Are video games getting too easy?
 

I was just thinking about some of the games I used to play on older systems like the original NES, and how tough it was to beat them.

Now, it seems like games are being made so they can be completed easily. I feel like game makers are doing this so games can appeal to the casual gamers and will therefore sell more copies. What do you guys think?

I know what you mean. I guess the majority of the games are getting too easy. Nowadays, the default mode in games is 'Easy.' If you play a sports game, you'll probably automatically start out at 'Rookie.' I've been playing a beautiful game for PS2 called Jak and Daxter, in which there is pretty much no penalty for dying - you just start off at your last checkpoint with all the stuff you had when you died, except now you have full health. Some games, though, are getting extremely difficult. I heard about Commandos 2 for PC being one of the most difficult games on the market. I'd say games like Metal Gear Solid 2 have a difficulty right on par with the old days.

I agree. Alot of games don't have a penality for dying. you'll come back with all your stuff at the same spot and it seems to be infinte lives
remember contra? i hated and loved that game all at the same time

I don't necessarily think their is a problem with game being too easy, though many certainly are. I think a major problem is the trend toward short games. I.E. Ico, Devil May Cry, Pikmin, the RE series, MGS 1 etc. that clock in at around 10 hours. I hate paying $50 for a game that lasts 10 hours. Granted a great 10 hour game is still better than a tedious 40 hr one, but I'd prefer to get around 25 hours of excellent gameplay, ala Zelda, with every game.

I'd have to say that hours of gameplay should not be translated into difficulty. I for one, like to game, but have other responsibilities. I thought the RE series (at least 1 & 2 and the part of 3 I played) were the correct length ... but then I didn't pay $50 for any of them. I tend to like the ability to save a game or hit a checkpoint and be able to start back at that point, but I still want challenging play. I don't want to be able to beat/complete the game to easily, but I don't want to play the part I got through a million times either ... I think as games get directed toward older gamers, with disposable income but less time, this will continue...

I was pleasantly surprised to pop in Twisted Metal: Black to see my @$$ nicely handed back to me. I was co-oping with a friend yesterday and we had a bitch of a time beating Minion.

I am hesitant to buy any game that doesn't either promise great multiplayer or a long 30 hour quest. With 5 day rentals at Blockbuster, I can enjoy games like DMC and MGS:2 without shelling out the bucks for a game I'm gonna play through once or twice.

I remember those early NES day. Just thinking about how many hours of playing it took to finish Zelda, Metal Gear, Punch Out or Mario 2. Those early games were very tough. I think a lot of it has to do with the lack of control you had. A lot of the games now have so much better control and interaction that it makes the games easier. BUT you can also say maybe that the reason was that we were all under 9 playing those games and now we are better skilled for such video games.

People can argue that the games are made easier, which could be the reason. But I don't think it's a matter of being 'easy' but more of being not original and crafty in making the game consume more hours of play.

+1 to the counter!

I know one thing that isn't getting easier about games, you have to read the instruction booklet now just to figure out what all those buttons do. What happen to the days of a joystick with one or two fire buttons? :)

Gamecube has got some tough games on it. Rogue Leader, Wave Race, and Super Monkey Ball are all very difficult. Plus the final boss battles in Luigi's Mansion and Pikmin were very tough. Things won't be getting any easier once Rare starts releasing games for the Cube -- they've made some of the harder games I've ever played.

Looking for more difficulty than that? Check out some PC games. I'm not sure there is such a thing as an easy PC game. It seems to me like most PC games let you choose the difficulty level too. Easy is usually hard enough for me so I bet the harder dificulty levels would satisfy anyone. Good God. I can't even imagine beating Max Payne on the hardest setting.

If a games adds to its difficulty and length by making you repeat the same things over and over then I'm against it. I had enough of that in the NES days. I like the no penalty for dying in games. It would be nice to see games longer and I think the best policy is to let the player decide their own difficulty.

exactly why i thought starfox for the n64 sucked.

Totally agree!!

Remember the Sonic games....to win the game you would have to play it with one seating. It sucked so bad at the end when you die and have to start all over. Oh what a nightmare.....repeating, repeating, and repeating...

I didn't say it should translate into difficulty, I simply said it, IMO, is the major problem with games today. I don't want to pay $50 for a game that will only last 10 hours. I don't have a ton of time to play game either, but I also don't have much money, so I like to buy one game that will last me a couple of month opposed to 2 or 3 short ones that wilil last me the same amount of time.

That's the great thing with FF games. One game, One month

I think games used to be harder, but I don't think it's a good thing. If you think back to the old 2600 days, many games didn't even have an ending. The game just got progressively harder, with more enemys or less power-ups or more hazards until you just couldn't humanly beat it anymore. There was no "ultimate" level.

Even in the NES days, games would be hard just for the sake of being hard. It took a long time to finish Contra, not because the game itself was long (you could finish it in one sitting if you didn't die), it was that you had to repeat things over and over and over until you got them exactly right.

I want a game to be challenging, but not to the point that I can't finish it -- there were many NES games I was never able to finish at all. I want it to take a while, but not so long that I lose focus. Better yet, make it be as long as I choose, like Mario 64 (just got through collecting all 120 stars) or Crash Bandicoot 3 (I've got all but one gem).

If you have a problem with length, find a game that doesn't end, like Unreal Tournament, or womething very open ended, like an RPG. Better yet, remember that back in the day we played games over and over again -- even after we'd beaten them.

This is such subjective thread because their are so many niches of gameplay and software/hardware out there. Games that appeal to all age groups and skill levels. My favorite games are the ones that strike a chord between difficulty and length. Just because a game is hard doesn't mean its good, some long games suck as well. The best games reward the gamer with innovative gameplay, controls that are fun to use, and of course ratio of how much you plopped down to how much time its gonna see in your console/pc of choice.
Just my 2 pennies

I agree ... with 2 small kids around keeping me busy, I prefer to have some games around that require skill, but are not so story or scenario oriented. I'll usually have one story line game going, but will jump into a boxing or fighting game when there's a only a spare few minutes during the kids nap...(vs hours)...

up up down down left right left right a b select start

hehe I was thinking the same thing. It always sucked if you didn't get it.

I may be wrong, but wasn't it B A?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was B A.

The classic Konami code was up, up, down, down, left, right, left right, b, a, start.

Well a game like Soud Reaver on DC was great because there was soooooo much area to cover and many areas were locked of until much later in the game. So you would go all the way back and and acces the area with new abilites.

Also, being a vampire you never die. So they way they handled his loss of life force was pretty cool.

1. you go back to the spectral realm

2. if you loss all you lifeforce in the sprectral realm, you went back to the start point in the SR.

tmnt2: the arcade game code
b a b a up down b a left right b a start
i could have beat the game without the code but it came in handy when you had two people

I agree games have gotten easier since the NES days but do you guys think it has anything to do with the fact that we were younger back then (I was less than 10). Then again, many kids that age play some games just as well as older people so who knows.