Top 10's: Weird Rules in Video Games | Video Games News ...

I?m taking Travis? Top 10?s in a different direction this week. I covered Over the Top Weapons last week, but it?s time to dig a little deeper and really get into the center of how video games work this time around.

The major appeal of video games is the idea of escaping to an alternate world where the rules no longer apply as they do in the real world, or at least they used to be back before everyone was playing baseball in their living rooms. That being said, I can totally understand when I can murder a group of civilians, steal a car, escape the cops, and never hear from them again. I can also understand the idea of being able to fly through the sky with the help of a hat as an Italian plumber. What I really can?t seem to understand is how some of these rules of gaming came to fruition and have stood the test of time.

?

10. Fatter Means Stronger

I think the first time I really experienced this was while playing Streets of Rage 3. I know I?ve battled unbreakable fatties?long before then, but this is really the one that remains prominent in my mind. You?re walking along, beating up the occasional thug when you suddenly pass this garage door. If I?ve learned anything valuable from side scrollers, it?s that any and all doors are just packed with enemies ready to jump you. What I wasn?t ready for was the owner of a future burger-induced stroke that made his way out of the garage door with a big smile on his face. Being Axel, I gave him a good combo to the gut (which was basically 90% of him) and, to my relief, he fell down and took a little while actually getting up?but when he finally did rise?oh dear God! A quick rolling attack knocked me down like a bowling pin and that?s when I noticed how large his health bar was. I do love running into these big guys to this very day, although I?ve learned not to try and throw them over my shoulder? that is a fatal error.

9. Characters Can Carry As Much As They Want

Since the dawn of time it seems, video game characters have always had an inventory that they carried around with them. Now I have nothing wrong with Link carrying around a suitcase full of Deku nuts and various tunics, except for the fact that there is no suitcase? there?s never a suitcase. Resident Evil made it a little more realistic with the idea of having a small amount of items you can carry, but even then, somehow I just don?t see a young Leon Kennedy hauling a rocket launcher around Raccoon City as well additional guns and ammo.

?

8. Weapons Weigh Nothing

I got into Japanese RPGs early on in my life as a nerd with the Final Fantasy series.?Final Fantasy?VII?was, of course, my favorite in the series. But even with a strong storyline, state of the art graphics (for its time) and unique colorful characters, the first thing I thought while playing it was ?how is Cloud hauling that thing around??. As time went on, I dug deeper into the world of Japanese video games and realized, massive weapons are just a ?thing? over there. Everyone seems to have them and swing them around like they?re made of air. This is a mystery that will never be solved and is just something I guess we?ll have to live with.

?

7. Bullets Aren?t Lethal

Sure, back in the days of Contra, bullets were portrayed as deadly as they are in real life. As game?s grew and evolved though, developers began to realize that, ?Damn, these game?s are too hard?. The result is your modern day shoot-em-ups where your character is taking a barrage of bullets only to end up perfectly fine moments later?

?

6. 5 Seconds is All You Need to Recover

This is something that came from said growth and evolution of the video game industry. Games are much more realistic in tone now and appeal to the modern gamer with edge-of-your-seat action from start to end. The result is the death of the health bar and birth of the recovery system. Healing items have also mostly become a thing of the past as screens will now simply redden or become blurry when near death? that is until you hide around a corner and simply stop moving for 5 seconds. This blew my mind when I first experienced it and thought to myself, ?this only works if I?m playing a game as Wolverine or some other superhuman character with an advanced healing factor.? While I don?t welcome the return of one hit deaths in my video games, I do think this whole recovery thing is a little absurd.

5. Sewers Make for Great Transportation

Whether you?re a Mario fan or more of a TMNT type of guy, there?s no denying that sewers have been portrayed as common modes of transportation. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live in the sewers, making their way across the city, and Mario takes it one step further. The turtles live in a real life setting, but in Mario?s little fantasy land, pipes are the favored method of travel from area to area. These pipes are basically a sewer system of sorts throughout Mario?s world and he can ride those bad boys across the entire world. The idea of a single system of interconnecting pipes running throughout an entire world is definitely a scary thought. Let?s just hope that the piranha plants don?t decide to rise up and rebel against the mushroom kingdom any time soon?

?

4. Thugs Are Oblivious To All

Stealth has become a widely popular aspect of modern day?gaming. Whether you?re sneaking around a World War II bunker or silently making through way through Arkham?Asylum, you will encounter a large amount of enemies on your path. Luckily for you, they?re overly stupid. It seems as hard as game developers try to make realistic AI, they will always lack a certain human instinctual component. After all, they are still just computer programs. I don?t care how dark it is, if a 210Lbs guy in a heavy bat suit can sneak up on me when my buddy is literally 10 feet away, I need to seriously think about finding new friends. This also applies to any stealthy shooters like Deus Ex: Human Revolution?where you can walk up to a man, shoot him point blank in the head, then hide out until they simply stop looking for you and go back to doing nothing. ?I will avenge my fallen brother!?Never mind, this is exhausting. Give me a shout if you find him. I?ll just be over here leaning against a wall.?

?

3. Dead Bodies Will Simply Clean Themselves Up

This has always been a big one for me, although I fully understand why this occurs. You kill an NPC, they hit the ground? and then vanish. Realistically, if every dead body remained wherever you left it, the game would have a seriously large amount of things running at once and we?re only so technologically advanced, so I?m sure your game would lag and eventually crash. The world would be a much less scary place if dead bodies ceased to exist. The zombie apocalypse would never be able to occur and the news would consist mostly of sunshine and rainbows? not to mention the money we?d all save in funeral costs.

?

2. Food Never Expires

First time I saw this occur, I was a turtle eating a full pizza I found on the ground. To be fair, the pizza was in a box and could have been simply dropped a moment ago by a delivery man? also I was a turtle, so who cares? I think the line was crossed when I was a vampire hunter, making my way through Dracula?s castle. I imagine the home of the one and only Dracula to be full of rotting corpses and fridges full of blood, collected from his pray, but I found something much more disturbing. The first time my whip accidentally hit a secret spot on the wall, I was surprised to see the wall suddenly give away and reveal what looked to be a turkey leg. After quickly scanning my manual, my suspicions were accurate and this was, in fact, a piece of food behind false bricks. I took the food, since I was low on health but couldn?t help worrying about the food poisoning that undoubtedly awaited my character after this whole ?Dracula? thing was taken care of. Health potions are so much simpler and realistic, Hell, I?ll even take red and white mushrooms over a turkey leg!

1. Touching Kills

Ever since the very beginning, touching an enemy was fatal to your health. Why do you think Pac-man was searching so damn hard for those power up dots? Mario finally took center stage and said, ?enough is enough? when he decided that he would not only touch the enemy, he would jump atop its head and squash it into the ground, but he still couldn?t bump into them without dying. I thank evolution for finally ridding us of this mystery in most modern games but, even once it has been ridden from the world, the scars will always remain.

?

What are some rules in video games you have noticed? Let us know in the comments section below.

You May Also Like:

E3 2012 ? All The News In One Place

Microsoft E3 2012 Press Conference: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Sony E3 2012 Press Conference: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Nintendo E3 2012 Press Conference: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Nintendo 3DS Software Showcase: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

VN:F [1.9.11_1134]

the descendants the descendants homeland homeland packers giants game golden globe winners 2012 ricky gervais golden globes