chuckd21

I've had just about every major video game system, starting at the Atari 2600 at age 5. I kept playing through the "great video game crash", through high school and college, and through marriages and divorces.

As a kid I could play shitty NES games like Athena and City Connection for weeks, trying to master them. I beat every NES Mega Man. I'd put 80 hours into Phantasy Stars and Final Fantasys...

And now all I want to play are music and sports games. 20 minutes of Rock Band or Madden, and then I jump back out and go about my day.

I started playing Resident Evil Zero recently, on the easiest setting, and 20 minutes in I'm already checking the web to figure out what to do. When I was younger I thrived on the problem solving. Today I solve problems at work every day. I don't want to do it in video games too.

I played some Modern Warfare 2 today but actually found myself a little disturbed by the bloodshed. I can still kill aliens and zombies with furious anger... but starting with World at War last year and with MW2 this year I really found myself a little put off by the human on human violence.

I know most of you are still hardcore, but has anyone else here found their love of games remain constant yet your patience for games wear thin?

Rockmjd23

I have less patience in games now as well but I think the reason is that with the internet you can find the answer in seconds whereas back in the 80's and most of the 90's you just had to suck it up and keep trying and trying.

PopcornTreeCt

I enjoy having the internet in case I get stuck on a level or a boss. Games have gotten harder, but for the most part you learn the rules of the game and figure out how to beat it from there.

I have played more games this generation than I ever had in my life.

dsa_shea

Or call the Nintendo power line for a charge and get an answer from someone on the other end looking at their "information".

foxdvd

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what do you feel when you see this pic? Do you find her "attractive" ??? If not I have some bad (or good) news for you..

Tracer Bullet

Oh for chrissake

sniper308

I don't really have patience for brain teaser kind of puzzles in games anymore either.

I also don't have the gaming skills I once had, for several reasons. Time to play, lack of patience for repetitive levels of games, and just dulling of reflexes due to age, but I still play a good amount. I've gotten back into it alot recently. Playing ODST, MW and MW2 for long stretches when I can.

I don't necessarily have a problem with the human on human violence in MW2 for example, because the game is so impressive, and so well done. I'm not really interested in online deathmatch kind of stuff, but I think I could and will be getting into some online ODST firefight. I like that its cooperative, but that you don't have to memorize the maps, and that you don't get taken down by people who have more time to put into the game, etc.

So its funny, I like to play the hardcore gamer type games, but I'm just not great at them so I end up playing on lower difficulties. Not sure if that makes me a casual, hardcore gamer? But I know I'm definitely not a hardcore, casual gamer

Trevor

I've definitely changed from a near hardcore gamer to a casual at best gamer.

Unfortunately, I still buy and collect games like I'm a hardcore. Between all my systems, I must have 100 unopened games. But I'm getting better, the past couple years I only buy them when I stumble on great $5-10 deals, and only bought maybe seven games this year.

This isn't counting iPhone games, which I buy weekly and play every day.

kgrogers1979

Personally I feel games have gotten easier and easier and easier over the years. Many games in the NES era were absolutely brutal in difficulty. Today's games generally hold your hands while you play in comparison. There are probably only a handful of games today that can compete with the NES era in difficulty.

Take Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox from last gen. It was one of the hardest games of last gen, but it was still considerably easier than the original Ninja Gaiden from the 80s. Or Prince of Persia... the original 80s game was extremely difficult and I never did beat it. The Sands of Time trilogy was very easy and basically held your hand with the whole "rewind time if you screw up" mechanic. The NES Mario games as well as Zelda 2 were the hardest games in those series by far. Today's Mario and Zelda games are a joke in comparison. And don't even get me started on games like Ghosts & Goblins or Battletoads or the first TMNT game...

sniper308

I'd agree. However, I'd say games have gotten better by making the game fun and involving without using insane difficulty and the necessity to replay levels constantly to get through them. That's part of the switch from straight up platformer to other game types.

dsa_shea

I beat all 3 Ninja Gaidens on the NES although it took me several hours to beat each one as you had to do it in one sitting. I'm not sure if games of today are "easier" but the fact that you can play for awhile, save, resort to the internet for help and play again at your leasure helps. I still find that games like Mega Man and Kid Icarus and even Friday the 13th were some of the harder games on the NES.

PopcornTreeCt

Well, maybe it's just me. I remember my friend and I beating the original Ninja Gaiden. Then last year, I only got about halfway through Ninja Gaiden Sigma on PS3 before I gave up. Maybe I was more dedicated back then.

Ah, the first TMNT game... I remember I got to one point in the sewers where I was supposed to jump a ledge. Never made it over.

DthRdrX

I never got past defusing the bombs in the Turtle van.

The majority of games are easier IMO for many of the reasons already mentioned.

boredsilly

I did, maybe twice, but that was usually the part where I got stuck too.

I think the thing with games now, is that they allow you to modify the experience to what you want. There are games that are absolutely as maddening and difficult as the hardest stuff the NES had to offer. It's just now, you can opt to not play those games on lower difficulty levels. Being able to tailor games to the difficulty you want is such a crucial element of my enjoyment because I have no desire to play anything on legendary or whatever. Fuck that noise. I want a bit of a challenge, but I also want to be able to push through a game without having to try sections a million times over.

XavierMike

Pretty much my thoughts exactly. I had much more time when I was a kid, so I didn't mind playing the same level 20 times to beat it. Now, my gaming time is much more limited, so I don't want to have to repeat a section very often.

My taste in types of games is very similar though. The addition of music games is about the only difference.

Superman07

I never beat that game either. I remember there was one part where the solution was actually just to walk over the gap instead of trying to jump or run jump.

I wonder if some of those olders games would be easier now if I went back and tried them.

Groucho

Early console games were insanely short. If you played through them straight through without dying, they would take 30-60 minutes, tops. To make up for this they made the games insanely difficult at times, and unforgiving.

To put it into perspective, imagine if Modern Warfare 2 made you start a level over if you died...and if it made you start the entire game over if you died three times.

glassdragon

That is definitely true.

I remember the original shinobi for the master system. The last boss alone took me like 5 weeks to kill. You had to go through like 40000 forms without getting hit once. After that though I could finish it in like 2 hours lol

Michael Corvin

I think "unforgiving" is the biggest problem with older games. It's not that they are insanely difficult, they are just very unforgiving. Miss a ledge by a fraction of a pixel and fall to your death resulting in starting a level over.

I never found any of them to be terribly difficult outside of a few. Ghost and Goblins (obviously), Contra(sans code), the original Mega Man and Ninja Gaiden are the only few that come to mind. Ninja Gaiden is a perfect example of being unforgiving but not insanely difficult. The main game is maybe above average in terms of difficulty, but the final boss is insane and the fact it sends you back to replay 3 levels(when you lose) before you can fight him again is so fucking cheap.

Ninja Gaiden 2 on the other hand is one of my most memorable experiences. Finished it with my first life the first time I booted it up. Good thing it was a rental.

I don't think the NES Marios are any more difficult than anything since. Mario 3 may be longer, but I don't think it's any more difficult. It's been since the NES days since I played Zelda II, but I don't recall it being too tough.

tonyc3742

Real life happened. I get enough challenge elsewhere in life, that I don't want to face 'unforgiving' (good description) challenges in a paid free-time entertainment hobby. I don't mind some challenge, but it should be reasonable, and I'm also not as much into games artificially stretched out like in many classic RPGs.
Many games are more cinematic experiences now, rather than skill based score hunts, which ties in to the constant-progression, keep-it-moving style of game design.

There's also so many games out there, and so many ways to save money on games or recoup cost on some games, that I'm not going to force myself to play a game I don't enjoy. Oldschoolers have probably heard that - "you wanted that game, it cost XX$, you'd better like it because you don't get another one till your birthday!" Gee, Mom and Dad, you're right, PacMan on Atari 2600 is awesome. The power of cognitive dissonance.

I generally shy away from the 'hardcore/casual' argument, since I haven't really found a good definition for them, and many selfproclaimed "hardcore" gamers are very paradoxical - I recall many Wii-bashing comments from hardcore Nintendo fans, who hated Nintendo actually expanding gaming to many non-gamers and offering new gameplay (though the quality of some games is definitely debatable)....what did they want? Yet another Smash Bros game, yet another Super Mario Bros game. I won't deny that when Nintendo sticks to their roots, they make great games (except SSBB, annoying buttonmasher), but to me, "hardcore gamer" generally means "someone who hates the fact that is getting popular and 'mainstream'". Time and money spent on gaming, or collection size, or involvement in the industry (as in, keeping informed), I'd definitely be 'hardcore'. Elitist attitude, 'it's not cool if more people like it', fine, keep me 'casual'.

Michael Corvin

I think most outlets have distanced themselves from the term 'hardcore,' opting for just 'core' gamer. I like the switch.

tonyc3742

Is it just a terminology change, or how do they define it? Many gamers still refer to themselves as 'hardcore" which generally means "harder core than thou."

Some of those older games were shorter and unforgiving, but some of them were also infinite. The OP mentions Atari 2600, which was my first console as well (unless you count that Pong game). Is it possible to "beat" Space Invaders, Asteroids, or Defender (that was my first allnighter), other than flipping the score counter? I know many of them were also arcade ports, which were meant to suck quarters from your wallet, so the publishing motivation was a little different.

Michael Corvin

I doubt there is a definition, per se, but my guess is more or less anyone who isn't a casual gamer. Or one who buys and plays a few games a year and/or follows industry news and the latest releases. You could even boil it down even simpler, do you listen to any gaming podcasts?

I've just noticed it on multiple podcasts over the months. "Hardcore" has all but disappeared.

slop101

The big difference is that 20 years ago, I was playing only one, maybe two, games at a time - and I could take my time and rise up to the challenge. But now, I'm going through maybe 10-15 games at once and I need to blow through them quick in order to move on to the next deluge, not to mention a career, a home and relationships - I just don't have the same kind of time I used to. If I get stuck at one spot in a game, I just don't have the time to keep replaying in order to pass it.

The Bus

I know! Gold-on-white is so '07. It might as well be a tankini.