IF you were..

[nodtveidt]

I would make sure every game had a sound test.

All the games I code have a sound test. It's just a must-have feature.

[Tatsujin]

LOL Retro Gamers...

It's always the same bullshit.  A bunch of crusty old bastards complaining about the newer generation and how everything was better in the old days. 

And Necromancer, really, complaining about load times and cutscenes and suggesting "we" are the one's with ADHD?  Are you for real?

Just play your PC Engines and shut the f*ck up.  You make me sick.

ROFFELKARTOFFEL

[blueraven]

LOL Retro Gamers...

Air Zonk Avatar. Logic Fail.

[TheOldMan]

I would make sure every game had a sound test.

All the games I code have a sound test. It's just a must-have feature.

Is it really? Damn, now I have to add one to pyramid plunder.

[Mathius]

This is the best thread in eons! I agree with everything said, and we even had an epically failed attempt at trolling (maybe this is the undercover Dave Medina? ). I will add that the downloadable XBOX Live game Limbo is a perfect example on how games these days should be made. There are no splash screens that I can remember, and no tutorials. In this game dieing is almost mandatory to figuring out what to do, and how.

Every game developer needs to be reading this thread NOW!

[rag-time4]

Red Dead Redemption proved that rag-time music and a historical theme equals big bucks for game developers!

[Frank_fjs]

I miss the days of being able to put press he power button on the NES and be IN GAME in less than 2 seconds.

I agree with this sentiment entirely and pretty much everything else Zeta mentioned. I like games that don't bog you down in splash/loading/confirmation/cut scene screens. I suppose that's why I'm such a big fan of Arcade games, no messing around there, press 1P Start and you're away and straight into the action.

I still enjoy 'modern' gaming but there are certainly aspects of retro gaming that have been lost and that I miss.  

[Tatsujin]

The worst I waited till game start, was like in burnout on the PSP. I think more than 4 minutes. I was like WTF and I believe I never put that game in again since.

[SignOfZeta]

My girlfriend had this Shotoku Battle game for PSP that look FOREVER to load. The graphics were amazing and the gameplay was as good as any game in the series, but if KOF on Neo CD is the benchmark for excessive loading to gameplay ratio, this took the cake by another %300. Almost a minute to load, and due to the nature of how wangan-style games work you sometimes can win a race less than a minute. Add that to the fact that this is a money hoarding/collecting sort of car game and...you need an AC adaptor to play this game. After a half hour all you have are some new tires for your 180SX and a half dead battery.

What sucks is that it was, aside form this MAJOR issue, a pretty good game. If I ever see it cheap I'm going to buy it. Now that I have a hacked PSP and have seen that ISOed games running from the Memory Stick load WAY faster, it might be actually playable. I played Super Robot Wars MX from the Memory Stick and I know for a fact that I saved hours in load times over the course of the 50 hours or so it takes to finish the thing.

[Tablet]

The worst I waited till game start, was like in burnout on the PSP. I think more than 4 minutes. I was like WTF and I believe I never put that game in again since.

Tats try the PSP version of Metal Slug Anthology, it literally takes an age, first there's all those company logo's you can't skip then it loads the menu, you select your game then it loads again and it takes forever! I think some people have forgotten the key appeal of portable gaming, pick up and play.

I have to agree with the comments made about tutorials, I mean I don't mind a tutorial if it is disguised as a level only dropping hints on how to do things when required but when the game dumps you into a training ground I sigh, loudly. Training levels should be an option presented right after you click 'New Game' not forced upon you ruining your first impressions of the game.

If I was the hudson guy I dunno what I would do, maybe I'd go out and ask gamers what they want which would probably be everything listed in this thread then ensure that all games being published follow at least some of these rules. I'd also beta test every game to death so that the game isn't released with bugs, how many games today come out and there's a patch to fix some fault on day 1?

[TheClash603]

I would beta test all new games on this website, and be ashamed of how the new Bonk looks.

[Frank_fjs]

how many games today come out and there's a patch to fix some fault on day 1?

Unfortunately, because of how the industry is structured it's usually out of the hands of the game developers. A publishing company, who provide the huge funds needed to make a game but who don't have a creative ounce of talent, get together with a mass marketing machine and based upon profit projections set a firm date for release. This date must be met, no exceptions, or money is lost. Game devs have no choice but to release the game in whatever state that it is in. The amount of hardware variances in PC's doesn't help either, much easier to develop for a console.