Don't leave system features up to the developers

NTolerance

NTolerance

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This situation has been getting worse as all 3 current consoles have added new system features. The bottom line is that features won't get used unless they are mandatory. Here are some examples:

1. Wii custom soundtracks via SD card - So far I only know of two games that use this feature - Excite Truck and Endless Ocean. What a waste.

2. PS3 and PSP custom soundtracks - same issue as the Wii. Only a few games use this. MS did the right thing with building a music player into the dashboard.

3. 360 achievements - while achievements are mandatory, there are very few guidelines placed on the quality of them. The majority of gamers have voiced their dislike of multiplayer achievements and Microsoft has passed this info along to developers, but has not made any required changes. As a result we are still seeing unattainable multiplayer achievements that were poorly thought out by developers.
 
A developer should have as many OPTIONS as possible. Little to nothing should be mandated. Especially not any of those things that you've mentioned.
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']A developer should have as many OPTIONS as possible. Little to nothing should be mandated. Especially not any of those things that you've mentioned.[/QUOTE]

In a perfect world sure. Developers should be free to do anything. They hate mandates. But it's a fact that features just flat out won't be used if they're given the choice. Are there any compelling reasons to purposely leave out features or does it come down to rushed development time/QC issues as always?

Gamers on the whole seem to be quite happy with Microsoft's mandated XBox Live/Achievement/Music features. In fact it could be argued that the 360's software feature set and utilization is well beyond what is available on the PS3 or Wii.
 
If a developer doesnt want to use a feature, for whatever reason, I dont see any reason to make them. I personally dont like the mandates that exist, but I'm always thinking about the developer. I dont even like mandating support for 720p. Of course a developer might be foolhardy not to, but I think they should have the option.

Maybe they dont see the feature as adding value to THEIR game, or maybe they figure the payoff would be minimal for the work involved. With regard to custom soundtracks, its easy to see how a developer has a certain vision for the game, which includes the in-game environment. It would be convenient for lets say, a survival horror game to let you play happy music in place of the creepy ones that they've crafted to the setting, but I wont be surprised if they dont go out of their way to make the options available.

If something is lacking that would have really made their game better in the eyes of most folks, then they leave it out at their own peril.

Think about the DS. There are a lot of options there. Not many games use the microphone. Some use mainly buttons and largely skip the touch screen or the 2nd screen. Some use the stylus exclusively.

What happened in early DS development is you ended up with a bunch games that had poor design decisions, not because of mandates, but because the developers were, at the time, trying to incorporate all the functionality that they could.
 
Meh. Give them freedom. I have no interest in any of the features you listed. Don't really play the types of games where you just have real music playing (i.e. Racing games, tony hawk games etc.) and don't care about achievements.

Just put features in the hardware, and developers can use them if they think they add to their game. Many times they don't. For instance, in a lot of games the score is important to the atmosphere of the game, so there's no way they're going to put in the option for custom soundtracks when they put all that effort into scoring the game.

But in a racing game or whatever that's just full of licensed music anyway, maybe they can allow custom soundtracks as that's a soundtrack and not a score anyway.

I do like the 720p mandates though. No excuse for not having games in HD this generation and every generation on. I won't buy any non-hd or non- 16x9 games.
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']If a developer doesnt want to use a feature, for whatever reason, I dont see any reason to make them. I personally dont like the mandates that exist, but I'm always thinking about the developer. I dont even like mandating support for 720p. Of course a developer might be foolhardy not to, but I think they should have the option.

Maybe they dont see the feature as adding value to THEIR game, or maybe they figure the payoff would be minimal for the work involved. With regard to custom soundtracks, its easy to see how a developer has a certain vision for the game, which includes the in-game environment. It would be convenient for lets say, a survival horror game to let you play happy music in place of the creepy ones that they've crafted to the setting, but I wont be surprised if they dont go out of their way to make the options available.

If something is lacking that would have really made their game better in the eyes of most folks, then they leave it out at their own peril.

Think about the DS. There are a lot of options there. Not many games use the microphone. Some use mainly buttons and largely skip the touch screen or the 2nd screen. Some use the stylus exclusively.

What happened in early DS development is you ended up with a bunch games that had poor design decisions, not because of mandates, but because the developers were, at the time, trying to incorporate all the functionality that they could.[/QUOTE]

I do think that the system vendor should do all the legwork and make the features available via libraries that can be easily called.

Custom soundtracks on the XBox haven't stopped horror games from being made. Sure, developers don't want pesky users mucking with their art and playing their own music. Hell, why not just remove the ability of users to turn down the in-game soundtrack volume altogether!? I mean, it is THEIR game.

Anyways, I am a fan of game music and always play a game through with the provided soundtrack the first time around. If it contains memorable tunes I'll keep playing it. But most game music is mediocre and in need of replacement.

I'm well aware of the early troubles of the DS but I have never heard of any mandated features during that period. Got any links on that?

In the end I guess I'm one of the few that really likes custom soundtracks. I'm spoiled by years of PC gaming with Winamp running in the background. All the people screaming for an in-game XMB for the PS3 really just want in-game chat, so all the Sony PR on the subject has only mentioned "in-game communication". We probably won't get a real in-game XMB with custom music because I'm the only one that gives a shit. :sniff: :cry:
 
You're just being silly. There's no reason to force devs to allow for custom soundtracks. None.

If you want custom music, go to the options and turn down the volume of the music on the game. Then play some music. Done.

You've already been doing this for years with winamp as you said.

If we're going to force custom soundtracks upon the devs then I don't see any reason for the devs to put music in their games in the first place. The music they place in the game is generally a good complement to the gameplay.

there's really no argument here.
 
It's easier to just have one device running at a time, and if Sony has the feature to save tracks to the HD, wouldn't it just make sense to allow it to run during games?? This is what he's saying, the system manufacturers need to allow some of these features to override game features so developers don't have to worry about them. That's why the 360's soundtracks work better, the game doesn't have to worry about it.
 
Wii - Mandate 480p and 16:9 (At least the latter; come on, almost 18 months into the system's life and there are STILL games that only support 4:3)

360 - Ranked Achievements suck, period. They need to go.

PS3 - Voice Chat on all multiplayer games. How is this not an issue?
 
360 - Multiplayer achievements, especially those pertaining to aging games, should have an expiration to them where they are converted to some other achievement/single player achievement or just given out. Certain games, mostly older FPS titles, are impossible to get a match or a ranked match anymore. Thus, this kills off the achievements with crazy scores to get like CoD3 40000.
 
Well, obviously I think most agree that console manufacturers should mandate some features. Things like Achievements have been mandated for the betterment of the console. But I think you can take it too far, forcing developers to throw in every bell and whistle and take away development time. If it can be setup so ti won't take any real effort to implement, then sure, make it required. If it's as simple as flipping a switch in development, then who cares? I just can't imagine hardly anything works that simply.
 
[quote name='NTolerance']
3. 360 achievements - while achievements are mandatory, there are very few guidelines placed on the quality of them. The majority of gamers have voiced their dislike of multiplayer achievements and Microsoft has passed this info along to developers, but has not made any required changes. As a result we are still seeing unattainable multiplayer achievements that were poorly thought out by developers.[/quote]

I hear ya on this one. I hate it when a game has a tacked on multiplayer mode (presumably just so they can use that as a bullet point on the back of the box) such as The Darkness or Fear and then the majority of their acheivements rely on accomplishing tasks within the multiplayer mode itself. And it's not just normal stuff like "get 10 kills without dying". It's insane stuff like get 1,000 headshots and what not. Of course I exaggerate (slightly) but still .. the point remains.

And yeah, how is support for voice chat in online games not a mandatory feature for the PS3 yet .. I'm looking at you Hot Shots golf!
 
OP, it's painfully clear that you have no idea how a game is developed. Features are generally planned well in advance. Depending on how the project moves along, features may be modified or removed entirely. Who is to say that certain games did not have plans for custom soundtracks, only to scrap that due to a lack of time or increased development cost? Custom soundtracks hardly rank high on too many development lists. Most developers are more concerned with making sure that the game itself delivers the original intended experience.

I am willing to bet that not as many people use custom soundtracks as you think they do. It's not "as big a deal" as one would think.

And for what it's worth, mandates are terrible in the development world. Developers should have as many possible avenues for creation as possible and "mandating" that they include certain things can potentially result in features being cut along with diminishing game quality.

Achievements are one thing. They are a simple API call. Custom soundtracks aren't so easy.

A lot of people here fail to realize one thing as well about "mandated" resolutions. You are severely limiting your audience if you do this. When you publish a game, you want it to reach the highest audience possible. Your very existance depends on it. Limiting this to "just those people who have HDTV's" would be brutal to any businesses bottom line and market scope. People like to think "omg everyone has teh widescreen now!" when in fact, a still small amount of the population even own an HDTV to begin with.
 
[quote name='tokitoki50']You're just being silly. There's no reason to force devs to allow for custom soundtracks. None.

If you want custom music, go to the options and turn down the volume of the music on the game. Then play some music. Done.

You've already been doing this for years with winamp as you said.

If we're going to force custom soundtracks upon the devs then I don't see any reason for the devs to put music in their games in the first place. The music they place in the game is generally a good complement to the gameplay.

there's really no argument here.[/quote]

Yeah, I'd prefer CoD4's incredible soundtrack over my music anytime!
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']OP, it's painfully clear that you have no idea how a game is developed. Features are generally planned well in advance. Depending on how the project moves along, features may be modified or removed entirely. Who is to say that certain games did not have plans for custom soundtracks, only to scrap that due to a lack of time or increased development cost? Custom soundtracks hardly rank high on too many development lists. Most developers are more concerned with making sure that the game itself delivers the original intended experience.

[/QUOTE]

It's clear that you haven't fully read my posts. I already mentioned rushed development and QC issues as well as how these types of features should be made very easy to implement via libraries provided by the system manufacturer. The idea is not to make development harder. If the system software overrides the game software so that the developer doesn't have to do anything (a la 360 music player) then that's perfect.
 
I must be the only one who really uses custom soundtracks, unless it's an epic game like a RPG. I cannot stand the soundtrack in Puzzle quest that much, I wanted to replace it with the soundtrack from Quiz and Dragons, but I haven't been able to find it.
 
certain games should have a custom soundtrack, not all of them. That's why Nintendo, MS, and Sony aren't forcing devs to have custom soundtracks. Final Fantasy doesn't need custom sountracks, but Motorstorm, Fzero, PGR4, Madden, fight night. It should be on a game by game basis, but devs should really take advantage of the feature.
 
[quote name='hiccupleftovers']360 - Multiplayer achievements, especially those pertaining to aging games, should have an expiration to them where they are converted to some other achievement/single player achievement or just given out. Certain games, mostly older FPS titles, are impossible to get a match or a ranked match anymore. Thus, this kills off the achievements with crazy scores to get like CoD3 40000.[/QUOTE]

I completly support this idea. Most of the first gen 360 games basically had busted achievements. Obviously they thought that since they were the only games available that everyone would be playing them and unlocking the acheivements , but not many did then and even fewer will now (Ridge Racer 6 and PDZ are both fine examples). Then of course you have more recent games that are hurt there because the game just sucks (the BK games , Vampire Rain , Fuzion Frenzy 2 all come to mind in my personal collection).

Although I don't really have a problem with multplayer based achievemnts , since I don't play online it'd be nice if there was another option available to getting the full 1000 points in most games. It sucks seeing a game in my gamertag that has less than a full score when it's pretty much outta my hands to ever achieve the full score , as opposed to a game that just takes a really long time or takes a lot of effort to get the full score which doesn't bother me nearly as much.

Edit: On the note about custom soundtracks , I think the only games that should "require" CSs are racing games , sports games and puzzle games , as these are usually the games that have the crappiest built in soundtracks to begin with. Anything else , I'm usually perfectly content with the built in music.
 
[quote name='Thomas96']certain games should have a custom soundtrack, not all of them. That's why Nintendo, MS, and Sony aren't forcing devs to have custom soundtracks.[/quote]

That's exactly why it is best implemented directly into the console. So developers don't have to bother with it and players get the choice whether they use their own music or not.
 
[quote name='zengonzo']That's exactly why it is best implemented directly into the console. So developers don't have to bother with it and players get the choice whether they use their own music or not.[/QUOTE]

But again, developers of games which use music like a movie score to build atmosphere aren't going to want that to be possible. And they shouldn't not if games are going to be considered art as many push for.

The feature is there. It's up to Devs to use it when they see fit.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']But again, developers of games which use music like a movie score to build atmosphere aren't going to want that to be possible. And they shouldn't not if games are going to be considered art as many push for.[/quote]

I think that's kind of crazy. If I've played through a game once, and I just want to play it again with my own music, why should they care?

Why should they care regardless of the circumstances? How could it not be better to give the player the choice?

If a player is absolutely determined to listen to his or her own music, all they have to do is switch to another device or wear headphones. But then they miss out on the music AND the environmental sounds.

Why limit when it could be optional?
 
[quote name='zengonzo']I think that's kind of crazy. If I've played through a game once, and I just want to play it again with my own music, why should they care?

Why should they care regardless of the circumstances? How could it not be better to give the player the choice?
[/QUOTE]

Because it is art. Just like a film score, they put the music in to shape the experience in games like Bioshock, RPGs etc. Obviously, it doesn't matter in racing games etc. that just have rock or rap music anyway, but in scored games they made the music to fit the scenes and that's how they want the game to be experienced.

Just like a movie director wants their movie to be seen the same by everyone in terms of the music, being in original aspect ratio etc. etc.

And like you said, people that don't give a shit and want to ignore it can just play their own music. But honestly, people that don't care at all about the score, atmosphere etc. probably shouldn't be playing RPGs, atmospheric games like Bioshock etc. as they don't have the capacity to fully enjoy them and should stick with lighter fare.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Because it is art. Just like a film score, they put the music in to shape the experience in games like Bioshock, RPGs etc. Obviously, it doesn't matter in racing games etc. that just have rock or rap music anyway, but in scored games they made the music to fit the scenes and that's how they want the game to be experienced.

Just like a movie director wants their movie to be seen the same by everyone in terms of the music, being in original aspect ratio etc. etc.

And like you said, people that don't give a shit and want to ignore it can just play their own music. But honestly, people that don't care at all about the score, atmosphere etc. probably shouldn't be playing RPGs, atmospheric games like Bioshock etc. as they don't have the capacity to fully enjoy them and should stick with lighter fare.[/QUOTE]

Where is the developer outcry over the 360 music player that can override the music in all games?

There's plenty of ways to "ruin" the intended experience. What if I play a PS3/360 game on a standard definition TV? What if I turn down the in-game music or dialog? God kills a kitten everytime someone listens to that lossless 7.1 audio mix on their TV speakers. Please, think of the kittens. :(
 
Yep, there are always plenty of ways to ruin the intended experience, so no reason to force developers to allow custom soundtracks the easy way if they intend for the music to add to the experience.
 
It would be nice if more developers of PS3 and 360 games included custom soundtrack in their games, which I'd mostly expect for sports and racing games. I can't think of a good reason why Bizarre cut out the awesome custom soundtrack feature that PGR2 had for PGR3 and 4. The 360 music player isn't the same thing, as that just plays music over the game's audio unless you can turn it down, which is basically the same as just turning on the radio or CD player while you play games.
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']It would be nice if more developers of PS3 and 360 games included custom soundtrack in their games, which I'd mostly expect for sports and racing games. I can't think of a good reason why Bizarre cut out the awesome custom soundtrack feature that PGR2 had for PGR3 and 4. The 360 music player isn't the same thing, as that just plays music over the game's audio unless you can turn it down, which is basically the same as just turning on the radio or CD player while you play games.[/QUOTE]

The one nice thing about the 360 music player is that it automatically mutes the in-game music but leaves all the sound FX.

[quote name='KingBroly']Wii - Mandate 480p and 16:9 (At least the latter; come on, almost 18 months into the system's life and there are STILL games that only support 4:3)

360 - Ranked Achievements suck, period. They need to go.

PS3 - Voice Chat on all multiplayer games. How is this not an issue?[/QUOTE]

Agreed 100% about the Wii resolution. Games not supporting widescreen at this stage is unacceptable. I can't believe a high-profile title like Mario Party 8 has bars on the side.
 
[quote name='NTolerance']The one nice thing about the 360 music player is that it automatically mutes the in-game music but leaves all the sound FX.[/quote]
Some games do, but not all.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114'] And like you said, people that don't give a shit and want to ignore it can just play their own music. But honestly, people that don't care at all about the score, atmosphere etc. probably shouldn't be playing RPGs, atmospheric games like Bioshock etc. as they don't have the capacity to fully enjoy them and should stick with lighter fare.[/quote]


You're saying 'force the developer', when we're talking about 'include functionality on the console'.

It's not about people not giving a shit about the score, it's about people wanting to enjoy a particular game in whatever way they prefer. If they've already beaten Bioshock once, but they really enjoy taking down Big Daddies to Ride of the Valkyries, why the fuck not?

I still don't understand why you think the choice should be removed from the player. Why should this not be at the player's discretion?
 
[quote name='zengonzo']You're saying 'force the developer', when we're talking about 'include functionality on the console'.

It's not about people not giving a shit about the score, it's about people wanting to enjoy a particular game in whatever way they prefer. If they've already beaten Bioshock once, but they really enjoy taking down Big Daddies to Ride of the Valkyries, why the fuck not?

I still don't understand why you think the choice should be removed from the player. Why should this not be at the player's discretion?[/QUOTE]

Agreed. The power to customize the gaming experience has long been intrinsic to the PC. With the "next-gen" consoles even going so far as to market themselves as comparable to PCs they really should start acting the part. :)
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']Some games do, but not all.[/quote]

Name one game that fades out ALL game noise to play only the custom soundtrack.

I havent seen a single game so far.
 
[quote name='Mookyjooky']Name one game that fades out ALL game noise to play only the custom soundtrack.

I havent seen a single game so far.[/quote]

I could be wrong, but I think he's saying that not all games fade out game music, which may be true. I imagine the developer would have to identify the music track to the API, and if they fail to do that ..

But at least you can turn down the music in most games, and then turn yours on with the Dashboard. Hopefully they add this to the XMB soon.
 
[quote name='zengonzo']You're saying 'force the developer', when we're talking about 'include functionality on the console'.

It's not about people not giving a shit about the score, it's about people wanting to enjoy a particular game in whatever way they prefer. If they've already beaten Bioshock once, but they really enjoy taking down Big Daddies to Ride of the Valkyries, why the fuck not?

I still don't understand why you think the choice should be removed from the player. Why should this not be at the player's discretion?[/QUOTE]

Because if developers want gamers to only experience their game with the score they made specifically to add to the experience, then they shouldn't be required to put support for custom soundtracks in the game. And that's what the OP was suggesting.

The options there, if developers want to give player's the option to use custom soundtracks in their game they can. If they don't and want to them to listen to the music the crafted to fit the game, they don't put in the option.

And that's the way it should be. At least if you want to look at games more as art in the vain of movies, rather than just mindless entertainment. Art aims to give people a specific experience, and the score in a movie or game is a big part of that by setting the tone and mood.

So if that's what a developer is going for, they should be able to force gamers to play it the way they want it to be played. It doesn't matter for things like racing games or sports games that aren't meant to be artistic as they're sims. Those games should support custom soundtracks.

But developers of games like Bioshock shouldn't be required to support them when they put so much into crafting a score to enhance the experience. If moron gamers want to ruin the experience they can just turn off the music and play their own. The developers shouldn't be required to support a feature to make it easier for people to ruin the experience they spent a couple years perfecting.
 
[quote name='Mookyjooky']Name one game that fades out ALL game noise to play only the custom soundtrack.

I havent seen a single game so far.[/quote]
:whistle2:s That's not what I meant.

[quote name='zengonzo']I could be wrong, but I think he's saying that not all games fade out game music, which may be true. I imagine the developer would have to identify the music track to the API, and if they fail to do that ..

But at least you can turn down the music in most games, and then turn yours on with the Dashboard. Hopefully they add this to the XMB soon.[/quote]
Bingo. Crackdown's one of the main offenders for me so far, as it doesn't allow its audio to be turned down at all, so explosions, shootings, and the annoying boss muck up that feature.
 
There's no need to be offensive. You're creating this concept that only a moron gamer would prefer to be able to play custom music when a developer doesn't give the option, yet there are obviously some games which could have benefited from the feature but did not include it. There are also other circumstances you aren't including in your assessment.

[quote name='dmaul1114']The developers shouldn't be required to support a feature to make it easier for people to ruin the experience they spent a couple years perfecting.[/quote]

Which brings us back to the beginning. The very title of the thread is 'don't leave system features up to the developers'. It shouldn't be in the hands of the developers, we ought to be able to play our music as we like, right? From the XMB.

They can't completely control how we play the games. I could put their beautiful graphics on a poorly optimized television and ruin what they've spent years to perfect. They don't set requirements on what kind of television I have. Nor can they control my sound system, or the seat that I choose to sit in.

So, to get back to the basic question - I ask you, why shouldn't players be allowed to play their music from the XMB whenever they feel like? It in no way requires other players to use custom soundtracks should they not wish to, nor does it apparently require developers to bother with such a thing if they do not wish to.

So why should it not always be an option for those who want it?!
 
Hey, if Microsoft wants to put an option into the console so be it.

But developers shouldn't be required to build in custom soundtrack support into their game. That was my only point. People were saying developers should be required to allow for custom soundtracks etc., just like they have to put games in 720p etc. That I don't like. Developers shouldn't be required to do anything.

Sorry if my posts were offensive, but honestly I really don't care. I look down on people who'd want to turn of the music in a game like Bioshock just the same as people who buy butchered pan and scan movies instead of the orignal aspect ration widescreen version. Both are people that don't care about the art of the movie/game, and people who's opinions I henceforth disregard.
 
Microsoft already did, and it generally works great. The nice thing about this is when custom music ought to be available and the developer did not facilitate it for reasons other than the artistic, be it budget or disinterest, it is still there.

And I can appreciate your strong views on the art of it, but just the same I think that should be up to the player.

If I've already played Bioshock (as you reference - it's not really my kind of game), a hundred times through, and I am not really up for the atmosphere but enjoy getting juiced and shocking some splicers to Vince Guaraldi or whatever - then why the heck not, right?

I prefer open world games, so custom soundtracks are ideal for me, and their lack of guarantee on the PS3 is what causes me to default to a 360 version of any given game where all other things are roughly equal.

Anyhow, there are all sorts of constraints forced on developers when they develop for a platform, so it isn't as if they currently have complete freedom to develop as they wish. They have to conform to an API.

And kudos to your sense of standards. It feels at times lacking in the modern market.
 
what about MS limiting size for XBLA and no keyboard and mosue support? The standard can be both ways.
 
[quote name='zengonzo']Microsoft already did, and it generally works great. The nice thing about this is when custom music ought to be available and the developer did not facilitate it for reasons other than the artistic, be it budget or disinterest, it is still there.[/quote]

And that's fine. All I was saying is that developers shouldn't be forced to tailor their game to things they feel hurt the experience. They can never force anyone to play it just the way they intended, but they shouldn't be required to build into their game things like custom soundtrack support if they feel it hurts the experience.

Developers have to work with in the limits of the system, so they have to live with the fact that people could still play their own music another way. Hell, people can always turn down the music in game or mute the TV and play a CD, so that's really no different than it's always been.

But forcing them to support things like custom sound tracks in a game where they've spent a lot of effort on the score is just counter-productive to them in designing their art. People can use the 360 feature or their stereo if they want to butcher the game, the developers shouldn't have to facilitate them doing so. :D
 
[quote name='62t']what about MS limiting size for XBLA and no keyboard and mosue support? The standard can be both ways.[/QUOTE]

Limiting XBLA game size was a good idea, to me. It just needs to be reevaluated and set into tiers. For example, it's fine if Symphony of the Night takes up a few hundred MBs, but Frogger? If some boundaries weren't set then developers would get lazy and let the size of the game bloat. That's bad news for those with just a 20GB hard drive.

But in general, yes, I agree with you.
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']OP, it's painfully clear that you have no idea how a game is developed. Features are generally planned well in advance. Depending on how the project moves along, features may be modified or removed entirely. Who is to say that certain games did not have plans for custom soundtracks, only to scrap that due to a lack of time or increased development cost? Custom soundtracks hardly rank high on too many development lists. Most developers are more concerned with making sure that the game itself delivers the original intended experience.

I am willing to bet that not as many people use custom soundtracks as you think they do. It's not "as big a deal" as one would think.

And for what it's worth, mandates are terrible in the development world. Developers should have as many possible avenues for creation as possible and "mandating" that they include certain things can potentially result in features being cut along with diminishing game quality.

Achievements are one thing. They are a simple API call. Custom soundtracks aren't so easy.

A lot of people here fail to realize one thing as well about "mandated" resolutions. You are severely limiting your audience if you do this. When you publish a game, you want it to reach the highest audience possible. Your very existance depends on it. Limiting this to "just those people who have HDTV's" would be brutal to any businesses bottom line and market scope. People like to think "omg everyone has teh widescreen now!" when in fact, a still small amount of the population even own an HDTV to begin with.[/QUOTE]
Adding to this well thought-out post, pretty much everything developers do in a game gets prioritized. The kinds of things the OP talks about mandating are pretty low-priority compared to actual gameplay and mechanics choices/tweaks.

Developers want to make the coolest game possible, but it's simply impossible to put in everything. Time and budgets are quality's worst enemy, and sadly they often have higher-up employees pulling for them. There's only so many people on a given project, and only so much money that can be invested in it. This is especially true in annual or sequel-driven franchises -- which are becoming more and more of a majority these days.

I think as developers get more familiar with current hardware and streamline development as a result, we'll naturally see these extra little niceties implemented. I gotta say: I for one am a proponent of retaining the designer's original vision whenever possible. They have a certain way they want the game to be played, and while there's lots of options and creativity out there, we should let them tell us that story -- like we trust a movie's director/editor.
 
So let's forget the notion that I somehow want to stifle the creativity of developers for a moment and look at boneheaded liberties that some third parties have taken with systems.

1. Army of Two "EA Account". I have an Xbox live subscription. I fire up the game and go to the multiplayer menu option. I am told that I must create an EA Account to play online. This is unacceptable. I already have Xbox live. That's all I need to play online. Microsoft should not allow third parties to tack on their own bullshit. Apparently Konami is doing something similar with Metal Gear Online.

2. Steam and double-dipping with the DRM. Steam has a fairly secure and not completely hated DRM system. Yet Valve allows third party developers to retain their retail DRM schemes on top of the DRM that Steam already has built-in. This is sloppy, obtrusive, and just lame. But Valve doesn't put down any guidelines so here we are, stuck with the crap.

When a company makes a product and then allows third parties to produce hardware and software compatible with that product, is it unreasonable to specify guidelines to insure a seamless experience?
 
Those suck, but are totally different from the music issue as they have nothing to do with the art of the game.

No one (other than the money grubbing publishers) is going to get upset if console makers dis-allow that stuff.

Thanks for the heads up on Army of Two. I was on the fence about picking it up when it's cheap, now I'll stay away from it.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Those suck, but are totally different from the music issue as they have nothing to do with the art of the game.

No one (other than the money grubbing publishers) is going to get upset if console makers dis-allow that stuff.

Thanks for the heads up on Army of Two. I was on the fence about picking it up when it's cheap, now I'll stay away from it.[/QUOTE]

If you like co-op you owe it to yourself to get Army of Two in spite of the stupid EA Account crap.
 
[quote name='NTolerance']If you like co-op you owe it to yourself to get Army of Two in spite of the stupid EA Account crap.[/QUOTE]

At best I'll just rent it as my buddy I usually play coops with doesn't have a 360 anyway, so we just do split screen. That way I don't support EA's crap, and it seems like it's too short of a game to buy anyway.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']At best I'll just rent it as my buddy I usually play coops with doesn't have a 360 anyway, so we just do split screen. That way I don't support EA's crap, and it seems like it's too short of a game to buy anyway.[/QUOTE]

I find a lot of replay value in getting all the weapons and upgrades as well as the Achievements. Those that like to blast through games as quickly as possible without exploring and trying different difficulty levels will find this game as well as many others to be "short".
 
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