In our first week we've managed to look at a lot of companies with disappointing websites, but they all had at least one thing going for them: they still had good games. Crave Entertainment; on the other hand, does not have good games to fall back on. So far this year they have managed to release a few of the worst titles of the year, including a game based on the unforgettably lame Bad Boys II movie, an action game called Trigger Man, and a GameBoy version of Elf. Follow these games up with a pinball title and World Championship Poker and you have yourself one lame game line-up.
With all this going against them, Crave needs to come up with a good website, something that will keep people's minds off of Bad Boys II and Trigger Man. Does the website deliver, or is it just as lame as that Elf game they are pitching?
This guy wants you to lose. He wants to take your money. He wants to watch you cry. Play another game and don't even give him the oppurtunity!
Oh Crave, what have you done?? I didn't think it was possible to make a website as bad as the games its promoting, but I was wrong. Dead wrong! For one thing, Crave is just not very inviting. It's dark, full of big and ugly pictures, and no consistent theme. On the front page you have a number of game boxes, but it's clear they were taken from different sources and just made to fit. Some of the boxes are facing forward while others are tilted slightly, and one even has a weird blue glow around it. The rest of the page suffers from similar problems making the page have an unprofessional look all around.
Accessibility:
Although you can search for older games (going all the way back to the GameBoy Color), the layout is just as bad as the main page. Here you get a list of games, and when you choose one you are presented with the bare minimum information possible. Click on Elf and you get a brief synopsis, three lame screen shots, and a bullet point that tells you Elf comes with three Elf-inspired mini games. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the back of the box. They've recreated the back of the box on their website, and it isn't pretty!
If your game sucked as much as the Trigger Man's, you'd be a little pissed off too!
I'll admit, I'm starting to get a little tired of seeing the same kind of news on every single website. It's all the same, all so . boring!! But Crave's news isn't boring! Oh no, it's not boring at all. But it's only because Crave decided to not give us any information what so ever! That's right, there's no news on Crave's website. There's a business plan with a corporate strategy, but it's clear it was written years ago. You can surf their website for jobs, but don't waste your time because they have no openings. You can find their customer service number on the site, but outside of that, the Crave website is pretty bare bones.
Parting Thoughts:
The one thing that caught my eye almost immediately was the Hints and Tips section of the page . something you almost never see on a company website. I clicked it and found two links, one to Brady Games and another to Prima Games, two companies that make video game strategy guides. Curious to see if either of these two companies actually made books for any of Crave's newest games, I decided to do some digging. The problem is, no matter how many names I tried, I kept coming back with no strategy guides. No Elf, no Bad Boys, and definitely no Trigger Man! It seems to me that when the strategy guide writers have lost interest, it's time to make better games.
FINAL GRADE: D-
(Important Note: This review was written in 2004. As is the case with websites things tend to change and get moved around. We've decided to cover major companies who should have a presence on the web for many years to come, but the actual reviews of the layout may not be relevant for more than a month to a year. Having said that, we're hoping this article was still interesting, and if not, at least you go this extra little paragraph of explanation that you wouldn't normally get on the other websites.)
