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Unwelcome technology in games.

PolagoPolago Registered User regular
edited March 2007 in Games and Technology
In an effort to be a little more inclusive than the last op I wrote, this one will be shorter and with a topic more people will have experienced. :)

Next gen has been around for a good while now, and has become the current gen quicker than most people would've cared. Moving games into the future has made for some slick graphics, unique gameplay elements, epic scales, and increased connectivity. However many games have had seemingly now standard elements of the next gen shoehorned in for better or worse, and in some cases has actually been a detriment to the overall game, or been plain frustrating to the player. This isn't an issue relevant only to current gaming either, and has existed throughout the years.

Given that pre-text, the question of this thread is: Have there been occasions in gaming where the technology in a game detracted from other elements, or frustrated you as a player? This can be whether it's shoehorned or pioneered.

Crackdown makes a good example for this. It uses an increasingly standard process called HDR, which simulates the eye focusing and readjusting when it looks at different light saturations and levels. In crackdown, it's made for some VERY frustrating moments while scaling taller buildings, where the side of a building will be drowned out in light or darkness and the HDR won't kick in making it nigh impossible to tell where you are while you attempt to navigate a thin ledge or pipe. When leaping onto a roof as well, the light will suddenly saturate and make it difficult to distinguish the roof from it's surroundings. The same occurs more frequently with piping in the Volk areas, where HDR causes climbing points to be obscured more than they should be half the time. In a game based on a comic line art style, HDR averts from any real contrast ever occuring, and while being a "next gen" graphic effect, does nothing but hinder the gameplay without offering any beautiful benefit, and when it results in falling to your death a few too many times, it's a pain, and in the game it's needless. I'll also add that I loved the HDR effects in Lost Planet, and felt they added to the atmosphere, so i'm not against the technology as a whole, only in situations like crackdown.

Anyways, what're your experiences with this?

Polago on
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Posts

  • ThreepioThreepio New Westminster, BCRegistered User regular
    edited March 2007
    A last-gen (har dee har) tech that I find to be incessantly annoying to the point of turning it off every time I'm given the option:

    Rumble.

    I find it distracting, it makes my wrists itch and sometimes I can find that it throws my aim off. The troika in Gears reminded me how much I dislike rumble. I find that it's usually tacked on and I don't find much of a benefit in having it in games.

    Threepio on
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  • slurpeepoopslurpeepoop Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Blu-ray olol.

    By the way, this is a very serious response.

    slurpeepoop on
  • ThreepioThreepio New Westminster, BCRegistered User regular
    edited March 2007
    DVD olol

    Likewise.

    Threepio on
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  • hambonehambone Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Starforce and in-game advertising are the top two on my list of hated technologies in games.

    hambone on
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  • bruinbruin Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    HDR lighting has been used poorly in a lot of next-gen games I've played, but in certain cases it's really awesome. Same thing with motion blur, every game seems to throw it in without putting much thought into it nowadays.

    For how to do these things correctly, however, see Lost Planet and Gears of War.

    bruin on
  • SandersSanders Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Some games need to work out the whole draw distance issue. Now I am sure this has been an issue ever since games became 3D, but it has never really bothered me so bad until i played games like Grand Theft Auto, Mafia, and Saints Row. While I thought this generation would have been much better about random pop-ups, especially things such as cars and characters vanishing as soon as they leave your view, Saints Row seems to be the worst offender. Hopefully GTA IV solves that. Now that I think about it, I don't recall Mercenaries ever having that issue, but to be fair there wasn't many things going on at the same area at one time.

    Sanders on
  • ZackSchillingZackSchilling Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    HDR is definitely one thing I turn off whenever possible. Motion blur too.

    Oh, and tacked on touch elements in DS games controlled by the face buttons. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, I'm looking at you.

    ... I got nothing else.

    ZackSchilling on
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  • VashinVashin Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Light bloom!

    im sick of seeing objects give off a bloom effect when they shouldnt be emitting any source of lighting at all.

    Vashin on
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  • bsjezzbsjezz Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Memory cards? Boy am I glad that era is over. Back in the day you could hold four saves on a Genesis cartridge and then all of a sudden you had to pay $50 extra just to play a game. I have three perfectly playable Final Fantasy games that I probably won't get around to again (perhaps until I get a PS3? Not sure if they'll work) simply because I no longer have PS1 memory cards. It was such a dumb idea, they should have been built in from day one.

    (And I'm not even going to start with the VMU, what the fuck?)

    bsjezz on
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  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Bullshit achievements.

    "Hey, you just checked the player stats menu, have 50 points!"

    Fuck you.

    Shadowfire on
  • SurikoSuriko AustraliaRegistered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Bloom. Well, it comes off well sometimes, but good god it's overused. Also the recent "dark and brown=realistic" graphics mentality.

    Games on blue-ray is a nice idea for a console, but at this point in time it's just too expensive (for me, anyay).

    edit: Also, in-game advertising. Fuck that shit.

    edit 2: Also, twist in joysticks. Damn well drives me up the wall. I'm not too crazy about force-feedback either.

    Suriko on
  • PolagoPolago Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    Bullshit achievements.

    "Hey, you just checked the player stats menu, have 50 points!"

    Fuck you.

    Was just about to add that. Achievements are fantastic when it's ACTUALLY an achievement or something you can be proud of (Geometry Wars and Turtles are both pretty great examples of this), but games like worms where the achievements are based almost completely on how long you play a game, not how good or skillful you become at it, are pretty damn lame.

    Polago on
  • HevachHevach Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    Bullshit achievements.

    "Hey, you just checked the player stats menu, have 50 points!"

    Fuck you.

    Alternately, psychopathic and needlessly tedious/frustrating/impossible achievements. Dodging lightning comes to mind.

    Also, bloom lighting. It still gets on my nerves in Jade Empire. On my TV, I have trouble seeing nearly anything in outdoor areas in that game for the huge spot of glare reflecting off a character's SHIRT.

    Hevach on
  • RookRook Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Threepio wrote: »
    A last-gen (har dee har) tech that I find to be incessantly annoying to the point of turning it off every time I'm given the option:

    Rumble.

    I find it distracting, it makes my wrists itch and sometimes I can find that it throws my aim off. The troika in Gears reminded me how much I dislike rumble. I find that it's usually tacked on and I don't find much of a benefit in having it in games.

    I don't know if it's just cause I'm using it with the PC or what, but I find the rumble on the X360 wireless pad to be pretty rubbish, wheras the gamecube pads rumble is pretty awesome.

    Rook on
  • LewiePLewieP Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    longer load times.

    Seriously, snes/megadrive had practically no load times, why should todays consoles

    (I understand the technical reasons, don't worry, but I think hardware manufacuturers and devs should do more to reduce load times, MP = <3)

    LewieP on
  • ThreepioThreepio New Westminster, BCRegistered User regular
    edited March 2007
    LewieP wrote: »
    longer load times.

    Seriously, snes/megadrive had practically no load times, why should todays consoles

    (I understand the technical reasons, don't worry, but I think hardware manufacuturers and devs should do more to reduce load times, MP = <3)

    That's a really good point. I find massive load times to really pull me out of the "experience". You're hoppin along, wastin the bad guys, doin your thing and LOADING.

    *sigh*

    Threepio on
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  • PolagoPolago Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Threepio wrote: »
    LewieP wrote: »
    longer load times.

    Seriously, snes/megadrive had practically no load times, why should todays consoles

    (I understand the technical reasons, don't worry, but I think hardware manufacuturers and devs should do more to reduce load times, MP = <3)

    That's a really good point. I find massive load times to really pull me out of the "experience". You're hoppin along, wastin the bad guys, doin your thing and LOADING.

    *sigh*

    Sonic 360/PS3 was a great example of this, but then again it was a great example of what not to do in a lot of fields. :P

    Polago on
  • LewiePLewieP Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    PolaGo wrote: »
    Threepio wrote: »
    LewieP wrote: »
    longer load times.

    Seriously, snes/megadrive had practically no load times, why should todays consoles

    (I understand the technical reasons, don't worry, but I think hardware manufacuturers and devs should do more to reduce load times, MP = <3)

    That's a really good point. I find massive load times to really pull me out of the "experience". You're hoppin along, wastin the bad guys, doin your thing and LOADING.

    *sigh*

    Sonic 360/PS3 was a great example of this, but then again it was a great example of what not to do in a lot of fields. :P
    I played the 360 version of that in a games shop the other day. I mean, not to say playing for 5 minutes gives me the authority to right off the whole game, but my god!

    I was sonic, carrying a Chibi girl, and there was quicksand, and it controlled bad, real bad.

    Then I shed a single salty tear, and made a mental note to replay Sonic 3 & Knuckles at the next opertunity.

    LewieP on
  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Suriko wrote: »
    edit 2: Also, twist in joysticks. Damn well drives me up the wall.

    O_o

    Either you have rudder pedals, or you don't play many flight sims.

    Sir Carcass on
  • GimpyBoyGimpyBoy Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Sloppy tacked on Wii controls. Such an incredible waste of technology and potential.

    GimpyBoy on
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  • ZiggymonZiggymon Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Excessive amounts of firmware updates.

    Ziggymon on
  • SageinaRageSageinaRage Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    3d cameras. I have almost never been satisfied with the camera control or position in a 3d game. Especially in twitch 3d games, like platformers or action games - it keeps trying to move to a shitty position on its own, or it keeps going behind walls, or some other stupid shit. We've had 3d for 2 console generations now, we should be able to write a decent camera control script. The game that I think probably handled it the best was god of war, and that used pre-defined camera positions for every area.

    SageinaRage on
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  • tony_importanttony_important Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    The game that I think probably handled it the best was god of war, and that used pre-defined camera positions for every area.

    agreed.

    tony_important on
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  • DisruptorX2DisruptorX2 Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Bloom. Its a lazy attempt to make bad graphics look good, but it fails. Games like guild wars have so much bloom you can barely see anything.

    DisruptorX2 on
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  • PolagoPolago Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    3d cameras. I have almost never been satisfied with the camera control or position in a 3d game. Especially in twitch 3d games, like platformers or action games - it keeps trying to move to a shitty position on its own, or it keeps going behind walls, or some other stupid shit. We've had 3d for 2 console generations now, we should be able to write a decent camera control script. The game that I think probably handled it the best was god of war, and that used pre-defined camera positions for every area.

    Unfortunately, another area where Crackdown can be faulted. It would've been nice if instead of zooming into me while I attempt to ascend a great tower, the camera would zoom out so that I have a better view of what i'm trying to do. Hell, that would probably have solved the HDR problem somewhat that i'd vented about in the op. :D

    [EDIT]Thread was meant to be about technologies specifically, but the few focuses on design decisions are rad too. Good posting everyone! :)[/EDIT]

    Polago on
  • jclastjclast Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Non-optional tutorials. If I want to jump in and get my ass kicked, that's my business. Maybe I read the manual. Or maybe it's my second play. Or maybe I played multi at a friend's house.

    Whatever the reason, every tutorial should have an opt-out as its first function.

    jclast on
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  • FreddyDFreddyD Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    I do not like the high system requirements for unoptimized pc games. Especially when there are games in the same genre that look and run better.

    I also don't like when sandbox games have boring level design. It defeats the purpose.

    FreddyD on
  • STATE OF THE ART ROBOTSTATE OF THE ART ROBOT Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    many cutscene games. Cutscenes should enhance the story, not tell the whole damn thing. Don't take me to an area where it looks like something awesome is about to happen, then cutscene it away, leaving me wishing I could have played through that. Just don't. (MGS2, I'm looking RIGHT AT YOU!)

    STATE OF THE ART ROBOT on
  • PolagoPolago Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    jclast wrote: »
    Non-optional tutorials. If I want to jump in and get my ass kicked, that's my business. Maybe I read the manual. Or maybe it's my second play. Or maybe I played multi at a friend's house.

    Whatever the reason, every tutorial should have an opt-out as its first function.

    Such as in Gears of War. Was a nice way of bypassing the tutorial. "Let's take the prison blocks. I'm ready to kick some ass..." :D

    Not to attack crackdown yet again, but it's a good example of a similar design issue which is non skippable intro credits (renderware, havoc, bink, microsoft, realtime, etc...). What does everyone here think of them? Despite being a pain, are they at least warrented because the developer and providers some face time, and is outside of gameplay?

    Polago on
  • freshmasterfreshfreshmasterfresh Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Motion control, especially with the PS3.

    freshmasterfresh on
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  • LewiePLewieP Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    I think that anything that can be done to decrease the time between putting the disc in, and playing the game is good. Put all that stuff in a 'legal' section in the menu if you like, or show it whenever a save is created for the first time, but don't put barriers up for me to play the game (I'm looking at you PS2 version of SC:CT)

    LewieP on
  • jclastjclast Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    PolaGo wrote: »
    jclast wrote: »
    Non-optional tutorials. If I want to jump in and get my ass kicked, that's my business. Maybe I read the manual. Or maybe it's my second play. Or maybe I played multi at a friend's house.

    Whatever the reason, every tutorial should have an opt-out as its first function.

    Such as in Gears of War. Was a nice way of bypassing the tutorial. "Let's take the prison blocks. I'm ready to kick some ass..." :D

    Not to attack crackdown yet again, but it's a good example of a similar design issue which is non skippable intro credits (renderware, havoc, bink, microsoft, realtime, etc...). What does everyone here think of them? Despite being a pain, are they at least warrented because the developer and providers some face time, and is outside of gameplay?

    If they're hiding a load, fine. Otherwise, put them all on one screen, the credits, or the manual and game package.

    jclast on
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  • SzechuanSzechuan Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Voice Acting. Seriously. I often find myself too embarrassed to play potentially good games just due to the bad VA.

    Szechuan on
  • freshmasterfreshfreshmasterfresh Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Even if they want to show you logos every time you boot up the game, at least throw them all onto one screen or give you the option to pass it with a button press.

    freshmasterfresh on
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  • Calamity JaneCalamity Jane That Wrong Love Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    My biggest gripe in games is character models done Midway and Activision lately. These guys must get a hard-on for being generic.

    Calamity Jane on
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  • DisruptorX2DisruptorX2 Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Szechuan wrote: »
    Voice Acting. Seriously. I often find myself too embarrassed to play potentially good games just due to the bad VA.

    Voice acting itself isn't unwelcome. Its just that its "expected" now, so every game has it. Really, it should only be there if its good (or so bad its good, like Dynasty Warriors). No voice acting is better than poorly done VA.

    DisruptorX2 on
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  • SzechuanSzechuan Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Szechuan wrote: »
    Voice Acting. Seriously. I often find myself too embarrassed to play potentially good games just due to the bad VA.

    Voice acting itself isn't unwelcome. Its just that its "expected" now, so every game has it. Really, it should only be there if its good (or so bad its good, like Dynasty Warriors). No voice acting is better than poorly done VA.

    I am of a similar opinion, but I'd still be happier without any VA at all than deal with most of what's out there. I have yet to play a game with voice acting so good that removing it would significantly impact my experience. I've played a lot of games that would be made much more enjoyable without it.

    Szechuan on
  • jclastjclast Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    Szechuan wrote: »
    Szechuan wrote: »
    Voice Acting. Seriously. I often find myself too embarrassed to play potentially good games just due to the bad VA.

    Voice acting itself isn't unwelcome. Its just that its "expected" now, so every game has it. Really, it should only be there if its good (or so bad its good, like Dynasty Warriors). No voice acting is better than poorly done VA.

    I am of a similar opinion, but I'd still be happier without any VA at all than deal with most of what's out there. I have yet to play a game with voice acting so good that removing it would significantly impact my experience. I've played a lot of games that would be made much more enjoyable without it.

    The Bard's Tale.

    Tony Jay narrates and Cary Elwes (sp?) plays the Bard. Both are wonderful and made a good game into an even better game.

    jclast on
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  • TheGreat2ndTheGreat2nd Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    In-game advertising.
    As if retail price wasn't high enough, the game companies send a virtual bend over message with those in game billboards.

    It can be done tastefully however, case in point, Pikmin 2.
    Though, more product placement than in-game advertising.


    Yeah, screw in-game advertising.

    TheGreat2nd on
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  • CherrnCherrn Registered User regular
    edited March 2007
    There are many games that benefit significantly from voice acting. I find that when it's good, it really makes me love the game a whole lot more. MGS, Eternal Darkness, System Shock, Thief and Legacy of Kain come to mind - especially LoK, since removing the voice acting would probably ruin the entire series.

    Cherrn on
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