Poll: several problems found in 99% of games

[likalaruku]

My issue with a lot of todays games is using varying shades of brown, green, & grey, so that everything blends in into one big mass of ugly.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

Games today are too dark (Visually).

Agreed. Now as much as I loved Gears of War, there was one section when you were underground in a wine cellar I think and it was so dark I couldn't see where I was going. It made it difficult to see the enemies, myself, or the path I should be taking. I don't know why you would do this... I know it makes it creepier to make it dark but when it gets to the point where I can't see anything then that's a problem. I'm glad they fixed it up for the second game, but there were still some sections where I had problems seeing. That's also why I play Team Fortress 2. I love the bright colors and sort of overall happy tone to the game, even if it is sort of ironic. It's something you don't see much of these days and I wish that there was more of it.

I think that if you're going to make a game so dark to the point that you can't see two feet in front of you, at least give the option of having a flashlight like in Left 4 Dead. There were some sections that were hard to see but all I had to do was turn on the flashlight and go.

 

[WINDOWCLEAN2]

Games today are too dark (Visually).

This. Many games I have played have forced me to crank up the brightness to ridiculous degrees because it feels so dark. And even then I would still like it to be brighter. I don't know why so many games are like this, but in my experience it only seems to occur on console games.

Well in some games its deliberate (Fallout 3, Gears of War) as it adds to atmosphere but others do take the unnecessary piss (fable 2)

OT: nahh my Tv is fine and the sound it lovely

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Escort missions and timers.

Why the fuck are they still in games??

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Bad cameras in platformers.

 

[Jiggabyte]

When they withhold aspects of the game for sequels or DLC. DLC is supposed to be extra, not something that should have been included anyway.

 

[Ossum]

I understand the tiny text is to drive sales of HD televisions, or at least, make the games more "visual" because they're assuming enough people will have HDTV so they can shrink the text out of the way of the graphics, and not enough people will be left to gripe.

I find touching up the gamma a few notches will fix most "dark game" problems, but of course it has to be there for you to do that. Otherwise the TV will let you do it and if you can set a gaming profile for the TV, so much the better.

Audio...sucks. There's no way around that. I'm really not motivated to spend on speakers to get 5.1 on my current setup because I'm not going to feel it in games.

 

[Capachinola]

Audio...

I really hate audio in 99% of the games I play. I invested in a really good audio system and have yet to play a game the really blows me away in terms of audio. Dead Space came close, but in generally, audio is a very neglected part of video games.

Also, glitches in games. I've never had to fight off glitches in on my NES and GBA games (most of the time) but they're in almost every single game I play these days. I don't like paying for a broken or unfinished product.

The more stuff you cram into a disc and sell for 50 bucks, the more glitches are going to be all over it. I think.

Personally, I don't think nearly enough games are my favorite. Seriously, I wish a game designer would copy my favorite game like Saints Row did for GTA.. I wont complain that its a "look alike," ill be happy that I can do the same thing in a different game.

 

[quiet_samurai]

Is there anybody out there who seems to find these problems with the games you buy?
First off, all text on the screen at any given point is so small that you need a magnifying glass to see it, and secondly, the dialogue is recorded at such a low volume that you need to have the speakers blaring to be able to understand what is being spoken
I find these problems especially bad when I need subtitles to see what the characters are saying but the text is too small to see

Does anybody else find these sorts of things a problem?

Um...no. I think you need a new TV. Possibly one with better speakers, or just new speakers as well.

 

[cold killer pov]

The dialogue thing is rarely a problem since most games allow you to balance the levels in the menu, but yeah that tiny text trend really grinds my gears. Frontlines: fuel of war is particulatly guilty of it.

gears of war as well, reeaaaally small, luckily the sexy lady speaks loud enough and so do the two massive muscle bound oafs that you control

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

It's more a case of needing a bigger TV in order to read things, but that's a problem when you're a poor student and can't afford a bigger TV.

Also, the sound problem doesn't affect all games, but by buggery Prototype was difficult to make out. Other offenders include the Halo series.

 

[ZeroDotZero]

You know what all games need? EXHIBITION MODE.

Your friend comes over, so you fire up a game to display its various appeals. Of course, your save is at some exceedingly boring part that doesn't give the whole feel of the game.

Absolutely perfect!

I had a friend over to show him Borderlands, but none of my characters were at interesting points in the game (either before you get the random guns OR after the second playthrough), and he just couldn't get into it.

So I placed in Modern Warfare 2 and he fell in love with Spec Ops. My game save was at Second Sun on Veteran, which he would have loved as much as watching his pets being eaten alive, as he is someone who gets frustrated rather easily.

 

[slipknot4]

I find modern games too brown, grey or green. But not to insufficient in their typing and audio.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I hate how there is always a dramatic difference between the volume of dialog and action. I mean, I have to turn up my TV's volume to hear what any given person is saying but in a game like GTA, listening to a quiet conversation could easily result in bloody-ear when a cop decides to turn on their loud ass siren.

I also have a problem with the lighting levels in games and changing the gamma setting doesn't change the level of light so much as the colors [or maybe it's just my TV]

What I hate most is when you turn on the subtitles and they only appear some times and, to add a further insult, they come in small enough to make me game-while-standing like I would if I were playing a game-N-go demo

...

Another thing that bothers me is how after a while, the background noise kind of repeats. I mean, it isn't as bad as it used to be "your health is low!" but even in Arkham Asylum and other such newer games, when lines are repeated I kind of cringe on the inside

 

[bobraj]

I think that the dialogue volume problem has more to do with the completely piss-poor speakers on most HDTVs rather than the developers.

I have to connect my TV to my old PC 5.1 system in order to get decent sound.

 

[Julianking93]

Games today seem a little too short.

The average game length is about 8-12 hours when they should be 18-20+

Changing times. Multiplayer (particularly online multiplayer) is becoming the focus of development, and has swapped places with the single-player, now single-player is generally considered an afterthought. It's why a decent single-player game like Dragon Age stands out so much.

OT: Haven't discovered that problem much, but then again I don't play the sort of games it affects. (the most recent games I own are the Orange Box and COD4, and they strain my PC's graphics card to breaking point)

In some games, yes, but it isn't the main focus of all.

Plenty of games still have single player only with no multiplayer whatsoever, IE, Bioshock, Oblivion, and Assassin's Creed just to name a few.

Most games have single player with the multiplayer as an afterthought and thats how it should be. If single player is involved, multiplayer should never be the focus of a game unless that's its main selling point like Call of Duty. Cod sells on the fact that it has great multiplayer (In most people's opinions) but that shouldn't make up for lack of a single player game.

 

[EliteFreq]

I adjust the settings of most games to suit me. That's what they are there for. But no games perfect...

 

[tomtom94]

Games today seem a little too short.

The average game length is about 8-12 hours when they should be 18-20+

Changing times. Multiplayer (particularly online multiplayer) is becoming the focus of development, and has swapped places with the single-player, now single-player is generally considered an afterthought. It's why a decent single-player game like Dragon Age stands out so much.

OT: Haven't discovered that problem much, but then again I don't play the sort of games it affects. (the most recent games I own are the Orange Box and COD4, and they strain my PC's graphics card to breaking point)

In some games, yes, but it isn't the main focus of all.

Plenty of games still have single player only with no multiplayer whatsoever, IE, Bioshock, Oblivion, and Assassin's Creed just to name a few.

Most games have single player with the multiplayer as an afterthought and thats how it should be. If single player is involved, multiplayer should never be the focus of a game unless that's its main selling point like Call of Duty. Cod sells on the fact that it has great multiplayer (In most people's opinions) but that shouldn't make up for lack of a single player game.

I wasn't saying it should happen, but one only has to look at the massive sales figures for MMOs and games such as Halo 3 and MW2 to realize that multiplayer is becoming a primary focus.
I spend most of my time in single-player because I'm not good enough to play online. I think however that the way things are going single-player is going to suffer.
Note that Bioshock is getting multiplayer for the sequel, similar story with Uncharted.
Not saying it should happen but I fear that it is.

 

[Julianking93]

Games today seem a little too short.

The average game length is about 8-12 hours when they should be 18-20+

Changing times. Multiplayer (particularly online multiplayer) is becoming the focus of development, and has swapped places with the single-player, now single-player is generally considered an afterthought. It's why a decent single-player game like Dragon Age stands out so much.

OT: Haven't discovered that problem much, but then again I don't play the sort of games it affects. (the most recent games I own are the Orange Box and COD4, and they strain my PC's graphics card to breaking point)

In some games, yes, but it isn't the main focus of all.

Plenty of games still have single player only with no multiplayer whatsoever, IE, Bioshock, Oblivion, and Assassin's Creed just to name a few.

Most games have single player with the multiplayer as an afterthought and thats how it should be. If single player is involved, multiplayer should never be the focus of a game unless that's its main selling point like Call of Duty. Cod sells on the fact that it has great multiplayer (In most people's opinions) but that shouldn't make up for lack of a single player game.

I wasn't saying it should happen, but one only has to look at the massive sales figures for MMOs and games such as Halo 3 and MW2 to realize that multiplayer is becoming a primary focus.
I spend most of my time in single-player because I'm not good enough to play online. I think however that the way things are going single-player is going to suffer.
Note that Bioshock is getting multiplayer for the sequel, similar story with Uncharted.
Not saying it should happen but I fear that it is.

I'm not saying you are, I'm just pointing that out.

And yes, I know people generally like more online, but video game purists like myself hate online and being that I hate most people who play online (IE 12 year olds who think t bagging is funny)

I still think there's hope for single player.

 

[minispike47]

I don't have the audio problem but sometimes the writing is tiny on a small amount of games, Dead Rising is a key example of this, the text was microscopic!