Top 5 Things I Hate In Video Games

Video Games.
Only there can I steal a car, run over a few pedestrians and cause a shoot out with police and not get in any trouble.
I consider myself a pretty avid gamer, my first console was a Sega Genesis, Sonic 2 was awesome. And as a result, I got to see gaming evolve into the generation we see today *and soon to be left in the past*. I watched MGS3 preview videos since the day it was announced, I played my Xbox online, not knowing what effect online gaming was going to have on the future, I witnessed the collective jaw dropping of everyone at E3's jaw when they saw the first footage for KillZone2 for the PS3, I realized that chainsaws and guns do mix on the Xbox 360 and of course I watched the live reveal of the PS4 *my thoughts on this are on a previous article*.
But despite how far gaming has come along...we still have some issues to fix.
I am going to name the top 5 things I hate in video games in no particular order that I hope gets fixed in the next generation.

1. Day 1 Download Content

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I hate download content. But I do hate when it is an obvious attempt at making extra money in return for short changing those of us who don't choose to buy it. I'm looking at you EA!

I remember when Download Content was a new thing, basically the point of download content was to expand the game and give it new life after the game had run its course. It did make sense after all, or else we would have to wait till the next game to be able to play new maps or levels, so it was a good idea for developers to give us additional content. Maybe give us a couple new maps after 6 months or new singe player content after 8 months. Perhaps the games release date was coming up and the team didn't have time to finish a few maps, well this way they can still offer those maps to us at a later date. Often DLC was an after thought, games were not developed at the same time the actual game was being developed. Now however, it is not uncommon for games *once again, looking at you EA* to say that DLC will be available as soon as 1 week after the game came out. Specifically when it involves actual parts of the single player games story that we are missing because we didn't want to shell out another 5-10$. I don't know about you guys, but I paid 60$ already for the game and feel that should be enough to at least know I got the "full game" for at least a few months.

2. Key/Preorder/Multiplayer Codes

I honestly can't remember the last time I bought a game and was simply able to play the game immediately after opening it. It seems like now I always have to input at least 2 codes first, whether it is to allow me to play multiplayer online or a special map pack. I would like to be able to open up the game and play it rather then have to use my Xbox or PS3 controller to enter "DW7F-GS35-DFG9-PKRJ-KSJ4" and probably make some typos along the way, before I can play my game. I'm not saying the codes should be foregone, but maybe in the next generation an easier way to input codes can be provided? Or at least shorter codes.

3. Bad Movie Video Games

Now from a business perspective I understand why these are made. Big movie is coming out so it makes sense to squeeze a bit more $$$ out of the license by releasing a video game based on the movie at the same time the movie comes out. Makes sense. Now little Johnny will see the movie and be so pumped up from all of the action in it they will go out to buy the game and relive it in their house....WRONG.
Video games based on movies are usually pretty terrible, but the companies still manage to get some money out of them. What I wish they would realize is that if the game is actually good, it will sell more! Good video games based on movies have a lot of potential, imagine if Transformers: Dark of the Moon had a good video game tie-in? It would easily have sold well. The last game based on a movie I played that was actually good was Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, aside from the title it was a great game. This game came out in 2005. Come on, simple equation really:
Good Movie+Bad Game=$
Good Movie+Good Game=$$$

Think About It.

4. Motion Control

It's stupid. It's underutilized. It's Unneeded.
Microsoft and PS3 both tried there hand at the motion sensing game and all we got was lackluster game play and a limited amount of titles. Star Wars for the Kinect was supposed to be awesome but was a flop, don't get me started on Steel Battalion. Yes it works for dance games, but anything else? 

Usually not.

5. Achievements/Trophies

Alright.

Achievements and Trophies had the potential to be something awesome, but over time they kinda became ridiculous. The point of them was supposed to be to show off your gaming accomplishments, I was quite proud of my "Beat Reach on Legendary in Single Player" achievement. But over time it feels like the developers are losing their focus on what the purpose of them is. "Press A Button 2047" times was an achievement for a game I played once....because what a great accomplishment sitting in one spot mashing "A" over and over is.
Let's not forget that achievements are the reason less and less games use cheat codes now. I don't know about you guys but I loved cheat codes, I found it awesome going through a previous generation game with unlimited health, a gun that shot lightning bolts and enemies blowing up instantly. But with achievements and trophies it is a bit harder to find games that allow them.

So that's it. Any comments? Anything else you hate about gaming?

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Sony Has Announced The PlayStation 4.

PlayStation4 Is Here!

It has taken more then 6 years but the PlayStation4 is finally announced. And Coming this Holiday Season 2013.
At a Sony Event Sony finally unveiled their newest system and I have to say: About Time!
Now onto my actual opinion.
Looks Good.
Sadly, they did not show the actual console! They did show the controller, a bit more refined than the PS3 controller.

Now there is something I feel needs to be stressed, we will probably never have the same kind of graphical jump from the PS2 to the PS3 again, depressing I know. But had to be said.

Sony seems to be mainly looking to up the ante in the social gaming part of gaming and I figure that isn't the worst idea.
For example, say I am playing KillZone Shadow Fall *I will get to that later*
and I am at an epic part and I want my friend who is also online to see what I am doing?
Well I can simply have them watch me play from their own living room, think a gameplay livestream.
seems cool right?
Here is the coolest part, I can actually let my friend play the part also! Sony didn't mention the limitations to this but the possibility of being stuck at a particularly hard part in a game and being able to ask a friend to play for me and pass it for me is pretty awesome.
They also aim to make the term "instant" more of a reality, for example you can play a demo WHILE you are downloading it, a very interesting concept I look forward to trying out.
And of course, sharing is prevalent to the point of even putting a "Share" button on the PS4 controller,will this be one of those features that end up getting largely ignored further down the lifespan of the ps4? possibly.

Now lets get into some actual games.
The first game they showed was KillZone Shadow Fall, Like I said before, the graphics did look better, but not the biggest game changer. The physics and lighting however? Pretty solid. In the demo you see explosions and a futuristic city, the lighting and reflections were all rendered in pretty good detail, a definite improvement over the current generation.
Another game that made it clear that physics and lighting were key was a new look at a new driving game....not Gran Turismo. It was called "Drive Club" and seemed to be a more social based attempt at the racing genre *Test Drive Unlimited anyone?*. In this game the processing power of the PS4 was shown as you saw every part of the cars, whether carbon fiber or glass, showing off their reflections and detail. Even to the point of showing the rainbow spectrum that headlights show when sunlight hits them at a particular angle. Very promising indeed.

Following this was also more footage of new games such as a new Infamous and a new game by the makers of Braid.

And they brought up the Playstation Move...remember that? The gaming peripheral you bought when it first came out with hopes of epic lightsaber battles but no such luck? I guess Sony wants you to dust it off.
I guess they really want you guys to use it with the PlayStation4, showcasing tech demos of creative uses for it such as sculpting. And controlling characters in the manner you control a puppet....that is ok.
After that they did bring out some of the more popular companies such as Capcom and Square Enix to show off their newest engines and games, they both look good.

Blizzard is bringing Diablo3 to the PlayStation 4...interesting news. I look forward to seeing how this turns out.

Bungie at a Sony Conference?!? It is a bit odd for me to see this, I still remember seeing Halo2 at E3 back when Xbox was still prominent. Of course though they are talking about Destiny, their FPS RPG type of game.

Throughout the conference I was pretty impressed with what Sony is doing with the PlayStation4, it is known that Sony was late to the party with the last generation of gaming but this time they seem to want to be ahead of the usual Xbox vs. PlayStation war. I do look forward to the system and can't wait to see it in store shelves..will I actually buy it though? Time will tell.
Coming to stores Holidays Season 2013.

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