While games are meant to be open and free, it sucks that, more often than not, the choices are moot. Here's ten that matter--both in-game, and out.
Entering your local videogame store, you're likely to be bombarded with new and used versions of hundreds of games. Picking one or the other is oftentimes more than just a matter of your finances. Decide to pay less, and you're letting the industry know you're not going to stand for overpriced games. On the other hand, buying new puts your money in the pockets of the people who actually made the games.
Most games nowadays make the first stage a god-awful extended tutorial that become painful to relive during repeat playthroughts. Additionally, gamers who have already test-run a game via demo or rental might wish to avoid cakewalk first stages. That's why we dig the first choice made in Gears of War. Want a tutorial first stage or immediate action? It's your choice.
The first time you came across this choice playing a racing game probably defined the way you approached the genre for years to come. Automatic trans drivers get to focus all of their attention on the race, while manual fans have to make sure to shift properly, but can usually attain higher speeds doing so.
Most games--RPGs in particular--have defined the protagonist within minutes of its start. Suikoden III had a unique approach to this. After playing through three separate, hours-long storylines and seeing similar events unfold differently, the potential heroes meet, and the player is forced to choose the one that will become the game's hero, the Flame Champion. Imagine if you were given the choice after watching the first two Star Wars movies; would you have Luke, Leia or Han kill Darth Vader. That's how tough a choice this was.
Developers think long and hard about what to name the iconic characters in their RPG, but gamers crave customization, and getting themselves into the story is pretty tempting. Some like to enter nonsense, which makes Turd's death and Fart's declaration of vengeance in the middle of Final Fantasy VII a bit less moving.
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