78 things GamesRadar hates about gaming

Everything we hate about our hobby in one big list

Words: on March 24, 2008
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What could we possibly hate about gaming? Try this little lot for starters...

Loading times
We may have come a long way from the epic tape spooling loading of the no-bit era, but we still have to wait - even with Blu-ray and internal hard drives. Until a console starts offering us insta-load technology, we're still counting the cumulative days, week and months that we've spent watching a loading bar creeping slowly across the bottom of the screen. We'll still be thinking of that on our deathbed.

People who use dev speak they don't understand
Yeah, but this console's got better floating point calculations. Better? How exactly? Quicker? More? Shinier? Do you even know what they are? And why do you carry a spec sheet around in your wallet?

Being stuck with a WOW fan at a party
"So, I left Org cos the AH was full of WTB/WTS noobs, and went to join a Raid with my Guild - the Trenchcode Mafia - to grind VC. I flipped to my alt to juggle some vendor trash while everyone was buffing their avatars to get DPS up for the first pats.

"The tanks went off with a pally (and his pet) to keep the buff going - we've got a great Carebear for that - and us squishies followed, using AoEs to DD the creeps. The tanks were all "Ding!", but it was us FTW. Until some griefers started ganking the MT, ninja-hitting all the corpses and kiting a Named that was stacked with aggro..."

Online rednecks
Racist, homophobic, misogynistic, narrow-minded bigots. They pollute our ears with their spiteful effluence. Turn them off and kick them out.

Tutorial levels
It's been years since Rockstar showed every developer how to kill off the monotonous tutorial with the learn-as-you-go brilliance of GTA III. And, yet, this scourge of gaming is still kicking - as illustrated by the painful intro to Assassin's Creed, which immediately bombards you with its complex controls before you've even got started. Which, bewildered, you immediately forget! Sort it out.

Knock-off brain training games
We blame Dr Kawashima for the following: Mind Quiz: Your Brain Quiz, Brain Boost: Beta Wave, Left Brain/Right Brain, Brain Buster Puzzle Park, I Did It Mum!, Math Play, The Professors Brain Trainer: Logic, The Professors Brain Trainer: Logic, MindStorm: Train Your Brain and Hot Brain.

Yearly updates
I’ve already bought your game. Did you forget you released it or something? Look, I’ve got a copy of it on my shelf over here.

Go away and come up with something new, and I don’t just mean the number at the end of the title.

Parents who buy adult games for their kids
You people are the reason game ratings aren’t trusted. Videogames have grown up and developed a lot now, and it’s not all about platform-jumping eggs and wakka-wakka-wakka any more. Take an interest and pay attention to what your kids are playing instead of blindly buying them anything they ask for and we’ll all be a lot better off.

Silent game characters getting voices
Silent characters should never be voiced. Speech gives away so much personality, so by making a character talk, there's instantly a possible characteristic someone won't like. Was it Henry Higgins who said whenever an Englishman opens his mouth, he makes some other Englishman despise him? Sonic opened his mouth and look what happened there.

Related

Platforms:

Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PC, PSP, DS, Xbox, GameCube

40 Comments
Order Comments: Newest First | Oldest First
  • fpezy

    fpezy  - 10 months, 1 week ago  - Report

    i have to disagree with the the silent character one because i liked jaks new pesonality.
    Reply
  • igothitwithabulb

    igothitwithabulb  - 1 year, 1 month ago  - Report

    Awesome article.
    Also, I hate to be that guy, but if you're raiding, why would you grind VC? This was written in 2008, and high-level VC came with Cataclysm.

    ...Sorry about that. I can see why you wouldn't want to be at a party with me.
    Reply
  • poothurdur32

    poothurdur32  - 1 year, 4 months ago  - Report

    @rabbit1397 No no, they don't mean "Let your 12 year-old who can control himself play Halo 3", such as my parents, but more or less like "Let your 9-year-old demon bastard asshole play Left 4 Dead 2 with an extreme gore mod". They don't mean allowing Pre-Teens and teenagers-for-a-few-days that can handle themselves and say "Hello, good sir!" that play Borderlands and Halo: Reach under close supervision of our parents, such as you and I, but the 3rd Graders that can't handle themselves and say "'Sup, Bitch-ass-motherfuckerz!" that are allowed to play GTA:SA with Hot Coffee (and then wonder what the characters are doing putting their wee-wees in a lady's owie XD) under ABSOLUTELY NO CONTROL OF WHAT THEY BUY THEIR KIDS OR LET THEIR KIDS PLAY. But, yeah, sometimes I play Counter-Strike: Source, and I haven't killed anyone. Not even a terrorist.
    Reply
  • RedShift

    RedShift  - 1 year, 7 months ago  - Report

    I hate to say it, but I'm one of those driving gamers who uses stick-shift. It's easier for me to control the car with stick-shift.
    Reply
  • Sandrock62

    Sandrock62  - 1 year, 11 months ago  - Report

    I think it's so funny when people buy their "kids" (who, might I note, probably know where babies REALLY come from, and know what pr0n really is) and then get mad at the STORE of all places when the game is "bad for their kids". HELLO! PEOPLE! IT'S ON THE *UCKING BOX!
    Reply
  • ImAliveOMG

    ImAliveOMG  - 1 year, 11 months ago  - Report

    I aggree with most of these except the "Parents who buy adult games for kids" one. Do you know any kid over the age of six who acctuly gives a crap about the Wii? Ok, you do. Now how many kids have you seen over the age of 8 who give a crap about the Wii? None. Good for you. Now name 10 E rated games that got at least a 7 out of ten for either the 360, PS3 or both. how many did you come up with? Exactly my point. By the age of 8 you realize Nintendo is the only source of E rated games that are good. Which by decent I mean Wii Music good. That's why I play through Silent Hill and Bioshock everyday. Note that I'm only 12 too.
    Reply
  • Kaz993

    Kaz993  - 2 years, 4 months ago  - Report

    I'd like to add on a comment about how when people want to say they agree with you, they don't take the same journalism care that you did when writing the article to mention it.

    They understand that games don't make you a serial killer, you don't have to write "i r not kilr and I play GoW2 lol" or even "lol"

    You do realize that as much as that is true, the reason that those techonophobic game haters speak on the subject of kids playing mature games is a real issue and it happens all the time. You people may find it funny, but the reason that the games get released with their rating is because that's how old you should be to play it, and when you get your mom and dad to buy it, you don't win, you make the rest of us lose.

    Good Article.
    Reply
  • theschwartzb

    theschwartzb  - 2 years, 4 months ago  - Report

    Number 78 was definitely my favorite. Hell, I would've been satisfied if that had been the only one in this article.
    Reply
  • Camp4Cookies

    Camp4Cookies  - 3 years, 2 months ago  - Report

    Hahahaha! It's funny coz you're totally missing the point which just goes to show your naivety. Ratings are there for a reason. That reason being to prevent children from viewing material they are too young to see. Now run along and do maths homework.

    Awesome list BTW made me lol it did ^^
    Reply
  • CoD_22

    CoD_22  - 3 years, 2 months ago  - Report

    i agree with rabbit playing gta or cod (which is a very good game- omg a kid can have an opinion of an fps game!!! aaahhhhhhhh! what is the world coming to???!!!!help!!) doesnt somehow delude you into thinking that even though you are actually holding a chainsaw and slicing people into bits, not a controller, you are in fact somehow still playing a game. however good graphics get, we can tell the difference between staring at a tv and staring at a guy we just shot. and just because we dont actually spend life in jail for murdering someone in a game, that doesnt, in our puny little minds that can only just about handle thinking about maths homework, make us think that killing someone is ok.
    *WARNING!this comment contains sudden outbursts of sarcasm some more sensitive adults may find offensive!
    Reply
  • rabbit1397

    rabbit1397  - 3 years, 3 months ago  - Report

    For the buying kids M games... I have gears of war and other games like that and I am 13. And no, I haven't turned into a psycho killer.
    Reply
  • Signofthezodiac

    Signofthezodiac  - 3 years, 3 months ago  - Report

    first yay!

    very nice list
    Reply
  • CreeplyTuna

    CreeplyTuna  - 2 years, 6 months ago  - Report

    if some one was ever on the news for committing a murder, the reporters will ALWAYS try to connect the murder with video games. even though it may turn out the murderer was a mild fan of pac man. bastards!
    Reply
  • MrHollywood360

    MrHollywood360  - 2 years, 7 months ago  - Report

    I hate unskipable cut scenes

    especialy the final boss one in paper mario the thousand year door, i hate having to watch it every time i go to play that stupid demon, plus i have to keep tapping A during it so it will go
    Reply
  • SteelStreet

    SteelStreet  - 2 years, 7 months ago  - Report

    I think it depends on the kids and how mature they are I mean I'm a kid and I am fine with GTA4 and Gears stuff like that.
    Reply
  • synthetictwist

    synthetictwist  - 2 years, 11 months ago  - Report

    The whole M-rated thing was already covered in 25 things to hate about non-gamers (or something like that) on #17. What most people argue about to no foreseeable end, was summarized in about three lines of text.
    Reply
  • mr.mr.mr.mr.

    mr.mr.mr.mr.  - 3 years ago  - Report

    The fact that you put both,"3d Sonic Games" and "People who just read the scores" is hypocrisy at best.

    Sonic 06 is actually one of my favorite games.
    Reply
  • TrigunGunner

    TrigunGunner  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    about parents buying M games for their kids.Games nowadays are rated much more harshly than any other form of media. Super Smash bros Brawl is rated T for what? For "Cartoon Violence" and "Crude Humor"! Come on, are they saying anyone under 12 will go psycho if they are exposed to cartoon violence or crude humor? Yes there are a few games that are actually rated M and are really mature, but generally the games rate M should be rated T, like devil may cry, Halo, and the persona series
    Reply
  • SheetSandwich

    SheetSandwich  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    I am 16, and own mature games, but I am very annoyed when my neighbor bitches and moans because she bought her kid a mature rated game that clearly says, "Hey! I'll probably not be good for your 8 year old kid, so be careful!" and then suddenly, it's the creator's fault! If you're young and have mature games, whatever! I don't care! That's cool if your mature enough for them (the rating is MATURE!), but if your not, it really could be bad for a kid. I say this, because when walking down the street from the library in your home town, you don't see a guy getting his head blown off. that is why we have the rating system. If you bought you kid Manhunt because you, being the parent, you made a moronic choice, it may be the store's fault if they saw you were buying a game like Grand Theft Auto for a kid and didn't state to the naieve parent or guardian "Hey, are you sure you want this? It is adult oriented", like they should, but, it is mostly the parent's fault. "Wait," you may ask, "Why would it be the legal guardian's fault?" I would reply with "Becase, they are the LEGAL GUARDIAN! They are RESPOSIBLE for their minor until the minor is an adult!" I know this will sound rude, but if you are a kid, and have a gory, adult, or oterwise mature game, well, thats cool, and I'm glad that you've got a cool game that you enjoy, but you're not special, you are like a lot of kids your age, and would be a smaller demographic if you were heavily monitored by your Guardian.
    Reply
  • hardcore_gamer1990

    hardcore_gamer1990  - 3 years, 1 month ago  - Report

    i dont hate better gamers.

    i hate better gamers who get pissy if they cant do a part of the game that you cant get to and dont share their knowledge with you.

    other than that, i respect better ganers in the hope that once they teach me the ways of winning i can own their puny asses with ease.
    Reply
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