10 Annoying Things in Video Games

I love video games.  But there are times when the ruthless challenge of a video game frustrates me, making me want to hurl the gamepad at the television with all my might.  Still, I keep playing because I don’t like getting outwitted by a computer program.  Here are 10 annoying things regarding video games that annoy me…

1. “Babysitting” Missions

     Commonly referred to as “escort” missions, I prefer to call these “babysitting” missions because that’s what you do in these kinds of situations in video games.  Your character protects and safeguards another character, making sure his or her health or well-being isn’t threatened.  The most frustrating babysitting mission is in “Catherine,” where Vincent has to help Katherine climb a Babylonian-size wall of cubes.  You have to clear a safe path for her to ascend.  But when you call to proceed, she usually doesn’t follow your intended path and gets stuck between cubes, leaving her open for attack from the giant Catherine monster.

2. Bad Dubbed Voice Acting

     Like with anime, hearing terrible dubbed English voice acting makes me cringe.  The voices don’t match the faces.  The most notorious example is “Dead or Alive 5.”  Although I don’t know Japanese, I always switch it from English to the original Japanese.

3. Lag in Online Gaming

     This is why I don’t play fighting games online.  The frame rate is not smooth.  Whenever I play “Super Street Fighter IV” online, Ken’s Hadoken shoots out of his hands a billion seconds too late.  Usually, lag occurs when playing with international gamers, but the novelty with online gaming is that you get to play with people around the world.  I would rather play with people from other countries than the U.S.  The only game I have that plays at a decent connection is “Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis.”

4. Quick Time Events

     Quick time events (or “QTE”) make me feel stupid when I can’t execute them.  When a QTE occurs, there appears on screen a button command sequence you must press, which then allows your character to perform an action.  “Shenmue II” had many QTEs.  QTEs should be simple, but they appear suddenly, testing your reflexes.

5. Price of Arcade Sticks

     Nowadays a necessity for playing fighting games, arcade sticks are expensive as heck.  From what I’ve seen, they cost $150 on average.  Playing a fighting game using your console’s controller is aggravating.  Using the right trigger on an Xbox 360 as a kick in “Super Street Fighter IV” feels odd.  In the past, I made fun of people who spent a lot for “Dance Dance Revolution” dance pads for the home.  Bad Karma is mocking me.

6. Bad clipping

     Clipping is collision detection in a video game.  But when objects intersect when they shouldn’t be intersecting, it’s bad collision detection, or bad clipping.  In “Super Street Fighter IV,” seeing Ken’s arm go through his opponent before doing his Guren Senpukyaku spinning fire kick is such an eye sore.  This is why I always choose Ken’s Shinryuken Ultra, even though the Guren Senpukyaku is more effective.

7. Downloadable Content (DLC)

     Everything should be on the disc.  And when I say “everything,” I mean everything–no Internet connection required!  Secret characters, bonus costumes, different levels, and alternate game modes should all be on the disc, either available immediately or rewarded to the player for dedicated gameplay.

8. Encountering Foul-mouthed Kids Playing M-rated Games Online

     The reason why I call “Halo” a “kids game” is because I’ve only encountered kids playing “Halo” on Xbox Live.  Once, while playing, I kept hearing these two 12-year-olds, one from the U.S. and one from Australia, bicker at each other, using obscenities and racist remarks.  It was annoying.  Similarly, “Call of Duty” has a reputation for being a kids’ game too.  Don’t parents see the “M” rating on the box, as well as the descriptors on the back?

9. Cheap Bosses in Fighting Games

     They know your every move, even before your input the command on the controller.  They evade every strike.  Their onslaught of special moves causes lots of damage to your character.  When I was a kid, the hardest boss character I faced was M. Bison from “Street Fighter II” on the Super Nintendo.  The hardest boss I faced when an adult was Alpha-152 from “Dead or Alive 4”

10. Stealth Games/Stealth Missions

     I like games that are fast paced.  Stealth slows down the pace of a game.  There is an exception: the first “Metal Gear Solid.”  But that game has a balance between action and stealth, especially when it isn’t game over when Solid Snake gets spotted.