The worst possible name for a game has been taken (ManStruggle comes to Facebook)
Ok, so here's how I think it happened:
A halfway decent game was written for Facebook, but no one could think of a name. They talked through hundreds of possible names, some of them original and fitting for the game. But with the release date fast approaching, the marketing team hunkered down over several bottles of Tequila with a bunch of words on paper. They took different words and put them together, but none of them made sense. Finally at around 2 AM, they had only a few words left, and were running out of booze. Deciding they needed a trip to the gentleman's club to make the night complete, they tossed the remaining words in the air, and the first 2 to land would be the name.
Thus you have ManStruggle, and it landed on Facebook on 9/24.
ManStruggle Hits Facebook! Battle Your Friends Live!
Challenge your friends to battle live on Facebook, with simple “one button” game play that’s easy to learn and impossible to master!
Los Angeles, CA – September 24, 2010 – Grab is proud to announce the launch of ManStruggle on Facebook today, a “first-of-its-kind” social game with a classic 8-bit era video game look and feel that takes advantage of the latest online and social features.
ManStruggle’s gameplay is essentially the beloved “one button / button mashing” game mechanic of yesteryear, evolved into a social multiplayer competition on Facebook. Press the “A” key as fast as you can to wrestle your opponent to the ground - all lovingly rendered in authentic 8-bit pixel art and “chiptune” sounds and music (from Vincent Diamante, the composer of the PSN hit Flower).
There are many different modes to choose from:
Ø “Struggle VS. Friend Now”
Choose a friend to battle LIVE on Facebook, in real-time multiplayer. If your friend / enemy of choice is Offline, you can still battle them as a CPU automated character of your friend’s play history “record”.
Ø “Struggle VS. Friend In Person”
This mode allows play “in person” against a friend on the same computer, with Player 2 using the “L” key.
Ø “Struggle Roulette”
Battle random players live with instant matchmaking!
Ø “Arcade Mode VS. CPU”
Struggle against computer controlled opponents of escalating difficulty across 8 stages.
Your “Man” is customizable, with different colors to choose from for hair, skin and pants. All players are ranked against their friends and globally, which can be followed through the persistent “Friend Bar” and in the Ranking leaderboard menus. Wins can be shared through wall posts to your friend’s news feeds, boasting your victories or lamenting soul-crushing defeats.
“Grab is thrilled to bring an experience like ManStruggle to Facebook, as it’s a new kind of social game that will appeal to casual players as well as hardcore gamers,” said Brandon Laurino, VP of Creative and Strategy at Grab. “While a simple game on the surface, the real-time multiplayer and social interactions at scale are quite sophisticated, a testament to the proprietary infrastructure we have created.”
