Some aspects of games are bad. Some are very bad. But it's when developers continue to put these fiends in despite the outcry of the community that it starts to get horrendous. Do developers even get these sections of games playtested? These are some of those conventions that deserve to die, although some just won't. Feel free to throw some more on the heap!

-Escort Missions- Babysitting anything is annoying, but when they fly towards danger like moths to light and refuse to fight back in any way, you've got a one-way ticket to the worst level in any game ever.

-Lack of Checkpoints- Hardcore games often feature massive sections of game in-between save points. This is not necessarily too bad, but if kicking the metaphorical bucket even once sends you back half an hour, you'll begin to hate the title, even if you loved it before.

-Sewer Levels- It's hard to explain why these are awful, but no-one can deny how appropriately crap sewers are.

-Unruly Cameras- So many great games have been near-crippled by awkward viewing points that you could make a stairway to the moon with them. With all the joy that 3D can bring, monstrous cameras are often lumped in too.

-Buying Saves- While I know of only one game (Maximo, you swine!) that has committed this act, the very nature of it earns it a place here. Saves are a gaming right, a reward for having gotten as far as you have. Being forced to spend your hard-earned riches on this most basic of features is unnacceptable, plain and simple.

-Lives- Perhaps worse than having no mid-mission checkpoints, lives are an outdated frustration from the arcade era that refuses to die. Why should I restart the whole level again instead of using the checkpoint five minutes back because I failed one too many times? Even fairly recent titles like Psychonauts are guilty of this.

-Cineractives / Quick Time Events- Ever since Resident Evil and God of War, there has been a disgusting tidal wave of games whose developers felt the need to steal a bad idea. While the worst of the fad is happily over, it should never have existed. Idea-thieving at its worst?

-Uncustomisable Controls- What if you prefer to use the triggers to shoot rather than the usual button? Tough, punk. No-one bothered to make the controls editable so deal with it. Some recent games still do this, which is insane considering that Timesplitters (a PS2 launch title, no less) let one fully adjust the controller setup. No excuses.

I think you're forgetting SecuROM.

The single biggest crime against gaming ever. As Stolen Pixels so poignantly put it, "You're not supposed to defend yourself against your customers".

Quick Time Events are fine when integrated properly, like in RE4 or God of War, they have however become far to prominent in recent years.

Tryzon:
-Lack of Checkpoints-

Stop talking about Kane & Lynchs major flaw!

I'm ok with some QTE's such as in God of War. Most of the other games need to lose them though. I'm looking at you Star Wars TFU.

Tryzon:

-Sewer Levels- It's hard to explain why these are awful, but no-one can deny how appropriately crap sewers are.

If they are done well, I find they can be quite fun.

Tryzon:
-Buying Saves- While I know of only one game (Maximo, you swine!) that has committed this act, the very nature of it earns it a place here. Saves are a gaming right, a reward for having gotten as far as you have. Being forced to spend your hard-earned riches on this most basic of features is unnacceptable, plain and simple.

One of the Mario games on the DS has an option to buy saves, but they aren't necessary. What is your opinion on that?

needausername:

Tryzon:

-Sewer Levels- It's hard to explain why these are awful, but no-one can deny how appropriately crap sewers are.

If they are done well, I find they can be quite fun.

I don't know, I've always hated sewer levels. Some are defenitely worse than others, but I can't remember one that I didn't hate.

needausername:
One of the Mario games on the DS has an option to buy saves, but they aren't necessary. What is your opinion on that?

Do you mean that you can just play through the game in one go, or pay points to be able to continue at wherever to got to? If so, it is an abomination and must be purged, I'm afraid. I run a punishment>crime service.

Tryzon:

needausername:
One of the Mario games on the DS has an option to buy saves, but they aren't necessary. What is your opinion on that?

Do you mean that you can just play through the game in one go, or pay points to be able to continue at wherever to got to? If so, it is an abomination and must be purged, I'm afraid. I run a punishment>crime service.

I mean, there are 8 stages in the game. Each stage containing 10 to 20 levels (as the stages progress) and within those stages there are 2/3 automatic save points. But within each level there are three gold coins you can collect. And in the stages there are certain things you can purchase, that save the game, whilst also giving you something else, i.e. Extra lives, or a power-up.

Predictable enemy spawn points. Gee ... I just set the bomb and hoards of enemies just happened to be taking a stroll in the neighbourhood ... gasp! That and lousy AI. The AI should at least be able to detect that it's ally is point blank in front of it and adjust it's firing accordingly. If I can't reek mindless vengeance on annoying NPCs then the game shouldn't be able to do that either!

soulsabr:
Predictable enemy spawn points. Gee ... I just set the bomb and hoards of enemies just happened to be taking a stroll in the neighbourhood ... gasp! That and lousy AI. The AI should at least be able to detect that it's ally is point blank in front of it and adjust it's firing accordingly. If I can't reek mindless vengeance on annoying NPCs then the game shouldn't be able to do that either!

Yes I agree somewhat with both, although some games benefit some stupidity on the enemy's part: in GTA, nobody ever thinks of writing down your number plate, and Dynasty Warrior's one trick wouldn't be as enthralling for a couple of hours if the hundreds of grunts were clever enough to run away from the superhuman killing-machine who has already felled half their fellow rebels, eh?

However, having NPCs get stuck on doors and such crazyness *is* inexcusable, and must die.

Infinite Lives -- In the vein of either Bioshock, Spore, or Fable II where dying either has little or no penalty whatsoever.

AyaReiko:
Infinite Lives -- In the vein of either Bioshock, Spore, or Fable II where dying either has little or no penalty whatsoever.

My main problem with Fable 2 and Bioshock is you can just die over and over again until you kill the enemy through Raw Attrition. Only the new PoP has done "not dying" right so far, you fall and need to "restart" but at least you never need to reload the game and waste your time.

AyaReiko:
Infinite Lives -- In the vein of either Bioshock, Spore, or Fable II where dying either has little or no penalty whatsoever.

I agree. I didn't even notice it in Bioshock during my first 2 playthrough because i was playing on easy/medium and I never died. Once I increased the difficulty and the Big Daddys started killing me, it just seemed stupid that I could kill one with a wrench by constanly dying and running back to it.

I'd say the whole argument between 'hardcore' and 'casual' gaming that equates to people rabidly attacking Nintendo because the reviewers tell them to. Apparenlty people are totally unable to enjoy a game enjoy a game unless it has machine guns and splatter of blood and tissue.

I think anyone who is unable to have fun with a game because of its rating even when its a well made game should have all of their systems smashed and a pound of flesh taken.

I've got one...

Silent Protagonists in the vein of Dead Space!

Isaac's lack of dialogue and character wrecked the game for me.

AyaReiko:
Infinite Lives -- In the vein of either Bioshock, Spore, or Fable II where dying either has little or no penalty whatsoever.

Ah yes, how could I have forgotton that! This is a concept so retardedly flawed that it simply *begs* to join the list. Much happyness to you for bringing it up, fellow internet-person.

Grand Theft Auto 4 - your bloody cousin and all his pals that want to constantly date you! I don't know a game that's committed this act again, but if they ever do I will find the developers and rip their fingers off with rusty pliers! I feel I suck at life somehow if I don't take the guys out, and I feel the games boring 'cause I can't hit any mission due to the interruptions! WTF!

I already like this thread.

-Weapon or light - Only a handful of FPS games have done this where they add in a whole lot of dark rooms and you cannot have a torch in one hand and a gun in the other.

-BS Armour - Enemys that cannot be killed with any of the weapons in the game, I really hate it when they do that.

-Useless Items - When you find an interesting item that only has one use in the game (like opening a special door or killing 1 of the bosses) and then it sits in your inventory.

AyaReiko:
Infinite Lives -- In the vein of either Bioshock, Spore, or Fable II where dying either has little or no penalty whatsoever.

That is especially annoying. If dying has no consequence it's almost as bad as not being able to die at all, and anybody who's played a good game w/ infinite health on knows it takes the fun out of some things.

Predictable enemy spawn points. Gee ... I just set the bomb and hoards of enemies just happened to be taking a stroll in the neighbourhood ... gasp! That and lousy AI. The AI should at least be able to detect that it's ally is point blank in front of it and adjust it's firing accordingly. If I can't reek mindless vengeance on annoying NPCs then the game shouldn't be able to do that either!

While predictable enemy spawn points can really suck, as long as they execute some form of unpredictability (like having a random number come out at random times) and don't give you any way of spawn-killing (as in killing something as soon as it appears) then it's never a problem.
Also I think that certain enemies SHOULD be able to kill themselves accidentally, like certain beasts or zombies that try to kill ANYONE in their way to get meat. However any enemy with a ranged weapon shouldn't be allowed to do this; although it's pretty epic when an enemy jumps in the way of a bullet at the last minute.

Also, aren't we forgetting the 'insta-aim', 'pain resistance' and 'damage resistance' factors? It's rare to come across a game where you can be KO'd in 2 shots from a bullet, and while it sounds kinda cheap if the enemy has somewhat-poor aiming skills then it should balance nicely. And no matter how much damage you recieve and no matter how you recieve it, you will nearly ALWAYS be able to do almost all of the things you're able to do at full health. Idk about you, but I'd be in so much pain I doubt I'd be able to stand :P Although I guess some of these aren't implemented (or taken out) for the best. But they can still be pretty... horendus. And camera angles; ugh. Those are major killers.

Tryzon:
-Buying Saves- While I know of only one game (Maximo, you swine!) that has committed this act, the very nature of it earns it a place here. Saves are a gaming right, a reward for having gotten as far as you have. Being forced to spend your hard-earned riches on this most basic of features is unnacceptable, plain and simple.

In a sense, some of the resident evils required this, as to save forced you to use a typewriter ribbon or some such similar thing, and you were limited to a certain number of these that you found. This was pretty harsh, although it kept you from saving all willy-nilly every 5 seconds.

-Uncustomisable Controls- What if you prefer to use the triggers to shoot rather than the usual button? Tough, punk. No-one bothered to make the controls editable so deal with it. Some recent games still do this, which is insane considering that Timesplitters (a PS2 launch title, no less) let one fully adjust the controller setup. No excuses.

AHHH I HATE THIS ARGH STAB ME

Unnecessary cinematics: I'm not against cinematics, but sometimes they cut your progression for no reason

stupid health systems- Why can't people just use a health bar and medkits? Don't tell me that magical bullet wound-healing Steve is realistic.

Unnecessary Darkness. I understand that GTA IV was trying its best to be realistic but Jesus Christ, I couldn't see a thing when I walked into a motherfucking shadow at noon. This is one of the things I found refreshing about Mirror's Edge. I never had to stop for a moment to wonder if I was going the right way since I could actually see where I was going.

dekkarax:
stupid health systems- Why can't people just use a health bar and medkits? Don't tell me that magical bullet wound-healing Steve is realistic.

Does it really matter when Steve is on the moon fighting Dinosaurs with can weaponized whipped cream? Also, how is a health meter realistic at all? Ditto the 'walk over medkit, you are healed' type of thing. Not realistic at all.

cutscenes that can't be skipped - If the developers really really care about the story, then I won't complain about making them un-skippable the first time, but when I want to replay a level and I have to sit through the whole thing, it just gets on my nerves. It's even worse when they're right after checkpoints.

DirkGently:

dekkarax:
stupid health systems- Why can't people just use a health bar and medkits? Don't tell me that magical bullet wound-healing Steve is realistic.

Does it really matter when Steve is on the moon fighting Dinosaurs with can weaponized whipped cream? Also, how is a health meter realistic at all? Ditto the 'walk over medkit, you are healed' type of thing. Not realistic at all.

Personally, I like the Left 4 Dead approach, as in, you can carry medkits, but to use them, you have to stay still for several seconds.

Never being frustrating- If a game cant make me get pissed at how hard or bullshit its being, the game is being too easy. Frustration is good at times. Im tnot saying games should be too hard to play but is shouldnt fell like a god killing anything or all the levels just being go and kill

NDWolfwood5268:
Grand Theft Auto 4 - your bloody cousin and all his pals that want to constantly date you! I don't know a game that's committed this act again, but if they ever do I will find the developers and rip their fingers off with rusty pliers! I feel I suck at life somehow if I don't take the guys out, and I feel the games boring 'cause I can't hit any mission due to the interruptions! WTF!

Don't forget Dead Rising, the inability to skip or stop those things made me want to throw my controller at the screen.

What about guns in FPSs that take up half the screen?

I'd say the worst crime against gaming would be extra content you have to buy. I'm not talking about actual expansions; it makes sense that those cost money. I'm talking about the bullshit EA is pulling with games like Spore where you have to spend more money on an already overpriced game to get content that doesn't even affect the gameplay itself. I seem to recall hearing something about how they were going to make players pay for patches as well. That's insane: you spend $50 on a game, you deserve to have something with its obvious issues fixed for free. It sounds like even Blizzard is doing this with Starcraft II, making people pay 40-odd dollars for each campaign.

PedroSteckecilo:

AyaReiko:
Infinite Lives -- In the vein of either Bioshock, Spore, or Fable II where dying either has little or no penalty whatsoever.

My main problem with Fable 2 and Bioshock is you can just die over and over again until you kill the enemy through Raw Attrition. Only the new PoP has done "not dying" right so far, you fall and need to "restart" but at least you never need to reload the game and waste your time.

Spot on with that one. Actually Battlefield Bad Company does it the worst, since one, they make it nearly impossible to die with the unlimited health-o-matic injector thing, and if you do die you respawn at the opening area with full ammo, full health, and no penalties. I do sometimes hate Bioshock for it though, since the game could have been much more satisfying with a Checkpoint system.

Mass Effect had, quite possibly, the stupidest enemy spawn-in I've ever seen when you fight the Thorian. The zombies are just SITTING there, on the stairs, all hunched up and waiting for you to trigger them to attack, but you CAN'T kill them preemptively.

Sigh.

orannis62:

DirkGently:

dekkarax:
stupid health systems- Why can't people just use a health bar and medkits? Don't tell me that magical bullet wound-healing Steve is realistic.

Does it really matter when Steve is on the moon fighting Dinosaurs with can weaponized whipped cream? Also, how is a health meter realistic at all? Ditto the 'walk over medkit, you are healed' type of thing. Not realistic at all.

Personally, I like the Left 4 Dead approach, as in, you can carry medkits, but to use them, you have to stay still for several seconds.

I personally am a fan of Far Cry 2's health system, too bad the rest of the game was a disappointment. The best idea so far was one that Yahtzee himself came up with. On his website he has a script written for an FPS, and the way he did health was assigning a percentage to each body part. As you took damage you'd eventually lose the ability for that part, like if you get to 0% on an arm you can now only use one handed weapons. You limp if you take damage to your leg, and you die if you take too much head damage etc.

pimppeter2:
Never being frustrating- If a game cant make me get pissed at how hard or bullshit its being, the game is being too easy. Frustration is good at times. Im tnot saying games should be too hard to play but is shouldnt fell like a god killing anything or all the levels just being go and kill

This reminds of one great crime in gaming:
Difficultly curves that resemble "y = 1 / x"

There's just something annoying about getting your hopes up for a real challenge in a game from the ass-whooping you get at Level 1 or so, thinking it'll keep you one your toes for the whole time. Then, you watch it completely devolve into sadistic chore likened to taking a riding mower to a yard full of quadriplegic toddlers, which is fun for only so long.

1. No health meters - WHEN DID THIS SIMPLE CONVENIENT DISPLAY OF YOUR VITALITY BECOME OBSOLETE?!

2. Exponential difficulty curves - (Most commonly found in pure RPGs or RPG-tinted action games) They force you to grind your ass off until you're practically undefeatable. Breaks flow, destroys challenge. KILL IT!

3. Death penalties - There's something called "don't bite the newcomers".

4. Stupid AI - No need to explain...

5. Moneymilking - Same as above...

6. Ports on consoles some people don't own while they're actually meant for ONE console only - Guilty of this is Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid (their Remade first instalments).