6 secrets to a successful videogame

Games have certainly changed in recent years. Ask any average Joe(sephine) who knows anything about gaming, and they will probably tell you that graphics are the things that have changed most. But for those of you who look beneath the shiny pixels will notice that several precious features have been stripped away from the games of today.

Developers used to know how to please an audience, but in recent years, they’ve definitely lost some of their edge. Get on the case dev’s, here’s what you need to fix! Some of these points might make you think, ‘Yeah yeah, we already know all that’, but tell me- how many games in recent memory have managed to satisfy all of our wants?

Difficulty

Aw, I died again. Never mind, respawned in a jiffy

Why it’s awesome: Ever remember the days of games that truly punished you when you failed? You’ve got to think pretty far back don’t you? By stripping away the affects of death or failure in games, not only do developers continue to churn out mindless rubbish, but it reduces the impact and euphoric feeling that we used to get when you did complete a level, defeated a boss, or beat the game.

Innovating boss fights

I’ve had enough of quick time events

Why it’s awesome: Boss fights used to be prevalent in almost any action game pre-2006. But now, not only are they much scarcer, but they aren’t half as fun as they used to be. God of War revitalised boss fights upon release 5 years ago, can continues to use it’s tried and tested formula. Resident Evil 4 also managed to do some new things in the boss fighting arena, including a level where you hunted down a distant cousin of the Lock Ness Monster (see above).

But now, we’re stuck with fending off against hordes of bog-standard minions, or bosses who are just like your average evil Joe- but bigger. C’mon developers, don’t treat us like fools!

Just…innovation!

Oh yay, another Prince of Persia clone

Why it’s awesome: I don’t mind seeing a new Madden game every year. But please, at least change something! And I mean aside from a new roster. Seriously, new graphics just don’t cut it any more, and the same can easily be said for football games, shooter games and platform games of late. Ubisoft just keeps on reskinning the old Prince of Persia formula, which, while entertaining, loses its appeal after so many games, the last two Call of Duty’s have released with little innovation to credit, and so on. Fortunately there are developers who are constantly taking risks and advancing, but they are becoming fewer and fewer.

Longer games

I’m looking at you, Call of Duty!

Why it’s awesome:It seems to be that the further back you go, the longer games you get. Now I know that there is a fine line between ‘just right’ and ‘too long’, but really guys, anything less than 6 hours or so is highway robbery for the kind of money you pay in the first place. Now of course there’s multiplayer and all that jazz, but if a developer touts a single player, they ought to deliver .

Less damn DLC!

$60 game + $15 DLC x4 = $120. Fail.

Speaking of length, I have one very, very big problems with many games of late. It seems we are being sold about 60% of a game, only to have the next 40% sold to us in roughly 2-6 instalments of $15, which can end up the equivalent of buying the same game twice– or even worse. You know what I’m talking about- DLC. They used to be called expansion packs, which still weren’t great, because they still usually cost money, but at least old style expansions added something significant, like a new class to play as, or a new campaign to play through.

Support

Why it’s awesome: This issue is more apparent on the PC than on the consoles, but the point holds weight on every platform. When I buy a game, I want to get what I pay for. Now I understand if a couple of niggles and glitches creep through, but it’s evident that some games don’t even get beta tested. Let me give you an example; Empire Total War was released in February 2009. It’s a great game, we even said so in our review. But get this- the AI can’t do naval invasions. That’s right, not at all.

It should also be noted that one of the most popular PC games of all time, Team Fortress 2 is successful primarily for one reason- updates. Valve knows how to keep things fresh, and I would recommend taking a leaf out of their book any day.

It’s a long list developers, but I haven’t lost hope yet. Get this stuff sorted and we can all reap the rewards.

Got your own wishlist? Leave it in the comments below.