10 More Mostly Pointless Collectibles in Video Games

Nearly two years ago I wrote an article about the most pointless collectibles in video games. Well, I just finished L.A. Noire and it inspired me to think about whether or not there were even more valueless items that served nothing more than to extend the runtime of a game.  I came to the conclusion that there were so I thought I’d put together another list. Like before, collecting some of these may have some kind of minuscule purpose but ultimately unless you’re an achievement hunter it is a fruitless task.

10 – Coins (Super Mario Bros)

Throughout the years and depending on the game in question, Nintendo has altered the purpose of coins and at times they have been worth collecting. Still, when you go back to the original games what actually was the point of them? Yes, collecting 100 of them will grant you an extra life so that is at least something but how often did that even happen? Purists will say that they add to your overall score for a level but casual players care nothing for the score in a level. If you were to completely ignore them it wouldn’t affect the game in the slightest so in my mind that makes them pretty damn pointless. In fact, you’re more likely to lose lives when attempting to grab a coin that is placed on a precarious ledge.

09 – Animals (Red Dead Redemption)

Yes, this is purely based on an achievement as many of these collectibles are. It required you to locate and kill 1 of each of the 26 species of animal within the game. Red Dead Redemption is such a blast that this wasn’t too much of a chore and especially if you had been randomly killing animals up to the point you decided to go for the achievement. Also, it wasn’t too bad to be steered towards getting some more animal skins. While the in game map did give you a general idea of where to find each species, there were a couple that were seriously annoying and just wouldn’t show for whatever reason. Ultimately, doing this is pointless unless you have an interest in the achievement of course.

08 – Golden Skulltulas (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

Link is asked by the father of the Fabulously Rich Family inside the House of Skulltula in Kakariko Village to break the curse on the family by destroying 100 Gold Skulltulas and collecting their tokens.

This is no easy task but I’d imagine you’d have a much easier time these days with the abundance of guides floating around. Think about searching every corner for these things and how long that would take? You do receive a number of rewards along the way but it just isn’t worth it in my opinion. The final reward for collecting 100 is 200 Rupees….. Well, you can collect these over and over again so unlimited Rupees! That would actually be pretty awesome if there was much too even buy in the game which there isn’t. By the time you get all 100 you’ll likely have already bought all there is to buy which is a massive kick in the teeth. Also, it’s not like Rupees are even difficult to farm in the game so the reward kind of sucks as well.

07 – Playboy Magazines (Mafia II)

I know what you’re thinking but come on now, this is an extremely cheap collectible that serves little purpose. Yes, boobs but 50 magazines!? That can only be collected during story missions? True, I would prefer more tacked on collectibles were similar to this one but they would still be redundant. I just don’t think it should get a free pass simply because it involved soft-core porn images.

06 – Audio Logs (Halo 3: ODST)

Turn up the brightness for this one because you have 29 audio logs to find in a difficult to navigate open area. I dare anyone to attempt to find these without a guide of some sort, it would be impossible. The worst part is that the audio logs themselves are terribly boring to listen to.

05 – Random Loot (Thief)

“You are Garret, a master thief!” No, no, Garret is a kleptomaniac who likes to pinch inkwells and silver bangles.

There are 82 collectibles in the game; most of these are random pieces of jewellery that serve little to no overall purpose. Thief is already a very short game and it is clear that these were shoehorned in as an attempt to extend the already mundane experience.

04 – Hidden Bags (Mirrors Edge)

This one is as painfully basic as they come. There are 30 bags to collect while you parkour your way through the game. The annoying thing about these is that it really slows you down if you’re attempting to speed run through the game. I’m honestly not sure if there is a purpose to them but I can’t find one.

03 – Golden Film Reels/Cars (L.A. Noire)

L.A. is a fun game but did it really need to include these completely pointless collectibles? 50 golden records that would be impossible to locate without a guide and then 95 different vehicles, some of which only appear in certain locations at certain times of the day! Not only that but it’s the 40s so most of the cars are almost identical apart from very minor details, what a chore.

02 – Feathers – (Assassins Creed 2)

In truth I could probably make a top 10 most pointless collectibles from Ubisoft games. These guys are the worst for it. Almost every AC game has some type of meaningless collectible. It’s the infamous feathers have to be worst since those flags in the first Assassins Creed. Not only are there 100 of them but since they’re feathers they float away when you get nearby. Then an annoying chase ensues.

01 – Light Seeds (Prince of Persia 08)

There are 1001 of these pesky things scattered around the map. The first 540 are only really necessary if you wish to acquire all of the skills on offer. The remaining amount is leftover to make achievement hunters suffer.

1000 must be found in-game and the last one you get in a cutscene. There is a glitch that leaves your counter stuck at 999 even though you collected all of the in-game ones. However, there is no way of fixing this glitch on consoles. This leaves you with no choice but to start a new game and hope it doesn’t happen again.

Once again they exist only to cheaply extend playtime. Only serving to create busywork that makes you scour an area to collect every single one.

Well there you have it; I’ve given you 20 examples of collectibles that are a waste of your time. I was thinking I would put together a list of the top 10 best collectibles in video games. Sadly,I’m not even sure there are that many.