How games could be better.

I have this discussion on a regular basis with numerous acquaintances. If you spend just a few minutes thinking about it, you can probably think of several ways you can make one of your favorite video games better.

Thinking about how to improve games is usually a fairly frustrating process for me, because most times you can think of many ideas that could be implemented into a game with a small amount of effort. If only some developers had decided to keep their game in production for another month or two, it could bump the enjoyment and quality immensely.

Now I'm not saying video game developers are lazy, because I know it's a challenging and long process to make a game you can sell. Sometimes the release date is behind schedule, the budget runs out, or the team who are working on the game just get entirely burnt out. There are hundreds of variables that can affect the production process. But it's downright upsetting to think of a feature that would probably take 30 minutes of coding and increase the quality of play exponentially.

Off the top of my head, the Crysis franchise. If you look at the 3 titles objectively, it's easy to say they are all fairly decent. But if you turn a critical eye over Crysis a quick summary will usually give anyone the same opinion. Every feature seems to have been sacrificed in lieu of advanced graphics. The upgrades, the mechanics, even the gameplay has inherent flaws that you can abuse to become immune to death. Using stealth properly allows you to become visible for less than a second to headshot an enemy and disappear back into thin air.

How much time do you think it would take to give the Crysis bad guys a couple of effective methods to root you out of stealth? Flash bang grenades that unveil you would surely take less than a day. What about the upgrade system? Would adding a dozen minor perks that gave you something to look forward to be a long and arduous process? I think not. It's minor projects like these that if combined together, would make Crysis one of those legendary video games that you wouldn't forget.

I don't like how so many new games are put on the market in an almost unfinished state. Most developers barely even try to patch their titles when they have issues. Moreover, the worst companies release an unpolished game and then pull out a chunk of it and demand you pay extra because it's DLC. This kind of shoddy practice will never stop because people will always buy it. I'll pay for it myself on occasion, on impulse.

Although this post seems to have turned towards a spiteful shunt at the gaming industry, don't forget my original point. If you think of your favorite game right now, you won't have much trouble imagining very easy ways to make it a better title for everyone. If you know what I mean, post a comment and give us an example!