I'm 99.9% sure this is not possible. You would have to be receiving TV signal into your Xbox for starters, then have software that the console simply doesn't have.

I am so annoyed, that the next person that has a whinge about violence in video games, I'm gonna rip their face off and dunk their head in salt while I beat them senseless with a spade.

*End sarcasm*

I certainly consider myself a mature person, although I am certainly prone to *act* immature (fart humour, insulting friends mums, sarcasm as above, the usual stuff). Playing games has not diminished my values such as respect for other people, honesty and general integrity. I've never been in a fight in my life, I've never picked up a gun. I attempted shoplifting twice when I was in my early teens, which has been the extent of my theft in my entire life. Now I hate thieves. Yet I play violent or crime driven games.

If some basic values aren't instilled in a child before they play some games with some more mature themes, then perhaps there is potential for damage. But that is what ratings boards are for. I think that for the most part, people know that in the real world their actions can impact on the values of others; in a game, any characters do not have real life values, they are all virtual. You know that there will be no long term consequences on your life. You die or make a mistake in a game? Just start over! Can't do that in real life.

A customer said he had his grandson, who I think was 4, in the passenger seat of his car. As oncoming cars came, he said "Smash him, grandad!" as a result of seeing someone (his father, presumably) playing car games. At the time I sort of dismissed it, but in hindsight it goes to my comment above; it obviously wasn't the right time to expose the child to this sort of video game.

I think just typing this has given me a little clarity on this situation. Children who have not yet developed a strong enough value of self and the impact they can have on others in real life should not be playing violent video games. This is where the attention should be focused; educating parents that it is not OK for their kids to play any video game as soon as they are old enough to pick up a controller.

In First-Person shooters, I'd like to see enemy forces attempt to help their injured friends.For example, I usually play FPS pretty defensively, popping out from behind walls and taking the odd shot at enemies until they finally keel over. Having them actively get out of the line of fire to recuperate (as many recent FPS have the player do to regain health) or have a comrade heal them could force the defensive players like me to be a bit more aggressive.

It would also be bittersweet in a FPS to have people discreetly trailing you. For example, peeking around corners, using coms to advise enemies to set up ambushes. How cool would it be to scope out a street, think it's clear, start walking ahead, and on advice from the guy behind you, have 4 or more guys come out guns blazing from all directions (meaning almost certain death)? If that happened infrequently and was dynamic (not a scripted ambush) that would probably create the properlevel of paranoia that should be a in a FPS. A furtherexample of where this might be appropriate; if you pass an enemy who expects you haven't seen him can radio those just ahead to come out and rain bullets on you at the same time he does. Or even just fire his gun into the air while hiding so you turn around while his comrades riddle your back with bullets.

Puzzle Quest

Ninja Gaiden

Simpsons Arcade

Super Bomberman

Any of the decent RPG's for SNES

conorhogan

Puzzle Quest is already coming to the XBLA. Surely it will be a bunch cheaper, but I think I'll cave and get the DS version anyway for its portability...

That sounds interesting. The Xbox controller could do random rumbles, and the Wii-mote could quietly whisper to you... I'll go pick up this cool weapon... hey, why is this weapon biting me?

This isn't so much a mechanic, but a feature I would like to see isco-op levels independant of the normal levels for some games. First person shooters may share ammo, but usually you've still got two dudes tackling the same enemies at the same time, making them a lot easier to take down. Gears was decent in that sometimes you took two paths, but I'd prefer levels that you simply couldn't do in single player. Splinter Cell Double Agent did this with the PS2 version, but I didn't have afriendwho wasinto it. Something like this in a Tenchu-style game would be excellent.

What mechanics would you like to see in games? I've only recently gotten interested in RPG's again, so some of these may already be out there, but I think they could be cool.

Multi-casting magic - For fantasy RPG's, I'd like to see magic spells that require multiple users to cast. Either they could be upgraded versions of existing spells, or spells that can only ever be cast by multiple mages (possibly of different elemental persuasions). This would also tie in well outside of combat, for example, a spell that can mass affect geography to open up new areas.

Time Matters - I must plead guilty to not playing Oblivion yet, which may do something like this already, and perhaps there are others. There are many RPG's where somebody is just waiting for you to go talk to them. You can take a few minutes (and however long the game interprets that to be, if it has any sense of time or date at all). You can take several hours leveling up before you go see them. Don't worry, they'll still be there. The princess' life that hangs in the balance (or whatever situation that the person you are playing would in all likelihood be worried about) can wait while you go earn some gold.

That could be risky though. What if there was an RPG that ends after a set amount of play time (say10-20 hours of play), whether you 'win' or not? Sorry dude, you didn't rescue the princess in time, she's dead. People who might help you on your quest might move if you don't get to them in time. Heck, maybe they will die (with an alternative method of accomplishing the task that made you seek them in the first place of course). Certain items could only be available at certain places at certain times, never to show up again otherwise. This might mean you can never have all the best pieces of equipment. If you want to try them all, you need to play through a few times. It could also make 'boss battles' more intense; you may not have time to simply level grind until they are a cakewalk.

I'd flesh this out some more and add some others (not just RPG's) but I'm out of time. Is there some contrivance in a game you play that can be overcome with a new mechanic? (hooray for 30 second flashlights!)