Shovelware is essentially
lowest-common-denominator software. Perhaps the software was created to take advantage of a fad. Perhaps it was made to cash in on a bit of marketing share of something eminently useful.
Generally, shovelware tends to go towards the useless side. Frequently, such offerings are also relatively cheap.
Movie tie-in games are almost always shovelware.
Some common characteristics:
- Usually found in discount bins
- Has similar appearance to other, more popular or refined products. For example, many "Tycoon" games. Essentially, one cousin of the Shoddy Knockoff Product.
- Quality usually ranges from mediocre to abysmal. Often mostly created in a programmer's spare time and turned into a product.
- Sold in bundles of several products (Like those five-dollar "50 Great Arcade Hits" discs at discount stores that are neither great nor arcade games nor hits. This was, in fact, the original definition of shovelware).
