Have video games gotten easier?

2004-03-23 12:55:16 pm

Not impossible

just highly unlikely

It doesn't matter. Damage is already done. I just had to go and put the proper names of those guests in there because it really pisses me off not knowing who said what. :P

skynes

2004-03-26 05:57:13 am

I play some SNES emulated stuff here and there. Playing things like Super Probotector, Ghouls n Ghosts, Smash Tv. It's easy to see how they were SOOO hard!!

Games today though... You can go through all of Mario 64 without getting killed.

Try that in Mario 1...

Some old games give me problems today whereas I can breeze through some new games on my first go.

I think my first run through of Metroid Prime I died 3 or 4 times TOPS.

Super Metroid. I've lost count of my deaths.

SpecialK

2004-05-16 10:42:34 pm

We're getting better and nerdier :P (come on look at some stuff done in speed runs, you have to LOOK for those :P ) Plus saving is a big help...

looking back on some games, I dunno how the hell we were able to sit there for AGES playing Battletoads and beating it, or MegaMan or the Marios when you started from scratch all the time... My buddy played Battletoads using emulator states and it took him quite a while... We were insane :)

And Zelda2... Still haven't beat it :P Got to the part where you gotta cross the area to get to Gannon or whatever (I got all the upgrades, tanks and levels) but can't make it through...

Ah the days where games never ended but just got harder and faster until you died... I miss my youth and I'm only 20

professor_scissors

2004-05-16 11:16:52 pm

You guys are just playing the wrong games. Try Ikaruga, or Ninja Gaiden.

Spudd

2004-05-18 12:46:11 pm

This is a great topic.

I think the answer is both yes and no.

The majority of games have gotten easier because today's gamers have no patience. Really, what's the first thing you do when you get stuck somewhere? Run to the internet and look for a FAQ/Walkthrough? Break out the friggin 'strategy guide' (read: cheat book)? Many games actually tell you what to do now.

Lame.

Ohhh, I need to stop. This is making my head spin. I don't want to get on a soap box. Heh.

Some newer games a bit tooooo easy for my taste (MZM), and some are nice and difficult.

Spudd

Stonefish

2004-05-21 11:24:41 am

I had no problems with MZM the first time I played it. Maybe died a few times, but no real problems. I can now run it in aboot 45 minutes.

THEN I unlocked Metroid 1. Started playing that, and within 5 minutes, I'd given up out of sheer frustration. It's REALLY GODDAMNED HARD.

I went back, kept trying, practicing, etc. It's still really goddamned hard. I actually enabled emulator memory hacks (infinite health, infinite missiles) and foudn a detailed map, AND used savestates.

Still took me several hours to get to Ridley. Didn't take Kraid on.

Games are a LOT easier these days :)

SpecialK

2004-05-21 01:39:19 pm

Oh god I couldn't go anywhere past the first shaft at first

However, once I got a map showing me everything? I think I died once... Haven't finished it yet but I beat Ridley and Kraid without dying...

Few tips:

When you play the game, I suggest you get the ice and just avoid the wave altogether, otherwise you have to go another way to get the second ice beam to take on the metroids in tourian... It's conveniant to shoot enemies that crawl but you can jump over them

Also, when near pipes that release beetles and such, just kill em but don't take the powerup, that way no more baddies will pop up

Don't mash the fire button cuz if you shoot a frozen enemy he unfreezes... With the pain of shooting in the game, freeze and run by.

A map is very usefull... there are SO MANY fake walls and bombable blocks and such that you really can't be sure if it's a dead end or not,

savage-monkey

2004-05-23 10:02:36 pm

For me games have basically stayed the same. this weekend I was at my friends house and we busted out the good 'ol nes. we finished mario no problem. but then I play the original metroid on the GBA and I can't pass the first shaft room. now today I can pull out GTA and finish it no problem but then I play Ikaruga and I get owned.

Chet Rippo

2004-05-24 04:24:36 pm

They've got'n a little easy past this last decade. Not too much, to the point were I complain, but they have got'n a little easier. Though some games are much harder than others, like Viewtiful Joe's Adult mode and up. I'm not complaining, but they're getting pergressively easier.

GreenMamba

2004-05-24 04:58:12 pm

What luck, there's french fry stuck in my beard.

And Adult mode isn't even the hardest mode.....

Anyways, I'd say video games have gotten less "frusterating." The challenge has gone down a bit, yes, but the frustration level is most definately down.

Yes, I do believe games have gotten less challenging. Take Wind Waker for example. It really is an easier game than both Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. And don't give me the excuse that you've gotten better. If that's the reason, then why is Majora's Mask widely considered more difficult than Ocarina of Time, when it should of been easier thanks to the experience we had from Ocarina?

I don't really mind the less challenge, as long as it doesn't go too extreme (i.e. Yoshi's Story). I play video games for fun, and I won't care if it is hard or easy.

Unless it is frusterating.

Chet Rippo

2004-05-24 05:05:43 pm

Quote from GreenMamba:

And Adult mode isn't even the hardest mode.....

Anyways, I'd say video games have gotten less "frusterating." The challenge has gone down a bit, yes, but the frustration level is most definately down.

Yes, I do believe games have gotten less challenging. Take Wind Waker for example. It really is an easier game than both Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. And don't give me the excuse that you've gotten better. If that's the reason, then why is Majora's Mask widely considered more difficult than Ocarina of Time, when it should of been easier thanks to the experience we had from Ocarina?

I don't really mind the less challenge, as long as it doesn't go too extreme (i.e. Yoshi's Story). I play video games for fun, and I won't care if it is hard or easy.

Unless it is frusterating.

I did say Adult mode and UP!
Well anyways, I liked Yoshi's Story! It was meant to be easy, and fast to beat. It always reminded me of an easy Star Fox 64 for some reason. Man I wierd.

[quote="GreenMamba"]And Adult mode isn't even the hardest mode.....

Anyways, I'd say video games have gotten less "frusterating."  The challenge has gone down a bit, yes, but the frustration level is most definately down.

Yes, I do believe games have gotten less challenging.  Take Wind Waker for example.  It really is an easier game than both Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask.  And don't give me the excuse that you've gotten better.  If that's the reason, then why is Majora's Mask widely considered more difficult than Ocarina of Time, when it should of been easier thanks to the experience we had from Ocarina?

I don't really mind the less challenge, as long as it doesn't go too extreme (i.e. Yoshi's Story).  I play video games for fun, and I won't care if it is hard or easy.

Unless it is frusterating.[/quote]

I did say Adult mode and [b][size=18px]UP![/size][/b]
Well anyways, I liked Yoshi's Story!  It was meant to be easy, and fast to beat.  It always reminded me of an easy Star Fox 64 for some reason.  Man I wierd.

Spudd

2004-05-25 10:36:03 am

Quote from GreenMamba:

Yes, I do believe games have gotten less challenging.... And don't give me the excuse that you've gotten better.

The one game that was so extremely easy and that just handed you every single thing to you on a silver platter was Metal Gear Solid 2. Never mind that it just out right sucked and you WATCHED the game for hours on end.

The was zero challenge to that game, even the hard modes were a joke.

But yes, I agree with you, games for the most part have gotten less challenging and less frustrating.

Spudd

Talbain

2004-05-29 02:12:32 am

Video games have NOT gotten easier. They've simply become more dynamic. Gameplay, in this case, a platformer, is no longer restricted by the technological limits of the original Metroid's time. When was the last time you played a platformer in which you could only aim 4 directions, and had a limited number of options in order to go about doing things? Other than NES platformers, I cannot think of many. Because the technology we use allows us more, we expect to get that degree every time we play a platformer, and when we are forced to be moved back into a world where fewer options are available to us, is it any surprise we have a hard time adapting? I simply find this to be a natural result of "normalcy" in gaming. In a video game, we simply expect to have many different ways of going about the game to achieve the same result, and older games, due to the relative newness of the technology, was limited in possible results available. I have thus concluded, that games are not any harder then than they are now, they're just different in style. After playing some of my NES platformer games for a few hours, I didn't find them any more challenging than any of my other platformer games, I just had to get used to those limited possibilities. (and in many ways, because the older games had limited possibilities as to how to accomplish tasks, it made the game MUCH easier, and Metroid itself is an exceptional example of this.)

Video games have NOT gotten easier.  They've simply become more dynamic.  Gameplay, in this case, a platformer, is no longer restricted by the technological limits of the original Metroid's time.  When was the last time you played a platformer in which you could only aim 4 directions, and had a limited number of options in order to go about doing things?  Other than NES platformers, I cannot think of many.  Because the technology we use allows us more, we expect to get that degree every time we play a platformer, and when we are forced to be moved back into a world where fewer options are available to us, is it any surprise we have a hard time adapting?  I simply find this to be a natural result of "normalcy" in gaming.  In a video game, we simply expect to have many different ways of going about the game to achieve the same result, and older games, due to the relative newness of the technology, was limited in possible results available.  I have thus concluded, that games are not any harder then than they are now, they're just different in style.  After playing some of my NES platformer games for a few hours, I didn't find them any more challenging than any of my other platformer games, I just had to get used to those limited possibilities.  (and in many ways, because the older games had limited possibilities as to how to accomplish tasks, it made the game MUCH easier, and Metroid itself is an exceptional example of this.)

Dark_T_Zeratul

2004-05-29 03:40:54 pm

That's why I really liked Rogue Leader, and why I continue to like it over Rebel Strike. The challenge level was MUCH higher in Rogue Leader than in Rebel Strike. Rogue Leader was challenging, and even quite frustrating in later levels. Rebel Strike was... Well... Just way too easy. It wasn't until the later levels that the difficulty even climbed to the level of the early Rogue Leader ones (and this isn't counting the levels that you play on foot, because those were difficult due to crappy controls and handling).

Chet Rippo

2004-05-29 03:54:54 pm

Rouge Leader was a good game, but I thought it didn't have enough missions. Rouge Squadren had a lot, so how come RL didn't? I don't get it.

Stonefish

2004-05-30 05:11:05 am

For a second I thought we were being all intellectual and such and spell ROGUE correctly. It's gotta be the most frequently typo'd word ever. It's not Rouge. Rouge is makeup.

Had to say it.

Red Scarlet

2004-05-30 06:23:41 am

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

I'm guessing I've gotten better..I mean some old games I can go back to and play better than when that's all I had to play.

Chet Rippo

2004-05-30 11:12:06 am

Quote from Stonefish:

For a second I thought we were being all intellectual and such and spell ROGUE correctly. It's gotta be the most frequently typo'd word ever. It's not Rouge. Rouge is makeup.

Had to say it.

I'm sorry for saying Rouge instead of ROGUE. I think I've played Sonic Heroes for too long, er something.

Yoshi348

2004-05-30 03:34:00 pm

PAGE BREAKER

Ready and willing.

Quote from Chet Rippo:

Quote from Stonefish:

For a second I thought we were being all intellectual and such and spell ROGUE correctly. It's gotta be the most frequently typo'd word ever. It's not Rouge. Rouge is makeup.

Had to say it.

I'm sorry for saying Rouge instead of ROGUE. I think I've played Sonic Heroes for too long, er something.

Nothing stings more than making a typo when acknowledging a typo. (Which is why I spellchecked "acknowledging". On a side note, firing up Word just to spellcheck is sorta like swatting a fly with a nuclear missle.

Anyway, as far as the actual topic goes, after all the discussion, I'll say that games have gotten a bit easier on the average, but not that easier, and they gotten easier and harder in different places.

Izo

2004-05-30 03:43:10 pm

soaking through

Quote from Yoshi348:

Quote from Chet Rippo:

Quote from Stonefish:

For a second I thought we were being all intellectual and such and spell ROGUE correctly. It's gotta be the most frequently typo'd word ever. It's not Rouge. Rouge is makeup.

Had to say it.

I'm sorry for saying Rouge instead of ROGUE. I think I've played Sonic Heroes for too long, er something.

Nothing stings more than making a typo when acknowledging a typo. (Which is why I spellchecked "acknowledging". On a side note, firing up Word just to spellcheck is sorta like swatting a fly with a nuclear missle.

Anyway, as far as the actual topic goes, after all the discussion, I'll say that games have gotten a bit easier on the average, but not that easier, and they gotten easier and harder in different places.

It's not a typo, but you forgot to close the brackets after "acknowledging"...

Anyway, I think it's just that games these days hold your hand too much and tell you what to do, which makes them quite a lot easier. They've also got a more defined and a lot less floaty and weird. Just compare Metroid I or even Super to Fusion and the differences in handling are disorientating...

[quote="Yoshi348"][quote="Chet Rippo"][quote="Stonefish"]For a second I thought we were being all intellectual and such and spell ROGUE correctly.  It's gotta be the most frequently typo'd word ever.  It's not Rouge.  Rouge is makeup.

Had to say it.[/quote]

I'm sorry for saying Rouge instead of ROGUE.  I think I've played Sonic Heroes for too long, [b]er[/b] something.[/quote]

Nothing stings more than making a typo when acknowledging a typo. (Which is why I spellchecked "acknowledging". On a side note, firing up Word just to spellcheck is sorta like swatting a fly with a nuclear missle.

Anyway, as far as the actual topic goes, after all the discussion, I'll say that games have gotten a bit easier on the average, but not that easier, and they gotten easier and harder in different places.[/quote]

It's not a typo, but you forgot to close the brackets after "acknowledging"...

Anyway, I think it's just that games these days hold your hand too much and tell you what to do, which makes them quite a lot easier.  They've also got a more defined and a lot less floaty and weird.  Just compare Metroid I or even Super to Fusion and the differences in handling are disorientating...

Stonefish

2004-05-30 06:47:46 pm

Quote:

firing up Word just to spellcheck is sorta like swatting a fly with a nuclear missle

If you actually need to spellcheck any word you use more than once per year, in your native tongue, you have deeper problems than any nuclear missile could provide.

[/nazi]

Morcant

2004-06-06 10:29:26 pm

Oh, it's that guy

yeah, not ALL games are getting eaiser, take splinter cell for instance (both first and pandora), it takes me multiple times to try getting though a level i already beat, espically presidental palace (GOD, i broke my wireless controller on that level...no, sereously, I BROKE THE DARN CONTROLLER!)