Have video games gotten easier?

2004-03-20 06:45:54 pm

I just unlocked the original Metroid, and it is very, very, hard. I can't get passed...well, that first really tall room with all those un-hittable geemers...without activating Narpas Sword. I mean, I might just suck, but still. So, do you think video games have gotten easier to accomodate kids who aren't all that talented in these games?

BTW...after beating Kraid, how do you get out of there? I wanna fight Mother Brain, but every code I found makes me starts me at the top of Tourian with 30 health...and those Metroids...*shiver*

Thread title:

Yoshi348

2004-03-20 07:18:37 pm

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Ready and willing.

Oh dear lord, not THIS argument for the skillionth time... gosh darnit, video games aren't getting easier, we're just getting better. This is like, my uber pet peeve.

Well, I will say M1 is harder to get the hang of, but after you've gotten into the groove it's as easy as any of the other metroid games, except for the lack of map. Just keep working at it... don't bother to kill too many enemies. Take your time in the vertical rooms; kill zoomers from below if you can.

Light of Day

2004-03-20 07:21:06 pm

Yes, I do think video games have gotten easier. I'm almost certain they have, and I've got an interesting theory as to why:

The primary goal of any game is for you to have fun, and what's changed about video games is how they do that. There are different aspects of video games you can find enjoyable: good graphics, music, story, flashy cutscenes, gameplay; all these things make a game more fun if done well. The thing about difficulty is it effects how important the things I've mentioned are in making a game fun. The harder a game is, the more you have to think about playing it and the more important gameplay is to determining the overall funness of the game. On the other hand, you won't have to think as much about a really easy game so you won't notice the gamplay as much, instead you'll notice the graphics and story and other aspects more.

Whats changed over the years is how well games can do these other aspects. NES era games couldn't do good graphics or sound, and generally didn't have good storylines either. It was up to the gameplay to sell the game, so they cranked up the difficulty to make you focus more on it. As you'd have to think so much about the gameplay, if it was fun you wouldn't mind the sucky graphics and sound so much.

These days, however, all the other aspects can be really, really good. As they're so much better, they don't need to be "hidden" any more, so the difficulty is turned down so you can appreciate these other aspects more. Sometimes developers focus TOO much on the other aspects, though, and the gameplay turns out sucky. Turn the difficulty down and you won't think about the gameplay as much and enjoy the flashy cutscenes and good story instead (at least that's the idea).

Hmm, getting out after beting Kraid. You get out the same way you get in.

Also, after you beat him you can just kill yourself, get the password and use it to start again at the beginning of his lair. You'll only have 30 energy, but 30 energy at the start of Kraids lair is better than 30 energy at the start of Tourian.

Yes, I do think video games have gotten easier. I'm almost certain they have, and I've got an interesting theory as to why:

The primary goal of any game is for you to have fun, and what's changed about video games is how they do that. There are different aspects of video games you can find enjoyable: good graphics, music, story, flashy cutscenes, gameplay; all these things make a game more fun if done well. The thing about difficulty is it effects how important the things I've mentioned are in making a game fun. The harder a game is, the more you have to think about playing it and the more important gameplay is to determining the overall funness of the game. On the other hand, you won't have to think as much about a really easy game so you won't notice the gamplay as much, instead you'll notice the graphics and story and other aspects more.

Whats changed over the years is how well games can do these other aspects. NES era games couldn't do good graphics or sound, and generally didn't have good storylines either. It was up to the gameplay to sell the game, so they cranked up the difficulty to make you focus more on it. As you'd have to think so much about the gameplay, if it was fun you wouldn't mind the sucky graphics and sound so much.

These days, however, all the other aspects can be really, really good. As they're so much better, they don't need to be "hidden" any more, so the difficulty is turned down so you can appreciate these other aspects more. Sometimes developers focus TOO much on the other aspects, though, and the gameplay turns out sucky. Turn the difficulty down and you won't think about the gameplay as much and enjoy the flashy cutscenes and good story instead (at least that's the idea).

Hmm, getting out after beting Kraid. You get out the same way you get in.

Also, after you beat him you can just kill yourself, get the password and use it to start again at the beginning of his lair. You'll only have 30 energy, but 30 energy at the start of Kraids lair is better than 30 energy at the start of Tourian.

Yoshi348

2004-03-20 07:26:45 pm

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Ready and willing.

v_v

Well... one other thing. Games now have more "skill" difficulty and less "die and you start over" difficulty. DAYSO difficulty seems more difficult, because it's more annoying, so it sticks in your mind more. Also, skill doesn't help as much with DAYSO; it tends to be more endurance than fun. I'm not sure why most early games used more DAYSO difficulty, maybe it was due to their limits. Also, some difficulty in old games is related to tech issues or companies finding their way, for instance the no ducking in M1.

Metroid Prime

2004-03-20 07:27:36 pm

Yes, I agree with LOD. They have gotten TOO easy.

Light of Day

2004-03-20 07:38:23 pm

Yoshi brings up a valid point. Even if it takes me many, many tries to get past a point in a game, I'll only think of it as hard if I get annoyed by it.

It also sometimes manifests as an easy game with optional hard bits to it, such as Zero Mission. It may be asy to beat the game, but getting th best ending can be as challanging as any other game in the series, though. As you don't HAVE to get the best ending, though, it's labelled as easy.

RoboBlob

2004-03-20 10:59:26 pm

Yoshi is right. Everyone else shut up. Ever notice how people something you remember from childhood is a lot smaller than it used to be?

Light of Day

2004-03-20 11:03:19 pm

Quote from RoboBlob:

Ever notice how people something you remember from childhood is a lot smaller than it used to be?

Yes, I do. I also notice how a lot of old games still seem harder than their modern-day counterparts when I go back to them even now.

RoboBlob

2004-03-20 11:04:20 pm

Quote from Light of Day:

Quote from RoboBlob:

Ever notice how people something you remember from childhood is a lot smaller than it used to be?

Yes, I do. I also notice how a lot of old games still seem harder than their modern-day counterparts when I go back to them even now.

That's just because you suck. Any more questions? :D

Red Scarlet

2004-03-21 02:27:27 am

I('d) like to watch (some MP3 runs)

I play most older games fine nowadays like I used to anyway back then. :o

Yoshi348

2004-03-21 12:36:27 pm

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Ready and willing.

Quote from RS Bulleta:

I play most older games fine nowadays like I used to anyway back then. :o

*brain melts*

Oh hey, I'm definetly not dissing old games, they're great too. It's just... well, I'm sick of (not any of you guys) the people who are just blasting all the new nintendo games with too easy all the time, and it's getting ridiculous. Also, the knee-jerk blasting of new nintendo games is underscoring a problem with society as a whole, which is placing too much value on nostalga and old things and values. But it seems everyone here is not using easy as an insult, so I'm okay with that.

Toozin

2004-03-21 12:48:52 pm

Not impossible

just highly unlikely

Games tend to be more 'user friendly' these days, probably because the developers want to reach a wider audience than just that 'hardcore' bunch. Look at the Metroid series as an example: in 1 and 2 you didn't have so much as a map (except for whatever they give you in instruction booklets) or any kind of indication of what way you should be going. Super Metroid provided us with an in-game map so we couldn't get lost so easy, then Prime comes in with the optional hint system and scans that can tell us things, and then Fusion... well, I don't need to say much about that. But you can see how the developers are adding more and more to make things more convenient for the player.

stumpy

2004-03-22 01:23:34 pm

i thought metroid prime was really difficult the first time i played it...
but, it was also my first metroid game, and my first game-cube game.

once i figured out the buttons and quit turning myself into a ball when i wanted to shoot a missle, it was a little easier, but for me it wasn't as much the skill involved which made it fun, it was trying to figure out where to go and what to do next. it reminded me of the first time i played "adventure" on the old atari 2600.

we could always go back to PONG.

i dislike games where you need rote memorization combined with manual dexterity to get through a section. Prime is getting a little like that for me now... but i lack the dexterity, and i can always play it a little different even though all the enemies stay the same.

skynes

2004-03-22 01:58:52 pm

I've went back to some of my Amstrad cassette games and they're still just as ROCK hard as when I left them!

Games ARE getting easier.

Us older lot are just 100x more talented and skilled than the little kiddies who have problems with the first boss in Fusion.

fractic

2004-03-22 04:10:40 pm

I don't think that games get easier. Mostly shorter. And we are all getting so much better at gaming. Most of us are pretty hardcore gamers. The first time I played super metroid I got totally suck. Now i can finish it with 2 fingers in my nose (well maybe even literally). Nowadays i have so much experience that some stuff eventually looks easy. But since i'm a true hardcore gamer i know that there are other challenges such as a low % game in metroid or all artifacts in FF:CC. Sometimes that can be a lot more challeging

Xoc

2004-03-22 09:26:07 pm

Quote from skynes:

Us older lot are just 100x more talented and skilled than the little kiddies who have problems with the first boss in Fusion.

I would count myself among the older lot (27), and I still suck.

ShadowMagus

2004-03-22 10:43:08 pm

I count myself with the older lot, even though I'm only 17.

I remember the days of FF1, Dragon Warrior, Link's Adventure, Cabal, Bubble Bobble, (getting into some newer ones) FFIV, Chrono Trigger, FFVI, Super C, the original Sonics, and many more. Ask someone born in the 80's or before what the best Final Fantasy is, and they'll tell you 4 or 6. Ask someone born in the 90's, and they'll tell you 7 or 10.

*wretches*

WHERE HAS MY CLASSIC GAMING EXPERIENCE GONE?!

*digs out NES*

PhazonMetroid

2004-03-22 10:49:22 pm

Hmm... I think Yoshi's point stands out more... I never actually realized the fact that the games arn't getting eaiser, its that we are adapting to their ideas and finding out their tricks allowing us to complete the game faster and eaiser. You give Super Mario Bros. too a child the same age as you were when you played it, you will see that they will have a hell of a time.

Rox-Guest

2004-03-23 07:28:34 am

Compare: Metroid - Metroid: Zero Mission.

Compare: MegaMan - MegaMan 7

Compare: The Legend of Zelda - LoZ: The Wind Waker

Can't remember any other oldies right now... but there's quite a few examples. Games nowdays look better, sound better and feel better. Games back then forced you to learn where every single obstacle was, and how they worked, what they'd do, how to get past them... Usually without getting hit once. Try Ninja Gaiden! Or Rygar! Those are... NOT easy games! Ohyeah, you people might wanna try Zelda 2 (Adventure of Link). It's... hard. Not hard in the "oh god, it took me three tries to kill Thardus" type of hard. More like hard, as in "oh god, it took me three months of constant playing to manage the first level of 12".

Kinda like going through Prime on Hard with 23% items.

KennyMan666-Guest

2004-03-23 07:38:38 am

Ghosts 'n Goblins.

'nuff said.

KennyMan666

2004-03-23 07:58:20 am

Viking

Precursor

WTF... I wasn't logged in. That last post was mine. And I've always been redirected to login page when I've tried to post a reply when I wasn't logged in.

But, as said, Ghosts 'n Goblins has to be the hardest game I ever have played.