Work Time Fun

Written by James Dauer  on August 02, 2006

First Impressions: Now there's plenty of reason for you to scream УWTF!?Ф at your PSP when the leaves begin to fall this year.

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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be working in a 3rd world ballpoint pin factory? No? Well, consider that while you wait in anticipation for what has to be the weirdest game for the Sony PSP you've never heard of. Work Time Fun, or WTF for short, is a port of a game from Japan called УBaito Hell 2000Ф. Roughly translating to УPart-time job Hell 2000Ф, it's pretty indicative of what to expect in the game. Players assume the role of a faceless, nameless protagonist who must take the most mind numbing tasks in the form of mini-games from the big guy downstairs himself. This can range from anything such as putting caps on several ballpoint pens (we're talking in the hundred billions range here), to sawing logs, to the inevitable going on strike (Pac-Man style). Sound interesting yet?

If you're thinking this is Sony's cheap attempt at a Wario Ware clone, think again. While Wario Ware times it's players and tests their reflexes, WTF gives players one stupid task and tests their patience, then laughs as they get bored. Such is life in the working world. Both games do feature growing levels of difficulty though. The longer you play a game, the harder it generally becomes.

Of course, players don't perform these jobs for nothing. As in the real world, everyone that works must be paid. And of course when you do get paid in Japan, there's only one logical thing to do with that money, and that is, of course, go blow it all on capsule machines. The capsule machines will spit out a random prize, be it a figurine, a УtoolФ, or another minigame.

There are at least 30 minigames in all, some start out unlocked, and others need to be purchased. As mentioned before the minigames are all very strange. So far we've seen games based on playing rock-paper-scissors, correctly guessing the last four digits of a girl's phone number, counting chickens (and slaughtering sickly ones), wrestling, taking orders at a diner, sawing logs (but watch out for the dolphins, kitty cats, and babies that find their way to the chopping block), playing a belching rendition of Simon, and samurai sword fighting against a giant mask. WTF indeed, and that's just a handful of the craziness in this UMD.

The games generally feature simple control structures, much like Wario Ware, and most of the games feature that bizarre realistic look common to weird Japanese games (think the УrealisticФ stages in Wario Ware, or anything from the Sega CD game Panic!). It's Japanese humor at it's finest, which basically means if it doesn't instantly give you nightmares, it will have you falling out of your chair with laughter, and then give you nightmares.

The УtoolsФ that come bundled into the game are little oddities- which at this point doesn't mean much in the grand scope of WTF (It's really a lot of fun saying this game's name). Tools can be anything from makeshift calculators to cooking timers. There's even a УtoolФ that gives you a fake set of digital eyes so you can hold the PSP up to your face and freak out passers by.

WTF also features an ad-hoc linking system. Why a game like WTF would need that isn't immediately obvious, but it allows players in close proximity to trade capsule machine toys. Honestly, the odds of finding someone close enough near you with this game are probably very low, but, hey, it's in there.