A letter to game developers...

[inlayterms]

I'd like to start a thread where we can discuss what features should be incorporated into games to make them more enjoyable for the players. I'm not necessarily talking about any specific game, but games in general.

For instance, one thing I would like to see more of in games is the ability to map the button controls. Too often games provide too few control options or sometimes none at all. Frankly, I think this can be frustrating for the players (primarily left-handed players) but is also counterproductive for developers as it limits the market to which a game is sold (e.g. if a game only has one preset control scheme, which is for right-handed players, how does a developer expect left-handed players to play the game?).

For example, I'm currently playing Dead Space where L2 is "run" and R2 is "secondary firing". Now, I would like to map L2 to "secondary firing" and R2 to "run". It doesn't seem that hard, but I don't know why developers rarely allow custom button mapping.

Another thing is music in a game. Now, unlike most players, I always turn off the music in the options menu. But, if music is part of the game's environment (i.e. the "soundtrack"), I want to hear it, what I don't want to hear is a full orchestra following my player (i.e. the "score").

For example, take the Hitman series. When I'm in the bar in Rotterdam, I want to hear the music that's playing in the bar, I just don't want to hear the music that follows the player around all the time. But, if I turn the music off, I don't hear any music at all. I think developers need to realize the difference between the two and allow the player to turn one, or both of them, on or off.

Finally, option menus should always be in game and not require you to quit your game in order to access it, which simply takes too much time.

What about you guys? Do you agree or disagree with the above? Do you think there are any other standard features that should be incorporated into games in general? I'd like to hear what you have to say.