What does 'janky' mean?

The Giant Bomb staff have  taken to using the word Janky to describe various games during the Bombcast. While I was able to decipher the meaning of the word from Urban Dictionary http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Janky the Giant Bomb crew seem to shift the meaning of the word with every game they describe, making me unsure of its meaning.
 
When I listen to the Bombcast the use of the word shifts from  
 
1. Questionable mechanics i.e 'this game is great but the cover mechanics are janky 
 
to   

2. Downright unplayable i.e. 'this shit is Janky!' 
 
So what does the word janky mean to you? When you hear the Giant Bomb staff describe a game as Janky what do you imagine?

See:

Bethesda games.

It's pretty much another word for glitchy. For an example, i was playing Skyrim the other day. I was getting immersed and I walked into a town to find a person sitting on thin air in front of a chair. That's jank.

Or like when Red Dead first came out, I was riding my horse down those dusty trails, then all of a sudden a carriage came darting down the path, backwards, with no horses.

@Akeldama said:

See:

Bethesda games.

Obsidian Entertainment is the definition of janky

Glitchy, buggy, weird issues in the game, something goes wrong in a game randomly.

It is the collision of multiple 'yes/no' commands in the game that results in weird anomalies throughout.

@Akeldama said:

See:

Bethesda games.

Pretty much this.

As a review said about Skyrim "It's pretty much what you would expect from a Bethesda open-world RPG. Lots of exploration, tons of content, and a truckload of freedom to do all kinds of crazy shit. On the downside... it's also exactly what you would expect from a Bethesda open-world RPG. A ton of quirks, bugs and generally lackluster features that, while they don't necessarily hold back enjoyment of the game, certainly keep it from truly reaching mind-blowing proportions".. It wouldn't be a Bethesda game without it's Janky-ness.

Urban Dic, isnt the the best to use. As you end up with 6 diffrent meanings for the one word.

The main meaning i take is. Undesirable; less-than optimum. Poory constructed/poor quality dosnt quiet meet that meaning. it too simple.

So i say janky as in "the feeling for the aiming cursor is a little Janky. I try to go diagonal but it dosnt go straight. It jerks left then up."

They way some people think Jank works. Is wrong. Thats the meaning for Wonky.

Even childrens morning tv shows are dedicated to a wonkey donkey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yEI-guCVso

If something is janky, then it lacks polish and feels unnatural. Like when a character animates, if it doesn't look or feel right and feels unnatural, it can be said to be janky.

It means janky. :/

I am not helpful at all.

It's a dumb word that kids use a lot . . . and for some reason the Giant Bomb dudes too.

For me janky means buggy. Playable, but Buggy. See every Obsidian game for an example of this.

@Masha2932 said:

2. Downright unplayable i.e. 'this shit is Janky!'

I would use the word "broken" to describe that.

I've always understood it as "broken." But a different word than broken, for times when broken seems too harsh, or the game is good enough to still recommend despite being broken. It encompasses more than just glitches and bugs, it could include intentional flaws in the gameplay mechanics (games that don't adhere to the Call of Duty button layout standards) or intentional flaws in the control scheme or the way the game feels (like The Conduit's aiming, FarCry Instincts, or Uncharted 3's hover-on targeting).

Halo 2... glitchy.

Smackdown vs Raw... janky.

Superman 64... broken.

I suppose.

Here is a dictionary-like definition I made just for this thread:

Janky (adj.): To lack refinement; apparently vulgar and of questionable make.
Ex.1: Tom observed the rather janky mechanics of Fallout 3 and found that they somewhat detracted from the overall experience.Ex.2: "I don't care for Jim," said Tom, "he's a rather janky motherfucker."

This thread is janky.

Busted as shit but four to five stars anyways.

My friends and I used to say it a few years ago, kind of in the same way that people use the word sketchy. So I don't really ever associate the word with video games.

It's a word people use when they can't articulate what they don't like about a game.

@Akeldama said:

See:

Bethesda games.

Obsidian Entertainment is the definition of janky

Glitchy, buggy, weird issues in the game, something goes wrong in a game randomly.

It is the collision of multiple 'yes/no' commands in the game that results in weird anomalies throughout.

I like to picture it like a broken piece of glass, or a jagged sword from Saudi Arabia. Something that looks right, but isn't AT ALL. Something that's broken but still works. So yes, a Bethesda game.

It's a meaningless word that lazy people use when they can't formulate any justification for their opinion.

Depends on the situation. Usually means "messed up", or out-of-place.

@GunslingerPanda said:

It's a meaningless word that lazy people use when they can't formulate any justification for their opinion.

Such a janky thing to say.

:P

Janky to me always meant games that have certain technical issues that aren't so serious as to destroy a game's playability but are present and significant enough to be worth mentioning; these technical issues can include issues with physics and hit detection, issues with animation, texture pop-in, or straight up games that crash. It also denotes a certain amount of randomness and weird shit most commonly associated with open world games.

hella messed

I've always kinda thought it kinda meant something just didn't feel right with the game play. Maybe the aiming is too loose, stuff feels unresponsive, delay between button inputs and something happening on screen, etc. And, as mentioned, general weird bugs/issues that arise in games like Fallout/Oblivion/Dead Island/etc.

Janky means broken or messed up. The phrase 'open world jank' means that there is messed up shit happening because it is an open world game.

I always imagined it as a puzzle but the pieces don't quite fit, so it starts to fall apart.

Not quite "buh-roken".

It was always a blanket term for things being kinda fucked up.