I don't have a problem with celebrity VO's as long as it fits in well with the game. DA:O had plenty of choice with a smattering of well known voice actors and I couldn't imagine playing Arkham Asylum without the voices of Kevin Conroy, Mark Hammil and Arlene Sorkin.

XIII however would be a good example of why?? Nice to hear Adam West but you get the impression Duchovney was only in the role because he was David Duchovney. He certainly brought nothing to the character.

It just seems to be to me that the reason why we get so little choice now is because they need to consider the VA-work, that without all these voice-overs we'd get more interactivity since not only would they save on the budget but they wouldn't need to worry about recording lines that no one will ever hear etc. And so, when I hear a game touting that they have got "omigod that tart from that film you never bothered to see!" whose been paid x amount that could have gone into the actual interactive parts of the game, then I get moody. And you won't like me when I'm mooody! :P

If I want celebrities and cinematic experiences I'll watch a film, I go to games for interactive stories.

Well, the thing is, even older games suffer from this problem, it's just it was overlooked more then (which is, frankly, a good thing) Mega Man 2 is considered to be a good game, but it would have been a much better game if Buebeam Trap had a different design, but then, if it didn't have Buebeam Trap it wouldn't be the same game. There isn't really a could have been, a game is good or it isn't.

Voice acting has been a stable part of videogaming now since the 90's it's not a new thing. Wing Commander 3, Nomad Soul, The Command & Conquer series, Star Trek games and various others all used well established actors to portray roles in video games. You could argue that as game production costs have increased publishers have been able to acquire more expensive voice talent but that really isn't the issue here. The issue is writing and general game design which has removed choice from games not that it's too expensive to do. I would argue that pushing the graphics of games has had more of an impact on the budget of games than hiring a few voice actors for an afternoon session in VO booth.

Yeah, but those games from the 90s that had VA also did not usually have much in the way of choice in dialogue. VA costs a lot more than just an afternoon session in a booth, and takes a fair share of the budget and planning.

Of course, I'm not saying that other factors haven't contributed as well, I just see the obsession with VAs as symptomatic of the problem at large: the desire to make games more 'cinematic' by making them more like films, wherein the player watches pretty cutscenes where their character does awesome stuff while saying witty things in Bruce Forsyth's voice because the writer wants to 'tell a story' without the player getting in the way.

In short, I agree with you, writing and design is also part of the problem, which is why I also don't hold up much hope for a game when I hear that they have either got some famous Hollywood director or film writer in to help make the game. VAs and wannabe film-makers are the bane of my gaming dreams! Get me my axe!

I do this mostly when play a sequel to a game I have played and there are significant changes that were made to the game system, or even a complete change in genre. I often find myself thinking how would the game be if the mechanics were closer to what they were in the original or how would I have enjoyed the original if it had the same mechanics as the sequel.

With me it depends on the game, and what it feels like the game was going for.

For instance, I tend to find the Fable series fairly annoying for this reason. Knowing what was intended with the games' designs, and seeing how far they were from achieving that, always irks me. Sure, the games are fun, and at some point I plan on picking up the third one, but they are so far from what they wanted to be it is practically painful. Brutal Legend was another good example of this, as are most of the console pseudo-ports of computer RPGs like Baldur's Gate and EverQuest, sacrificing large parts of what make those games great in exchange for fancier graphics and quicker startup.

On the other hand, other games I find perfectly adequate even with what limitations they have. "Borderlands" is probably one of my favorite games, and though flawed (severely in the case of the graphics,) I find myself able to easily overlook those flaws on the grounds that the game is blending elements that most people would never think could work together and doing it more than adequately while still offering a fairly deep play experience. I feel similarly about most older games, understanding the balance that had to be struck between technological limitations and artistic vision. After all, nobody would argue about the technical merits of the original Super Mario Bros. despite its simplicity compared to what modern games offer.

This is probably my second-most hated part of modern games. I don't want to watch a story, I want to fucking play a story!

My most hated is arrows or markers always telling you where to go and what to do.

Aye, obviously the cinematic issue is my most hated part of modern videogames. :D The markers don't bother me so much when the game's scenary is so cluttered that you are reduced to pixel hunting, though in that case it's more a case of compensating for bad design, and as long as the directions are good though there is no need for arrows I agree, and that's coming from someone who gets lost constantly. ;)

What, like in Double Dragon where if you dawdle too long, an arrow flashes on the right telling you to shift your ass?

No, more like how Crysis 2 has a big fucking blue marker on the screen at all times telling me where to go as if I was too stupid to know I should move forward, not backward. Or like how Oblivion is supposed to be about exploring and living in a massive open world but it has glowing markers always telling you where to go, ruining any sense of exploration.

Or how some FPS' have you under a CO that gets progressively more PO'd if you dick around looking for hidden items while making your way back to him/her.

The TellTale Sam and Max games had the option of turning off, or at least reducing the frequency, of hints dropped in the form of passive dialogue. Didn't the first Crysis game turn off waypoints and directional markers in the harder difficulties? It's a shame you couldn't "customize" your difficulty by just turning off markers without raising damage done to you by enemy shots or turning on "ironsights only".

Oh God that is so irritating, and games that encourage you to look around do it! Arg!