Glitches, Crashes, and Bugs. Oh My!

RUN YOU FOOL!! It will destroy us all!!

There is nothing worse than playing a game you love only to have it crash, glitch out, or become otherwise unplayable; yet it happens all the time. From major corporations to single-man dev teams, it seems like every modern major release has some sort of bug, big or small. With game consoles going online in the last generation, and hard drives/internal memory becoming a standard feature, many of the major problems can now be "patched" in order to fix them; that, however, seems to be a bit of a double edged sword. As developers, both large and small, have gained the ability to fix their work post-release, it also feels like there has been a rise in the amount of errors slipping past QA/QC (quality assurance/control). Where gamers once expected a console title would be completed and perfected upon release, many now wonder what patches will be needed before a title is even playable. While patching for playability has plagued PC games for years, it seems console games are quickly making up for lost time in the "patching arena." In fact bug reporting and QA has become so talked about among hardcore gamers that there is even a popular webcomic about testing games in the industry (warning: very adult language).

When I saw this glitch I could only think of the song  "Cloud 9" by The Temptations.
"Dark Souls" has never been the same for me.

So, why is this happening? While the reasons are many and various, many glitches and bugs essentially boil down to rushing a game out the door to meet deadlines, or promised release dates. Some within the industry are even saying that large developers are reducing standard development times by half, or even more, in order to get certain titles out on time. One source claims one of the large developers has reduced what was once a two-to-three year process to a year, or less. While posted anonymously, it's not hard to believe that this may be the case for many large titles. Developers know that instead of fixing bugs and crashes they can simply "fix it later", that is if they get enough complaints; and so the "why bother?" attitude seems to be rearing its ugly head within the industry.

I seriously cannot wait to play a game about sweeping up messes.
Hitbox don't fail me now; I need this game to work!

To be fair, this isn't always the case though, and many small developers, like Team Meat, Final Form, Hitbox Team, etc, may not have the resources, or even ability, to find glitches before release. While companies like Konami, Capcom, Ubisoft, etc., have entire teams to QA a game, small developers may be a couple of people working out of a basement, or in some cases even a single person. It's understandable that small developers miss bugs in their code, and fortunately many small developers do their best to fix things as soon as they possibly can; sometimes straining themselves to the limits to fix their games. I know that "Super Meat Boy" was a mess upon its initial release, taking over a month of constant patching to fix; the same goes for "Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony", not to mention "Dustforce", from Hitbox Team, has been unplayable for many (including myself) since its release. Unfortunate, but understandable. If a developer has few resources to develop a game, they probably don't have much to test them with either. Even big companies miss bugs once in a while, and again that's understandable when it's something minor; but to have system crashing bugs upon release, bugs found during QA and marked "WNF" (Will Not Fix), because a game needs to be "on time", is totally unacceptable. Not only is that unacceptable, but it is deplorable and outright despicable. If a game needs more time to be perfected, then a publisher should give it more time, not just let gamers walk into a nightmare of unplayable garbage. While it's nice to know that patches will eventually fix a problem, it's a lot nicer to be able to play what you've paid for from the beginning.

Skyrim's little known Disco Dungeon... Or glitch, if you want to be a jerk about it. 

The point being that if somebody is paying fifty to sixty dollars, or more, on a game, they deserve to know it will work and play as promised the moment they open, install, or download it (legally of course). If a company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars and years developing something, wouldn't it be better to fix mistakes and delay it, than make customers angry? It seems like an easy fix, and I know there is more to delaying a game than just saying "whoa, stop the presses, we have a problem." No, I understand it's a complicated process, but because it's a complicated process developers need to prepare and compensate for these contingencies, not assume everything is going to be ok. Again, I'm not saying every developer does this, I'm not even saying that the majority of developers do this, but when it starts to become commonplace, then things need to change. As customers we can influence this, by letting companies know we won't tolerate poor quality products, or even demanding companies fix the shoddy products they've released. While it may seem like a futile effort, the message is often heard, and fixes are made; and when they aren't, well then we, the consumers, at least know which companies to avoid in the future.

GTA: A game where not only can you steal a tank, but you can fly it!

The fact is bugs and glitches will always be a part of games, it's as simple as that. However, with a combined effort, with publishers and developers ensuring quality on one side, and consumers alerting them to problems on the other, we can at least ensure the problems are fixed. Who knows, maybe one day we'll see an end to this problems. I for one, though, wouldn't count on it.

Until next time, glitch on.