Annoying Hardware in Gaming

[mechashiva77]

Many people talk about how many annoying cliches and design choices they run into in games software-wise, but I want to know what grind your gears in the hardware sector.

For me it comes from a long time during the Gamecube era. It was the Gameboy-LAN Cable (is that what it's called? Help me out here) style of multiplayer that annoyed the hell out of me. They were required for games that I really wanted to play with my friends (Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles), but I couldn't because of this system. I just saw it as unnecessary seeing as how you could play multiplayer without it. I believe a criticism found in a YouTube review said it best, it just seems like a whole cash-grab attempt.

EDIT: Clarified my reasoning.

 

[Alfador_VII]

The obvious one is the existence of multiple consoles and computers, rather than having one gaming machine that can just run everything.

Of course, there's no way in hell that would ever happen, so you either pick one to run with, or buy more than one if you want to spend the money.

 

[Keoul]

The obvious one is the existence of multiple consoles and computers, rather than having one gaming machine that can just run everything.

Of course, there's no way in hell that would ever happen, so you either pick one to run with, or buy more than one if you want to spend the money.

I really haven't come across many annoying hardware features, maybe how some PC games require hardware like graphics cards and processors too ludicrously out of my price range to even consider playing them, ahh c'est la vie...

 

[Comocat]

I hate how hardware is named, I'm pretty sure my video card is 5 numbers followed by 10 letters without any vowels. I'm sure the system makes sense to enthusiasts and peope who follow the latest trends, but I'll be goddamned if I can figure out which processor is faster or what kind of ram i need to feed my harddrive.

 

[RevRaptor]

I never liked wireless controllers that much. My room is not that big, so wires are not that big of an issue for me. Batteries however are and specifically battery-pack holders on the back of your xbox controllers that always let loose. "Oh, Atlus released an awesome new game on the Xbox 360 and PS3 called Catherine? Well I'd love to play that, but my controllers keep disconnecting and virtually make any game impossible to enjoy.".

Maybe it wouldn't be such an issue if the fuckers didn't cost 40 euros a piece, but for now I am perfectly happy with my new Wii U that comes with multiple chargers and doesn't eat a single AA-battery.

So you never thought about buying a play an charge kit they are pretty cheep. Or just buy a wired controller they do sell them. If it was so annoying why did you never switch. or maybe an I know this is a wacky Idea try rechargeables I've used rechargeables in my xbox controller for about two years now, never once had the battery pack fall out

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Wireless controllers. How many people really need them? I just use wires for my 360 controller. Although, granted, if your playing the living room and people that need to walk past you then thats fine.

 

[Shinsei-J]

The Circle Pad Pro for the 3DS.
I'm sorry but having to buy and use a bulky accessory like that just seem silly to me.
I doubt that it would fit in even the baggiest cargo pant at this point.

 

[Joccaren]

I hate how hardware is named, I'm pretty sure my video card is 5 numbers followed by 10 letters without any vowels. I'm sure the system makes sense to enthusiasts and peope who follow the latest trends, but I'll be goddamned if I can figure out which processor is faster or what kind of ram i need to feed my harddrive.

TBH you ignore 90% of what is written. Half of that stuff will be the brand name; "Radeon HD" "Nvidia GeForce" and the manufacturer "Gainward" "Sapphire" or W/E. Then there'll be the model number, a 3 digit number along the lines of 240, 560, 670 or W/E for Nvidia, and a 4 digit number along the lines of 4570, 5670 or 6770 for Radeon. After that Nvidia puts GT, GTS or GTX as a further indication of its classing amongst their video cards, and Radeon puts nothing if I remember correctly. After that there will be a number indicating how much VRAM it has, generally averaging 2Gb.
Whilst most of this will mean nothing to you, it doesn't need to.
Laptop graphics cards will generally have an 'm' after the model number to signify "Mobile", but for a desktop you don't have to worry about that. Really its along the lines of Microsoft Xbox 360 Slim 200Gb HDD. Brand name, model name, variation of model, storage size. Its just that Video Card sellers tend to put all that information up whenever the advertise for the dual purpose of confusing people who don't know any better into buying products that the store wants them to, and so that those who do know what it all means being able to garner enough information out of it to make an informed decision.
Just be glad you haven't looked at the specification page for the cards, as there is a lot more info there that you should be thankful doesn't end up in the name.

Video Card: All that matters is the size (Megabytes, Gigabytes, ect) of the video memory

Uhh... No.
There is a reason why everyone will say "I need to know more than "I've got a 1Gb Video Card"". The VRAM capacity of a card is largely meaningless - especially since a number of cards don't have the transfer rate to actually utilize all of it. All that matters for the GPU is the model number; 3 digits for Nvidia [If you've got a 4 digit one its too old], 4 digits for Radeon. If you have a higher number you're generally going to be fine, though understanding how the model numbers are arranged is important if you want good performance. Go for a mid range number [50-70] and you'll be fine though for Nvidia, Radeon I haven't paid attention to for a while but it'll be a similar principle.


OT: Only thing in hardware that has ever failed me is my Guitar Hero guitar after several years of service. Now the keys are hard to push in, and get stuck temporarily after they're in, which makes it very difficult to play songs with it - especially faster songs. Not worth getting a new one though, as I can make do with it. Might see if I can clean it out one day, but for now I CBF.

 

[Arfonious]

For me it comes from a long time during the Gamecube era. It was the Gameboy-LAN Cable (is that what it's called? Help me out here) style of multiplayer that annoyed the hell out of me. I just saw it as unnecessary seeing as how you could play multiplayer without it. I believe a criticism found in a YouTube review said it best, it just seems like a whole cash-grab attempt.

Not with the GameBoy you couldn't.

 

[Ravesy]

I hate how hardware is named, I'm pretty sure my video card is 5 numbers followed by 10 letters without any vowels. I'm sure the system makes sense to enthusiasts and peope who follow the latest trends, but I'll be goddamned if I can figure out which processor is faster or what kind of ram i need to feed my harddrive.

Processor: All that matters is the number of cores and the GHZ (which is the speed measurment)
Video Card: All that matters is the size (Megabytes, Gigabytes, ect) of the video memory
RAM: Again, size of the memory. 4-8Gigs of RAM will serve pretty much anything.

As already mentioned this advice is kind of wrong on all accounts.

The intel Q6600 was released in 2007, has 4 cores and runs at 2.4Ghz - Id like to see this compete with any modern I5 with the same... Model number means a massive amount.

Video Card - over 1-2GB the graphics memory really only makes a large difference on higher resolutions. Model number is Key.

RAM - Again, Id like to see the 4GB of DDR1 RAM i had years ago go up against 4GB of the modern DDR3 stuff...its not even close.

Bad post is bad.

 

[Strazdas]

plenty stuff. i hate how all the keyboards have turned into "Ergonomic" mosntrosities that make your hands full of pain in 1 hour of gaming. i hate how mouse has most of its sides covered with variuos useless buttons and cannot be griped properly, i hate when they create a single cooling bridge for both CPU and GPU and dont even make it go as far as the only cooler in the computer (yeah, i had to add my own heatsink to make the cooler do anything at all, yay HP design), i hate when people buy anything with "Gamer" in the title and dont care that they buy same item just 1.5x the price. i hate when people tell me that "omg thier mouse is so cool it has so much DPI that they never notice a difference".
i hate that there is no sntadart for plugs and connections, god, why does every device needs to have a different charger and headphone plug?

All that matters for the GPU is the model number; 3 digits for Nvidia [If you've got a 4 digit one its too old],

too old my rear side. running fine on 8600 GS thank you very much.

Wireless controllers. How many people really need them? I just use wires for my 360 controller. Although, granted, if your playing the living room and people that need to walk past you then thats fine.

how else do you feed the monster called "polution" if you dont waste 50 batteries per month?

Processor: All that matters is the number of cores and the GHZ (which is the speed measurment)
Video Card: All that matters is the size (Megabytes, Gigabytes, ect) of the video memory
RAM: Again, size of the memory. 4-8Gigs of RAM will serve pretty much anything.

human inteligence: all that matters is that brain is not made of jello [/sarcasm]


and to end this asshole-like post let me drop a bomb:
what grinds my gears is that after 20 years of PC gamings consoles still exist. why?

 

[BeerTent]

[...]Video Card: All that matters is the size (Megabytes, Gigabytes, ect) of the video memory[...]

No... No, not at all... It's alright to help determine if it's good but that's about it. I've seen videocards with a lot of VRAM, and shit for clock speeds, bad compatibility for shader versions... ETC. When it comes to videocards, you need to look at the whole thing, sadly.

As for problems with hardware? This might not be a hardware issue so much, But I hate how this generation of consoles can support 4-7 controllers, yet if you want to play with three other people, you need three other consoles and TV's.

Also, after seeing that 3DS picture, I'd rather use the D-pad than the circle pad. That thing is so fucking stupid.

 

[Terramax]

Here was me thinking we were going to get a Kinect slagging thread lol

Wireless controllers. How many people really need them? I just use wires for my 360 controller. Although, granted, if your playing the living room and people that need to walk past you then thats fine.

I do. When you own as many pads as I do, wires really get in the way.

 

[Jazoni89]

Being a retro console gamer, there a plenty of things that grind my gears, especially these:

Consoles without any goddamn dust flaps, i'm looking at you Atari. No wounder the Jaguar get's red screened all the time, it's like a flipping dust magnet.

Those consoles with special connection ports, so it makes finding a replacement lead a pain in the arse, or literally impossible.

Consoles that can only play games from that region. It's depressing because there were many games us Europeans never got, especially when it came to the Saturn, Playstation, and Mega CD.

Also, those goddamn humongous AC adapters that come with the Mega CD, and Mega Drive. You need both to power the system, and trying to get them both on a power strip is tedious. Chuck in the 32X AC adapter, and you have a complete and utter clusterfuck.

and last but not least, that fucking disgusting piece of shit from the depths of hell that is the Amiga CD-32 controller.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

Hm.

I still consider the XBOX360 controller to be a very, very bad joke. I'm not very OCD or otherwise exceedingly loopy, but the layout of the controls on that pad make it the gamepad equivalent of a late, lazy, drunk and confused Picasso scribble. What's with that shape? Why is the D-pad where it is? Why are the two analogue sticks placed so arbitrarily anal?

Yes, the pad made me dispose of my XBOX360. I just can't accept it. It also made me hack all 'Games for Windows' since, well, the first Game for Windows I can remember, which is the not-so-great Shadowrun.

 

[bafrali]

snip

Well yeah It is not that simple. I don't know much about hardware stuff but I can give an example. My 4 year old laptop have difficulty running console ports(and good ones) on medium settings even if it is supposed to be superior to the seven year old consoles on paper with its specs