Many of you have no doubt heard of Skunk Software by now, a somewhat recent developer that has drawn plenty of criticism on the Wii U eShop. If you'll take a look at the company's page, Skunk Software's average review score is sitting at a solid 3. Whether or not you think that score is merited, it seems the company is now opting to use a more aggressive marketing strategy to get its games onto people's consoles: it's literally giving one of its games away.
For those of you in North America, The First Skunk Bundle is now available for free, but here's the kicker: the game typically costs $25, so you'll receive 30 My Nintendo Gold Coins for the free download. We tested this ourselves and it does indeed work, so the only thing you really stand to lose is the few minutes of time it'll take to add this to your collection. And, as a plus, you get a chance to try one of the latest releases from Skunk Software.
What do you think? What'll you do with those extra coins? Have you played anything by Skunk Software? Drop us a comment in the section below.
Comments 90
Still wouldn't be worth the space on a Wii U.
extra points for free. i'll take it.
the points got me to download it. I suppose I'll try the game while I have it too, though from what I've read here...my hopes are not high, haha.
Must avoid a punny remark. Must avoid a punny remark.
worthy only for the 30 points.
Does anyone know how long this will last?
Next best thing to a virus for Wii U?
I wouldn't dl that crap for 60 gold coins.
Well, that's certainly one way to Stick it to the man
Not that gold coins are worth anything noteworthy. Same problem as Club Nintendo. The discounts/games are games everybody has anyway.
Take a free skunking for 30 coins? Umm...........
lol at the Mature rating
@AfterAnAutopsy You can just delete it. I deleted it as soon as it started downloading. Hey, free Wario Land 3 I guess.
So Skunk Software DOES have a use...for gold coin farming. I'll brave the download just for the freebie coins since it's normally difficult for me to accumulate them.
Edit: Two points of hilarity:
1. This download is "free" until the 30th.
2. It's rated M.
@Mega_Yarn_Poochy Something does happen when you hit a score of 420 in Snake Classic.
@AfterAnAutopsy that's why you delete it after you download it
@SetupDisk all of the gold coin offers are changing oct 1st
You know they're getting desperate(?) when none of their games are being sold well and their games have the quality of a skunk's rear end (heh) they'll have to pull this off to get their 15 mins of fame.
Could've helped to have the Skunk guys to have a offical miiverse post about this...huh.
Free coins! I know nothing about this Skunk Software. Perhaps it is a good thing I don't? lol.
"A collection of five full featured video games."
Mm... sure. Unless Skunkie's decided to take the RCMADIAX route, and sell some premade freeware for $25. Normally I'd download anything free but for the first time in eShop history... I may be inclined to make an exception.
I just made sure to redeem, then deleted the download before it got far along. Easy 30 coins...just not much to do with them right now, lol.
Just an observation since I booted it up just to try out Snake for kicks....Does anyone else think the main menu theme sounds like a piano rendition of Green Day's "Time Of Your Life"? Oh, the irony....
@james_squared Really? What?
@sillygostly Just download it and immediately delete it. What wrong with free Gold Points?
I'm wondering if they got in trouble for all the Copyrighted music and that's why they switched it to free in the guise of a promo? The coins put me over 60 so now I can get the Mario Kart DLC which is cool but I just had to try it out of morbid curiosity and good lord did this shock me with how bad it was. To be fair, I've only done 3 of the games so far but wow! The Haunted House game was just sad, uninspired and choppy. The 3D "Platformer" was barely playable and the overhead shooter forces you through its painfully long opening every time! I'm gonna grit my teeth and get through the remaining games and then this is being banished from my Wii U storage forever. I do have to genuinely thank Skunk Software for essentially getting me the Mario Kart DLC so thank you guys.
@faint sure, but is this really what it's come to. You guys are essentially saying it's ok just because you're getting free coins out of it. They don't deserve my time when they so clearly don't care about their audience. Seeing how they couldn't market to kids and dumb parents, they're now targeting edgy teens. I mean really, M rated? This is from the same company that couldn't teach basic math.
Good for you guys I guess, I have no use for gold coins anyways.
This game. It lowered by IQ.
I don't even care, there's nothing worth spending gold coins on anyways. MyNintendo sux.
@Mega_Yarn_Poochy this deserves the m rating.
I love how part of this amazing five game package ($25 so $5 per game) is a Snake ripoff.
I guess they are trying for the free publicity and maybe to be on the top downloads list long enough that when the sale is over some foolish people actually buy this game.
Oh well free 30 gold coins I guess?
@Zach777 We are getting new gold games next week.
Also, the coins won't expire until next September, allowing you to say up for some stuff during stage 2 of My Nintendo: the NX period.
Thanks for these 30 gold coins Skunk Collection!!!
@AfterAnAutopsy i'm giving the game a chance before i decide anything.
i shall edit this after i play it.
edit: ok yes its bad but not all bad the snake game is atleast good i think.
man how cheesy is this voice in the trailer? haha xD
yeah those looks terrible, but somehow they look better than some crap i actually paid money for from RCMADIAX and the such, so i might actually try them, and besides i have a special folder on my wiiu where i put all those games call TRASH, its like a horror museum that i keep just to remind me of how terrible some shovelware are and to show my friends when they come by... ;D
also i found it funny how everyone is like «i took the 40 gold coins but stop the download before it got to far»... yeah, like you are litterally scare that this bundle is gonna stink out of ur wiiu, or that it's like a virus or something... -_-
come on guys, those games are for free, ur not gonna die if you try them, you might actually have fun (probably not) or at least have a good laugh of how terrible they are, and have a funny story to tell later... ;D
@AfterAnAutopsy it took 30 seconds to download load it and less time to delete it. What time is being wasted? The my Nintendo offers get updated the 1st of October. I feel like you are taking this to seriously. There are plenty of things in the world worth taking seriously. Plenty of heart breaking awfull things. Free coins is just a bit of fun. Loosen up a bit will ya.
I feel bad for the poor skunk in the photo, I get it's a joke, but the poor thing did nothing wrong for deserve to be compared with such a terrible develloper T.T;
Downloaded for the coins. Decided to try each game, and...
You guys have gotta review this. It's hilariously bad.
I gave all five games a shake...
The menu screen: The red curtain background is nice, but the buttons and font are too small. Also playing in the background is a piano rendition of Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)". It's nice they want me to have the time of my life with their collection of games (haha, I see what you did there Skunk). The mix of games is a little weird, having some casual and family friendly games mixed with more mature outings. It just didn't seem right. All the same, let's get on with it...
Snake Classic: Welcome to gaming on an old Nokia phone! Did what it sets out to do, no more no less. Not bad. I do like they gave players the option to use the A, B, X, and Y buttons to control direction for thise who like their movements to "click". The 420 Easter egg was...well, made me wonder about their HR's drug policy (if it even exists...which might've explained a few things about some other games).
Catchy: Slow pace, clunky controls, and inconsistent visuals. I've played better games ten years ago from the Dreamcast homebrew scene (I also want to add that Miiverse took this comment down when I posted it. Guess they didn't like the Dreamcast name drop...kind of like how a PlayStation executive was banned for saying he liked "PS"). Anubis II for the Wii was a masterpiece compared to Catchy.
Zombie Epic: An okay Robotron-style dual stick shooter (only in survival mode). I had a few issues with controls, but nothing horrible. One gripe I had was the flashing of hit zombies would make them disappear for too long, making me think I'd defeated a Zombie, only for me to run into it and end my game. Another gripe I had was the sound and music choice. As you play survival, you are treated to a piano rendition of Tom Petty's "Won't Back Down" (between this and Green Day, this probably killed the title's financial budget... assuming Skunk Studios bought the rights at all). I get that you're fighting insurmountable odds, but the piano rendition doesn't lend itself to the ambiance of a mature Zombie survival game. The music if you get killed almost turns the game into a farce. As for story mode, I got through three minutes of it. I was surprised to hear voice acting, which was okay. After a South Park homage and a few dead bad guys, I didn't know where to go, so I wandered around the map until I got bored and turned it off. Some direction would where to go would have been nice. Maybe I should have pressed X at the first question...
Haunted Hotel: Ugh...why?
Bomb Blaster: Probably the best of the lot after Snake Classic. Reminded me of a 2D version of Boom Block with some Angry Birds thrown in.
Overall, is it worth $25? Absolutely not! Is it worth the download space since it's free for now? ... ehh, you might find a game or two you'll enjoy (and you'll get your thirty Gold coins).
These guys, RCMADIAX, Treefall, and a few other devs all need to team up and create a "MegaZord" magnum opus before the NX comes out. Lol
@Mega_Yarn_Poochy
Hmmmm.... you, sir, have made some impressive, considerably good points.
verdict after seriously trying them all...
surprisingly fun: bomb blaster and catchy
playable but a poor port: snake
trash, horrible, stay away from: zombie epic and haunted hotel
also, what is up with the stolen music (i assume they don't own the rights...)?!
I've already downloaded this one for via a review code, so I can't "buy" it for free and get the coins. That's a shame!
Will it be available on EU eshop?
Still waiting for Pokémon Snap...
It feels like someone trying to cash in on free homebrew games or the flash games that were so abundant in the 00s.
http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/the-first-skunk-bundle-wii-u
Now it wastes even less time.
That's a step in the right direction for Skunk Software. Maybe they've learnt to price their games according to their quality.
....Got better things to do...
I'm not too proud to take the 30 free coins. I'll probably never touch it, but hey, at worst, free Metroid 2 for me....
Hey free coins!
@faint like I said, good for you guys 👌
@Joeynator3000 Yeah, suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure.......
Anyway, free gold coins, so yeah. I downloaded it. I'm scared to try it, though.... because it looks bad and reviews bad. I'm guessing it's not going to stay in my hard drive for a long time... :-/
....What's that supposed to mean?....o.o
@mjharper thanks didn't even think of that my wii u is sitting like a brick for a long time anyways even if it downloads it remotely from work not like i've been using it lol.
Download it and get the coins people. Stop the funny comments and just get the gold coins. I will try it out cause no matter how bad it is someone took time to make and put it on sale for free. It only is right to play it and rate it for me at least.
I'll download it for the coins and to play, cause why not. It's not like my Wii U will catch a virus as soon as I start it up.
$1 for their Free Ballin ($9.99 normally) should get another 10 coins, but who's going to to that?
sigh The fact that I don't immediatedly grab my WiiU Gamepad to secure those points is probably pretty telling as far as MyNintendo goes.
Got it for the free coins. I was appalled how bad it was. Not sure how Nintendo's quality control let this game through.
@Joeynator3000 Hey, only you knows. Only you.
I'm sure the 12 people who actually paid $25 for it are thrilled at the news...
This will sit proudly next to The Letter in my 'crap' folder.
@Vee_Flames .....>.>
@Qun_Mang Fans of Tom Petty?
(between Free B(f)allin' and the purported piano rendition of "Won't Back Down" found in the zombie game, I'm seeing a pattern a-brewin'.)
Maybe they're banking on this being the next "so bad it's good" hit to make the round on all the Let's Play YouTube channels.
This is gonna be a stinker of a review.
Who...????
DONE.
Without really having seen these games, the descriptions actually sound pretty fun. So when I get home tonight I'm pretty excited to see exactly what was just downloaded to my console
...then I spend m'coins on something! ....oh wait there is nothing.. :/ (I already own most of it!)
now i'm a little closer to the dream of getting 15% off wii party u
I don't know if I should spend 30 coins on metroid 2 or wait and see if something better comes in, except for adventures of link I have pretty much all the VC games I'm interested in.
@daveh30 OMM I just spat my water at my monitor. Thank you for that chuckle.
Downloaded because why the (honk) not. It'll be good for a laugh for a few minutes. And it'll give me the ability to make scathing, sarcastic posts on the Miiverse community.
Just downloaded it.... Is that a piano version of "time of your life" by green day playing on the game select screen?
So Skunks new marketing plan is to way overcharge on their games.....immediately discount them to a "fair" price and hope people buy them for the extra gold coin incentive..........well played Skunk, well played. You may get a few sales if Nintendo actually puts something worth getting in the rewards
I laught a lot after play some seconds of the zombie game in the the bundle. Is really bad. So bad, wrich I laught.
This thing is worth just for the coins. And some not intentional laughs thinking how someone could do games this bad.
@OdnetninAges
I agree.
@daveh30 wait until you hear "hotel california"... xD
@chiefeagle02 So what's the 420 Snake secret? I couldn't stand playing the game long enough to get there.
@TerrapinJess They might sound fun, but they are the opposite of that.
Don't know if i should get donkey kong 3 or wait for the new october games.
@ROBALEXXX i would definitely wait
..well, ...thanks for the coins Pepe..
@chiefeagle02 Probably the reason they took it down was because you mentioned home brew. Whoever admins Miiverse is ban happy when talking about mods or anything of the sort. It's insane how many people get banned for even vaguely talking about Project M.
@Spooj I think you're right. Oh well, next time...
@Mega_Yarn_Poochy OH MAN YOU WERE RIGHT. How is this worth $25?!? Seriously all I have left is Green Day stuck in my head from the main menu. What a JOKE!!
@siavm I tried the haunted house one because I love the idea... well... let's just say it ended with me going "NOPE."
And not because it was scary ... it was because I could not proceed and further due to controls being bad, no pause option, no way controls explanation, the sound was a mixture of about 3 different songs playing at once all different tempos.... it's just NOT FUN as someone else said. It's an example of how NOT to make games. Anyway, glad I know now. And it was fun while it lasted I guess
@Mega_Yarn_Poochy Everything turns various shades of green.
@Spooj I think you're right.
Lol!
@siavm: I completely agree. Will download this today. If it's free, it's usually for me.
I download, prolly try these later. Is it really as bad as people say? The eShop rating for this game (out of 29 ratings) is abysmal, and usually they are overinflated. I've seen games with two stars (out of ten) on Nlife get four stars (out of five) on eShop. Why so few? Maybe a bunch of guys downloaded and then delete? IIRC you need to play a game for at least an hour to rate it in the eShop.
@VR32F1END Hey now take it easy on TreeFall. It's one independent guy who actually tries to make good games from scratch.
@Devann
I'm just playing. I've bought all their games so far, and beaten Letter, Maze and Perplexing Orb. Wrote about them in the Chatsworth Times too when I did Gaming With Jeremy. I like to see people succeed. But I know they all communicate with each other and are friends. So, it'd still be funny if they made a Megazord game. Notice I left Ninja Pig out of the line up. Lol
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