Only in Japan could you find a game as delightfully bizarre as Baito Hell 2000, the PlayStation Portable "work simulator" that's really a droll collection of wonderfully pointless minigames wrapped up in a gleefully referential and self-aware visual presentation. It's even more mind-boggling that the game was developed internally by Sony--you'd expect to see something like this from a small, offbeat third party. Sony may not have been interested in bringing Baito Hell to the States, but thankfully D3 has stepped in to scoop up the game and unleash it on American shelves. We just got an exclusive look at the new localized version of Baito Hell to see what parts of this may be changing before it hits this side of the Pacific.
Aside from the name, it looks like what will be changing is just about nothing. D3 has renamed the game to WTF, which purportedly stands for Work Time Fun--but you can probably guess what WTF actually (and more appropriately) means. And of course, all of the Japanese text and speech in the game has been translated to English. It looks like D3's localizers have taken some liberties with their translations, as some of the games now sport fairly amusing English titles such as "Run Like Heck." In case you're wondering, yeah, the ramen timer has been dubbed in English--but before you get all up in arms, it has a pretty funny kung fu move sort of feel to it now, so we're happy with the change there.
If you've never seen the Baito Hell import in action, you might have to watch our new gameplay movies to even get a sense of how this incredibly strange game works, but we'll try to explain. You pick a bunch of minigames from a list that grows as you keep playing, and each minigame has you performing a job or task of some sort. From chopping wood to performing contract killings to trying to get a girl's phone number, WTF ostensibly has it all. Much like in the WarioWare games, all of WTF's minigames can be played with only a simple combination of one or two buttons and the D pad, though they last significantly longer than the three or four seconds in that series.
What makes all this better is that every minigame in WTF has its own style going on, and most of them refer back to some kind of obvious source material. The Lumberjack game, for instance, has 8-bit-style pixelated 2D graphics. The sniper game has a real Golgo 13 thing happening with the title screen. The one rhythm game features artwork similar to any number of the legion of shady "hentai" anime games that are generally available only in Japan. The list goes on and on, but the point is, we were delighted every time we fired up a new game to see what creative combination of visual style and game mechanics the designers would offer us.
There are 35 single-player games, and you can play five of them as multiplayer. You'll receive a paycheck after each game that's prorated based on your performance (you get paid in dollars now, rather than yen), and you use that currency to unlock more of the games. Aside from accessing the main games, you can collect up to 450 trinkets that are awarded randomly from a coin-op machine. Well, you can actually have more than that, since you're able to double or triple up on ones you already have.
Then, you can connect wirelessly to a friend and trade your extra trinkets for ones you don't already have. Speaking of Wi-Fi, one thing the US version of WTF will lack is the online leaderboard reporting of the Japanese game. But then, since some industrious individuals have employed radical technology of their own to artificially boost their job performance, it's not necessarily a bad thing.
Work Time Fun is just as wacky and endearing now as it was when it was Baito Hell 2000, so D3 should be commended for keeping as much of this unlikely game intact as it has. We're looking forward to getting our hands on a final copy when it's released in late September, so keep an eye out for a review then.
So what if another company is marketing the same concept. It's not like Nintendo never "stole" ideas from anyone else. Everyone steals everything from everyone.
nintendo put weird mini-games on the map, now sony is tryin to cash in...
hmmm....looks cool, I want this one :)
Everything said about WTF in this preview suggests how good the game really is and yet some of you Nintendwhor3s come up here to criticise for the sake of doing it. WTF looks amazing, it's crazy and a geat game for playing on the go. It's one of many games for PSP I'm looking forward to this fall.
Anybody who says this rips off WarioWare is a moron. Weird minigames existed before Warioware, though not as fast-paced as WW to my knowledge. I like Nintendo WAY better than Sony but it's ridiculous to complain about a ripoff. I didn't hear any complaining about Rub Rabbits being unoriginal.
Anybody who says this rips off WarioWare is a moron. Weird minigames existed before Warioware, though not as fast-paced as WW to my knowledge. I like Nintendo WAY better than Sony but it's ridiculous to complain about a ripoff. I didn't hear any complaining about Rub Rabbits being unoriginal.
i don't know. it sounds like HOT PXL... both are just plain weird... i'm still waiting for a great game for psp... until now it seems i just waisted my money with it (damn, why i didn't save it for the nintendo Wii???)
wario ware wasnt even half as fun as the title screen on this game --------------------------------------------------------------------------- its all about PS360, tell the little kids to go play with real plumbers
WTF?
Wow, I love how people go around saying that this is a ripoff of Warioware because it's of the same genre. *gasp* Wow, Baten Kaitos is an RPG, it must be a ripoff of Final Fantasy! D: Why don't you Nintendo fanboys go whack off to your framed pictures of Miyamoto. I love how you guys say Sony sucks when, wow, the PS2 has the best sales in both America AND in Japan. Do something meaningful with your lives, rather than wasting time, trolling on comment boxes.
Warioware for sony? Gamecube ripping off shoulder buttons from Sony? Splinter Cell ripping off Metal Gear Solid?? WHO CARES!!!!! Get over it people cuz the sooner you do the sooner you'll get a life.
*cough*wario-ware*cough* hey thAT 'don't stab hand game' looks good, if it was on ds...
I dont understand how you can complain on a game.... It's not like you HAVE to buy it. If they release a game so what, you dont lose anything, except for time when writing the same thing as the 20 other people did on the same board, but that's your own fault.
just look at the name, u know it is going to be good...
i cant belive i bothered downloading the video :S
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN
wow, just... wow....... really... WTF???
:o Whatever ...
RottenSandBox "i want it 4 the name and box" Why not create your own box and put the name on that? It'll be cheaper.
i want it 4 the name and box
Warioware of Sony??
Yeah, so this will be a must have for the PSP.
I definitely want to get this for the psp, hopefully it will be as fun as wario ware.
WTF! LOL :D
Is that the name of the game?
WTF..exactly wut i was thinkin when i saw the screen shots
Ramen Timer dubbed in english?! Noooo!!!!!!!!!
Its nothing new at all. One thing I like about the DS is that I have played some games on it that I simply have never played on anything else, like, not at all. So far, the psp hasn't one single thing which is good and original... there is talkman, but its completely iffy at times, and is frankly a bit of a waste.. But then again, it is very hard not to of been influenced by other things.. for example, Nintendogs = Tamagotchi... The List goes on and on. However, there are far more fun (and cheaper) mini thrill to get out of the ds rather than a £29.99 mini game for the psp. One advantage for the ds is that you turn it on, it loads and you are right into the game. With the psp there is a longer MUCH longer waiting time, and it takes the fun out of quick mini games like this. The football game on this is basically a clone of Californis Games on the Genesis etc. Check it out! And basically most of the games are very VERY Wario Ware inspired... BUT, I am pleased to own a psp aswell as a DS Lite, and have the best of both worlds. But one factor here may be that if this game is going to be full price for the psp... I think it would of been a better concept of a game more suited for the DS, but thats just me ;)
"MacUser511 This is just a rip-off of Wario Ware. Sony sucks." Wow...a mac user, AND a Nintendo fanboy. How elitist can you get? And no, being an elitist ISN'T a good thing. Leaves you closed minded AND makes you look like an ignorant A-S-S. Anyway, looks like fun. Can't wait. ^^
It means what the ****
The bit with the soccer ball looks like a carbon copy of the hackeysack game in California Games, which is good because I used to get perfect scores on it. Doesn't appear to be a Warioware ripoff, at least in this video. The pace is noticeably slower, and the soccer ball and bishops games look like playable games unto themselves.
Heh, a nice offbeat lookin' game... this could be really awesome. Man, just another reason for me to get a PSP. And yes, this does look like WarioWare, but IMO it looks more "inspired" by WW than ripping it off ;)
This is just a rip-off of Wario Ware. Sony sucks.
WTF .... means.....What the .... ekhm :D Nice title for game xD heh :D
Ive waited for this for ages. everybody needs a new psp game...
LOLOLOL THE GAME IS CALLED WTF, WTF? /end kiddie
I've been looking forward to this game for a while. It looks great. So what if it looks like wario ware? All of the wario ware games were great, you didn't think that eventually somebody would come along and try to make a similar game? That's how genres get started. I for one, am glad that somebody is "ripping off" wario ware. More of the same with a different take sounds good to me.
WTF.......Hahaha....Oh, and about the game, I didn't read so.... Ah.....
oh great the DS guys are back with comments sigh.. Wario Ware used touch screen etc so hows that gonna be a similar game to WTF? Dont worry it wont be to much like the Wario Ware read LuminosityBlaze post...........A puzzle game is a puzzle game after all..
everbody that said this is a rip-off of warioware is an idiot.
yea, yea... Warioware rip-off on crack or whatever people are saying... All games rip-off elements from others, thats how games evolve over time... So I guess every game ever relesed from now on with minigames is a rip-off of Warioware... I have a funny felling that if they start to further integrate player video into gaming (I mean Nintendo and Microsoft), that people wouldn't be so quick to exclaim how they are ripping off Sony's EyeToy... Let's just determine if THIS is a good game or not... not how good OThers are... Plus, I do believe that this might be hit with a M rating from what I have heard, at least a T. The game content is defintely going to be crazy, different, and unlike anything we have seen before, especially in Noth America.
OMG WTF LOL :p
warioware ripoff
This game looks far more polished than the WarioWare series of games. I hope the music is at least as good as this game looks...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I CANNOT STOP LAUGHING AT THE TITLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
I can't wait... I love wario ware and this looks like the next best thing. Besides... I need a new PSP game.
Oh yeah, this is the rip-off of Wario Ware for the PSP. Looks interesting and has a great name lol.
yea kitad looks like wario ware
wtf?
Anybody else think this looks like a blatant WarioWare rip-off?