Gaming

Earliest game I can think of would be Super Metroid, with it's X-Ray Scanner, which is an upgrade you get partway through the game. It's not 100% necessary, but some of the game's secrets are designed with it in mind.

The Metroid Prime games implemented an FPS version of this pretty well. Really contributed to the atmosphere in some places. Also, while the visors let you see otherwise invisible things, they also made other things harder to see (or, in the case of the scanning visor, you couldn't shoot while it was on.)

I’m replaying Baldurs Gate for the first time in, what, 20 yrs? EE. As old and basic as the game is, I can either tap the tab key once to flash a silent light up of everything lootable in the room and leave it at that. Or. There’s a button to click on the side bar that just leaves it on all the time.

This is the way. I don’t want to go all Witcher or do that god awful Dragon Age 3 search with that pulse noise. No annoyance. No sprained pinky. Just one click and done.

Assassin's Creed? I mean, it wasn't the button but it did have the "vision".

subnautica does this and it's awesome

Does holding Alt in Baldur's Gate 3 fall under this? It doesn't have any kind of visual effect, but I do often find myself needing to use it to see what can be picked up or interacted with in the area.

Peter tingle.

Counterpoint:

P I N G

I actually love this in videogames. It's a really cool way to interact with the environment and literally see the world through a different lense with a level of control that no other medium of storytelling can achieve.

Maybe this dude should go watch a movie if he doesn't want to interact with things.

I hate picking up items. Oh I always stacked the pull in ability in kingdom hearts.

If you don't like it, don't press that button

As I'm getting older, I'm definitely starting to appreciate that I just can't see shit. If the game's going for an ultra-realistic environment, then there's just so much more visual clutter that I need help picking things out.

In my opinion, it's just an accessibility feature. Those are always nicer to have than to not. But if you're a purist, or you don't have any problem finding things, then I'd also hope you'd be able to disable it.

Like in Hogwarts Legacy? Or your Witcher senses in TW3? Oddly I've only noticed it really with AAA games

I think No Man's Sky was my first brush with it. In that game the feature is entirely necessary, especially when starting out on survival, but that was ground zero for me.

Looking at you Horizon ZD/FW.

Idk halo odst did this and I thought it was pretty cool. Assassin's creed also did it pretty well (I've only played 1, 2, brotherhood, and 3)

It's cool if it's done right imo