I then get the game logo with a "press any key" to get to the menu. WTF is the point of this?

Yup, another head scratcher for me. It's just one more extra click for nothing.

There are a lot of bizarre common practice things in games these days. I just don't understand what they accomplish other than mild annoyance. 

This is a technical requirement from both microsoft and sony. They won't let a game pass certification without it.
Why they want it like that I don't know.

Also; Christ, that is the most insignificant fucking pointless detail ever to whine about. 

I think that's why it's so annoying. I mean, there's no purpose for it at all and yet it's there. 

Haha yeah but it's just so pointless. At least with a save before a cutscene it's there so they can jam their cutscenes down your throat. It's done for a reason.

Anyway, review of Devil May Cry 4 (which was pretty bad at it's "press any key" and menu design, and overuse of cutscenes). But I enjoyed it 7/10.

http://www.etherealhell.com/etherealhell/reviews/2012/devil_may_cry4.php 

I bet there's a really subtle reason behind that. Like it confirms that the player actually does have a controller connected or something, on account of user testing having shown that this was something people did on a surprisingly frequent basis.

But for crying out loud remove it from the PC version of a game. 

A = Time it takes to whinge on an internet forum about the "press any key screen".

B = Time it takes to actually press the fucking key.

Anyone wanna guesstimate what A/B equals? 

*hugs Kinn* 

people enjoy whinging... 

I can't believe what I'm reading. Are people here actually defending a useless start screen? Something that serves no purpose in a pc game other than adding another layer between you and the part of the game that you actually play.

And, Kinn, in your equation, B should read like this: B = Time it takes to actually press the fucking key * time it takes for the useless start screen to load * number of times you play the game * number of games you play that have a useless start screen. 

Are people here actually defending a useless start screen?

If someone complains, someone will defend, I guess. It must be like an internet rule or something. 

I think you're wrong, that isn't an internet rule at all. 

hahaha, touch�. :) 

Ah the days of old Playstation games where loading menus took fucking ages, so those extra title screens were just there to piss you off when you left the room to make a cup of tea or something.

These days, far far more things to whine about than that shit. I just got back to playing some Hard Reset and holy shit you move so fucking slowly. Feels like you're waist deep in water. And you can sprint for about a second at a time (and the speed boost is shit).

Pretty game though. 

Get a trainer that has a sprint cheat ZQF. It might be cheating, but it'll make the game more fun. I can't stand slow walking games. 

make it non-skippable first time through if you want players to see the hard work and money, make it skippable for repeat attempts. 

Under "rocket science" or "brain surgery". 

had this feature, except it seemed to work for some cutscenes but not others. No idea why. 

what if players don't actually give a shit about your fucking story?

I actually liked the Max Payne story (well, it was ok), but in other games I have not given a rat's ass about the story and couldn't skip the cutscenes. I don't give a shit about the work that went into them, I just want to play the game. If there is some important info in the cutscene, then maybe it's ok to stop me from skipping it the first time, but I'm paying to play the game, not watch cutscenes, so any artificial restrictions on skipping cutscenes (non-technical, such as loading in the background) should be removed. 

I watched a housemate play Devil May Cry 4 once. I say play... 

scroll up to read how I played hl2 and how their method of story telling is fucking stupid (to me). 

This an old game that was re-released as a WiiWare title, and now has a proper PC release.
It's an old school metroid-vania style platformer, very hard and unforgiving, it's pretty good. Anyone who likes those type of games should check it out.
http://playism-games.com/games/lamulana/

RPS review :
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/07/16/it-belongs-on-a-pc-la-mulana-remake/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RockPaperShotgun+%28Rock%2C+Paper%2C+Shotgun%29&utm_content=Netvibes 

http://www.moddb.com/mods/nightmare-house-2

This was released in 2010 but I missed it. Holy shit it's good! Very high quality production value, great atmosphere and good pacing. The final confrontation is brilliant.

It'll take you around 3+ hours to finish, I enjoyed every minute. 

missed that one. 

Finished Hard Reset. There is a lot wrong with the game, but it has nugget of awesomeness that you need to learn to tap and then it becomes a really rather unique feeling game. It promotes rapid weapon switching, weapon combos and crowd control over pure dodging or cover use (though it does still have a lot of both).

A bit like Fear in that I could natter endlessly about all the cool stuff the game has as well as really bizarre or annoying design choices. Hard Reset pushes an FPS into even more classic arcade territory, and in fact I think doesn't go far enough.

It also has surprisingly oldschool level design. Though it doesn't place enemies in specific positions so much, it does have linear but interconnected environments that flow around, and you feel like each space has interesting geometry and you get to see each area from multiple angles.

Basically, love it or hate it game in the end. I had to play through it once to realise what weapons were worth buying and using and what to not waste points on (fuck RPG upgrade paths, especially when you limit my choices early on anyway). After that, second play through, ton of fun. 

PS it's had some free DLC so the game is much longer than it was at release. Someone told me where the original ending was and I got why people complained it was so short cause damn, sudden final boss out of nowhere.