So far my #WednesdayWishlists have been solely about stuff that I would like to have – a simple exercise in base capitalism. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love wanting, buying and owning cool stuff however it’s not the only thing I wish for. This week I want to share a few things that annoy me and I wish weren’t  part of modern gaming.

Day One Patches

Don’t get me wrong if there are bugs with a game when it’s released I want them fixed as soon as possible, a day one patch is ideal for that. The problem is, I wish there wasn’t a need for all these patches. Okay, I hear some of you say, ‘So what if it gets fixed that quick? Where’s the harm?’.

Firstly AAA games cost a good deal of money, £45 is not a small sum of money for me and indeed a lot of other people. At these prices they should be released ready to be played i.e. free from bugs – its a principle thing.

Secondly, if I buy a game I want to play it as soon as I get some time to unwind with the console. I don’t want to be wasting this time waiting for a patch to download so the sky doesn’t turn purple at random intervals. Gaming time has become more precious to me as it has gotten harder to get as the responsibilities of adult life keeps more and more of my time tied up.

Where has all the split screen co-op gone?

Right, I’m fully aware that I may be out numbered in my opinion on this matter, but I really do wish more games were developed with split screen co-op. I concede that online multiplayer has become somewhat incredible over the last few years and has rightfully become a large area of focus for developers. My issues are not really with online multiplayer. My issue is with the fact that it seems to be becoming more and more the only option games have for gaming with your mates.

Why, you ask, is this a problem for me?  Because I simply love split screen co-op.  Sure you have a more limited view but its more social to physically sit down  with your mate, crack open a tinny and punch each other in the arm when you steal each others loot. I find this far more preferable to being given abuse from an anonymous 12 year old who has a far more colourful vocabulary than I did at that age.

The other day my better half wanted to have a blaze on the PS4 with me, a rare occurrence, but the only game that I had which the two of us could play together was UFC and after she had whooped my ass with GSP for a fifth time we both started to lose interest.  I can connect how many controllers up to my PS4? Lets be honest, what’s the point if I don’t have the option to co-op on any of my games?

I don’t know, maybe I’m a bit old school when it comes to gaming these days or maybe I’m just a bit nostalgic for days when I had Borderland 2 “gameathons” with the lads. Either way I feel that the industry has left split screen co-op behind even though I still feel there is a place for it. I’m not asking for every game to have split screen, I’m just asking for more of them to be developed with that option.

Pre – Christmas Releases

But so many good games are released in the build up months to Christmas. What could I possibly dislike about that?

There are too many games released! Yes many of them fantastic, some of them less. The problem is my wallet cannot cope. I have to pick one out of five or six great games and end up having to buy two because I just can’t decide. Sorry Mr Bank Manager. Sure when I was sixteen this wasn’t an problem – people wanted to buy me presents then! However now I’m a ‘grown-up’ people think I’m joking when I ask for a game and I will inevitably end up with socks.  I’m sure I’m not alone in this plight.  Not only does this mean I feel a lot poorer around Christmas, a time when money is already too easy to spend, but surely the less popular games are going end up over looked.

The other thing that gets me relates back to  what I mentioned earlier in this post: Day One Patches. Because the developers feel that they have to release a game in time to be wrapped up and in ‘Little Tom’s’ Christmas Stocking, there is an increasing trend of rushing to finish the product which results in buggy releases.  Why can’t they just spread out the releases a little bit?

Reading back through this post it looks more like a ‘whinge-list’ than a wishlist. But hey I’m British and moaning is a national past time! I sure next week I’ll go back to drooling over more geekery and gadgets that I can’t afford…