Looked exactly like this 5 years ago but then it was for the PS2 and no one seemed to mind...

While I agree that the PS2 was mostly a casual console, there were a lot more core gamers than that.

@ JRPG, to me that's a pretty weak argument, but hey, if you have that much time on your hands to be playing over 700 games, well than more power to you ;).

One of the main reasons why I bought the PS2 was backwards compatibility with all those great PS1/PSX games :D. I probably have twice many more games for the PS1 than I did with the PS2, but don't get me wrong, it still had a handful of great games.
Similarly to one of the many reasons why I bought the Wii and DS, it's backwards compatible with the 2 systems (GBA and GC) which IMO had the best library of games :D.

This.  When you have the largest userbase you are going to get the most crap.  Just how it works.

I completely agree with this article, as I know it from experience. http://www.vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=66815

They literally had one copy of Madworld slid on its side in between Raving Rabbids and SimAnimals.

since we are on the subject of shovelware, I've noticed that it seems that many people purchase lots of shovelware on Live Arcade to boost their achievement score.

 Don't forget disc-based shovelware!  1000 points in Avatar in 5 minutes ftw!

Why do you say this?

Have you played the game?

Or are you just going by reviews?

The game is meant for a different audience. In Xbox 360 terms, it is meant for the Viva Pinata crowd rather than the Halo crowd or even the Blue Dragon crowd.

It really was the first breakthrough mini-game collection, it uses the Havok physics engine, generally makes good use of motion control, and has a lot of in-game collectables for replayabilty.

Unfortunately, a lot of games since then have tried to repeat the formula and none have been as good and many have been downright poor. 

(And Carnival Games Mini-Golf is a cheap cash-in).

Ironically, there were many times this game was not on the shelf because it was sold out. But people kept asking for it. So it kept getting ordered (and more were made -- the new ones have the 2K Play label on them).

And truly, I wonder if Take-Two would have been able to make it to the release of GTA IV if Carnival Games had not sold so well.

Mike from Morgantown

Just because you do not care for a game does not make it shovelware.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I do not find it impossible to believe that there are people that would rather play Carnival Games than Shadow of the Colossus, just as it is pretty easy for me to believe that some people would rather see American Pie than City of God.

They fill different needs, and are approached differently. What's shovelware to you might be pure gold to someone else. Try to imagine that before passing judgement.