An indie dev made a full version of The Simpsons’ fake Waterworld game

By Cristina Alexander October 10, 2022

The scene from the 1997 episode of The Simpsons where Milhouse plays one second of the Waterworld arcade game based on the Kevin Costner film of the same name has been given new life thanks to an indie developer.

The long version of the fake Waterworld game was unveiled Sunday evening for fans of the series to see what lay beyond the one-second gameplay Milhouse wasted $10 worth of quarters on. In the game, you can explore the atoll and fight Nords, trade dirt, make a water purifier, and sail aboard the Deez to find dry land.

Kevin Costner's Waterworld: A large scale real imagining of the 'fake' Waterworld arcade game that Milhouse plays during a 10 second joke in a 1997 episode of The Simpsons. https://t.co/j2qUwQ67Mi by @Macaw45 https://t.co/SQpzkMs52e

— itch.io (@itchio) October 10, 2022

“I’ve always been fascinated by the fake vide ogames that were occasionally seen in The Simpsons, and the Waterworld one always stuck out to me as a kid,” Macaw45, the Australia-based indie dev and Twitch streamer, said on the game’s itch.io page. “Of course, it’s just a short joke poking fun at how expensive the production of the movie was at the time, but this fake game itself, with its gigantic Kevin Costner character on the screen who takes a single step before the machine asks for more quarters, always made me so eager to know ‘what would be beyond that one screen you see in the show …'”

Macaw45 said he originally planned to make the Waterworld game a short one, but he ended up putting more effort into its development so that it had a wider scope than expected. This means fans of The Simpsons will get to play it longer than Milhouse ever did.

While The Simpsons poked fun at the film’s controversial production budget, which was between $172 million and 175 million at the time, it also inadvertently made fun of the movie’s actual video game adaptation for the Virtual Boy. Just as critics panned the movie for its lackluster screenplay, they eviscerated the game for its poor graphics and slow gameplay. It was so bad that Stephen L. Kent, the author of The Ultimate History of Video Games, deemed it as the worst video game of all time.

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Cristina Alexander

Gaming/Mobile Writer

Cristina Alexander has been writing since 2014, from opining about pop culture on her personal blog in college to reporting…

Gaming

Play Xbox Game Pass’ weirdest game before it leaves on September 30

weird west leaving game pass september 2023 art

Earlier this year, Arkane Studios disappointed on Xbox Game Pass with Redfall, a game that dropped much of the studio’s immersive sim expertise for an underbaked multiplayer adventure. But what if I told you that the person who founded Arkane and helped create series like Dishonored had left the studio prior to Redfall and made an excellent immersive sim that is also available on Xbox Game Pass?
Well, that actually happened, and the game in question is Weird West.
In March 2022, former Arkane Studios founder Raphaël Colantonio released Weird West under the newly formed WolfEye Studios. While it swaps out a third-person perspective for an isometric one, Weird West is a joyfully odd supernatural Western game that manages to tap into the immersive sim design philosophy that made many of the games Colantonio worked on excellent.
Unfortunately, Weird West is leaving Xbox Game Pass on September 30, so we recommend you give it a shot before it’s gone.
Embracing the weird
Surprisingly, there aren’t a lot of games set in the Wild West, and even fewer that lean into creepy, supernatural elements like Weird West does. The game’s world is full of supernatural cults, magic, and creatures like pigmen, zombies, and werewolves. Its story is told across five distinct campaigns, starting with one about a retired bounty hunter whose child is killed and husband kidnapped, setting her off on an adventure to get them back.
The individual stories of all five of Weird West’s playable characters are emotionally captivating and quite distinct from each other. That’s very noticeable as soon as you jump over to the second story, which follows a human turned into a Pigman. Still, it’s a living and reactive world, so decisions made and characters killed in an earlier character’s journey do have an impact on subsequent characters’ adventures; you can even find and recruit characters that you previously played as.

It’s here where Weird West’s immersive sim roots start to shine, as a lot of emergent narrative moments with impact feel crafted by the player. This carries over into gameplay, which is done from an isometric perspective. Like Arkane’s best games, there are always multiple solutions to any objective, and going in with guns blazing isn’t always the best option. Instead, players are encouraged to stealth around, sweet-talk characters, and even use some magical abilities if the playable character can learn them as they progress through a character’s journey.
With these more dynamic elements, the isometric perspective, and the narrative focus, Weird West can feel like as much of a CRPG as an immersive sim at times. As such, it might be an enjoyable follow-up to Baldur’s Gate 3 for players finally coming off that lengthy RPG. At the very least, if you enjoy games that emphasize player freedom and also find novel ways to make it influence the game’s broader narrative, then you’ll enjoy Weird West.
The game had some technical issues and rough edges when it was first released, so it has flown under the radar. Most of those have all been smoothed over by now, though. Post-launch updates have fixed most of the major bugs and improved the character progression, aiming, and companion and stealth systems by adding more depth and UI clarity to them. Weird West is in the best state it has ever been in, but still feels as distinct and strange as ever.

Gaming

Bayonetta director Hideki Kamiya is leaving PlatinumGames next month

Bayonetta holds a magical device in Bayonetta 3.

PlatinumGames, the developer behind critically acclaimed action games such as Bayonetta 3 and NieR: Automata, has announced that one of its co-founders and frequent game directors, Hideki Kamiya, will leave the company in October.

Hideki Kamiya originally made a name for himself directing games like Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, and Okami for Capcom. After Capcom closed down the Clover Studio subsidiary he worked at in 2006, he went on to co-found PlatinumGames with Resident Evil and God Hand creator Shinji Mikami and Capcom producer Atsushi Inaba. Kamiya had stuck with the company through its ups and downs ever since, directing every game in the Bayonetta series, The Wonderful 101, and more. He was currently directing a game codenamed Project G.G.; the state of that game now that he's leaving PlatinumGames is unknown.
"We regret to announce that Hideki Kamiya will be leaving PlatinumGames on October 12, 2023," PlatinumGames tweeted earlier this morning. "We are truly grateful for his creative ideas, leadership, and contribution to the growth of PlatinumGames from our start-up to this very day. We believe that he will continue to succeed in his future endeavors as a game creator. We are looking forward to seeing the game industry grow into a better place with him in it. We wish him all the best for the future!"
https://twitter.com/platinumgames/status/1706201875564130785
Kamiya confirmed this message on his personal X account, stating the following: "As announced on the official PlatinumGames X account, I will be leaving PlatinumGames on October 12, 2023. This came after a lot of consideration based on my own beliefs. and was by no means an easy decision to make. However, I feel this outcome is for the best. I will continue to create in my Hideki Kamiya way. I hope you'll keep your eyes peeled."

Gaming

All new weapons in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty DLC

Two gangsters looking at a row of guns on the floor.

CD Projekt Red is known for adding tons of content any time it releases an expansion to one of its games, and Phantom Liberty is certainly no exception. The biggest addition is obviously the entire new zone called Dogtown and the storyline it contains, but there are plenty of other additions that add even more reasons to take a trip back to Night City. Aside from the new Relic skill tree to experiment with, there are a handful of new guns you can get your hands on and test out against the improved enemy AI. These new guns are mixed in with all the rest, so if you're jumping back into the game after a while, you might not recognize them. Here are all the new weapons introduced in the Phantom Liberty expansion.
Every new gun in Phantom Liberty
Grit - Auto Pistol
Looking like a smaller, yellow UZi, the Grit is a rapid-firing pistol with a huge clip.
Hercules - Special
The only special weapon introduced is the Hercules. Considering special weapons are always a treat to find, we'll leave this gun's function a secret for you to discover yourself.
Order - Shotgun
Looking like a Frankenstein's monster of a shotgun, the Order is an illegal double barrel that doesn't play around.
Osprey - Sniper
This sniper comes with a massive clip and bulky design that indicates just how much punch each shot will pack.
Rasetsu - Sniper
A more sleek sniper, the Rasetsu also can use a mounting attachment to pull off tough shots.
Thermal Katana - Melee
While you can't get a lightsaber in Phantom Liberty, this burning blade is the second-best thing.
Warden - SMG
Like the big brother of the Grit, this yellow SMG is also illegal and built for an insane rate of fire.