Conker's Bad Fur Day
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| Conker's Bad Fur Day | |
| Missing image Conkersbfdbox.jpg Conker's Bad Fur Day game box. | |
| Developer(s) | Rareware |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Release date(s) | March 5, 2001 |
| Genre | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Mature (M) ELSPA: 15+ |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 64 |
Conker's Bad Fur Day is a Nintendo 64 video game made by Rareware that was marketed as an "adult" platform game. It stars Conker the Squirrel, a Rare character who has appeared in other games, such as Diddy Kong Racing for the N64 and Conker's Pocket Tales for the Game Boy Color. Bad Fur Day featured scatological humor, cartoonish violence and a penchant for parodies (an example being the levels with the Tediz, a race of evil teddy bears in lieu of Nazi Germany in a Saving Private Ryan parody).
Conker's Bad Fur Day was originally going to be titled Conker's Quest and then Twelve Tails: Conker 64. Early screenshots suggested the game would be targeted at younger children, and feature cute characters and colorful settings. Rareware had a long history of making games of this sort, such as Banjo Kazooie and Diddy Kong Racing, and at first Conker did not appear to be any different. However, the original kid-targeted game was drastically overhauled when critical mockery of it became too much. When the announcment was made that Conker would be re-tooled into an "adult" game with lots of scatological humor many did not initially believe it, and assumed the press release was an April Fool's Day joke. However, as the months went on the change quickly was understood to be very real and permanent. Inspired by South Park, the game's producer Chris Seavor lobbied to revamp the graphics and attitude, and it transformed into the adult Bad Fur Day. Seavor would actually go on to voice Conker in this new version.
Even though this game did well in both the UK and US, it fared worse than expected, in part because of its early 2001 release: a year later, the Nintendo 64 was discontinued after the release of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. Another factor was Nintendo's fear that the game would shatter their family friendly image. Even though it was to be published by Rare themselves, Nintendo felt that parents might accidently buy the game because of the cartoon squirrel who had appeared in other, kid-friendly games, and not realize it was intended for the 17-and-up crowd. As the image of the game's box above illustrates, Nintendo demanded the box feature a larger-than-usual "M for Mature" rating graphic, as well as a disclaimer "warning this game is not for anyone under 17"- both highly unprecedented moves that signify the company's fears. Nintendo of America refused to even acknowledge the game in their Nintendo Power publication, and all advertising was limited to late-night cable television and ads in Playboy. It's believed that Nintendo's poor promotion of such a critically lauded game was one of the defining factors in the friction between them and Rare (Rare left Nintendo for Microsoft in late 2002). Despite everything working against it, the game has enjoyed a cult following, actually growing in popularity despite it being for an older console. Also, much of the gameplay in Conker's Bad Fur Day features various movie parodies, such as The Matrix and Saving Private Ryan.
Ports
In 2005 it will be re-released on the Xbox as Conker: Live & Reloaded. This game will feature better graphics, a whole new multiplayer designed live enabled campaign. Xbox Live support and a possible new chapter. Template:Wikiquote