10 Features Game Developers Should Embrace

Interesting article by Blake Snow via Business Week.

The list basically reads:
1. Never ask a player if they want to save their game.
2. Always say "press any button" to start a game.
3. Always let players remap controller buttons to suit their preferences.
4. Always let players skip cut scenes no matter how important they are to the story.
5. Never let a camera get too close to a player or bump into a wall.
6. Never make use of every controller button just because you can.
7. Always give players full control of accessibility options.
8. Never use insipid, indefensible enemy attacks.
9. Always present in-game tutorials, FAQs, and help menus for newbie gamers.
10. Always let gamers get in and out of gameplay as they desire.

I have to agree with 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, and 10 since these are the annoyances I come across while gaming day to day. #1 is actually hindering in my opinion. Games like Final Fantasy and such where you may not want to save your game and lock yourself into a position often require saving "strategically" to accomplish certain tasks. Click the "Business Week" link above to read the explanations of each point.

Super Smash Bros: Brawl footage - 7 minutes of it

Via Gamespot

Seven minutes worth of new Super Smash Bros footage for your eyes. Check it out:

Assassin's Creed - Keeping you busy for almost 2 days!

Recently, the producer of Assassin's Creed, Jade Raymond, sat down and took some time to discuss the upcoming Ubisoft title. Aside from mentioning that there will be no demo for the game, Raymond also said that gameplay tests have averaged about 18 hours of play time if you were to just play through the main story. With side missions and some exploring, however, you get about 40 hours! Side missions mentioned included something to do with flags (possibly a Halo skull collecting type of thing?) and helping people around the 3 cities you can explore.

Sounds pretty cool in my opinion. Hopefully the game ends up being as good as it looks.

Assassin's Creed drops this November on PS3 and Xbox 360.