The 7 Commandments Games Should Obey

Article

A rather interesting 7-page article on the biggest problems with the current video game industry. I'll sum up the rules, but it's covered a lot more in-depth in the article.

7. Thou shalt let us play your game with real-life friends.
6. Thou shalt not pad the length of your games.
5. Thou shalt not force repetition on the player.
4. Thou shalt make killing fun.
3. Thou shalt admit when enough is enough.
2. Thou shalt make sure your game actually works.
1. Better graphics do not equal innovation and/or creativity.

Do you guys agree or disagree? Or can you think of anything that's been left out?

They get maaad props for:

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The next time you see some casual gamer tapping away at their Nintendo DS, show them a screenshot of Gears of War. Don't be shocked if they point out your game seems made up of three colors (brown, gray, and muzzle flash).

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I would never buy shooters like that, except for Call of Duty 4 maybe.

Overall a great read, definately made their point on #1 pointing out that the DS has sold more than any other current console and its graphics are crap compared to the others.

I guess I would agree with most, except, with #1, again, sometimes, in very specific cases, graphics can equal innovation/creativity, like for Dragon Quest. VIII changed alot about the series and added a whole new level of appreciation to it. It made exploration such an incredible experience, you could stay away from the main story for hours on end and not get bored, much unlike FFXII.

edit: Props, sky.

An interesting read, most certainly. I have to say I agree on most points.

Tidus: HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Seriously, I agree with all of this. Whoever wrote this is a genius.

That was awesome and I agree with most of it though I do feel a few game faults were not as bad as they make them out to be (Padding in Twilight Princess, and I actually like the interactive cutscenes in RE4). Beyond that, I feel they hit the nail on the head, especially infinite random dungeons and platforming in First-person mode... That only worked once folks...

Yes =]

90% on track with all points :D

It was an interesting and pretty fun read. He's pretty much on point with a lot of things.

Nintendo bias...yaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwnnn.

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Originally Posted by DMKA

Nintendo bias...yaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwnnn.

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:rolleyes2

Interesting. Author has a point, but overdoes it in some places.

Apparently someone forgot Midna exists in Twilight Princess to deal with both transportation and figuring out what to do next.

Limited save points are so you don't end up being a cheapass with your saves, saving right before a hard part, getting rid of penalty for actually dying in the game.

Resident Evil (before 4) has limited ammo because it's a survival horror game and it's supposed to make you feel desperate.

Aside from those little things, though, they hit the nail in the head most of the time. xP

David Wong's a funny guy, and he's right about all of these to a certain extent. I couldn't complain if developers started addressing each of these points.

7. Thou shalt let us play your game with real-life friends.

I do miss this but not as much because I am not in high school hanging out with friends every day.

6. Thou shalt not pad the length of your games.

I have never played any RPG for the '80 hours' that so many of them have trumpeted. The perfect example of game length padding is Wind Waker. Now go fishing for the Triforce pieces. Anything that is a sidequest is fine because it is a side quest. I just want to get where I am going faster...screw you san andres with your stupid country side XP That makes me not want to go back and play the game for fun because it takes too long to get anywhere. That is part of the reason I am so disinterested in GTAIV. I don't want a city the size of a real city.

GTA III is the one I play the most because of the simple city lay out that take me no time to go all the way across the whole map.

5. Thou shalt not force repetition on the player.

Isn't gaming repetition no matter what? Kill a bunch of enemies, solve a puzzle, drive a car, kill dracula...AGAIN XD

4. Thou shalt make killing fun.

I guess so...

3. Thou shalt admit when enough is enough.

This point is totally stupid. Enough is enough with RPGs that are all about saving the world! Enough is enough with collecting stars in mario! Can't we just go through levels to beat bowser? ect. STFU!

2. Thou shalt make sure your game actually works.

I like patching because sometime stuff gets by and the more complex the game the more chance there is that something goes wrong. But patching has become an excuse for lazy development.

1. Better graphics do not equal innovation and/or creativity.

To me the 360 and PS3 do not represent better graphics but a way to create a more realistic world and do more with physics and AI rather than pumping out nice textures. Give me spore! That game isn't gonna be all that super sexy but I doubt the wii could run it due to all the processing power it will require.

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Originally Posted by Roto13

Limited save points are so you don't end up being a cheapass with your saves, saving right before a hard part, getting rid of penalty for actually dying in the game.

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The penalty for dying is having to play that hard part of a game all over again. I shouldn't have to go back and replay it because I got past it but wasn't able to/didn't have time to get to the next save point. I also shouldn't be forced to go through the same tedious crap that I already passed since the last savepoint, before getting to the hard stuff. Limited saves is archaic, and should be gone since it really does take away from the enjoyment of the game.

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Originally Posted by Vivi22

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Originally Posted by Roto13

Limited save points are so you don't end up being a cheapass with your saves, saving right before a hard part, getting rid of penalty for actually dying in the game.

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The penalty for dying is having to play that hard part of a game all over again. I shouldn't have to go back and replay it because I got past it but wasn't able to/didn't have time to get to the next save point. I also shouldn't be forced to go through the same tedious crap that I already passed since the last savepoint, before getting to the hard stuff. Limited saves is archaic, and should be gone since it really does take away from the enjoyment of the game.

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I think they should keep it =]

Might aswell have it on always save and unlimited lives or... whatever.

For example: If one path paves on further and another is actually death-trapped, saving just before it~ you can re-load and do it again (this time taking the right path).

Another example: Saving WITHIN a decisive battle and meeting death due to low level/ill-equips... you'd instantly destroy all progress and possible things you COULD have done =] (Due to the re-load at that same point).

I don't need to play all my games with friends. Some are alright but most of the time I like games to be a solo activity (with the exception of someone just hanging around to see what's going on but it never lasts), especially if it's not an MMORPG or something.

7. Thou shalt let us play your game with real-life friends.
Definitely a good rule! It doesn't affect me, though, because I don't play any multiplayer games except for Tekken and rhythm games like DDR.

6. Thou shalt not pad the length of your games.
UGH. I HATE it when I spend hours stuck somewhere simply because I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO. I just spent five hours trying to beat this stupid boss and now I can't see the dramatic cutscene because I didn't know which staircase to go up.


That's all I got to say about that :p

My 7 Commandments

1. Thou shalt not make game series more causal. Coming is the death of the hardcore gamer.
2. Thou shalt not have escort missions.
3. Thou shalt not focus on graphics before story, music, and/or gameplay.
4. Thou shalt not make money-milking sucky liscened games.
5. Thou shalt not makegame with GTA elements.
6. Thou shalt not make keep games "in the dark" for more than a year. *cough* FFXIII *cough*.
7. Thou shalt not make protaginasts that have the depth of a kiddie pool and the personality of Dirty Harry.

7. Thou shalt let us play your game with real-life friends.

I cannot emphasise this one enough. It is #1 on the list for me. Online gaming is great, no doubt, but it does not match hanging out in the same room as a good buddy, loaded up with soda and snacks, working together right there to get :skull::skull::skull::skull: done.

6. Thou shalt not pad the length of your games.

Obvious seems obvious, but the examples given are pretty bs. I didn't feel any length padding at all in Mass Effect, for instance. Oblivion is up to you, in fact the fast travel option was roundly DERIDED by people. The fast travel reduced the padding, but reduced the immersion as well. Morrowind's system was far superior. Immersion is part of the experience, and if that means every now and then you spend a little while travelling, no problem. A game should be able to do that well, like GTA IV does. I would say pad the games well, not don't pad them.

5. Thou shalt not force repetition on the player.

Repetition itself isn't a problem for me. I mean, games are repetetive. That's how they work. A good mechanic is what matters; I still get tons of fun out of Dynasty Warriors and that series has consisted of mashing the same two buttons for about seven years now. It works for me. However, the save point issue is a more interesting one to address. A punishment for death is fine, but it's not fun when you get to a hard boss who you have to get through ten minutes of annoying stuff to face, over and over again. It just isn't fun at all. (I'm looking at you, Fatal Frame)

4. Thou shalt make killing fun.

I agree wholly with making things more visceral. You know what's awesome about GTA IV? It's when you shoot someone and they stumble and flop and fall like they were really shot where you shot them. I also agree with not filling the entire place with enemies who are nothing more than an annoyance, or an ammo sponge.

3. Thou shalt admit when enough is enough.

They're correct about escort missions. I have yet to enjoy one. I don't have problems with computer controlled squadmates anymore though, I think they've mostly figured that stuff out. I certainly never had that problem in CoD4. First person jumping puzzles? Yeah, well, first of HL has always tried to do stuff aside from run-'n'-gun, second off Ravenholm is the most terrifying thing in games I've ever played, and thirdly... Portal.

2. Thou shalt make sure your game actually works.

No way to argue with this one.

1. Better graphics do not equal innovation and/or creativity.

I agree with the stuff on endings and voice acting, etc. But better graphics is more debatable. It seems pretty simple to criticize chasing better graphics, but without better graphics GTA IV would just not be what it is. Without a powerful PC, Company of Heroes isn't what it is. The graphics are necessary in that instance for immersion. You think Halo would have worked on the NES, or Half Life on the Model B? Good graphics are not an adequate replacement for anything else lacking, but they should not be discarded as a useful tool either.

About good graphics, it really depends what we're talking about here. Half Life wouldn't work on the NES because the NES wasn't capable of Half-Life's game style at all. It's not like the only difference between the NES and current generation systems is that NES games look bad. The newer systems are also capable of more gameplay experiences.

Yes, and the graphical power needed to create those worlds is part of why the NES couldn't do it while the BreezeBox can.

More like processing power. :P

And the ability to render polygons.

Do those old wire frame games count? :P

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Originally Posted by Roto13

Do those old wire frame games count? :P

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It was 3D, but I'm not sure if it was polygonal.

I would also like to add something to the rule about multiplayer. I was rather annoyed when I played Mario Kart Wii for awhile (I don't own it) and found that Battle mode has been changed to accomodate online play. Now it doesn't sound so bad except that battles have to use the maximum number of players and are team based and if you have only three guys playing (like I was) then you get to deal with 7 AI controlled players that trashes gameplay. Not only is it a pain finding your way around the zones but since the scores are team based all you have to do is abuse the dumb AI and rack up points... and whats so wrong with free for all?

It was a big disappointment in what was a rather good game otherwise.

I also would like to add the rule that games should have adjustable control schemes. Not just different control styles but actually allow me to go in and change what each button does. I'm still trying to figure out how I got through DMC1 with its god awful control set-up.