Skip to main content
Join The Community
- Join our community
11
Premium Benefits
24/7
Access Available
21K+
Active Members
Commenting
Join the discussion
Exclusive Articles Coming Soon
Member-only articles
Weekly Newsletters
Weekly gaming & entertainment news
Member Badges
Earn badges as you go
Exclusive Competitions
Members-only prize draws
Curated Deals Coming Soon
Tech and gaming deals worth grabbing
GET COMMUNITY ACCESS QUICK
For the quickest way to join, simply enter your email below and get access. We will send a confirmation and sign you up to our newsletter to keep you updated on all your gaming news.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
FIND OUT ABOUT OUR MAGAZINE
Want to subscribe to the magazine? Click the button below to find out more information.
Find out more
GET Community ACCESS QUICK

Join the GamesRadar community for quick access. Enter your email below and we'll send confirmation, and sign you up to our newsletter.

By submitting your information, you confirm you are aged 16 or over, have read our Privacy Policy and agree to the Terms & Conditions. Geographical rules apply.

Background
Welcome to GamesRADAR+ Community !
Hi ,

Your membership journey starts here.

Keep exploring and earning more as a member.

MY ACCOUNT

Badge picture
Earn your first badge
Read 1 article to unlock your first badge.
Keep earning badges
Explore ways to get more involved as a member.
Latest Games News

Latest Games News

Breaking gaming news and updates

Read Now
Latest Games Reviews

Latest Games Reviews

Expert verdicts on the newest releases

Read Now

See what you’ve unlocked.

Explore your membership benefits.

Explore
Member Exclusives

Stay Ahead with GamesRadar+

Get the biggest gaming news, reviews, and releases straight to your inbox.

Explore

Sign Out
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Buying Guides
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
  • Home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Buying Guides
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Video
    • View Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
Trending
  • Summer Preview
  • Prime Day deals
  • New Games 2026
  • Best gaming tech
  • GTA 6
  • Submit your clips. Win prizes
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


Want to add more newsletters?

GamesRadar+

Every Friday

GamesRadar+

Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.

GTA 6 O'clock

Every Thursday

GTA 6 O'clock

Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.

Knowledge

Every Friday

Knowledge

From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.

The Setup

Every Thursday

The Setup

Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.

Switch 2 Spotlight

Every Wednesday

Switch 2 Spotlight

Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.

The Watchlist

Every Saturday

The Watchlist

Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.

SFX

Once a month

SFX

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!


Join the club

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
  1. Games

The backseat gamer's burden

Features
By Matthew Keast published 2 March 2010

Annoying behaviors that make you want to rip the controls right out of their hands

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Subscribe to our newsletter

Constantly jumping all the time


Above: "Hey I'm trying to talk to you, you bouncing little shit"

This drives us insane. Does it really amuse them that much? Are they so bored by a second of nothing to kill that they have to fill the time by bouncing up and down a million times? Not only is the repetition irritating, but it can take any cool super agent and make him look like an idiot on a pogo stick.

Latest Videos From
Watch full video here:


Being greedy for that last kill

We're guilty of this one quite often. It's a hard area with swarms of enemies that come in waves, and we've died three times already, yet when we've almost finished off this wave, we're hurt and all we have to do is take some cover before getting that last guy, but nooooooo, we just have to be Rambo. “It's cool, I got this guy” - splat! Camera tumbles to the ground as red haze fades to black. Whoops....


Running everywhere on foot instead of driving

This one has two manifestations. The first, and slightly less annoying, is the refusal to use perfectly good transport and hoof it as the scenery craaaaaawls past. The second version, and much more egregious, is hoofing or even driving everywhere when fast transport options are readily available. Yeah, okay, it's fun to traverse cross-country now and again, but damn, take advantage of the game's conveniences!

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.


Above: "Walk a mile in these shoes before you judge me"


Skipping the tutorial

Hold on a sec – we're not tutorial nazis. It's fine to skip it, but what makes our forehead veins pulsate is skipping the tutorial, and then complaining when they don't understand how to play the game or get their ass kicked by early enemies because they don't know which button blocks.


Declaring a game "too easy and boring" after five minutes

The beginning of a game is typically easy for a reason. When someone tinkers with the first level, and then walks away while muttering the above dismissal, not only is it exasperating to see such a snap judgment, but it also implies that we're a simpleton for being amused by it.


Keeping their feet in the center of the mat

Those feet always go back between the arrows when playing DDR. It's as if keeping their feet on the arrows at any time other than when the game tells them to will cause their brains to short-circuit.


Constantly pounding all the buttons

What, do they think the game is going to stop working if they don't press anything for 30 seconds? It's like they've learned to play games by watching people play them on sitcoms.


Above: PEOPLE REALISTICALLY PLAYING A REAL VIDEOGAME. REAL


Asking "what do I do?" while hammering every button

This happens during the whole time you're trying to explain what to do, and thereforethey end up wrecking/dying/otherwise ruining everything before you can even get the sentence out. This is then usually followed by a claim that your advice "didn't work."


Taking the game's word over yours

"Go to the left, there's an extra life up that stairway."
"But the arrow is pointing to the right. Why would the game tell me to go right if I needed to go left?"


Getting impatient and running into trouble against your advice

Above: "Now you're going to need to use cover here. No, wait, don't run straight at that..."

Also known as Leeroy Jenkins syndrome. You're trying to say "hold on and let these 12 guys pass by because they have laser bazookas and you have a rubber chicken on a stick." That does not mean, "Screw it. Charge!" This goes double - no, quintuple - in co-op games.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

Current page: Page 2

Prev Page Page 1 Next Page Page 3
CATEGORIES
PC Gaming Nintendo PlayStation Xbox Platforms
Matthew Keast
Matthew Keast
My new approach to play all games on Hard mode straight off the bat has proven satisfying. Sure there is some frustration, but I've decided it's the lesser of two evils when weighed against the boredom of easiness that Normal difficulty has become in the era of casual gaming.
Latest in Games
Posing with a rifle in the Fallout 76 Ghoul update
The Elder Scrolls New Xbox CEO reportedly pushing for faster Fallout and Elder Scrolls games
 
 
Erenshor art
RPGs RPG dev inspired by classic MMOs says his Steam success was "this seemingly unattainable dream"
 
 
Asha Sharma in black shirt
Games Microsoft considered cutting Xbox off entirely and making it easier to sell, report says
 
 
Toniebox 2 playing Game of Life lifestyle photo with two kids
Board Games My kids won't stop asking to play this new version of The Game of Life
 
 
Stuntman: Hollywood
Racing Games Stuntman: Hollywood was the best 15 minutes of my Summer Game Fest
 
 
Palworld 1.0 trailer shows panda-like boxer Pal
Survival Games Nintendo Palworld lawsuit has "zero chance" at more than "chump change," expert says
 
 
Latest in Features
Toniebox 2 playing Game of Life lifestyle photo with two kids
Board Games My kids won't stop asking to play this new version of The Game of Life
 
 
Simon Ordell looks at a gadget in his hands in a dark, misty town in key art for Silent Hill Townfall, cropped for a header, with the orange GamesRadar+ Summer Preview 2026 frame
Silent Hill Silent Hill: Townfall would be a better horror game if it had nothing to do with Silent Hill
 
 
A Space Marine in worn blue armor and gold trim looking to his left in Total War: Warhammer 40K
Total War Total War: Warhammer 40K is getting a closed beta, and its latest gameplay has sold me
 
 
An angled photo of six pro controllers on a gaming desk
Gaming Controllers I've been reviewing gaming controllers for years; these are my top-tested ones to look out for this Prime Day
 
 
Clutch screenshot
Racing Games Clutch preview: A stylish open-world racing game that is trying to do too much too quickly
 
 
Stranger than Heaven screenshot
RPGs Stranger Than Heaven preview: Immaculate vibes collide with a static combat system
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Posing with a rifle in the Fallout 76 Ghoul update
    1
    New Xbox CEO reportedly pushing for faster Fallout and Elder Scrolls games
  2. 2
    RPG dev inspired by classic MMOs says his Steam success was "this seemingly unattainable dream"
  3. 3
    Microsoft considered cutting Xbox off entirely and making it easier to sell, report says
  4. 4
    Stuntman: Hollywood was the best 15 minutes of my Summer Game Fest
  5. 5
    My kids won't stop asking to play this new version of The Game of Life

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...