"Jill, here's a lockpick. It might be handy if you, master of unlocking, take it with you."

– Barry Burton, Resident Evil

One of the tried-and-true tenets of video game design is to leave a trail of Easter eggs and hidden content for the player to find. You can keep them coming back to your game, give them a few more reasons not to sell it, and add some serious playtime in the stat on the back.

Lately though, it seems to be more and more outdated. Each music game that comes out invariably has a code to reveal all the songs, so you're not stuck just playing Weezer's "Say it Ain't So" over and over again at your Rock Band party. Games like Skate and the EA Sports line are accompanied by downloadable cheat codes -- available for a small fee -- give the player access to all the content in the game without the time investment. Even Street Fighter IV, a game meant to be played multiplayer right from the start, forces the player to slog through the single-player a few times just to fill in those last few character boxes.



So, why are designers hiding their game content? Is it what people really want, or is it a relic of the past, when gamers were younger and didn't have as much disposable income?

With the monstrous rise of the Wii and casual gaming, will the practice of sealing away bonus content fall to the wayside?

I suspect that traditionally hardcore games will retain this; gamers like having some extra stuff to dig up as they play a game. Optional collectibles and bonuses for exploring offer great incentive to give a fun game a few more minutes. Unlocking content is sometimes the reason to play. When I picked up Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour earlier this year, I played them nonstop as I worked to fill out those tracklists. I played until my hands cramped and my back throbbed, going for hours a day to get the next venue or gig.

The recent announcement of The Beatles Rock Band started me thinking: A game with such massive mainstream appeal will shy away from some of the hardcore elements. I think the option to play a story mode and uncover those songs will be present, but I also think that all of the songs will be available in quick play mode from the outset.

Outside of Rock Band, Nintendo even has a patent in the works that includes hints and even the option to let the game play itself.

What do you think? Does the forced unlocking so common in games just cut into your free time, or is it a major component of the gameplay? Should there be more options to allow players to play how they want, or are we beholden to the developers' design choices?