With a little over 60 shopping days left till Christmas it’s probably time to at least start thinking about what you would like to give to all those who deserve presents this year. Of course you know who you are; budgets in order, visually taking clues of interests throughout the year. Entire shopping lists neatly laid out like war plans to the pacific theater just waiting to be enacted on that day of days for shoppers: BLACK FRIDAY! Or maybe your more like me, who waits until the last possible minute and then hits the 24 hr mega store on Christmas eve. Whichever the case may be please be sure to avoid shovelware for all those gamers in your life!
What exactly is shovelware you ask?
According to Wikipedia “Shovelware is a derogatory computer jargon term that refers to software noted more for the quantity of what is included than for the quality or usefulness. The metaphor implies that the creators chose the content material indiscriminately, as if with a shovel, rather than hand-picking quality works.”
Some examples would include Deal or No Deal, Jackass, Iron man or any number of “bargain bin” releases.
The danger of shovelware is twofold to the consumer.
1. You pay for a really bad game experience, and pass on that experience in gift giving.
2. By paying for a bad experience you encourage game producers to make more bad games.
So before you go to the local big mart or favorite online shop do us all a favor and type into your search field VIDEO GAME REVIEWS, or better yet, simply check back with us here at MPG. We would be glad to answer any question you may have regarding your game purchases, after all that’s why we come here in the first place, to make this your 1st stop daily in the video game community. Have fun shopping!
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Sun, Oct 26, 2008
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