Worst Things in Video Games.

Video games are something of a passion of mine. As an insomniac they have been a very good friend to me over the years. However, there are things that happen in them that get me a bit upset. Some are design choices, some are cliches, some are just trends in the industry.

5. Fanboys. Not unique to video games by any means. Still, they make everything just a little worse.

4. Cliffhanger endings. Don't assume your game is good enough for sequel.

3. Celebrity voice actors. Wow, 3 minutes of dialog from a famed actor, that was so worth the money. Worse when you can see corners were cut other places to pay for it.

2. DLC. The idea is nice. New content, also nice. However, after a few years, you sometimes can't get it anymore. Recently, I got the urge to play some Fallout 3. I reinstall it, patch it, go to get re-download the DLC I paid good money for, and there is no longer a way to download it. Game For Window Live, always looking for new ways to screw over consumers. I miss when you could buy expansion packs on disks.

1. Forced stealth sections in games that aren't designed around stealth. Nothing brings the flow of a game to a halt faster. Your playing, enjoying it, and now here is a part where everything you have learned up to this point is taken away. Stealth only works if the whole game is about it, and the engine the game uses was meant for it.

Reality TV.

I know it has been here for at least 10 years, but I still hate both the concept and execution of reality television. I know why it stay around, it costs very little to produce, and gets a decent number of viewers. However, it is not real, it is made to seem more than it is. It is not all the same, it comes in a few flavors, but all of them are equally exaggerated through editing and other tricks.

The many forms of reality television all are base around the idea that people love to see others do embarrassing things. It can be a washed up celebrity being follow around, or a someone that can't sing, or a man yelling at the owners of business, a group of spoiled bitchy people and their lives, and many other equally intellectually void forms, shapes, and flavors. All of them based on embarrassment, shame, and spectacle of how people can really be this blind to what is really happening.

Disgusting as I find it all, I see that is does make money. So here are a few ideas of my own for the reality television producers:

1. Russian Roulette with the "Stars". We take the lowest tier celebrities, and whichever survives the game gets a 3 picture deal to try and raise their falling stardom.

2. Blind and Deaf on a minefield. This needs no explanation.

3. Who wants to be seen as a douche bag for the rest of their life? This is really what all of it boils down to.