The 7 Commandments Games Should Obey

[Skyblade]

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?

[Bolivar]

They get maaad props for:

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).

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.

[KentaRawr!]

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

[Momiji]

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

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

[Wolf Kanno]

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...

[Markus. D]

Yes =]

90% on track with all points

[Breine]

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

[DMKA]

Nintendo bias...yaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwnnn.

[KentaRawr!]

Nintendo bias...yaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwnnn.

:rolleyes2

[Quindiana Jones]

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

[Roto13]

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

[Cz]

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.

[edczxcvbnm]

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.

[Slothy]

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.

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.

[Markus. D]

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.

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.

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).