10 Images That Encapsulate Gaming's Biggest Problems

10. Micro-Transactions Plague Popular Titles

That idea of a company/developer withholding key content even though you've already paid the full amount is something that exists everywhere today, especially in the mobile gaming markets. So much so in fact that Google had to change the way their Android store is laid out to include a label denoting that a game would contain 'in-app purchases' alongside the otherwise 'Free' moniker. It's a move that's just as sinisterly-genius as charging you to take out your own cash at the ATM, as the industry realised they could charge real money to further certain sections of their games - from unlockable power-ups to entire levels - and it's become the norm for mobile titles. Even worse we've seen this make the leap over to console gaming - with truly offensive results. We'll get to titles like Mass Effect 3 withholding key plot points behind paywalls later, but even that game had EA's dirty paws all over its multiplayer, goading you into paying for separate soldier packs that would contain random items for use in combat. That's besides child-friendly titles like Clash of Clans and Candy Crush Saga offering in-app purchases in a manner that instantly-downloads the requisite items after just a couple of clicks - a particularly bad case of which made the news last year when a boy racked up £1700/$2800 in ten minutes on Zombie v Ninja. Some games will tell you what you're buying into, and others will offer a range of potential outcomes - but all insist you stump up the cash first. In the end they're just slot machines, which is a damning reputation for gaming to have in any respect going forward.