1. Complete control customization. This pisses me off more than anything. Don't give me a handful of preset button layouts you think I should use. If I can't assign every single button, bumper, trigger and stick in the configuration that I want, then f*ck you, f*ck your game, and I hope your designers get cancer.

3. Hard save options. I don't like being held hostage by a game and being forced to keep playing until I hit a checkpoint, leave my console on for an unknown length of time until I can get back to it, or simply discard whatever time and effort I put into a game because my progress hasn't been autosaved. Checkpoints and autosaves are fine, but there's no reason that should eliminate the option for a hard save.thedarklinglord

These are both things that are really useful to certain groups of gamers with disabilities too, if for example you're unable to physically reach certain buttons on a pad, or physically unable to play for extended periods of time.

That's what really needs to be standard in games... the avoidance of unnecessary barriers that needlessly exclude players with disabilities. The kind of considerations needed - subtitles, remappable controls, using symbols as well as colour to communicate information - don't dilute the experience at all, they simply make the game better for all players.

You can't make a game that's accessible to everyone, or it's no longer a game. However pretty much every game that comes out currently has some issue that wouldn't harm the game at all if fixed, that would cost next to nothing if thought about early enough in the design process, and that unnecessarily excludes people.

Over 20% of the gamer population (see PopCap's research) is disabled. Everyone is just one trip away from being permanently disabled, any many many more are have some form of temporary impairment.. playing on their mobile in bright sunlight or on bumpy public transport, or playing at night when the baby is asleep, and so on.

So doing this stuff as standard is a surefire way not only to make a huge difference to the quality of life of people who are profoundly disabled and have limited recreation opportunities, but also to make all games better for everyone.

More info here if you're interested: http://www.gameaccessibilityguidelines.com