Net Ten: Top Ten Gaming Annoyances (page2) Subscribe to this RSS feed

#5 Heavy Load (loading screens) - [ Xbox 360 ]

Loading screens suck. They're disruptive, especially if they happen frequently, and they shatter the thin veil of immersion that games provide. Yes, they're a necessary evil, but there is so much more that developers can do to disguise it or distract us. Capcom made a gaming staple out of the creepy opening door and Namco's known to toss their arcade hits in as loading screen timewasters. We'll gladly live with loading screens but don't make us sit there twiddling our thumbs while we stare at the word "LOADING..." in a 60-point font.

Bad: Sonic the Hedgehog (Xbox 360)
Good: Resident Evil, Ridge Racer

#5 Heavy Load (loading screens)
44% average
critic
score

#4 Master of Unlocking (content that you HAVE to unlock) - [ Xbox ]

Gamers are a lot like dogs: we expect to be rewarded for doing something good, which is why we don't mind when we're asked to earn a new things. Some take this too far and lock away content that should be available from the get-go in an attempt to add "replay value". While Guitar Hero doles out new songs at a nice pace, games like the Outlaw Sports series start you off with less than half of the game's entire roster and make you work like a dog for the rest. We'd rather eat Alpo.
Note: The above Mortal Kombat shot has been doctored for effect. This game does not abuse unlockables, though it is guilty of the next annoyance.

Bad: Outlaw Tennis
Good: Guitar Hero

#4 Master of Unlocking (content that you HAVE to unlock)
65% average
critic
score

#3 Heroes 'R Us (generic heroes/heroines) - [ PS2 ]

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer." Simply put; heroes are just people who happen to do heroic things. There's nothing worse than booting up a game and getting thrown into the role of yet another over-muscled loon with the personality of a saltine. When developers put as much effort into characters as they do their pretty, shiny graphics engines, we should see more protagonists that we can empathize with on a higher level. Until then, we'll just have to consign ourselves to playing with interactive action figures.

Bad: Marcus Fenix (Gears of War)
Good: Gordon Freeman (Half-Life)

#3 Heroes 'R Us (generic heroes/heroines)
70% average
critic
score

#2 No Control (controls you can't remap) - [ PS3 ]

The controller has come a long way since the days of the rudimentary single button, single joystick Atari 2600. These days you need to be a fourteen-fingered mutant to take full advantage of a controller, which is why we wish console developers took a cue from their PC brethren and allowed you to remap the controls however you want--not just swapping the Triangle and X button. Sure, it would take some creative programming and a lot of work to get this done, and a controller doesn't offer the flexibility that a keyboard and mouse combo does, but throw us a frickin' bone!

Bad: Virtual Console games
Good: Pick a PC game

#2 No Control (controls you can't remap)
N/A average
critic
score

#1 Xerox Redux (carbon copy game design) - [ Xbox 360 ]

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In the video game industry, it's also the most pervasive tenet of game design. For every groundbreaking title that advances our beloved "hobby" towards legitimacy, you get ten craptacular copy-cat cash-in titles that set the industry back by about a thousand miles. Developers have to share this indignity with the people who pick up these hackneyed games while worthwhile titles like Okami and ICO all go unloved. Shame on you all.

Bad: Saint's Row, Call of Medal of Band of Brothers
Good: Psychonauts, Shadows of the Colossus, Katamari Damacy

#1 Xerox Redux (carbon copy game design)
86% average
critic
score