FYI the stream I mentioned of Asura's Wrath that was supposed to be today is getting delayed due to some recording problems. It'll probably be next week.

Most of the time, just Action-Adventure or Hack 'n' Slash games. Depending on the devs, they can get into other genres as well (shooters), but generally shooter QTEs aren't as extensive as the others. For example, a shooter might have ten spread out across twelve cutscenes, but an AA or HnS might have one hundred as part of actual gameplay in addition to cutscenes.

I'm not a fan of QTEs myself; I think they limit gameplay and the depth of story involved with it. QTEs remind me that I'm playing a game, which makes it hard to lose myself to the story of it; it's really difficult to enjoy a cutscene when a big ol' X pops up in the middle of the screen. I think I heard someone describe QTEs once as "The developer wants to do something awesome, but isn't competent enough to implement using actual gameplay."

Personally, I think they, like the increasing amount of tacked-on multiplayer in SP series, are the two biggest problems video game development today, and I absolutely detest when developers feel the need to implement them for whatever reason (cough Ninja Gaiden 3 cough).

Button-mashes, on the other hand, are more tolerable for some reason; Darksiders' final battle featured two or three sword-locks that I actually enjoyed. However, I only enjoy them as a part of gameplay, not cutscenes; Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker had three button mashes in a row as part of a cutscene, where if you failed, you had to start over at the first one, and those were simply ridiculous. If not for those, I would have probably enjoyed the game; as it were, they led to one broken controller and two quite dreadful arm-aches in both my arms.

The livestream of the over the top QTE-fest that is Asura's Wrath is coming tomorrow, Sunday at 3 PM http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/ at http://www.twitch.tv/totalbiscuit

It's planned to be a full playthrough of the game which is about 6 hours long, so if the game sounded interesting but you don't want to buy it...

To be perfectly honest, I'm okay with QTEs now. I used to hate them with a burning passion, but when you really think about it, it's quite impossible to achieve advanced cinematic maneuvers using a standard game control scheme. No matter what, if you want your game to have some fancy moves in it, you're probably going to need to implement the QTE, even if you'd rather not.

But that's where the skill of implementation comes in. QTEs can add a lot to a game without subtracting from its overall gameplay value. A couple good examples of this are Resident Evils 4 and 5. Those games make very good use of QTEs, IMO. I never feel like I'm wholly relying on them, they're cool, and they don't overstay their welcome when I activate them. Quick and stylish.

The new Ninja Gaiden implements QTEs, and I have absolutely no problem with this. The combat system of the series remains entirely intact, and the QTEs, from what I've seen thus far, are short and to the point. They do nothing but add to the game.

Now, some examples of bad QTE design are God of War and Kingdom Hearts 2. I know some may disagree, but it felt like I spent the majority of my time in those games just pressing the "Win" button. That, I highly dislike.

Overall, it's just a matter of how well they are implemented. If they become the focal point of the gameplay, then it's a poor job and the game, at least to me, suffers greatly because of it.

I'd probably say that the mainstream-isation of games (look at the Mass Effect series) is the biggest blight, certainly over QTE's.

Generally speaking I'd like to banish them to the darkest corners of Oblivion.

I didn't mind the interrupts in Mass Effect, or the fistfight minigame in Witcher 2. Hated the button mashing QTEs in Witcher 2, though.