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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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Master System card slot
Sure, it's an obsolete console, but did anyone ever use the card slot on their Sega Master System? Outdated even when they were current, these were basic, tiny games that no-one cared about. Good to collect, though, if only to give your little DS game cards something to look up to.

DS voice chat
There are about *counts on fingers* … two games that use in-game voice chat on DS. Come on, Nintendo – if you can do it, do do it!

PSP screen for PS3 games
That Formula One demo with the PSP acting as a mirror was way cool. Didn't happen though, did it? Bah.

Above: This never happened. Not just in the F1 game, but ever in any PS3 game to date

The CD player
In the fifteen years since the first CD-based consoles came out, we have played a CD on a console once as a genuine decision (the 360 was on and idle, so why not). Sega Saturn had a cool pitch-shift feature for transposing songs (great for guitarists/crap singers), but that's a rare and useful tool. And come on - who doesn't have a stereo these days with better speakers than the TV? Exactly.

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.

Dreamcast VMU
An utterly superb idea for a peripheral. It's a memory card. It's a games console. It's an extra screen for tactical use during games. It's a data-sharing system between users.

But in practical use, it's just a memory card. Sadly, the battery life destroys the 'games machine' potential, developers mostly ignored it and we can only remember using it mid-game for changing formations on UEFA Soccer. What a waste. Oh, but the stick-man version of Virtua Tennis that appeared on the VMU screen while you played the real game was awesome.

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 14 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 9 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 - 9 months 2 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 - 9 months 2 days ago

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

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BeefSupreme - 9 months 2 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 - 9 months 2 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 - 9 months 2 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 - 9 months 2 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 - 9 months 1 day 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 29 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 26 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 9 days ago

ahh so much pointlessness.

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TheNineTails - 8 months 7 days ago

lolz the psp is sometimes rather useless.

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killemall - 8 months 4 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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