http://www.cracked.com/article_16196_7-commandments-all-video-games-should-obey.html

The above is a Cracked.com article that offers up "The 7 Commandments All Video Games Should Obey". the article provides some lengthy yet often interesting arguments regarding the faults of several modern video games and what should be done to remedy said faults.

All-in-all, I found these sentiments to be mostly reasonable. Even the best games can make needless mistakes. One interesting trend I noticed in these "Commandments" is that most of the related complaints are against trends of recent years. The very first entry derides the lack of local split-screen mutiplayer in favor of online play in games such as Grand Theft Auto IV and MotorStorm, defending said assertion with the claim that Super Smash Bros. Brawl was one of the best-selling games of 2008 and does feature local multiplayer (in addition to online play). Another "Commandment" regards the huge leap in graphics technology in this console generation, citing the fact that the Wii, the most graphically underpowered of the current generation consoles, is also the best-selling so far.

The big reason why these particular arguments got my attention more than others is because it constitutes a larger problem in digital media. There's so much cool new stuff out there nowadays, that designers can forget their roots and get too caught up in trends. Likewise, some game developers are getting so caught in all the new and exciting innovations being made in that field, that they seem to have forgotten the purpose of a game: to entertain. There's nothing wrong with taking advantage of new features such as online play and photorealistic graphics technology; in fact, such things are to be expected. But some developers seem to forget that they need to make games that can entertain and engage people.

That's really one of the big challenges of all designers. They must be willing to embrace new innovations in design, but at the same time, they also need to remember their roots and why they do what they do. Otherwise, they're missing the point.