Video game pet peeves.

[Doomotron]

Sorry i haven't read through all the posts to see if this has been mentioned before.

This is more of a game designer peeve, the light bar on the ps4 controller changing colour when the engine revs up and down on a game... Who is that for? because I cant see it when i`m playing.

Most games allow you to turn it off in the settings.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

I'm annoyed slightly with Enthusia Professional Racing for breaking away from the standard menu controls on a PS2 game. With every other game I played on my PS2; it's been programmed into my mind that Triangle is "go back". However Konami for some reason decided for this game to make it the square button. I know it lists the controls on the menu screen, but I still end up not listening due to my muscle memory.

 

[imported_rik19]

Most games allow you to turn it off in the settings.

Do they? I wish you could turn it off completely anyway..Battery draining thing.

 

[JakeMR2]

Online Only Functions That You Can't Access In Game Anymore After A Shutdown

As you may know, Gran Turismo 6 just shut down, and no one can use their own custom tracks at all, it doesn't matter if Polyphony Digital patches it or not it is connected to a server at all times of the day, and once that gets shut down you cannot access your tracks or downloaded tracks anymore, and you can't use them in Arcade Mode at all. It's left a bad taste in my mouth, at least in Gran Turismo 5 I can make and use custom tracks from the game itself, but in Gran Turismo 6 you can't. It annoys me that a function that we waited for 2 years, and after another 2 years you won't be able to use TPE and other TPE apps anymore, it's gone. All that progress is just gone. Don't think this'll happen to GT: Sport soon, but the fact that it relies on Online functions there will be a expiration date of use, even if a new GT comes out, it makes it almost unusable, and you can't progress at all if the servers shut down.

 

[Drex124]

Unpaintable areas in livery editors:

Forza being a particular pain in this regard. Pretty much anything that looks like it might be made of carbon, forget about it. Usually it's made even worse by the fact that the default livery will have some sponsor stickers or something like that already present...... Oh yeah windows as well, so much for accurate V8 Supercar liveries.

That said the paintable areas are a bit of mess regardless sometimes:

Spoiler

Yeah apparently that's part of the top of the car.

 

[UnkaD]

I hate how in some story-driven action games you're supposed to be some bad-ass unstoppable force, but every little grunt in the game takes at least 5 hits to kill, can end you in only 2 hits, and are just generally superior in every way. Oh, and enemies that are constantly auto-locked onto you no matter how fast and random you try to move.

 

[Wolfe]

On the flipside, it's amusing when you've built up your character(s) and you accept a quest, maybe from an earlier point in the game, in which the quest-giver expresses grave concern over the very "dangerous", very "strong" enemies you intend to eliminate. Meanwhile, in the context of an RPG, they're like level 25 while you're level 99.

What's kind of a pet peeve is when such a quest forces you through extra steps to account for the "threat", even though you could just walk right in and squash them. Fortunately, the last time this happened to me I already had a stockpile of the things I needed to collect.

 

[Carbonox]

Games with only one save file. I really can't understand why some really modern games like R&C 2016 or Far Cry 5 would leave it at that, considering their predecessors had no problem with implementing at least 5 slots. Especially Far Cry seems to have no excuse, as gamers might be tempted to start over every now and then considering how many different ways there are to play it, but having to overwrite your prior file to do so is sloppy design at its worst.

 

[TheCracker]

Games with only one save file. I really can't understand why some really modern games like R&C 2016 or Far Cry 5 would leave it at that, considering their predecessors had no problem with implementing at least 5 slots. Especially Far Cry seems to have no excuse, as gamers might be tempted to start over every now and then considering how many different ways there are to play it, but having to overwrite your prior file to do so is sloppy design at its worst.

And games that don't allow you to name or re-name a save even if it does allow multiple saves. Whilst playing through Fallout 4 i saved the game at points where the story could fork off in different directions and come to alternative conclusions, with the intention of going back at some point and playing through the different story-arcs. But when i came to it all the saves were named by date - i have no idea of when in the last 8 months i decided on going down a certain route!

 

[Sonygamer455]

Misleading Car Specifications in Dealerships.
Remember that thing in the GT series when you buy a car from the dealership and then you find out in your garage it's specs are different than what the dealership originally said? Yea that is what I am talking about and I am sure I am not alone on this. I don't know about GT1, but I know GT2 did this and seems like I recall later GT titles did as well. (Haven't played them in a while)

Most infamous case for me is I can remember spending a lot time trying to get the Toyota GT-1 Road Car in GT2 once because I needed a good car with around 591HP and it seemed to be the one for me. Bought the car, then I looked in my garage and found out it had 593HP instead of 591HP like the dealership said. It was 2HP too high for the requirements in the races I needed it in and I was pretty unhappy to find out about this afterward because I had spent a lot of time trying to get it. (I didn't have very good money making methods at the time)

Now I have heard before that they try to simulate how the dealerships will lie to you, but I don't know if it's true or not. No matter what the case may be, it's annoying (especially in situations like what I posted above) and I wish they wouldn't do this.

 

[GTvsForza]

Misleading Car Specifications in Dealerships.
Remember that thing in the GT series when you buy a car from the dealership and then you find out in your garage it's specs are different than what the dealership originally said? Yea that is what I am talking about and I am sure I am not alone on this. I don't know about GT1, but I know GT2 did this and seems like I recall later GT titles did as well. (Haven't played them in a while)

Most infamous case for me is I can remember spending a lot time trying to get the Toyota GT-1 Road Car in GT2 once because I needed a good car with around 591HP and it seemed to be the one for me. Bought the car, then I looked in my garage and found out it had 593HP instead of 591HP like the dealership said. It was 2HP too high for the requirements in the races I needed it in and I was pretty unhappy to find out about this afterwards because I had spent a lot of time trying to get it. (I didn't have very good money making methods at the time)

Now I have heard before that they try simulate how the dealerships will lie to you, but I don't know if it's true or not. No matter what the case may be, it's annoying (especially in situations like what I posted above) and I wish they wouldn't do this.

It's like that in other GT's. The dealership will say that Car X has 256HP, but when you buy it, it shows it actually has 270HP.

 

[JR98]

Misleading Car Specifications in Dealerships.
Remember that thing in the GT series when you buy a car from the dealership and then you find out in your garage it's specs are different than what the dealership originally said? Yea that is what I am talking about and I am sure I am not alone on this. I don't know about GT1, but I know GT2 did this and seems like I recall later GT titles did as well. (Haven't played them in a while)

Most infamous case for me is I can remember spending a lot time trying to get the Toyota GT-1 Road Car in GT2 once because I needed a good car with around 591HP and it seemed to be the one for me. Bought the car, then I looked in my garage and found out it had 593HP instead of 591HP like the dealership said. It was 2HP too high for the requirements in the races I needed it in and I was pretty unhappy to find out about this afterwards because I had spent a lot of time trying to get it. (I didn't have very good money making methods at the time)

Now I have heard before that they try simulate how the dealerships will lie to you, but I don't know if it's true or not. No matter what the case may be, it's annoying (especially in situations like what I posted above) and I wish they wouldn't do this.

I think the way it works is the dealership would say what the manufacturer would've quoted that car as having IRL and then the garage car has the true output. The best example of this is the Japanese supercars which always have a huge boost in power compared to the dealers quote, which are all quoted as having 276 BHP when in reality they tend to have much more.

For example (All cars are quoted as 276 BHP):
Honda NSX Type R - 290 BHP
Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 - 320 BHP
Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) - 336 BHP
Subaru Impreza WRX STI - 305 BHP
Toyota Supra RZ - 325 BHP

The worst offender of course being the R34 GT-R which has a massive 60 BHP difference to the manufacturer's quote.

 

[Sonygamer455]

It's like that in other GT's. The dealership will say that Car X has 256HP, but when you buy it, it shows it actually has 270HP.

Oh I know it is, but I am a bit fuzzy as which ones specifically. Again, it's been a while.

I think the way it works is the dealership would say what the manufacturer would've quoted that car as having IRL and then the garage car has the true output.

So it does lie to you? I honestly think the games were meant to do that because it happened across several titles.

Their are somethings I think the GT series should never simulate and this is one of them for me.

The best example of this is the Japanese supercars which always have a huge boost in power compared to the dealers quote, which are all quoted as having 276 BHP when in reality they tend to have much more.

For example (All cars are quoted as 276 BHP):
Honda NSX Type R - 290 BHP
Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 - 320 BHP
Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) - 336 BHP
Subaru Impreza WRX STI - 305 BHP
Toyota Supra RZ - 325 BHP

The worst offender of course being the R34 GT-R which has a massive 60 BHP difference to the manufacturer's quote.

Seems like I recall getting a car in GT4 once that was about 200HP off from it's dealership specs. I want to say it was the Nissan R89C, but I am not certain as to which it is. It's been years since I played GT4 again.

 

[JR98]

Oh I know it is, but I am a bit fuzzy as which ones specifically. Again, it's been a while.
So it does lie to you? I honestly think the games were meant to do that because it happened across several titles.

Their are somethings I think the GT series should never simulate and this is one of them for me.
Seems like I recall getting a car in GT4 once that was a about 200HP off from it's dealership specs. I want to say it was the Nissan R89C, but I am not certain as to which it is. It's been years since I played GT4 again.

Dealer always shows the IRL cars manufacturer quoted specs. all the LMP’s in GT4 were all well off because they all had around 200HP more than the real life Cars (EG All LMP900’s having 830HP instead of 630).

The game isn’t technically lying as it’s just taking the specs provided from each make, it’s just that some makes lie about power outputs for their cars or some cars in game having exaggerated perormance figures.

 

[Wolfe]

I would not be surprised if it's everyone's favorite influence on racing games -- licensing. A list of specifications may have to match the manufacturer's official listed specifications. Perhaps the whole point of the oil quality and oil change mechanic was a loophole to allow PD to model the actual output of cars like the later "280PS" JDMs, by making your car's output an abstract gameplay variable the moment you buy it.

 

[Sonygamer455]

Dealer always shows the IRL cars manufacturer quoted specs. all the LMP’s in GT4 were all well off because they all had around 200HP more than the real life Cars (EG All LMP900’s having 830HP instead of 630).

Oh, so apparently what I remember is true. One of my cars was off by at least 200HP! (Still not 100% sure what car it was though)

The game isn’t technically lying as it’s just taking the specs provided from each make, it’s just that some makes lie about power outputs for their cars or some cars in game having exaggerated perormance figures.

That's interesting, so it's mainly the makes that are to blame?

I would not be surprised if it's everyone's favorite influence on racing games -- licensing. A list of specifications may have to match the manufacturer's official listed specifications. Perhaps the whole point of the oil quality and oil change mechanic was a loophole to allow PD to model the actual output of cars like the later "280PS" JDMs, by making your car's output an abstract gameplay variable the moment you buy it.

I never thought of that!

Like I said, no matter what their reason is, I still find it annoying when the specs are not what it says it is in the dealer.

 

[JR98]

That's interesting, so it's mainly the makes that are to blame?

Pretty much. Like @Wolfe said, I think that for PD to be able to include any licenced vehicles they need each car to have the specifications that the manufacturer provides but the oil change system allows them to alter the actual power outputs for the car that is delivered to your garage.

I know classic US Muscle cars had wildly different power outputs compared to manufacturer quotes but I don’t think GT incorporates that as much as they do with Japanese cars.

 

[Sonygamer455]

I have to say, I am surprised by the possibilities of what the cause for this may be, never thought it could extend so far. It's still an annoyance though and frankly I am surprised nobody has even mentioned it yet.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

Speaking of GT, since I've been revisiting GT5 lately:

Button lag in menus. It's everywhere in the game, and it's incredibly frustrating.

The Forza series used to be great in terms of quick, responsive menus. But it seems, in FM7, Turn 10 has picked up one of the worst aspects of Polyphony's games. The garage menu is a laggy nightmare, even on the One X.

 

[Sonygamer455]

Speaking of GT, since I've been revisiting GT5 lately:

Button lag in menus. It's everywhere in the game, and it's incredibly frustrating.

You ain't kidding! When I briefly returned to the game recently, it took a while for it do some things especially in the garage and I think GT Auto. At one point it even froze up on me. I wonder if installing an SSD would remedy this? I would buy one and try it, but I don't have the money.

I can remember when I was a child, a teacher I knew at school had a Lightspan education game I used play from time to time. It apparently had this problem too because I can remember accidentally submitting the same wrong answer twice, it made me pretty mad and I think I had to start over afterwards.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

License Exclusivity in racing games,

These are absolutely useless, stupid, and just showcase another aspect of a game company's greed. Biggest offender, EA's Porsche license exclusive deal that didn't stop until last year.

 

[TheCracker]

Biggest offender, EA's Porsche license exclusive deal that didn't stop until last year.

Looking at GT Sport's car list you could be forgiven for thinking that PD were not aware of EA's deal running out.

 

[Northstar]

Biggest offender, EA's Porsche license exclusive deal that didn't stop until last year.

Honestly as annoying as the Porsche thing was, I think the sports exclusivity deals in the mid-2000's were far worse and have had lasting effects. At least with racing games you can still find success without Porsche and now that it's done it's like it never happened in the first place.

It started with EA getting the exclusive NFL license. This put an end to 2K's NFL franchise which was arguably better. 2K tried to stay in the game with All-Pro Football 2K8 but that didn't do well enough for additional titles. EA still holds the license and continues with no real competition.

2K countered the NFL deal by getting the exclusive 3rd party rights to MLB games. Much like the above it meant an end to EA's arguably better MLB title. EA also tried to continue their franchise by using the NCAA license but it only lasted 2 games. Sadly the 2K series went downhill quite a bit since the deal with the final game coming out in 2013. Sony's MLB: The Show had pretty much been the only quality baseball game since the deal began and the only 3rd party title is a low budget trash heap.

During that same period EA signed an exclusive deal with NASCAR. The first couple games under the deal were solid but went downhill fast. Much like MLB the only 3rd dedicated NASCAR game is a low-budget trash heap.

And yes I know you were only talking about racing games, but your post had me thinking about what those deals have done to the sports genre overall.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

During that same period EA signed an exclusive deal with NASCAR. The first couple games under the deal were solid but went downhill fast. Much like MLB the only 3rd dedicated NASCAR game is a low-budget trash heap.

Ah, I remember when I would play the NASCAR games. The last one I got was 2005: Chase for the Cup.

 

[Silver Arrows]

Much like MLB the only 3rd dedicated NASCAR game is a low-budget trash heap.

Well...while not a true baseball game in the sense, Out Of The Park Baseball is 3rd party and is great.

Could be worse. The NHL series has dipped down significantly in quality for a while now, but then again, EA's always given the NHL series the short end of the stick when it comes to budgets and such since probably the mid to late 2000's.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

Video games that only load one memory card slot:
This is really only a slight annoyance, but I don't like it when developers do this. Consoles like the PS2 have 2 memory cards for a reason, so a friend can load his/her memory card data along side ours. Also if you're like me and have a bunch of memory cards and you're going through them to find your best gamesave data for a certain game.

 

[Sonygamer455]

Yea I can agree with that. I can't recall what games I have that did this, but I know I have dealt with it before. On the topic of memory cards, one small annoyance I have is:

When a save game won't load because the memory card has "insufficient free space".
Strangely enough I actually have had this happen before. Need for Speed Carbon for the PS2 is one that does this to me. The game is supposed to load the save game before the EA logo appears and if the memory card isn't full, it does. However one of my save games is on a memory card that is already full and it gives me this "insufficient free space" message every time and I can't load it from there, but then I can go to the career tab and load it without issue.

Okay if we were talking about creating a new save game, it would make sense, but why does free space even matter in this case if you're trying to load an existing save game? That's something that never made sense to me. Seems like I recall other games doing this too, but Carbon is the only one that comes to mind for now.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

Gran Turismo 4's B-Spec mode automatic pit stops! For god's sake, there should be a button where I'm allowed to override this and stop the AI from pitting. Otherwise, the stupid AI driver decides to pit near the end of the race and ends up losing. *facepalm*

 

[Sonygamer455]

Atrocious voice acting.
This bothers me a lot in some games, namely Star Wars games, and not so much in others. I guess it mainly depends on who the character is and how well I know them. Some examples I have come to know over the years:

- Lego Island 2. Love that game, but the voice acting has plenty of room for improvement. It doesn't actually bother me all that much, but I'd be wrong to say it was good and leave them out of this list because it really wasn't that great.
- Spongebob Squarepants Supersponge. Going off memory, the voice acting was pretty good in this game for most of the characters and they even had most of the original voice actors in it as well, but this can't be said for Mr. Krabs though. They had someone else voice him for some reason and he doesn't really sound like Mr. Krabs much, he sounds more like a scratchy, low-quality version of the singing pirate from the theme song to the show. See for yourself. I don't know where Clancy Brown was when they were developing this game, but my word it's a pity he wasn't involved!
- Star Wars Racer Revenge. Haven't thoroughly listened to all the characters yet, but goodness gracious, just listen to Anakin Skywalker's voice!

I mean seriously?! That doesn't sound like him at all, like not even close! Never have I heard a voice sound so far off from who it's trying to be in my entire life....
- Star Wars Battlefront (2015). I find most of the characters to be just fine voice-wise. However, my thoughts on Luke Skywalker's voice are literally a copy and paste of what I said about Anakin above, how they find this acceptable in this day and age is beyond me. Between the two, I am not sure who's worse. Of course, I can't even talk about this subject without bringing up Darth Vader. I have heard some semi-decent attempts at Darth Vader's voice in video games before, but this just isn't one of them.
- Star Wars Battlefront II (2005). I love this game and I thought the voices were okay for the most part, but this, however, is a HUGE exception:

Okay, I get James Earl Jones has a very distinct voice that is very hard to replicate and I imagine there was a reason he hasn't voiced him in any video games, but come on, surely they could've done better than this! I mean, this is easily the worst sounding Darth Vader I have ever heard!

Thinking about it now, "atrocious voice acting" may not be the best title for some of these, but I am not really sure what else to put. Either way, I think you get the point now.

 

[BKGlover]

@Sonygamer455 How about just "poorly handled". That could apply to the content, delivery, or how moronic the line was written in the first place, and I can add to that list.

Juiced- Possibly some of the worst lines I've heard in games, most deliveries are half hearted at best, certain actors are even worse than that, and it's mostly single line efforts. It's one of the first games I had to mute to play for any amount of time.

Naval Ops: Warship Gunner- This one is almost purely delivery. Most lines are written decently, and voiced generically enough to not be thought of, but I'm fairly certain one of the audio reader voices on my PC could do better at sounding coherent than this game did.