game? The only bad thing about that show is that it's on Nickelodeon.
Evan @ May 5th 2008 2:49PM
With all the hype over games like Halo 3 and GTA IV, we seem to forget that KIDS are still a major market for video games! They always have been... The Nintendo NES sold 60 million, SNES 50 million, and Sega Genesis 30 million, while being primarily played by kids. Guess what, just as many kids play video games today as did back then. That means there are tens of millions of kids who will play THQ Nickelodeon games.
AoE @ May 5th 2008 7:16PM
Good point, it's just a shame that there isn't more of at least a passing attempt at quality for games targeting younger gamers.
BlaqueBeird @ May 6th 2008 5:34AM
Isn't that what Nintendo is doing on an almost consistent basis?
Squid @ May 5th 2008 2:55PM
This post is awful. Aside from the grammatical errors, do we really need yet another rant on this subject?
We all know most licensed games are crap and we all know that they'll keep making them because they're profitable.
We also know that this isn't a threat to good games, because they've been making licensed garbage for nearly as long as video games have existed, and we still get a lot of A+ titles every year.
No one is making you play these games, and no one who reads this site is going to play them either, so why bother paying them any attention? Give us some news we care about.
giantenemycrab @ May 5th 2008 3:20PM
yikes, those are some ugly looking kids. Seriously, yikes.
MASTUR CHEEF (Yes I pay for Xbox live you cheap ass scrub) @ May 5th 2008 3:29PM
ugh I hate this fucking kids and their douchebag faces
velocitystrike @ May 5th 2008 4:27PM
Maybe they're just actors.
AoE @ May 5th 2008 7:22PM
MASTUR CHEEF,
The '90s called and said they want "Scrub" back. They said it's their slang, and they miss it. I dunno man, if you want to use horribly outdated slang it's fine by me, but i thought you might want to know the '90s are looking for you...
And if you know where "That's the bomb yo!" went, they're looking for it too... the seem to think you have it, along with some muscle pants?
RoboChamp @ May 5th 2008 3:50PM
Those damn kids are everything that's wrong with Nickelodeon. I've been unfortunate enough to hear their 'music'. Maybe I'm assuming, but I think cleaning your ears with shards of glass should simulate the experience.
Nixontech2071 @ May 5th 2008 4:53PM
I cant fucking stand nickelodeon and there involvement in these cartoon games! WHO HERE FUCKING HATE THE FAIRLY ODD PARENTS? I DO I DO! WHAT HAVE DEVELOPERS LEARNED FROM E.T.? NOTHING!!!
BlaqueBeird @ May 6th 2008 5:37AM
Ever consider that Fairly Odd Parents wasn't targeted at you? Next time it comes on, try changing the channel. It works almost every time.
LAWL @ May 5th 2008 5:33PM
Soo let me get it,theres a band of brothers and they are nekid....
seems like the gay-pedo version of Dead or Alive Xtreme ,i cant avoid having a flashback of that weird old man in Family Guy playing these game.
Ohh and BTW,THQ,wheres your balls people ,no respect for you.
George @ May 5th 2008 7:57PM
Wait. You mean that isn't a photoshop? How the hell does Nickelodeon get away with calling a show that?
TheOverlord#2 can has Mario Karts?(MK:2578-3517-9859) @ May 5th 2008 8:19PM
Starting when?
There are PS1 THQ Nickelodeon games.
drun @ May 5th 2008 8:37PM
They're not naked!!
BlaqueBeird @ May 6th 2008 5:38AM
If you're complaining, I'm going to cry.