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Top 20 console features no-one uses

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Top 20 console features no-one uses

DS' thumb strap and 19 other utterly redundant console features

Words: Justin Towell, GamesRadar UK

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Every console seems to have something 'extra' to offer. But how many of these bonuses do you really use? Here are 20 console features past and present that no-one values, or maybe tried once then never used again.

Just for the record, you may notice that there are a lot of PSP entries in here, but it's not us hating on the Sony machine (we actually love it), it's just that it seems to come with a lot of superfluous stuff. OK, on with the show.

PSP multiplayer link-up
We had a lunchtime race on Ridge Racer 2 once. Oh, and some Moto GP and Sega Rally shenanigans from time to time. But how many people have regular sessions with more than one other friend on PSP? Where are the rooms full of happy people playing PSP together (each with a copy of the same game)? It simply never happens.

Above: Two-player? Sometimes. Three or more-player? You must be joking

DS Internet Browser
Hmmm… rather slow, now outdated (actually, immediately outdated) from having no Flash support, and also discontinued in North America. Pages are slower to load than an iPod Touch/iPhone, and it's not upgradeable like PSP. In summary, it's sunk already.

1080p
OK, let's just say for argument's sake that you can actually afford a huge, 1080p native resolution telly. We're sure it's even more beautiful than Eva Longoria and we hope you're very happy together. But how many games actually display full 1080p pictures? It's a surprisingly short list. But at least Marvel Ultimate Alliance is on it. Um…

Wii News Channel
"Wow – look at all the news! And the 3D world with all the stories stacked over the corresponding countries. Very nice. Aaaand… that's it for the News channel. Forever.

Above: Omigod. Is it really? That's soooo interesti... *snore*

DVD to PSP
Everyone's done this once. Maybe a few times. But can you really be bothered any more? To clear room on your memory stick and rip the file, trim it, convert it, then store it ready to watch? We've had the same Avril Lavigne video and a clip from The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night ("He's fussy about his drums – they loom large in his legend") on our PSP for the last three years. It shows off the feature when mates want to see. "Look – it does video too!" (*cough* but you'll never use it *cough*)

27 Comments

Order Comments: Newest First | Oldest First

lynx987 - 1 year 2 months ago

wow this is cool

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Nintendophile - 1 year 2 months ago

The Voice-Command-Pokemon-Control idea is good. Nintendo; Make it so.

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likedamaster - 1 year 2 months ago

Wow. Your website comes with fresh shtuff all the time. The best gaming website I know! All is true, all 20!

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soniquev8 - 1 year 2 months ago

I'd have to disagree. I use the 360's media/music sharing feature all the time (ironically, shared from my Mac using Connect360). I use it when I'm playing games with sub-par or repetitive music (Civ Revolution) or when I feel like making up my own soundtrack. It's great that I can instantly turn Ace Combat into Top Gun by playing "Danger Zone" in the background; or listen to "War Pigs" while playing Worms in the Arcade.

And while I love the radio stations on GTA4, the music in Katamari, and other games with inventive soundtracks... after dozens of hours of play, they just can't offer as much diversity as my gigabytes of MP3s.

I agree with you in that the photo and video functionality aren't frequently used, but I can say that even if it's just listening to some tunes while cleaning up my apartment, the music/media sharing functionality is perhaps the most oft-used feature on my 360.

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josephpooch - 1 year 7 days ago

um. the nintendo ds thumb strap was a great idea. if it was made alittle better it would be have been...good. I used it for metroid and it was cool..but it wasnt very accurate like stated in the article.
If it had been improved on for the ds lite, instead of being omitted, it would have probably been alot better.

and playing ps1 games on a ps2. that was daily for me due to ff7 and ff8. i guess that could be strange or something. but i found myself playing ps1 on ps2 wayyy more than playing ps2 on ps2. haha

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hardcore_gamer1990 - 9 months 2 days ago

I agree with josephpooch and (partially) soniquev8.
not the thumbstrap thing though. pointless as a Zero Punctuation review with no sound.

I played PSone games on my PS2 (and PS2 AND PSone games on my PS3) repeatedly, just for nostalgia.
And on soniquev8's point on adding extra soundtracks to games, have you tried outrunning Templars as Altair whilst the Benny Hill theme is playing? I nearly collapsed laughing when my mate did that the first time. xD

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adrenaguy - 8 months 26 days ago

i thought the thumb strap ws a wrist strap, it didnt fit, so i gave up, still haven't used it as a thumb strap yet even though i know full-well what it does. don't forget that wii internet channel was immediately obselete, too, due to lack of support for flash.

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the_real_fluke - 8 months 26 days ago

the question is, if you told your pokemon to go and die, would they?

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BeefSupreme - 8 months 26 days ago

If you're going to throw up 1080p on the list, why not put Dolby Surround along with the other surround sound formats advertised in games?
Considering the amount of whining coming out of the industry and consumer about how expensive consoles are, how can they afford the proper sound systems that can make use of the various renditions of Dolby and THX that new games support?

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Oxfordcomma4 - 8 months 26 days ago

I too love the media feature on the 360. There's nothing like a good Silent Hill binge listening to somthing hopeful and cheery (Jason Mraz, Vampire Weekend) or a little horde with Trace Adkins in the background.
Also, Fallout 3 to Louie Armstrong is just fun...

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crossmr - 8 months 26 days ago

I've used DVD to PSP a lot. Plus its obvious you've never been on a subway in other parts of the world. 7 hour flight with no in flight entertainment? or some butchered and edited movie? Watch 2 or 3 movies on your PSP. The batteries last much longer watching movies than playing games. It was great on a 14 hour flight I took last year.

Probably 90% of the people I see on the Seoul subway are watching TV on their phone or watching pre-recorded movies and TV on a portable device, about 1/3 of which are PSPs.

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RaIdEn - 8 months 26 days ago

i was so pissed about the 1:1 movement. i was really exited for red stell and when i finaly played it i was like "wtf is this?"

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gta3mattb - 8 months 26 days ago

"PSone games on PS2
Strange, this – we hardly ever used our PS2 to play PSone games. And yet we find ourselves doing it on PS3 and PSP rather frequently. Very, very strange."

That is the only one that probably should not have been on this list.

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GrrSnort - 8 months 22 days ago

I'm going to have to argue for the media sharing. I cleaned up the space on my 360 hard drive that I used for music (apparently, I had around 5 gigs of music), and I rip movies to my PC, so I can watch them without popping in a disc. I will concede that photo capability (and the photo party app for the 360 that NOBODY USES) is largely re-fuckin-tarded.

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SWEDE7769 - 8 months 19 days ago

Forget the media sharing, plug your iPod into your 360... oh, I guess I'm the only person that does that. Might as well add that functionality/option to your list of no-use features.

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theevilgerbil - 8 months 2 days ago

ahh so much pointlessness.

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TheNineTails - 8 months 17 hours ago

lolz the psp is sometimes rather useless.

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killemall - 7 months 28 days ago

I also agree with josephpooch and soniquev8. After about 10 hours of playing fallout and realising the music and radio was getting annoying i actually used the 360's media share to make my own 23's 30's apocolypse mix. Also i still bust out the old ps2 and play games on it including FF7, 8 and rival schools. One of the best features evere. When i can afford a ps3, i'll do it then too.

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