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[Bundy]

In defence of Knack, the review-proof game

It’s easy to hate on Knack. The charmless characters, the repetitive gameplay, the lack of features. In a poorly supported kids market where only the excellent Traveller’s Tales Lego games have redefined what’s good and what’s possible, Knack looks like a throwback to a different, more primitive age.

But it’s a game that in the UK is still outselling critical darling Super Mario 3D World by a significant margin. Eyebrows were raised at that, partly due to snobbish suggestions that “people” don’t know a good game when they see one. But the thing is – and this is a blow to the egos of games journalists, marketeers, industry commentators, analysts and gamers – you can’t stop people buying whatever they want to buy, playing whatever they want to play, and enjoying it. Release a game and it’s at the mercy of the masses. But don’t be surprised when the masses take it to their bosom.

Over Christmas my time was split between playing with the children and building toys for the children to play with. The Air Hogs helicopter was a pain in the arse to charge and the Playmobil camper van was missing a moulded wheel. While I tinkered with those I let my eight year-old son play on Knack. It’s harmless and he’ll soon get bored of it, I thought. Until I look up after he’s toyed around with it for a few days and he’s on level nine. He’s laughing at it and his little sister is shouting “concentrate, Dylan!”. Friends’ children come around to play it and they’re not bothered that we only have one DualShock 4 because they’re passing the controller around. It’s at this point I sit up and pay attention. What kind of a father am I?

You can’t tell a child what they should and shouldn’t play, whether pink girl toys or rubbish video games. You can try and influence them, sure, but they make up their own mind even at a young age. I believe they need to play some bad games so they know the good ones when they see them.

We play a lot of Lego Marvel Super Heroes in our house, I think it’s one of the best games ever made for children. I get jealous when my children play it without me. But as much as they enjoy smashing a brick Sandman, they seem just as happy to pick up that charmless robot dog thing in Knack and play though cliche after cliche. They’re only cliches to me because I played the same games on PSone, on Megadrive, on the Master System and the 2600. I’m an old fart.

I used to do this back in the day, when I bought games based purely on the cover art. Now I have zero tolerance for it. I imagine many games reviewers face this problem too. I’m not saying games should be reviewed by a ten year-old, but a professional site’s 2 out of 5 score for Knack has no influence in the playground or to the parents paying for it. The day a designer working on a kids’ game stops listening to a 10 year-old he may as well give up. They are the perfect QA testers, playing the same part over and over again. I suspect this is exactly how Knack has been built from the very start. Those review scores were uncomfortable for Sony to see on launch day but they haven’t made a blind bit of difference to sales. The game is review-proof.

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[FonkyByNature]

Mannn, that gif is amazing ! LOL !

And yeah, i do love Knack... never understood why all the hate, the game is a love letter to old school linear platforming. It's fun !

 

[Compeau]

Knack is a fun game. It's not GOTY material, but I was very satisfied with it as a launch game.

And this guy is right: kids don't care about review scores. Fun is fun.

 

[Zarovitch]

It's hard to review games that are made for children.

 

[TheZjman]

The biggest load of garbage.

 

[batman2million]

It's outselling Mario 3D world b/c of the install base.

 

[Interceptor]

Kids like Mcdonalds too.

 

[Griss]

It sucks, but hey - my kids like it!

What a defence!

 

[SmokyDave]

But it’s a game that in the UK is still outselling critical darling Super Mario 3D World by a significant margin.

I love that this is the thing Knack is known for. It's hilarious.

Gotta say, after joking about it for the last few weeks, I'm almost tempted to pick the game up.

It's outselling Mario 3D world b/c of the install base.

And what was it that created that much larger install base?

Knack. System seller extraordinaire.

 

[R3TRO]

I loved it until I hit chapter ~7 then that love dissolved.

 

[Recon]

It's hard to review games that are made for children.

No, people seem to review Nintendo games just fine.

 

[EL CUCO]

Last time I posted a Knack/Mario Gif I got banned for a month.

Spoiler

Knack will not be denied

 

[RamsesA]

Is it really that uncommon for people to buy a launch title, even if it has mediocre reviews, just because it's a launch title?

Edit: tried to make a point about Mario, but it was irrelevant, so deleted it.

 

[RELIGHT]

Chris Tucker wins. KUOTALITY.

 

[Thomas_Daly]

No, people seem to review Nintendo games just fine.

oh man that was un-called for Nintendo games are for kids they're for everyone

 

[KingSnake]

Summary of the article: Knack - the Justin Bieber of games.

 

[Tsundere]

It's outselling Mario 3D world b/c of the install base.

What.

PS4 just passed WiiU not too long ago, so the sales should be about the same, or dare I say that Mario should still be leading.

 

[Zarovitch]

No, people seem to review Nintendo games just fine.

In this case the game must be bad.

 

[FonkyByNature]

Knack is a fun game. It's not GOTY material, but I was very satisfied with it as a launch game.

And this guy is right: kids don't care about review scores. Fun is fun.

This past weekend, my friend came to my place for dinner and he brought his 2 kids. I turned on my PS4, started Knack and the rest is history... they were absolutely HOOKED ! and they couldn't stop playing, they thought the game was amazing and wanted to comeback to play more of it.

So i guess it's a job done by Cerny !

 

[Loudninja]

I love that this is the thing Knack is known for. It's hilarious.

Gotta say, after joking about it for the last few weeks, I'm almost tempted to pick the game up.


And what was it that created that much larger install base?

Knack. System seller extraordinaire.

Its a good game to me but the ending level does drag on to long.

 

[Goldenroad]

It's outselling Mario 3D world b/c of the install base.

Exactly. If Mario 3D World were out on PS4 or XB1, no game would stand a chance against it, least of all Knack.

Based on PAL NPD's Knack just barely outsold Gears of War Judgment last month. I don't think that's anything to be bragging about.

 

[Bundy]

I love that this is the thing Knack is known for. It's hilarious.

Gotta say, after joking about it for the last few weeks, I'm almost tempted to pick the game up.

You should! It's a fun game.
I really like it =)

 

[Bjomesphat]

When there's nothing to play on a system, anything will sell.

Red Steel sold over a million. Resistance sold a couple million. Those are both terrible games.

 

[Skeff]

He's got a point, Knack has a lot of problems, but it's fun.

Played it with my Girlfriend, we had a blast.

Like somebody else said, It isn't going to win GOTY, but I had it bundled with my PS4 for £35 and I feel like I've gotten £35 out of it.

 

[LiveFromKyoto]

Note that the writer himself doesn't think too highly of it.

 

[ryanofcall]

Well people still buy

Spoiler

CoD and FIFA,

too, right?

 

[Prophet Steve]

It is one example.

It is on a launch console which means there are less games competing and I assume more games are being bought for that console.

There are fewer games aimed for a younger audience on that console.

The Wii U is not selling a lot.

Reviews may not have a big difference on games, more specifically kids game what this article is aiming yet, but this is not the best example.

 

[Moral Panic]

Outselling Mario on the WiiU doesn't mean it's a good game. The game is bundled and It's not as if it is selling gangbusters, I think it was no. 40 on the charts last time I checked. Minecraft is where the audience is at, it has been consistently outselling Knack and Mario despite being on the charts for months.

 

[SmokyDave]

What.

PS4 just passed WiiU not too long ago, so the sales should be about the same, or dare I say that Mario should still be leading.

Nah, PS4 passed the Wii U on day one here in the UK. The install base is two or three times larger by now.

Because people wanted to play Knack.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

I'm having fun with Knack so far. In this day and age of shooters, shooters and more shooters, it is a nice breath of much needed fresh air. The game is actually quite pretty also.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

He's right of course, kids eat slop up because they don't know better. This is why there's a market for cheap, poorly made kids movies/games.

 

[Dynedom]

Summary of the article: Knack - the Justin Bieber of games.

Conversely (given the oncoming salt), GAF's take will be:

"Kid's idea of fun is not real fun"

 

[mo60]

Don't you find it a bit depressing that a markedly inferior game is outselling a superior one? Blame rests squarely on Nintendo for messing up the Wii U, but still, I don't see how this is a good thing.

Knack is beating the recent Mario game in sales only in Europe

 

[JAYSIMPLE]

Gotta say, after joking about it for the last few weeks, I'm almost tempted to pick the game up.

That's because there is nothing else lol.....I wish i was wrong. IM feeling the itch for a new game too......luckily im taking my sweet time on ass creed IV...man that game is glorious on ps4

 

[Lijik]

If the line of defense is "Hey kids dont care and its making money", then you could probably apply that to any number of games. You could easily swap around a few words and make this article "In defense of iOS games" or really anything.

"Transformers - the review proof film series"

EDIT- im not trying to be salty, i was just coming in expecting something more substantial out of the article

 

[Santiako]

Nah, PS4 passed the Wii U on day one here in the UK. The install base is two or three times larger by now.

Because people wanted to play Knack.

Imagine if they released Knack for vita, that thing would be saved in the UK.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

What a warriorish place to be lol

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Glad to see the game doing well somewhere. It's a damn fun game. I enjoyed the hell out of it. Hell I need to play it some more this weekend.

 

[Zia]

He's right of course, kids eat slop up because they don't know better. This is why there's a market for cheap, poorly made kids movies/games.

Yup, and it's no coincidence that Knack evokes a DreamWorks ghastliness.

 

[robotzombie]

What.

PS4 just passed WiiU not too long ago, so the sales should be about the same, or dare I say that Mario should still be leading.

It isn't a fair comparison given the fact that it was a ps4 launch title where the number of games are slim so people are more likely to just grab it for the hell of it. In short, Knack's sales are way inflated compared to if the game came out a year from now

 

[Bundy]

When there's nothing to play on a system, anything will sell.

Red Steel sold over a million. Resistance sold a couple million. Those are both terrible games.

Wrong!

 

[jgmo870]

Exactly. If Mario 3D World were out on PS4 or XB1, no game would stand a chance against it, least of all Knack.

Based on PAL NPD's Knack just barely outsold Gears of War Judgment last month. I don't think that's anything to be bragging about.

The PS4's install base is around the same size of the Wii U's, a system specifically targeted at Nintendo fans. There's no reason to think 3D World, a game specifically targeting Nintendo fans, would do any better on it.

 

[FonkyByNature]

Outselling Mario on the WiiU doesn't mean it's a good game. The game is bundled and It's not as if it is selling gangbusters, I think it was no. 40 on the charts last time I checked. Minecraft is where the audience is at, it has been consistently outselling Knack and Mario despite being on the charts for months.

I prefer Mario games by far if you ask. I just think Knack score was not fair. The game is a 8/10 to me. Not a system seller but definitely a great fun launch game.

 

[DBT85]

I enjoyed it. There are problems sure, it needed more variety for a start, but it looked fantastic in places, and I could stand to play another.

I really really think they should have made it a $40 title though. They said it was supposed to be a second purchase, that it was one for the family so do a Sly and drop it in at a more friendly price.

At the end of the day people enjoy what they enjoy. You can't stop it or force them otherwise. If that were the case then in my magical world RTS games would sell like COD and X factor and other talent shows would instead have their budgets spent on SciFi.

 

[twobear]

why should i give a bad game a pass because it's for kids? nintendo have made a business out of the idea that kids deserve great games too.

 

[BocoDragon]

Are you high on Knack?

 

[Morfeo]

What.

PS4 just passed WiiU not too long ago, so the sales should be about the same, or dare I say that Mario should still be leading.

Mario is leading, worldwide.

 

[Witchfinder General]

Knack is a solid game. Not perfect but decent fun, especially when played in co-op. I'd love a sequel.

 

[NintenDOMG]

Play almost all the game on coop on my friend ps4 and had a blast.
I think it's a lot more fun than any Lego games.
A great launch title and winter holiday game.

 

[Mister Zimbu]

But it’s a game that in the UK is still outselling critical darling Super Mario 3D World by a significant margin

Surely this is attributed not to the merit of the game, but to the fact that Knack was a launch title for a highly anticipated console owned by millions of people, whereas Mario 3D Land was released over a year after its console, which maybe only a dozen people in the world own?

Knack is a solid game and all, but to say it's even remotely close to the level of even the worst Mario game is absolute nonsense.