Author Topic: Are Games Getting To Easy? (Read 12923 times)

Ian Sane · « **Reply #25 on:** October 14, 2003, 09:39:01 AM »

I think the arguements that games were harder because of shorter game length and a lack of save points are very valid. Another point I would like to make is that a lot of what made older games harder was due to hardware limitations or unevolved game design. Back in the day you could die because you mistimed a jump and your foot touched an enemy's ear. That sort of thing would just be ridiculously out of place in a modern game. In the original Metroid you couldn't fire diagonally which made it really hard to hit some enemies. Game design has since evolved so that being able to only shoot in front of you just wouldn't be acceptable.

Another thing to note is that a lot of the hard classics like Contra and Ghouls 'n' Ghosts were arcade games designed to steal as many quarters as possible from kids. If the game was too easy you just wouldn't make any money because everyone would just plow through on one quarter. Thus there was a necessity to make a game harder which doesn't really apply to today where the goal is to sell as many copies of a game as possible so a mass market friendly difficulty is the way to go.

I don't have a problem with hard games or easy games as long as I have fun. A high difficulty is fine as long as it's possible to improve in the game and overcome it with skill. Cheap difficulty like the test of strength in Star Fox Adventures is bullsh!t though and I don't tolerate it. I also hate it when a game is hard because of crappy controls or a bad camera. It sucks when you miss a jump in Super Mario Sunshine because the camera angle is such that you can't see a f*cking thing.

Easy games also suck when you never die, EVER. I remember in Luigi's Mansion I didn't die once until the last boss. Wind Waker is also too easy because I never die while playing it. I wouldn't call Ocarina of Time a hard game but at least I died a few times and when I encountered an enemy like a Stalfos or an Iron Knuckle I was at least worried because I knew they could kick my ass if I wasn't careful. Enemies in Wind Waker are more like an irritating distraction than a threat.

Matthew · « **Reply #26 on:** October 14, 2003, 01:15:02 PM »

I think a lot of games are pretty easy, but there are also a lot of hard ones out there, so it's up to you as to what you buy.
For example, in Mario Sunshie, the main game was pretty easy, but try getting all 120 Shines and such and the game gets a whole lot harder.
Metroid was amazing and hard mode is incredible.
F-Zero was really hard at some points, but you got used to it.
Viewtiful Joe was pretty easy on Kids, but Adults you really have to work for!
The way I look at it, I think it's dumb complaining about it. After all, no matter how hard a game is, if you stick with it, you will perfect it eventually.
If you started SSB:M on Very Hard the first time you playred it and only played that, it would suck for a while, but once you get the hand at it, you will be an amazing player.
The harder the game, the better you will be at it.

Hostile Creation · « **Reply #27 on:** October 14, 2003, 01:30:00 PM »

I like both. . . for example, I'm currently beating my brains out over F-Zero GX, which is very hard (and I could probably scrape through expert on the third cup, but I insist on getting as many firsts as possible), but I'm going to get Kirby Air Ride, which I expect to be easy but also a great deal of fun.

KnowsNothing · « **Reply #28 on:** October 14, 2003, 01:31:20 PM »

Story Mode on F-Zero GX is the hardest thing I have experienced in videogames for a while. Level 3?!? NOOOOOOOOOOO!

SuperLink666 · « **Reply #29 on:** October 14, 2003, 02:40:23 PM »

VJ isnt..

joeamis · « **Reply #30 on:** October 14, 2003, 03:32:53 PM »

honda you're not so insightful, i made the same point you made, much better i might add... an hour and a half before your post... so do you not read the posts right before yours or do you just steal other peoples posts?

Berny · « **Reply #31 on:** October 14, 2003, 03:36:09 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: joeamis
honda you're not so insightful, i made the same point you made, much better i might add...

Ouch. I felt that burn from here.

Pod · « **Reply #32 on:** October 14, 2003, 04:28:14 PM »

I don't think games in general are getting too easy. Well, their actual difficulty might be dropping, I wouldn't know, but I feel that games are generally becoming more complicated. Particularly PC-games are getting rediculessly complex. For newcomers to games, learning to play Civilization III, Heroes of Might and Magic IV or just Warcraft III seems simply incomprehendable. I have a feeling the same thing is happening to many console games; Mario doesn't just jump anymore, each new action adventure has a weirder spell system than the previous, and it's considered unacceptable not to overload players with a plethora of gadgets with several different functions.

If games are at the same time actually getting easier to complete, once you learn to play them, it means that the people who aren't scared away by how immense a game looks, but invests time in figuring out the play mechanics, will just be dissapointed by the lack of actual challenge.

That would indeed be a very sad evolution of gaming, but I don't think there's much to be afraid of really. Though the mainstreem games might be getting easier to cater to a wider audience, really tough games will probably always be around. Viewtiful Joe, Mario Sunshine and F-Zero GX are not particularly easy to me, and Tactics Ogre on the GBA is both obscenely complex and hard.

honda_insightful · « **Reply #33 on:** October 15, 2003, 04:20:40 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: joshnickerson
To me, I don't care if a game is easy or hard, just as long as in the end, I enjoy it. That's how I love both Wind Waker and Viewtiful Joe.

For me Wind Waker was too easy. I was literally BORED it was so easy. So I went back to Ocarina which was much more challenging/fun.

honda_insightful · « **Reply #34 on:** October 15, 2003, 04:27:54 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: joeamis
honda you're not so insightful, i made the same point you made, much better i might add...

Hmmm, I think I drank too much beer this evening. Your name's all blurry.... is that joesanass? Probably, because you're certainly acting like one.

Hostile Creation · « **Reply #35 on:** October 15, 2003, 05:14:35 PM »

Ooh, harsh. Clever, too, especially the part where you said you were drunk. Good one.

I am eagerly awaiting Kirby. I hope to get off work Friday so I can go and pick it up. . . if not, it'll have to wait till. . . Saturday evening!!!!

joeamis · « **Reply #36 on:** October 16, 2003, 11:13:08 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: honda_insightful
Quote
Originally posted by: joeamis
honda you're not so insightful, i made the same point you made, much better i might add...

Hmmm, I think I drank too much beer this evening. Your name's all blurry.... is that joesanass? Probably, because you're certainly acting like one.

uhhh, did you read my whole post? or did you refrain from reading posts before yours again? Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by: joeamis
honda you're not so insightful, i made the same point you made, much better i might add... an hour and a half before your post... so do you not read the posts right before yours or do you just steal other peoples posts?

Berny · « **Reply #37 on:** October 16, 2003, 11:22:17 AM »

Hey, Joe's not an ass. He's rather viewtiful in fact. In the mean time, them's fightin words. Let's get a good ol' fashioned PGC brawl goin on.....just as soon as I am at a safe distance from all projectiles such as beer bottles, knives, and mechanincal pencils.

Berny · « **Reply #38 on:** October 16, 2003, 11:23:22 AM »

Edit: I AM AN IDIOT!

Berny · « **Reply #39 on:** October 16, 2003, 11:25:59 AM »

EDIT: Thrice an idiot. Thrice the insults.

joeamis · « **Reply #40 on:** October 16, 2003, 11:47:42 AM »

honda i don't want to fight, i wasn't in the best of moods when i posted that first response in this thread. i let bygones be bygones, but I do get a little upset when people don't read posts and post the same thing twice.

WesDawg · « **Reply #41 on:** October 16, 2003, 11:54:21 AM »

I don't think I ever died in OOT. Got frustrated and quit in the middle of some long temples, but I don't think I ever died. Compared to old school NES games, everything is kinda easy now, mostly because you were moving such big clunky sprites around on the NES, it was harder to not get hit or fall. People perceptions are distorted I think.

honda_insightful · « **Reply #42 on:** October 16, 2003, 04:07:58 PM »

If you didn't die in OOT, you must be a gaming god! ;-) I died several times with the later bosses. Bongo Bongo killed me several times... so did those Blacknut Knights in the desert place, and of course the final boss wiped my ass all across the floor, ceiling, and walls. He was tough!

Wind Waker on the other hand... did not die once. Even in that 50 level dungeon (near Link's Island) I did not die. I think it's pretty pathetic when you can go through an entire game, and not even use your save card!

Bill Aurion · « **Reply #43 on:** October 16, 2003, 04:12:01 PM »

I think I've only died in OoT once, and that was by blowing myself up in Dodongo cave(didn't expect bombs to bounce back at me

)

thecubedcanuck · « **Reply #44 on:** October 17, 2003, 08:08:07 AM »

SUPER

for some reason your avatar makes me want to kill my parents.........

GoldShadow1 · « **Reply #45 on:** October 17, 2003, 08:19:51 AM »

I don't think games are getting that much easier - people forget that older games like Super Metroid or Super Mario World are actually pretty darn easy as well (though perhaps not as easy as Wind Waker). It just depends on the game. I can't think of many games that are harder than Viewtiful Joe (from what I hear) or Super Monkey Ball.

Uglydot · « **Reply #46 on:** October 17, 2003, 10:18:32 AM »

Ikaruga, SMS, Viewtiful Joe, SMB, RS2....I think it depends on the game, like it always has. Game do rely less on trial and error now, it seem though.

nolimit19 · « **Reply #47 on:** October 17, 2003, 10:48:00 AM »

fortuantely i suck at video games, so i dont have this problem...i think the first game i was ever able to beat was mario 64, and that took me 5 years to get all 120 stars. i just dont have the comitment and coordination skills of most.

KnowsNothing · « **Reply #48 on:** October 17, 2003, 11:54:52 AM »

"I think it's pretty pathetic when you can go through an entire game, and not even use your save card! "

What? you played WW in one sitting?

My sit'ation is about the same as nolimit19's. Never did get all the stars in SM64 or SMS (beat the final boss on both, though)

PIAC · « **Reply #49 on:** October 17, 2003, 03:54:49 PM »

i died once in OoT, i forget where, probably doing something stupid though

, WW i never died, MM i never died (was used to the mechanics after OoT, thats not to say MM was easy) ive died a few times in Mario Sunshine, even more in Mairo 64, like other people have said it really depends on the game, i don't really think games are getting easier, they are just different to what they once were, now instead of stupidly hard platforming sections we have complicated puzzles, technology has advanced in such a way developers don't have to rely on the simple yet hard mechanics of old.

out of my GCN games 8 out of 17 games i consider difficult.

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Author Topic: Are Games Getting To Easy? (Read 12923 times)