''Game Party'' is a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed by

FarSight Studios FarSight Studios (formerly Farsight Technologies) is an American video game developer established in 1988 by Jay Obernolte. They are an official licensed developer for all current home and handheld consoles including the Sony PlayStation 4, PlayS ...

and published by

Midway Games Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (series), Rampage'' ...

. ''Game Party'' was retailed as a budget title for the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

. It is the first game in the ''Game Party'' series. It was released on November 27, 2007, in North America; on February 14, 2008, in Australia; and in Europe on February 15, 2008.

Development

In 2006,

teamed up with

to create a minigame collection only for the

. So in early 2007 Midway announced its fall lineup for

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

consoles. Later Midway released new information and screenshots. Before the game's release, Midway announced that ''Game Party'' was going to be a budget title. The game was released, yet experienced some manufacturing difficulties.

Gameplay

''Game Party'' features a collection of classic

skill game A game of skill or game of wits is a game where the outcome is determined mainly by mental or physical skill, rather than chance. Alternatively, a game of chance is one where its outcome is strongly influenced by some randomizing device, such ...

s from around the world, from American sports venues to European gathering spots. Using the Wii's unique control interface, the player can compete in classic games such as

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...

, modern favorites such as

air hockey Air hockey is a ''Pong''-like tabletop sport where two opposing players try to score goals against each other on a low-friction table using two hand-held discs ("mallets") and a lightweight plastic puck. The air hockey table has raised edges ...

and hoop shoot, or participate in multiplayer

trivia Trivia is information and data that are considered to be of little value. It can be contrasted with general knowledge and common sense. Latin Etymology The ancient Romans used the word ''triviae'' to describe where one road split or forked ...

contests. More than a half dozen games are available. The player can earn tickets to unlock new minigames, characters, tables, etc.

Sequels

''Game Party 2'' was announced on April 18, 2008, at Midway's Gamer Day event in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. The game was released on October 6, 2008. In Europe and Australia it was known as More Game Party. In their 10-K filing, Midway announced Game Party 3 was developed and released on October 6, 2009. *'' Game Party: In Motion'' *'' Game Party Champions''

Reception

''Game Party'' received vehemently negative reviews from critics, some of whom listed it as one of the worst games of all time, with a

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

score of 25 out of 100.

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

said that this game started the wave of "

shovelware Shovelware is a term for individual video games or software bundles known more for the quantity of what is included than for the quality or usefulness. The metaphor implies that the creators showed little care for the quality of the original soft ...

" on the Wii, criticizing the graphics and the mini-games. Many places gave this game a 1 out of 10:

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...

criticized the graphics and the fun factor of the game, saying "The Game Party experience is like going to a party where there's nothing to drink but

Tesco Value In the United Kingdom, it is common practice for retailers to have their own value brand in an effort to compete on price. These brands have become more popular in the UK with shoppers since the Great Recession caused food prices to rise. The big ...

brandy and there are only four other guests and they're all racist and then your ex turns up and gets off with a Danish supermodel." AceGamez criticized the controls and said that the game is trying to simulate the fun of games like '' WarioWare: Smooth Moves'', unsuccessfully.

Sales

The first ''Game Party'' received a "Platinum" sales award from the

Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (Ukie) is a non-profit trade association for the video game industry in the United Kingdom (UK). Ukie was originally founded as the European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), and the ...

(ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom. On February 12, 2009, Midway Games announced the Game Party series had sold over 3 million units.

References

{{Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment 2007 video games FarSight Studios games Midway video games Party video games Video games developed in the United States Wii-only games Wii games Multiplayer and single-player video games