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Are video games getting too easy?

LuGoJ

LuGoJ

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 23, 2005
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I woke up this morning and decided to to dig my genesis out for a day of baked memories, after about 2 hours of looking I finally found it and hooked it up. While going through the games I came across a bunch that I remembered as being brutally difficult, take battletoads for instance. At first I thought that maybe it was because of my age at the time so I decided to give them a try again 15 years later. What amazed me was that i was still stuck on some of the same parts(if anyone remembers the racing levels in battletoads).

After playing for 4-5 hours I still was not able to beat that damn level and as I walking by my collection of modern games I was saddened by the fact that NONE of the games I have recently played had anything CLOSE to this much of a challenge.

Sure these games brought much frustration but that made beating them seem like so much more of an accomplishment. Not once ever since the original starfox came out has a game made me jump and scream because I beat it.

Are the days of insanely difficult games over?
 
Games have become mainstream, which has led to n00bification. Some devs still respect the oldschool, its so damn hardcore hard playstyle, but generally offer it as a option in skill level. CoD is a series that generally has easy Easy modes, and exceptionally hard Hard modes.
 
dude, totally. WAY too easy.

on the other hand, online multiplayer has totally changed the face of gaming, and in that respect, I almost think it has become more challenging. particularly games like warcraft 3, where different strategies continue to develop because there are simply so many different possible winning combinations.
 
auto238367 said:
Games have become mainstream, which has led to n00bification. Some devs still respect the oldschool, its so damn hardcore hard playstyle, but generally offer it as a option in skill level. CoD is a series that generally has easy Easy modes, and exceptionally hard Hard modes.
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Weren't they always mainstream though? Most of the kids in my school had a genesis or SNES, the kids who could not afford one had at least an NES. I don't remember meeting that many kids growing up that didn't have some sort of a system, unless their parents were really weird and didn't let them watch TV or something.
 
Remember that todays AI is so advanced that it can easily be better than pretty much any player, and games (and their AI) is designed to a skill level the developer creates.

Games should be easy for everyone to play, and yet very difficult to master. Quake III is a good example of this. Anyone can quickly learn the simple controls and run around shooting. It takes mad skill to circle jump, time every power up, and wait with patience till your stacked before you attack with a flurry of rockets followed by laser precise rails, for a kill, then hearing your opponent spawn as you traverse the best path to grab armor and health and powerups, cutting your oppent off and raping them.
 
LuGoJ said:
Weren't they always mainstream though? Most of the kids in my school had a genesis or SNES, the kids who could not afford one had at least an NES. I don't remember meeting that many kids growing up that didn't have some sort of a system, unless their parents were really weird and didn't let them watch TV or something.
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No, there have been generations where gaming was fringe culture. Think early computer systems and the games made for those. People who grew up like John Carmack and John Romero.
 
auto238367 said:
Remember that todays AI is so advanced that it can easily be better than pretty much any player, and games (and their AI) is designed to a skill level the developer creates.

Games should be easy for everyone to play, and yet very difficult to master. Quake III is a good example of this. Anyone can quickly learn the simple controls and run around shooting. It takes mad skill to circle jump, time every power up, and wait with patience till your stacked before you attack with a flurry of rockets followed by laser precise rails, for a kill, then hearing your opponent spawn as you traverse the best path to grab armor and health and powerups, cutting your oppent off and raping them.
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goldeneye was good for this too.
 
i used to finish games on all difficulties. not any more.
 
on further thought, there were fewer titles way back when so, coupled with my youth and lack of responsibility, i had enough time to master almost every game.
 
i pretty much always set games on the hardest setting right from the start. Fallout 3 was certainly an exception to this though. I found the beginning of this game EXTREMELY (annoyingly, actually) difficult simply because I couldn't find any ammo anywhere. I eventually ended up setting the difficulty on hardest though, and it was still way too easy towards the end.

another similar example was lost odyssey. I really enjoyed this game at the beginning because the bosses (and even some fo the regular enemies) were challenging and really made you make use of the full range of your abilities, but that unfortunately changed after the first disc. just got way too easy.
 
Beatlebot said:
It's no though is it? It's not like you're going to impress a girl down at the pub when you tell her that you have completed all levels of Frogger. You can't put your game ranking on your resume. Games are just entertainment that's all. Completing one or earning an achievement in a game is not an accomplishment by any stretch of the imagination.
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...which is why he said seem like so much more of an accomplishment
 
It's nice to have the option. Easy/Novice for when I just want to zone out and have some fun, Hard/Expert for when I want a challenge or have become bored with how 'easy' the game is. I personally don't think games have gotten any easier, they've just evolved and become very different all-around.
 
Beatlebot said:
It's not like you're going to impress a girl down at the pub when you tell her that you have completed all levels of Frogger.
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I dunno I've had women tell me they find it attractive that I'm so good at games. Not playing against the computer but when there's a room of like 10 guys and the losers have to give up their controller and you play all night without giving it up once.. you're gonna get laid.

Actually right as I was typing this I got this IM from a super hot girl..

x: Do you want to play some tf2?
me: Nah I have to work :(
x: WAI :(
x: WORK ON WHAT :(

A lot of women are changing their perception of games as more of them get into playing them... or maybe I just hang out with awesome women.


Anyway, as to the original topic. Lately a lot of games lean towards the "cinematic" experience. You're just running from point A to B with a few things to interact with in between then the story advances with a movie or discussion or whatever.

This is what the "casual" gamers want who can't really handle actual gaming. They're looking for a movie game and those types of games have been really successful lately and they're cheaper to produce.

If you want challenging gameplay you have to look to multiplayer now. Come play GTA4/TF2/L4D against me and I'll show you a hard game.
 
Kul69 said:
when there's a room of like 10 guys and the losers have to give up their controller and you play all night without giving it up once.. you're gonna get laid.
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i can't stop laughing at this.
 
Thats why I love multiplayer... Theres alot of junkies on certain games that make it a very very hard challenge.
 
Oh and I wanted to add.. a game is what you make it. Just because the game sets certain objectives doesn't mean that's all you have to play for.

Try beating a level without dying once or go for the fastest time you can or whatever.
 
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