1. Jumping
While I understand the appeal and necessity for puzzle platformers where the primary directions of travel are up and right to require a jumping mechanism to transverse the two dimensional world I am at a loss to eaplain why so many non puzzle oriented games require me to jump a foot in the air. Most shooters (both first and third person) as well as adventure and action games use some form of jumping for apparently no reason. Answer me this - how often in your every day life are you required to jump? even a little bit? Why would I want to jump over those chest high walls when I can easily go around them? Why incorporate first person jumping puzzles when it's so disorientating when you can't see your feet (yes Half Life, I am looking at you). Jumping could be scrapped entirely and replaced with... well, I'm sure no one would miss it and it would free up a key on my Cyborg S.T.R.I.K.E 7 keyboard. For events when it is required to leap heroically over a car, or to dodge incoming attacks, games could instead follow the Arkham precedent, requiring a double tap or context key instead. Did we miss any gameplay mechanics that you think need to disappear from gaming forever? Share your own picks below.