Bad Day on the Midway
Encyclopedia
Bad Day on the Midway is a CD-ROM
game designed and scored by The Residents
and a number of other graphic artists, including Jim Ludtke. The game won the 1995 'Macrovision International User Conference Award' in two categories - Best Entertainment Title and Most Innovative Use of Multimedia.
The game was optioned by Ron Howard
at Imagine Television for a proposed series to be directed by David Lynch
. After two years of meetings with Lynch, the project was dropped because a script was never agreed upon. Had the project moved forward, The Residents would have not been creatively involved as their contract only gave them consulting roles in the pilot.
The character Timmy was later brought back in a series of short videos
by the Residents.
s. The game has alternative narrative lines, with definite fixed story elements. The gameplay is centered around discovery via the different characters. The game has no save system and is time-limited. The player is faced with different puzzles and questions, such as how to stop a murderer without fighting, and the reaction to the backstory of the murderer.
' Icky Flix
DVD.
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
game designed and scored by The Residents
The Residents
The Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
and a number of other graphic artists, including Jim Ludtke. The game won the 1995 'Macrovision International User Conference Award' in two categories - Best Entertainment Title and Most Innovative Use of Multimedia.
The game was optioned by Ron Howard
Ron Howard
Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
at Imagine Television for a proposed series to be directed by David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
. After two years of meetings with Lynch, the project was dropped because a script was never agreed upon. Had the project moved forward, The Residents would have not been creatively involved as their contract only gave them consulting roles in the pilot.
The character Timmy was later brought back in a series of short videos
Timmy (The Residents)
Timmy is a fictional character by avant-garde group The Residents, first appearing in the 1995 CD-ROM project Bad Day on the Midway. The character was brought back on July 26, 2006 in a series of weekly short videos featuring Timmy telling anecdotes about his life and other strange stories...
by the Residents.
Gameplay
The player can switch between the various game characters in order to solve a number of puzzlePuzzle
A puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution...
s. The game has alternative narrative lines, with definite fixed story elements. The gameplay is centered around discovery via the different characters. The game has no save system and is time-limited. The player is faced with different puzzles and questions, such as how to stop a murderer without fighting, and the reaction to the backstory of the murderer.
Soundtrack
There was also a soundtrack album (The Residents Have A Bad Day, East Side Digital EDS 81202) and some of the game's visuals were brought together in full resolution on The ResidentsThe Residents
The Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
' Icky Flix
Icky Flix
Icky Flix is the title of a combined DVD and CD set released by the band The Residents as part of their 30th anniversary celebration in 2001...
DVD.