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It's been an exciting year for videogames, from the launch of new consoles to the release of many surprisingly good indie games. And we'll talk about that in due time. For now, we're recapping the things that bummed us out about 2013.
In years past we've looked at the games that most disappointed us during the previous 12 months, but for the most part, singing out specific titles didn't seem right this year. First off, it's difficult to be truly disappointed by bad games you can smell coming a mile away.
Secondly, the most disturbing things this year seemed to us to be general trends, not specific problems. When disappointment comes in waves versus isolated incidents, it's more troubling. But we are nothing if not optimists here at Game|Life. So we'll offer a few silver linings as we run down the biggest bummers of 2013.
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Xbox One's Erratic Voice Command System
Xbox, turn on. Xbox, turn on. Oh, right. Xbox, on. XBOX. ON. There we go. Xbox, watch TV. XBOX. WATCH TV. NO XBOX NOT WHAT'S ON MTV, WATCH TV. Microsoft sold Xbox One's voice command system, powered by the new Kinect camera that bumps up the retail price of each $500 Xbox One, as a core feature of the new console. And it is great when it works. But it's got a lot of problems. It's hard to remember exactly what command you need to issue at any given moment: It's not "Xbox, play disc" or "Xbox, watch Blu-ray," it's "Xbox, go to Blu-ray player" or nothing. Also, if you have a lot of people in the room, the accuracy of voice commands gets much, much worse even if people aren't talking very much. Microsoft promises that this is just the beginning of the Xbox One's user interface, and given what happened over the lifespan of the Xbox 360, there's every reason to believe that's true. But as for now? Big bummer. Xbox, off.
XBOX. OFF. OH GOD DAMN IT. XBOX, TURN OFF. — Chris Kohler
Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
