Top 10 (randomly generated) headlines...plus a special Bitmob Writing Challenge

Shoe_headshot_-_square
Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Thanks to the NeoGAF forums, we discovered this wonderful thing: a random-headline generator for video-game websites...guaranteed to bring in the clicks if you're at a loss for new story ideas!

Now, based on the name of this tool, it's clear its creator had a specific media outlet in mind to poke fun of. We're not going there because pretty much all gaming sites have published articles with similar-sounding headlines, including possibly Bitmob. We're not criticizing anyone here. We just think the results are hilarious.

I put out a quick call on my Twitter for some of the funniest headlines people have made -- check out the top 10 below.

This also got one of our community members thinking: Bitmob should do a special Writing Challenge around this idea. Brilliant! (Thanks, Chris Winters!) Below the list, I detail out the rules around this particular Challenge. Pay attention, because one community writer will win a free game from our collection....

The top 10 randomly generated headlines:

10. "Is Catherine a Yoshi's Island for adults?"

9. "Should Ico be a Facebook game?"

8. "The porcupines in Crackdown gave me food for thought"

7. "The guitars in Deus Ex gave me peace of mind"

6. "How ninjas could increase Dead Island's popularity"

 
 

5. "What Minesweeper could learn from every other game"

4. "Top 10 most epic mannequins in video games"

3. "The lava stages in Harvest Moon gave me mixed feelings"

2. "Should Diablo be a first-person shooter?"*

1. "What Zelda could learn from Zelda"


The Bitmob Writing Challenge:

1. Generate a random headline (try to use the first one that you create).

2. Come back to Bitmob and create a new post. The headline should be your randomly generated one, plus "(random-headline challenge)" immediately after, just so we don't accidentally mislead anyone into thinking this is legit Bitmob content!

Example:

Why FarmVille will lick Mega Man's face (Random-Headline Challenge)

(Yes, that's another one from that site.)

3. Place this message at the start of your article, before the actual body text starts (again, so we don't mislead anyone):

Note: This story is a parody for the latest Bitmob Writing Challenge.

4. Make sure you use this tag:

Bitmob Writing Challenge

(or else we might not find your post for contest purposes)

5. Write whatever you want -- the more creative, the better. The story can be any length, but we would recommend keeping it under 600 words if you want people to read through it all.

At the start of November, we will gather up the best submissions for a special wrap-up post. There, we'll ask the rest of the community to vote for their favorite one, and that author will win a free, random game from our collection. (If you live outside of the continental U.S., we'll ask you to pay for shipping.)

Have fun and good luck!


*Headline submissions from Twitter: special thanks to @andrewjhiscock, @bbretterson, @IsaacFederspiel, @GeeksterMike, @chris_j_ross, @akwinters, and @MerrMan, who admitted to fishing for #2 in particular, due to the controversy surrounding this story from GameSpy. (But hey, it did  come up...after about 40 refreshes!). Also, thanks to our own Samir Torres for the nightmare image.

 
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Comments (18)
37893_1338936035999_1309080061_30825631_6290042_n
October 18, 2011

I can't wait to participate in this.

Mindjack
October 18, 2011

I assume you're speaking of this Crack Down.

Default_picture
October 18, 2011

This has the potential to be amazing. The results should be fun to read. Speaking of which, I better get to work on my entry.

Default_picture
October 18, 2011

Hoooooooly crap, Samir. 

Profile
October 18, 2011

I like where this is going.

Avatarheader
October 19, 2011

I'll do one of these for the competition, but I can definitely see myself doing more for fun.

Andrewh
October 19, 2011

I know I only pushed a button, but I am happy to see a few of my finds on the list. I found the Catherine/Yoshi Island headline, and the picture is even worse than I could ever imagine. Awesome.

I was actually prepping an article based on the generator, so I'm glad to see this come about! 

Mindjack
October 19, 2011

Vincent's got a lot of explaining to do....

Default_picture
October 19, 2011

Shoe, none of your editors would ever write a headline like that. *looks around nervously*

Default_picture
October 19, 2011

My goodness, where the hell do they come up with these headlines? I just came up with something that nobody would ever think of. Ever. Lol.

My_face_2
October 19, 2011

I am so going to do this!

Brett_new_profile
October 19, 2011

This will be...awesome.

Cucco-obsessed-link
October 19, 2011

This is the best writing challenge ever.  Can't wait to see the results!

Default_picture
October 19, 2011

Wait a second... I swear I read a "Should Diablo be a first-person shooter" article a few weeks ago.  Ah, here it is: http://au.pc.gamespy.com/pc/diablo-iii/1195932p1.html.  Thought it was ridiculous, but maybe it was a joke inspired by this thing...

Shoe_headshot_-_square
October 19, 2011

Good catch, Andrew. But check the very end of the article. :)

Default_picture
October 19, 2011

Oh, ha.  Missed that asterisk!

Andrewh
October 26, 2011

This, so far, has been a big whack of stupid fun. Great idea.

Default_picture
December 07, 2011

I laughed out loud at "Should Ico be a Facebook game?" and chuckled at "Top 10 most epic mannequins in videogames." Comedy gold.

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