Getting Good at Video Games
 

There I am in Blockbuster and I see the latest release for Game Cube that I have wanted to play since I heard about the first develoment stages. I go home, pop the disk in, move some memory files around and start to play. It's now three days later, and the game has been beaten, the foe vanquished and the universe/world/land is rejoicing in my greatness. And I'm sitting there thinking "Is this all?" Is it just me, or have video games gotten perpetually easier with all these new consoles out? With very few rare exceptions like the Final Fantasy series, Legend of Zelda, Metroid Prime, and others like them, games take only a few days for me to beat now. I figure, maybe I've just gotten really damn good at playing them, so I decide to pop in some oldie but goodie Super Nintendo games figuring I can beat the all holy hell out these games. Nope, not a chance, I spend weeks trying to beat my SNES games, and days beating my GC/PS2/XBOX games. Has the video game industry lowered itself to actually making the games easier so that the little kids can feel good about themselves? I would surely hope not, but alas, I think it a dream, proceeding from the heat oppressed brain. Granted, as I said before, there are games that push me to very edge of my gaming abilities, but now a days, they are few and far between. I'm just glad that I didn't sell my SNES so that I can actually get some replay value out of video games now.

Trouble is that these days the pump a lot into a game in terms of incredible visuals at the loss of lengthy gameplay, you'd have noticed how short games are these days. Games getting progressively harder are hard to come by now. I'm not upset with the current state of games, I buy too many to care if they're short, as soon as one is finished another is begun.

You have to remember too that in the retro classics like titles on the SNES and Genesis/Mega-Drive there was hardly ever a save feature. So back then you had to restart the game again in order to get to the point where you were stuck, now all you gotta do is hit load.

Some genres are still difficult, you might also try playing games the first time through on the higher difficulty levels (I like to play on HARD or whatever is the highest one, and then lower it if its too hard) ... I think Normal is more like Easy used to be now...

Like Mr. Deflok said being able to save makes it alot easier now also...

Games have been getting easier the past couple years in an effort to sell MORE copies of games to a broader audience. The cost of games is so great, the number of sold copies needed to just break even increases further. It's an unfortunate consquence, and this on top of games becoming a bit shorter makes for an experience that is often less than humbling. It's because of ppl like me and Mr. D above that keep on buying games right after we finish one :)

I also have this feeling that older games were artificially harder. Take Spelunker for NES for instance. You can't fall more than half your height without joining the bat guano. Games now you can fall 20 feet and just get a little banged up.

For me games now seem to have a lot more depth and control. Maybe that's what makes them easier. Who knows....


p.s. Don't dig up a copy of Spelunker, you'll regret it :(

I really don't think there is a licensor conspiracy to make games easier so they can sell more. If anything, they're perhaps making them longer! Either that, or my skill is going with old age... :lol:

Take a look at many of the old classics. I remember beating the Ninja Gaidens, Mega Mans, and many others in an afternoon. The Castlevania's were a bit longer, but easily done in a day or two. Even RPG's used to be around 20 to 30 hours to beat. Now, if I can beat an RPG under 50 hours I'm surprised!

In my opinion, it's not the length of the game, but the quality of the game that has diminished drastically over the years. Back in the day (I've always wanted to use that phrase :)) it was very common to play a game over and over and over. But now there is so little substance to games that once you beat it, you're done. So much attention is given to graphics, that the little details - such as story and replayability - take a back seat.

Of course, I'm speaking in generalities.

I think with the newer consoles a lot of games are going on mainly graphics, they spend all their money to make the best graphics but leave gameplay and such with a huge question mark. Back in the day with SNES i don't think the companies worried about how good their games looked, but how well they played hence, you get better games!

I'm with Rudel here, I would put the blame on financial budgeting... and maybe labor hours to make software. back then, the software didn't need real models or 3d graphics or what have you, the graphics for the games were probably finished in a weekend, cost $23.50, and the rest of the story / levels / code was given the whole 2 years.

I think it has more to do with the fact that we have the attention span of gnats.

I think that the vast majority would rather have a pretty game that you don't have to think too much about to beat. For most people it's a fast paced world and the image of a pretty game with pretty simple game play and a pretty simple plot is appealing to the masses who simply don't want to invest a massive amount of time in a video game.

I watch my nephew play his games and it's pretty evident. He'll play Metroid Prime as long as it's "running, jumping, hitting switches," but throw a boss at him and if he can't figure it out he just stops playing. He has a pretty good selection of games, but hasn't beaten a single one. When he invites friends over, it's the same thing. If it can't be beaten in an hour or two then it's not worth the time.

There are a select few of us, who relish the thought of spending days playing the same video game. We like the tough boss battles that make you think, we like the long intricate plots and we despise the "switch puzzles." I like to play Halo on the hardest level. Most times I get my ass handed to me, but I always come back. :)

We live in a "blip" world. For video game companies to compete for that sainted demographic, they have to put out sub-standard stuff. It's what keeps the kids happy.

Play Multiplayer Online games if you're too good for Single Player games.

I had the same problem, bought a game and beat it in 8 hours or so.

If you have a PC and not alot of money, download Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. It's free, and it's arguably the best Multiplayer game of all time. America's Army is free too.

You'll be suprised at how poor you are at video games once you hop in a server full of good players, th3y will PWN j00!!!

Other good multiplayer games are Day Of Defeat and Counterstrike, also a new game called Savage which is an RTS and and FPS in one.

On the console side of things, get xbox live and try Unreal Championship or Wolfenstein.

Playing against real people instead of stupid AI will make things alot more interesting for you.

I always thought that games were getting easier too.

But when I went back to play some NES and SNES games, I wonked right through them just as quickly as the newer games. I think its just that I'm not a little kid any more.

The only thing that I feel that has gotten easier with games is the save function. All hail save function.

Anyone remember Super Mario Bros. 3? Oh god.

in the world of pc games it is getting harder and harder to find a well done new game

there are a few