Are Video Games Too Easy These Days?

[RainMaker]

I'm playing Assassin's Creed today and realize how they literally spell out every task you need to do, where to do it, and how to do it. Go here, talk to this guy, etc. There is even a nice map with blinking lights to tell me exactly where to go. Now this isn't new in recent games, this is the norm. Games seem to take 10-20 hours to finish, and while there are some difficult parts to them, they usually don't give too many of us a ton of trouble.

Now maybe I'm old, but I remember games being much more difficult. Games like King's Quest, Police Quest, etc would require you to figure out puzzles, tasks and other stuff on your own. There was no blinking light telling you where the bosses were, and there certainly wasn't prompts telling you to look here, talk to this person, and so on. Skill games had levels that would keep you occupied for weeks trying to figure out timing and routines. I remember calling tip lines, picking up gaming magazines, and talking to friends about how to beat levels or parts of games.

Maybe I'm just getting older, but I find myself feeling a bit empty with these new games. I'm not a talented video game player at all, but I don't have much trouble with new games that are out. It used to be a huge accomplishment to beat a video game, now it's just about putting in enough time to go through the motions. Anyone else agree?

[rowech]

How is that game overall? I've read mixed reviews...

In answer to your question, I have two problems with games and one is semi-related to yours. Beating games don't seem to have the same accomplishment factor. Perhaps I was just younger so it took me longer to beat games but it seems like single-player games are beat in a week. Many have said COD4 will take people 5-6 hours. To me that's just terrible. A single player game should take a ton of time but unfortunately, so many games now are headed toward online play as their top priority.

The second thing that I hate about them is the sequel stuff. You can't seem to buy a game that isn't going to be part of a sequel or a triology, or whatever. To me, that's just irritating and is all about $$$.

[Calis]

There's a few out there(try Ninja Gaiden, possibly the most difficult game I've played and one of my all-time favorites as well), but overall games are shooting for a much wider audience than they did back in the days. Gaming is not a niche anymore, so that's they're focusing on accessibility to loads of people.

While I loved Police Quest and to a lesser extent King's Quest, they were more difficult in the sense of guessing the correct syntax to use to do something than in the actual game itself. I'm not sad to see that gone. :) I'm all for bringing those series back though, and tossing in Quest for Glory and Space Quest as well.

[CraigSca]

I like being immersed in the game's world.

There's nothing I hate worse than the typical, "what, you don't know the chemical composition of wet sand? Well, you're supposed to input that as the code to crack the safe on level 16!"

I think games long ago were a bit too arcane, requiring everyone to Google someone's walkthrough. I usually play games to have fun, not see if I qualify for Mensa. YMMV.

[SackAttack]

Well, keep in mind too that the gaming audience today is probably 10x larger than it was 10-15 years ago.

Part of that - a BIG part - is appealing to a more casual crowd, and said crowd might not *have* 30 hours to devote to a game. So you find games getting a little shorter, a little easier, to accommodate the casual gamer.

Sucks like hell for folks who dig a challenge, but there's more casual gamers than there are avid gamers. Their dollars spend the same, but when there's five of them for every one of you...

[jeff061]

And of course it's easier to rely on graphics for immersivness these days.

Buy the Orange box and play Portal if you haven't. Despite all the praise it exceeded my expectations twice over. And I load it up just before the end game just so I can hear the credits roll.

Best. Song. Ever.

[sterlingice]

There's a few out there(try Ninja Gaiden, possibly the most difficult game I've played and one of my all-time favorites as well), but overall games are shooting for a much wider audience than they did back in the days. Gaming is not a niche anymore, so that's they're focusing on accessibility to loads of people.

Two of the hardest games I've ever played were on the Gamecube: F-Zero GX and Viewtiful Joe. They were both hard in their own ways. F-Zero was so fast that there is no way I would ever beat it on Expert no matter how many lifetimes I tried but trying to beat it on hard was a good challenge. Viewtiful Joe was classic old school platformer with lots of button mashing and timing but it was very fulfilling to play just another time to try and get the timing right or whatnot.

But, as people have been saying- it's all about mass marketing and most people don't want hard, challenging games. Besides, there are so many games out there, it's hard to play all the good ones even with the short length of most.

SI

[sabotai]

It's a little hard to evaluate how hard a game was from my youth compared to how hard games are today because figuring out a puzzle when I was 12 might have taken awhile, but looking back on it, the solution is pretty obvious.

There's also a difference between a "challenge" and, as CraigSca eludes to, keeping things from a user. If I'm told to go see someone, I may not know who he is, but my character should, and he should know where he is as well. It took me out of a game if someone told me "Go see Lucas." and I didn't know where or who Lucas was (but my character obviously did), so I'd be searching all over the town or city looking for him. Those were artificial ways to extend game time.

I have noticed that as time goes, my priorities in games change. I want games that are immersive and relaxing. I've got enough stress in my life now, I don't need it coming from my video games anymore. Back when I was a kid and life was easy, I needed games to provide me intense challenges to balance that out. Now as an adult, life fucking sucks, and I need my games to a form of relaxation first, challenge second (but it does need some form of challenge to be interesting. Too easy and I get bored, too hard and I toss it and move to the next one. No more time in my life to spend 5 hours trying to beat one boss.)

[MizzouRah]

I love the way Assassin's Creed stops and walks you through the game, helping you learn the controls as you go.

We're not playing Atari with a joystick and one button anymore. :)

[Crapshoot]

Its interesting - as long as Bioware and co are out there, the single-player stuff will still be a big thing. That being said, I echo some of the frustrations here - I'm not a big fan of shooters and (partially as a result) awful, awful shooter player a(seriously - possibly the worst player you lot have ever met) and no, but I enjoyed playing COD 2 because it was at my pace. When I play it outline, I pretty much always get massacred which is fun from time to time, but not always endearing. I love the idea of COD 4, but the 6 hour time limit suggests I'm going to get my single-player joy, which is why I simply haven't bought it.

[BYU 14]

I remember Bards Tale II years ago as probably the hardest game I ever played. It took me almost 2 years to finish that thing and only then after the hint book came out, a nice game but totally frustrating at times. For me, I don't mind games that "assist" you with quests.

My gaming time now is limited and I would rather spend it enjoying the game and the game world as opposed to spending 20 minutes trying to guess a riddle or decipher some vague clue. I can still have fun with the easier games as long as there is a nice storyline and there is at least a some risk of failing a quest.

I really like Oblivion because of the ability to set sliders. If I could not get something done after 4-5 tries (which was rare) I could bring a sliders down a little and finish it. I also liked their quest system, which was easy, yet still enjoyable IMO.

[Raiders Army]

Playoffs? You're talking about playoffs???

[CU Tiger]

[Turns on Conspiracy Theory]
If a given gamer has 30 hours/month to dedicate to gaming. And a game takes 30/hours to complete then said gamer buys 1 game/month. If the same game takes 5 hours to complete, said gamer now buys 6 games/month.
[/Conspiracy Theory]

[CamEdwards]

I just bought Assassin's Creed and am unable to find my way out of the first freaking level, so I'm voting no, video games are NOT too &$%!ing easy these days.

[Rizon]

Yes, video games are way easy these days. I first noticed how easier they were becoming back when the N64 came out. Back in the day you couldn't save in the middle of a game, but now you can, and it takes out a ton of the fun and the risk-factor.

I've been trying to finish Super Mario Brothers again, and without saves and I can't.

[Crapshoot]

I just bought Assassin's Creed and am unable to find my way out of the first freaking level, so I'm voting no, video games are NOT too &$%!ing easy these days.

Cam if you want, there a few walkthroughs available. :D I was going to pick up Assassin's Creed, but I'm buying Mass Effect when I get back (Stupid Thanksgiving means I can't play it till Sunday) and I don't think I will be interested in anything else.

[Sweed]

I remember Bards Tale II years ago as probably the hardest game I ever played. It took me almost 2 years to finish that thing and only then after the hint book came out, a nice game but totally frustrating at times.

I loved that game, spent tons of hours on it. I used graph paper to map the dungeons, cities, and wilderness. Never got to finish the game but I did have 5 of the 7 (if I remember correctly) pieces of the destiny sword. Was playing it on the c64 when I bought my first pc so I sold the 64 while I could still get some cash for it.

Can't comment too much on the length of today's games as I spend most of the gaming time I have on OOTP, FM, FOF along with nba2k8 and the show on consoles. My daughter bought Oblivian and while I did start a game I doubt I ever get\find the time to ever come close to finishing it. Same would probably happen with Assassin's Creed which I am resisting buying.

[Buccaneer]

Interesting topic. While I don't play console games, I have watched my young son play on his GameCube (like Paper Mario) and he usually can figure things out pretty easily. But that doesn't the game(s) is any easier, just geared to a younger and more accessible audience.

Since we're talking about hard games from the past, I think the hardest game I played was Indiana Jones and the something machine. I got onboard with King's Quest at V and thought that VI was very difficult, but the IJ game was even harder. But you know, they really don't make (on PC) true adventure games much anymore.

[RainMaker]

How is that game overall? I've read mixed reviews....
I'd give it mixed reviews as well. :p

It's unique, something that is really needed in a video game market that seems to be one first person shooter after another. The enviornment is incredible and the animations are perfect. With that said, the game can be a bit repititious and it hasn't been too challenging so far. I kind of feel like I'm playing a movie more than a game at times.

I'd say it's worth a purchase though if you're looking for something different.

[Marc Vaughan]

I think that far too many games are too hard & long these days to be honest ... I can't remember the last non-strategy game I completed for example I quite liked Overlord but found its controls fiddly and frustrating and despite enjoying the first few levels after a while I found it repetitious and boring because I was having to redo the same sections repeatedly.

As it stands I won't purchase a sequel to it because I'm 'burnt out' of the gameplay mechanic now - if they'd made it a little easier then I'd have completed the game got a 'hey I was good at that' buzz and probably bought the sequel ...

(bah humbug - yeah I know I'm old .... should stick to my strategy games ;) )

[CamEdwards]

Cam if you want, there a few walkthroughs available. :D I was going to pick up Assassin's Creed, but I'm buying Mass Effect when I get back (Stupid Thanksgiving means I can't play it till Sunday) and I don't think I will be interested in anything else.

Thanks, I was just a dumbass and missing the obvious exit.

[chesapeake]

Games "back-in-the-day" were harder. But so were gamers. There were a lot fewer of us, we were more dedicated, and, frankly, we put up with a lot more frustration because we didn't know any better and the pool of games and developers was smaller.

To use a current examples, I played the original EQ until my fingers bled. I loved that game. But compared to the current state of MMORPGs, it was a brutal slog. When you died, you were whisked back, naked, to the last city where you bound yourself. Corpse retrievals could take an hour. Solo play was very difficult because it was so easy to draw multiple mobs and, even if you were successful, you had to sit for 5-10 minutes to fully heal for your next escapade.

That game was hard and often frustrating, but it was just about the greatest thing ever. But I wouldn't go back to play it, even if you paid me.

It seems to me that a big part of designing a game is finding that precarious balance between difficulty and playability. A frustrated gamer is not a happy one, likely to buy from you again.

[ageofquarrel]

contra 4 for the ds. it took me almost a week to get past the second stage.

[Pumpy Tudors]

To use a current examples, I played the original EQ until my fingers bled. I loved that game. But compared to the current state of MMORPGs, it was a brutal slog. When you died, you were whisked back, naked, to the last city where you bound yourself. Corpse retrievals could take an hour. Solo play was very difficult because it was so easy to draw multiple mobs and, even if you were successful, you had to sit for 5-10 minutes to fully heal for your next escapade.

That game was hard and often frustrating, but it was just about the greatest thing ever. But I wouldn't go back to play it, even if you paid me.
Yeah, I had a lot of fun with the original EverQuest, but damn, the corpse runs could be brutal. My wife and I would always play together, and she liked to stock her character up with alcoholic beverages before we got on a boat to travel to Butcherblock or Kunark. I always begged her not to do it, but she thought it was funny. She'd buy the drinks, and then when we got to sea, she'd start chugging them. The game modeled the character's growing intoxication by making the screen blurry and changing the character's movement. If you pressed the up arrow to go forward, you might end up going left or right instead. Yes, it was cute when we were in a field and waiting for something to kill, but it was not cute when there was a chance of her falling off the boat and drowning. That corpse run would've been next to impossible.

[Lorena]

To use a current examples, I played the original EQ until my fingers bled. I loved that game. But compared to the current state of MMORPGs, it was a brutal slog. When you died, you were whisked back, naked, to the last city where you bound yourself. Corpse retrievals could take an hour. Solo play was very difficult because it was so easy to draw multiple mobs and, even if you were successful, you had to sit for 5-10 minutes to fully heal for your next escapade.

That game was hard and often frustrating, but it was just about the greatest thing ever. But I wouldn't go back to play it, even if you paid me.

Ahh yes, the good 'ol EQ days. I remember scrapping some cash to get a teleport and upon arrival I fell thru the earth and died. I woke up naked in some other far away land and asked the customer service people for help retrieving my stuff and they said I needed proof. How in the hell was I supposed to come up with proof, I fucking fell thru the earth! OMG I was so pissed. I wouldn't go back to EQ if you paid me either, the customer service was horrible.

[rkmsuf]

But presumably back "in the day" there were hardly any adult gamers. Those that were seldom went outside.

Today there are tons of now adults that grew up gaming. The adults probably don't have time to spent weeks or care to spend weeks figuring out stuff. I mean who wants to work, have a family and then sit there frustrated for days on end. It's entertainment to them not a quest. That is where broad based difficulty has it's place.

[Atocep]

As others have said, games today are made for a much broader audience and they include difficulty levels to adjust for the more hardcore players.

As for EQ, I played EQ when it was first released and thought it was the greatest thing in the world (like most that played), but grinding, the 80 man raids, the corpse runs, it was all a bit too much. I do find WoW to be way to easy, but I don't want to see things as difficult as they were in EQ. I wish there was a happy medium, but harder games don't pay the bills. Its about making money and making games relatively easy gets your game into more people's hands.

[Big Fo]

contra 4 for the ds. it took me almost a week to get past the second stage.

I heard this one was tough, and pretty good as well.

[Pumpy Tudors]

How in the hell was I supposed to come up with proof, I fucking fell thru the earth!
lol

[Buccaneer]

I woke up naked in some other far away land

pixcpls,k thx

[sterlingice]

contra 4 for the ds. it took me almost a week to get past the second stage.

I want to try that out. It's another great 8/16 bit franchise that could enjoy a really nice renaissance on the GBA/DS like Castlevania.

SI

[Rizon]

I too played the original EQ, as a charm-soloing Enchanter and a CC Enchanter. It was high risk, lots of stress, and a ton of fun. Sometimes you didn't want to try something because it could end up in death. I'd read books and play the game because of the enormous downtime of regaining health and during the boat trips. But I'll tell you, charming giants in that snow land or running through that lvl 50 forest to get my lvl 8 pet spells were the most fun I've ever had in any game. Any sound and I'd about piss myself, because one cast from those undead and I was myself dead. Then getting into Highkeep and worrying about trains into the vendors room. The corpse runs were brutal, espcially the first time I had to run clear across the world (was like an hour or so) or the first time I fell into the Hole. Knowing a good Necro helped.

I also currently play WoW. It's alot of fun too, but really easy. I can jump into a mosh pit of 5 baddies and not worry about dying. I can just go get my corpse really easy, or just run away and they'll stop chasing me. I'd frequently choose orange quests because they were a bit more challenging and challenging is more fun to me.

[BYU 14]

Ahh yes, the good 'ol EQ days. I remember scrapping some cash to get a teleport and upon arrival I fell thru the earth and died. I woke up naked in some other far away land and asked the customer service people for help retrieving my stuff and they said I needed proof. How in the hell was I supposed to come up with proof, I fucking fell thru the earth! OMG I was so pissed. I wouldn't go back to EQ if you paid me either, the customer service was horrible.

I loved EQ as well. One night myself and RL buddy of mine were in Faydwer up in the tree city. He decided to go do some foraging while we waited for another friend to join us but was too lazy to run back to the Elevators, so he decided to cast levitate on himself and float down to the ground.

Only problem was he had me targeted instead. So, he cast the spell, I began to float and before he realized what had happened, he ran off the edge and fell to his death........On top of that he was bound in Freeport. I was still laughing when he made it back about 35 minutes later.

[kingnebwsu]

Many great points here but this one speaks to me the most...

I'm playing Assassin's Creed today and realize how they literally spell out every task you need to do, where to do it, and how to do it. Go here, talk to this guy, etc. There is even a nice map with blinking lights to tell me exactly where to go. Now this isn't new in recent games, this is the norm. Games seem to take 10-20 hours to finish, and while there are some difficult parts to them, they usually don't give too many of us a ton of trouble.

I like a challenge in games...but in the way Lisa Simpson likes a challenge.

Bart: "I thought you wanted a challenge."
Lisa: "DUH! A challenge I could do!"

That's my philosophy with single-player games. I hate not knowing where something is and I hate getting stuck. I remember playing Final Fantasy VII for like 25-30 hours (and I hate those style of RPG's, but that one was pretty good) and I got stuck because I couldn't find where to go. I searched for several hours and then I gave up. I didn't want to deal with finding exactly where to go.

I want the blinking light saying "go here you idiot so you don't wander around the same part of the world for 3 hours looking for it."

I'm primarily a multiplayer console shooter gamer, but when I play single player games (Halo 3 campaign, BioShock, Gears single player, and soon Mass Effect), I want to experience the awesomeness of the entire game as fast as I can. Too many games to play and no time to waste wandering the same corner of a ship for 3 hours looking for where I need to go.