|
| Thread: Have video games gotten easier? |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 4 · NEXT» |
|
Corribus
Hero of Order
The Abyss Staring Back at You
|
posted July 13, 2009 10:26 PM |
|
|
Poll Question:
Have video games gotten easier?
I was thinking the other day that (console) video games used to be much harder than they are today. When I was kid playing games on the NES and SNES, I remember feeling that those games were hard. Today's games are easy by comparison.
What do you think - have video games gotten easier than they used to be?
|
|
TheDeath
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
with serious business
|
posted July 13, 2009 10:32 PM |
|
|
Hard games don't sell that well for the average Joe.
____________
The above post is subject to SIRIOUSness.
No jokes were harmed during the making of this signature.
|
|
DagothGares
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
No gods or kings
|
|
posted July 13, 2009 10:34 PM |
|
|
I played the legend of zelda and super marioe world and donkey kong 2...
On the NES and SNES.
I played them for around five years. I never managed to beat zelda, because that magic sword was nowhere to be found. I never played straight through super mario world because the last world of bowser was insane. I never finished donkey kong 2 becaus ethere is one level I have to finish in animal form and it is unfinishable. It is. I have to escape this acid rising from the floors and it's impossible. No, stop, don't tell me how I should've done it, it's impossible. I was stuck for months before I moved to PC-gaming, it's impossible, it just is.
I also never achieved 100% on kirby's dream world, NEVER.
Oh, also never got past stage three of prince of persia.
So yes, the games have become much easier. In fact, I finished every part of the new prince of persia series THREE times. God of war, tekken... all thes eplay station games were a hell of a lot easier.
____________
If you have any more questions, go to Dagoth Cares.
|
|
Clay_Man
Known Hero
TOH gamer
|
|
posted July 13, 2009 10:37 PM |
|
|
Lol, is this a rethorical question? 
Sure they did. There were at least 3 races in NFS Carbon which I didn't won at first try. Oh, and in Tomb Raider Legend there was that bossfight in Kazakhstan which took me a whole 3 minutes to figure out how to complete...
Just to name some...
|
|
Keksimaton
Promising
Supreme Hero
Talk to the hand
|
|
posted July 13, 2009 10:55 PM |
|
|
I'd rather say that games have become more accessible.
____________
Noone shall pass, but no one besides him shall pass.
|
|
DagothGares
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
No gods or kings
|
|
posted July 13, 2009 10:55 PM |
|
|
let's play some formula zero if we ever meet keksi
____________
If you have any more questions, go to Dagoth Cares.
|
|
Geny
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
|
|
posted July 13, 2009 11:06 PM |
|
|
The games may have become easier, but there is something else as well. Not long ago I got my hands on the first Golden Axe. I remembered it taking me quite some time to pass it when I was a kid, so I sat down and prepared for some good old fashioned arcade fun... and after 10-15 minutes I was done. And that didn't happen with Golden Axe only, in general games that took me a pretty damn long time when I was a child, are now... child's play for me. Maybe we just got more experienced with time?
____________
DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
|
|
DagothGares
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
No gods or kings
|
|
posted July 13, 2009 11:10 PM |
|
|
I know I'd still not finish donkey kong 2 had I had it today
____________
If you have any more questions, go to Dagoth Cares.
|
|
Corribus
Hero of Order
The Abyss Staring Back at You
|
|
posted July 13, 2009 11:13 PM |
|
|
I submit that earlier video games were harder for the following reasons:
(1) Video games weren't as big of an industry.
(2) No internet FAQs/guides.
(3) Saving functions were less advanced due to hardware
(4) Many games were built for arcades, so a harder game would garner more quarters (god if I could have back all the money I spent beating Alien Syndrome!!!)
(5) Today's games: style over substance.
(6) Kids back then weren't the wussies they are today.
|
|
Fauch
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
|
|
posted July 13, 2009 11:24 PM |
|
|
I replayed super mario bros 3 some months ago, and it was pretty hard indeed (moreover I could save when I wanted, so I saved after each level)
I made it until the 1st fortress of the world 8. that map was too insane.
on the other hand I also replayed power blade (for the nes) and didn't have much trouble. this game isn't not so hard once you understand how to play it.
the biggest challenge I recently had in a "recent" video game was beating Ares in god of war. the game wasn't too hard overall (easier than gow 2 I think) but Ares was no joke...
|
|
Mamgaeater
Legendary Hero
Shroud, Flying, Trample, Haste
|
|
posted July 13, 2009 11:30 PM |
|
|
Technically yes but they haven't really become harder its just that easier difficult settings exist. Plus not all games nowadays rely on quick reflexes. add that the average gamer age is older and it seems games are easier.
For example. Super Mario Bros 3. When i was 7 i couldn't beat world 1. Just last month i ran through world 8 with a surplus of 268 lives.
Same thing for most of the other Snes games i grew up with.
some games are indeed easier but there are still plenty of challenging ones.
|
|
lord_crusader
Promising
Supreme Hero
UHU!! supreme!
|
|
posted July 14, 2009 12:08 AM |
|
|
Quote:
I played the legend of zelda and super marioe world and donkey kong 2...
On the NES and SNES.
I played them for around five years. I never managed to beat zelda, because that magic sword was nowhere to be found. I never played straight through super mario world because the last world of bowser was insane. I never finished donkey kong 2 becaus ethere is one level I have to finish in animal form and it is unfinishable. It is. I have to escape this acid rising from the floors and it's impossible. No, stop, don't tell me how I should've done it, it's impossible. I was stuck for months before I moved to PC-gaming, it's impossible, it just is.
magic sword on original legend of zelda was in a tomb on the cementery  if you don't finish the original zelda then you don't know that there were a "hard mode" after you finish the first time... al the monsters are harder to kill... and all the levels an items are moved from the original locations, and oh they all are diferent
____________
Dig Out Your Soul
|
|
DagothGares
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
No gods or kings
|
|
posted July 14, 2009 12:13 AM |
|
|
NO WAY! NO WAY, MAN! THERE WAS NO SWORD!
*runs away crying*
____________
If you have any more questions, go to Dagoth Cares.
|
|
blizzardboy
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Nerf Herder
|
|
posted July 14, 2009 12:35 AM |
|
|
I think part of it is the fact that we're not little kids anymore, so we're better with both coordination games and thinking games. Still, I've played some old games as an adult, and they still seem overall more challenging. The old X-Com games are a prime example.
Many newer games have also lost some of their "atmosphere", and I'm convinced it's not just me being nostalgic. For example, in the old Baldur's Gate games, you would have to actually walk into buildings to purchase supplies or rest at the tavern, and there was a lot of unnecessary things added in that didn't really serve a particular plot or sidequest, but it thickened the atmosphere of the game. Many of these extras weren't bothered with in Neverwinter Nights 2, probably both because it's less time (and money) for the staff to work on them, and because it's more convenient for the players. I wouldn't think such details would impact the game, but they honestly do. Thinning the atmosphere makes the games feel more like a game, and less like an actual world, which is a bad thing.
____________
"Folks, I don't trust children. They're here to replace us."
|
|
william
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
LummoxLewis
|
|
posted July 14, 2009 06:34 AM |
|
|
Yes they have because the newer games concentrate more on music and graphics than the actual gameplay, which for me, makes older games much more eonjoyable to play because they had a good mix of the gameplay and sound and sometimes graphics.
____________
~Ticking away the moments that
make up a dull day, Fritter and
waste the hours in an off-hand
way~
|
|
Mytical
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
Chaos seeking Harmony
|
|
posted July 14, 2009 06:42 AM |
|
|
I can't say the same. Games for me have gotten harder, but that is probably because my memory has gotten a lot worse. A lot of games is just memorization. Like in Punch Out once you memorized the pattern, it was an easy win. Or knowing when and where to jump, etc.
Some of the old games, though, you really needed fast reflexes. Try Xaxxon without them. You die fast. Ikari Warriors was an insane twitch fest (Except if you knew the code lol). And yeah it is a bit more graphics over substance now. Newer does not always equal easier, but generally yeah they are. There are exceptions, but they just prove the rule.
____________
Message received.
|
|
Darkshadow
Legendary Hero
Cerise Princess
|
|
posted July 14, 2009 09:10 AM |
|
|
Every other game than the strategy games I recently played have gotten easier.
____________
|
|
Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
|
|
posted July 14, 2009 10:07 AM |
|
|
You suck dagoth  Man I've got good memories from donkey kong 2, both in game boy and snes. Pretty hard but manageable.
I have thought about games becoming a lot easier than back then and it's not just us improving.
The saving times certainly had something to do with that, I mean try to pass Death's stage in the original castlevania Before you even get to the boss you have to get through some nasty situations and it requires amazing coordination, even with full health the boss is crazy.
But I also think it's partly due to transition from 3d to 2d. Less work in styling, easier controls but at the same time harder stages. That is a general trend of course, for instance finishing Rayman 2(3d) had my hands shaking and my eyeballs ready to fall out  I both hate and love the guy that made the final battle piloting plane and so deliciously easy to die while being insanely long. That was a feat of both endurance and coordination.
I also remember that I started the megaman zero series on game boy advance that was back to 2d and it was HARD! Man I spend a lot of lives there Megaman has a legacy of hard levels heheh, was good to see that a contemporary game carried the torch The good old recipe of 2d, long stages filled with enemies, limited lives and save points few and far between makes all the difference.
Of course lately games are more about escapism than being hard to beat. And I am not talking about depth because still nothing beats baldur's game and torment. But it is the style as Corribus mentioned, level design, artistic concept, originality. Take a look at Fahrenheit aka Indigo Prophecy. Not really hard - can be for some but if you get the hang of it barely challenging - but it was original, emotional, breathtaking at times and gave me one of my best gameplay experiences ever. While action based the emphasis was in storyline and I didn't mind in the slightest.
At any rate with most people playing mmorpgs, lack of action titles most of which easier than the old school and saves every 5 mins() it is no wonder. Gamepad skills have turned into mouse skills today.
____________
H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb
|
|
Darkshadow
Legendary Hero
Cerise Princess
|
|
posted July 14, 2009 10:09 AM |
|
|
Quote:
Gamepad skills have turned into mouse skills today.
The bomb has been planted...(sorry, just had to ).
____________
|
|
del_diablo
Legendary Hero
Manifest
|
|
posted July 14, 2009 10:11 AM |
|
|
I played Morrowind before Oblivion, i played however Arena and Daggerfall just recently. Morrowind worked, your fighting for your life early in the game anyway.
I played beths crap of a spin-off to the Fallout series, which claimed to be a sequel. What is to note is that i played F1 & F2 AFTER getting the spin-off done. Another note is that i had a german copy of the game for years(i do not speak German nor read it). The originals was alot harder and alot better, heck they was grapic superior animation-wise also along with the talking heads power. The dialog, balance, jokes, random encounters, difficult, about everything except the fact they was in 2D isometric which we blame the age on.
Its not the perspective change, its the butchering of the game and series that its hateable.
I would say that today its a graphic fest, it really started in maybe 04-05 some place. And its a pain, the makers drop gameplay and attempt to create the next idiotic consol uber grapic game without proper gameplay or story. There is even dumping syndrom <.<
Quote:
The good old recipe of 2d, long stages filled with enemies, limited lives and save points few and far between makes all the difference.
Nah, its still the same even in 3D. Just give the enemy proper attack speed and projectiles along with a proper AI. Half the reason the Rockman series is hard, is because that the missiles is not that easy to dodge(its either jump of slide), the thing is that in todays 3D games sidestepping is overpowered.
____________
|
|
|
|
