Is it rewarding or just padding out a shallow experience?

I read an article in a games magazine the other day where a journalist was ranting about things that are “hidden” in games. Things like emblems in Resi 5, bobble-heads in Fallout 3 or pigeons in Grand Theft Auto. The journalist claimed that the pursuit of these objects was extremely tedious and was simply padding out the longevity of the game. They believed that after you’ve played the game to death the last thing you want to do is trawl back through the game, searching every nook and cranny for a tiny item so that you can tell your friends that you’ve completed everything the game has to offer.
He claimed that, in this sense, the games are unfair because they’re making you partake in these mundane tasks when you could be doing something far more constructive. Like playing another game for instance. Or maybe the games developers could spend more time developing extra levels or better unlockables as opposed to hiding little emblems throughout the game.

I for one disagree with this opinion though. For some reason I thoroughly enjoy the intrepid search for the elusive hidden item. I spent ages hunting for bobble-heads in Fallout and the sense of elation that I felt when I’d see one tucked away in a corner in an abandoned bunker is without precedent. Bobble-head hunting actually became something of a joint venture as my girlfriend also joined the fore and would sit for ages as I scoured the nuclear wastes in search of these little toys.


At the exact moment that i saw this i would've been leaping around like some kind of mad fool. Such is its power.

It’s a guilty pleasure but I’m not ashamed to admit that I also spent considerable time trying to spot emblems in Resi 5. I found the game itself only really came into its own after I’d completed it once and unlocked all the various modes and it was then that I began my hunt for the shiny blue medals. The bonus of unlocking all these was that you could gradually use them to unlock different weapons and figures, definitely adding to the longevity of the game itself.


See it there? In the distance? That shiny, Blue emblem just poking out of that building? It's the stuff of dreams.

For those of you who can't be bothered to slog through and check out every corner of the game YouTube is here in your time of need!!



I was genuinely hacked off when I read that article because I couldn’t fathom why anyone would moan that a game was trying to pad itself out. Surely that’s a good thing? Or am I missing the point? Maybe it’s because I have eternal patience when it comes to games – many is the time that I’ve had to level grind in an RPG, walking around in circles endlessly waiting for the next random battle to happen so my character can go up one level and gain a new ability. Probably in light of that, looking around for a few hidden objects in order to progress in a game doesn’t seem like that big of a deal to me. And anyway it’s not like people sit there dredging through a steaming pile of a game that they hate for no reason at all – they play everything the game has to offer because they want to, because they enjoy the game and want to get as much out of it as possible. Usually these collectibles are integral to the game itself anyway and it’s up to the player as to what degree they want to pursue them.
In the end is it really constructive to moan about games attempting to drag out the experience they offer when there are games companies out there making absolutely dire gaming experiences?