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Ridge Racer 6

Also known as: Ridge Racer VI

Top 20 console features no-one uses

DS' thumb strap and 19 other utterly redundant console features

Words: Justin Towell, GamesRadar UK

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Hmmm… rather slow, now outdated (actually, immediately outdated) from having no Flash support, and also discontinued in North America.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*)

 
5 Comments
lynx987 - 2 months 24 days ago
wow this is cool
Nintendophile - 2 months 22 days ago
The Voice-Command-Pokemon-Control idea is good. Nintendo; Make it so.
likedamaster - 2 months 21 days ago
Wow. Your website comes with fresh shtuff all the time. The best gaming website I know! All is true, all 20!
soniquev8 - 2 months 19 days 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.
josephpooch - 19 days 2 hours 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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