Nine Features No Next-Gen Game Should Go Without

Nine Features No Next-Gen Game Should Go Without

These may seem like no brainers, but you'd be surprised how many modern games fail to embrace the following features.

Video games have a lot of features that gamers take for granted. Think about it: there was once a time when gamers couldn't do something simple like save their in-game progress (you had to rely on things like complicated passwords or you simply had to start all over again after you turned the power off).

But as video games have matured, we have seen some amazing features become industry standards. Now, you can save your progress as many times as you want, hop online and download new content, and even watch movies and browse the Internet, right from your console.

But there are some key features that haven't become universal standards yet. Here, we've listed the top 9 features that we think deserve to be in every single game. Some are a bit frivolous while others are absolute necessities; regardless, if every single developer integrated the following features, gamers around the world would immediately benefit.

Nine Features No Next-Gen Game Should Go Without

A good autosave function

We were going to go with "the ability to save anywhere" instead but ultimately, we decided that a good autosave function trumps that for one reason: it's one less thing for us to do. There's nothing worse than playing a tough level or mission only to die towards the end and be rewarded by getting booted all the way back to the beginning. Dying in a video game should absolutely be penalized-if there are no consequences, there's no incentive to stay actively engaged in the game. However, shouldn't the penalty also be fair?

That's why every game should have a good autosave function that will, in the event of character death, set you back just far enough to punish you for dying but not so far back that you feel cheated. If we take on an endboss and die during the course of the battle, we should definitely be forced to start over again. But we shouldn't be forced to go all the way back to the beginning of the hour-long dungeon that you need to navigate just to get to his lair.

A good autosave also allows gamers to focus on the game itself without having to worry about saving every five minutes. Of course, since autosave only saves a single point in time, gamers who want to micromanage their experience can also hop into the menu and save whenever they want. But a good autosave function eliminates the need to constantly worry about whether or not you'll lose your progress in the event of death.

Worst offenders: Mass Effect
Games that did it right: Fallout 3, Uncharted

Nine Features No Next-Gen Game Should Go Without

Skippable cutscenes

No matter what your thoughts are on the "video games are/aren't art" argument, there's no denying that some video games contain epic stories that are worth paying attention to. Even if the story sucks, video game cutscenes have become so amazing that they sometimes put Hollywood to shame. But there are plenty of valid reasons for wanting to skip cutscenes and it kills us that there are still games out there where you can't simply hit a button to move onto the next level.

Maybe you've already played the game before and you just want to revisit a favorite moment in the game. Maybe you just died and you don't want to sit through a cutscene you just saw five minutes ago. Or maybe you just don't care about the story and you want to get right to the action. Regardless of your reasoning, the ability to skip cutscenes is a feature that every video game should have.

Worst offenders: Assassin's Creed, Too Human
Games that did it right: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Nine Features No Next-Gen Game Should Go Without

Remappable controls

We want the ability to customize our controls for one simple reason: so we can. Some games take a 'one-size fits all' approach to controls but every gamer is a little different and has his or her own wants and needs. As a concession, developers will put in several different schemes and the ability to customize certain aspects like inverting view controls but that isn't enough. PC gamers have had the ability to completely change their control layouts for years now and it's about time that console gamers were given the same opportunity.

Look, we're not software engineers and we know that there are programming challenges that must be overcome but this is one feature that definitely deserves to become a universal standard.

Worst offenders: Resident Evil 5, Too many console games to name

Nine Features No Next-Gen Game Should Go Without

Ability to replay any mission/level

The Grand Theft Auto games had their share of terrible missions (any thing involving remote-controlled vehicles) but they also had some awesome missions that we could have easily replayed a hundred times over and not gotten bored with. But once you beat the mission, it disappeared off the in-game map. Why? There's no good reason for this. Sure, it breaks up the continuity of the story but why not make every mission you beat available in a side menu? That way, you can just boot up any mission you want and replay it without affecting the main storyline; hell, add in some incentives like a high score or a best time and you're done.

Our point here is that many games have awesome levels and missions that we want to return to time and time again. Some games will let you do that but we see no good reason why all games can't do this; it'd definitely have a positive effect on replayability.

Worst offenders: Grand Theft Auto 4
Games that did it right: Resident Evil 5, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

Comments [32]

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PatrickShaw

It drives me INSANE that a huge number of games don't allow you to replay your favorite missions!

ZanonX

Here is one, letting you choose a character to go through the game with after you beat the game.

I'll use punch out as a example, you are always little mac but like I said above, if you beat it you can play as piston or mike tyson as the main.

that would be a cool feature.

Toneman

Pretty sweet article... I love how you show worst offenders and games that do it right to make your point. Very well done... all devs should read this article :)

goldberg_evan

while I agree with the list...how could you not include subtitles? As a hearing impaired gamer, I find myself struggling to understand some game's plot by lack of subtitles (both in-game and cut scenes). The major one that made me mad by not having subtitles was Assassin's Creed. I loved the game, but sometimes felt lost in the story because I could not understand the character's discussions.

FOURTHxSURVIVOR

Thank god you didn't say multiplayer. I hate how every time a new game comes out or there is a list like this on anther site or mag they always go on about how a game is missing multiplayer or that it should be a mandatory feature. So thank you for creating a list that suggest actually useful features (like the remapping of controllers, I couldn't agree more) instead of just: "every game needs capture the flag". Multiplayer has become a real annoyance in that, instead of offering different and fun modes to a single player game, like challenge rooms, rewards for speed runs or offering weird variants of the SP game, companies just slap on a cheap multiplayer mode and somehow think that because you have some AI buddy that spouts one-liners, ruining the experience (Resident Evil 5...), it offers replay value because said companion can be controlled with a human player.

Not every game needs deathmatch, not every game needs co-op and if developers and (especially publishers) would realize that well realized bonus modes will take their game further than some tacked on multiplayer portion than we would start seeing better quality in single player games over all. I like MP too but I don't want to being playing some kid over and over everyday because my game offers 6 hours of SP and nothing else.

So good list, its sad how obvious these ideas are and yet they aren't universal - I mean not all of them would work in every game but things like skippable cutscenes and custom controls should be mandatory.

wariomangreat123

These are all necessary features that should be mandatory this generation as well.

teh2Dgamer

Nothing makes me walk away from a game faster than an un-skipable cutscene. It's like the dvelopers are saying **** you, you're going to watch it, and love it. That's usually when I either turn the game off, or go to the bathroom. That way they wasted thier time forcing me to watch a cutscene that I won;t be watching anyways.

It drives me apesh** batty when I can't skip a cutscene.

hikayu

how could fallout 3 have a good autosaving system ? i used to wander hours in the game and then suddenly i die , losing hours of game play !

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