Conan O’Brien Reviews ‘Resident Evil 6’ On His ‘Clueless Gamers’ Segment

Everyone has an opinion on just about everything and Conan O’Brien was no exception to the rule when he reviewed the hot new game, Resident Evil 6, during the ‘Clueless Gamers‘ segment of his late night talk show. O’Brien who is not a fan of video games, reviews popular big name titles, with the fresh perspective of a reasonably intelligent, but disinterested party. During the presentation, O’Brien actually plays the game he has chosen to review, and gives a running commentary in his typical sarcastic style.

Of course, Conan brings his well loved charm and quick wit along for the ride, as illustrated by his attempts to have Leon Kennedy, the main playable character in Resident Evil 6, flirt with his female companion. Conan grabbed the controller and joked, “I’m gonna get really close to her and see what she does.” After getting no response at all, Conan stated the obvious, saying, “At this point in real life, a woman would say something,. Get away from me. That’s not funny Conan. I already have a boyfriend.'”

Over the course of his play session, Conan focused on the small details that experienced gamers tend to overlook, especially after years of exposure to hundreds of examples of video game logic. He wondered why his uber powerful, well armed alter ego was able to destroy just about anything the game could throw at him, but he couldn’t run past some chairs strewn in his path or climb through a handy nearby window. In his eight minute segment, Conan emphasized that it is often the unimportant and minor details that spoil our enjoyment of a game by suddenly yanking us back to reality.

Brandon Sheffield of Gamasutra expanded on Conan’s theme, with a laundry list of items that should have been noticed by the developers of Resident Evil 6.

” zombies can hop through windows, but you can’t (unless specifically allowed).”

“cutscenes get rid of all pickups that may have been around before you triggered it.”

“shoot a prone enemy as many times as you want, but you can’t hurt them til they’re “awake” and coming after you.”

“stomp on a zombie’s leg til its head explodes (amusing, but unfortunate)”

“steal an axe from a zombie to do a special move with, then throw the axe away. “This perfectly good axe is way better than my survival knife, I’d better toss it.”

“when killing enemies with guns, dropped guns are fully ignored, which feels odd when you’re out of ammo.”

Conan is not a gamer and he tends to be a bit smug in his attitude about video games, but he does make a very valid point. Many big name games tend to overlook details that are incredibly obvious. Unfortunately, by ignoring the loaded gun on the ground and not allowing the player to pick it up, the game designer’s are making it even harder for a player to suspend disbelief and become totally immersed in the game.

What is your favorite example of an item or situation in a video game that should have been spotted by the developers? Do you pay attention to the tiny details as you play a game or do you tend to concentrate on the action? Let us know what you think about this interesting topic by posting a comment below the article.