Big Ideas: Are games too easy? part 2

Posted Feb 4th 2009 1:00PM by Akela Talamasca

Megaman 9 is a great way to show how far we've come as a gaming audience, and our expectation of what an ideal gaming experience should be. We're too used to the style of play that lets us get away with double jumps when there shouldn't be any need for that particular convention. Another cheap way of getting around the need to learn to master a mechanic is the Quick Time Event (QTE).

For those of you unfamiliar with this, it amounts to a series of specific button presses to accomplish cinematic action sequences. And while it looks great to accomplish these, it takes a lot of the fun out of the actual game. Take, for example, another recent game series. Skate and Skate 2 by EA Games does away with the standard method of performing skateboard tricks, which is to memorize a sequence of button presses. Instead, the controller's analog sticks are used to simulate physical movements, meaning that every trick is a matter of breaking down the individual components that make up the trick itself. Therefore, any trick that you can't do yet is merely a matter of practice.

This is the sort of gameplay that seems to have gone out of vogue for most game audiences. Things aren't made arbitrarily harder by the use of different difficulty levels, which, while making many games more accessible, robs the player of the direct thrill of knowing they were victorious thanks to their actual skill.

Video games may be the only form of entertainment in which the creators pander to the audience in this way. With a novel or a movie, you know what you want from the experience, and you choose the exact product that you think will give you the experience you're looking for. What you get out of it after that point you pretty much accept. If you don't understand a difficult book, you might blame your lack of sophistication or the poor ability of the writer to convey his message, but you don't get to start the book over and choose a version with a simpler plot. If you go into a movie expecting one thing but getting another, you are at least entertained by the experience you did get. You may complain that the story ought to have gone a different way, but that's the accepted price of seeing someone else's vision come to life.

Are we getting softer as we get older? Is it that we think games ought to be sophisticated in theme, but not in controls? Or are we recognizing that we've gone a little too far in one direction, and are even now heading back the other way? Think about the mechanics of Johnathan Blow's Braid. There are really only a couple of actions one can perform, yet the game plays out requiring so much more from the player that when one arrives at its end, a genuine sense of accomplishment is felt. Asking more from our games is asking more from ourselves, and maybe that's the stumbling block. Maybe we just want a challenge that we're assured we can conquer. Maybe playing games like this is our way of returning some form of control to our sometimes out-of-control lives. If so, we can be forgiven for the sometimes too-easy gameplay. After all, there's nothing wrong with a little escapist entertainment -- as long as we make sure we're better for it upon our return.

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

I think that the need for a strong narrative has taken away some challenge from games, but I believe the challenge is still there, its just...disabled. most games have difficulty settings nowadays where back in the day they didn't, playing call of duty in veteran is much more satisfying than just normal, although it takes much longer to beat (I have yet to finish COD4 on veteran, and I play it quite a lot.) even RPGs like Fallout 3 have difficulty settings that are often overlooked and we just suppose the game is easier.Posted at 2:16PM on Feb 4th 2009 by Sam

Some games should be about skill and difficulty. Other games should be about the experience. Fighting games, are in some cases very difficult because they are about Skill. RPGs may not be difficult at all because they are about the Experience.

It's not that games "in general" are becoming more or less difficult, its that more people prefer are preferring immersion than competition.

Personally, if I want difficulty, I will play online. Other people create the most natural difficulty IMO - AI usually utilizes "cheapness" as a way to compensate actual skill requirements.

QTE - Yes, they are a bullshit gameplay mechanic. I don't know what they have to do with difficulty though. They are just supposed to be "cinematic moments" that are not easily translated into a control map, rather than a method of bypassing "a need to master a gameplay mechanic."

Games vs. Books,Movies - This is kind of a retarded point considering games are, by nature, interactive - it's not like a book is sending Medusa heads at you non-stop. Its a passive experience. Something like "Memento" you can sit and watch the whole thing - doesn't mean you'll necessarily understand but you can get through the whole thing.

P.S. Hows the weather up there in Johnathan Blow's ass... I heard the winters are remarkably mild...Posted at 5:48PM on Feb 4th 2009 by rushtodeath

I definately agree. My brother and I were playing the new Star Wars game (the Force Unleashed) that he got for Christmas, and we beat it in a matter of days. Normally it takes us weeks or months to beat a game. There was no such thing as 'game over', if you died, it just put you back to where you were a few minutes before, so when you were killing the larger enemies it became easier the more you died. It was a bit ridiculous. The worst part was, I was the one the one that beat it in the end, and I am by far the less skilled player of the two of us, so it goes to show you how easy this game is. It was fun, with pretty good graphics and all, but way too short and simple.Posted at 10:34AM on Feb 7th 2009 by bookworm

I agree; Some games are just way too easy.
And for the difficulty setting , I think they shouldn't be there. I'd try Fallout 3 on normal or hard if it wasn't for the fact that tempation to get through a game quickly overuled my want to have fun and accomplish something. And I'm sure many other Americans have the same weak will power.
So I hope game makers see this and make HARDER GAMES.Posted at 11:21AM on Feb 7th 2009 by Beckeh

I have to totally agree, I definitely believe games have gotten easier. When I play a game on my Sega Genesis, then go to play a different one on my PS2, the difference is remarkable to me. For example, just the difference in difficulty between Batman Returns on the Sega Gensis and just about any newer game now. A friend of mine and I actually went the whole way through Batman Returns and it took us weeks, in retrospect, it typically takes us a matter of days to beat most newer games we get our hands on. I think the problem now seems to be, instead of people making their own game, or going off of their own original idea and just sticking to that, game companies seem to be taking a single concept and simply trying to outdo one another one this one simple concept or idea. It just seems they focus too much nowadays on graphics, showiness, and just how fast they can get the game out. It especially shows in movie games these days. The last good movie game I have played was Peter Jackson's King Kong(which was only pretty good). Wheras Batman and Batman Returns on the Sega Genesis are very good games based off of movies. I think nowadays poeple seem to be looking more for a cheap thrill than for a challenge or a sense of genuine accomplishment. I hope this changes because I truly enjoy a good challenge in a game and wonderful sense of accomplishment you get when you finally beat an incredibly challenging game, such as Castlevania or Metroid.Posted at 12:56PM on Feb 7th 2009 by Nick

I don't think it is the older generation of gamers, I think it is the newer ones. A lot of kids now a days are used to stuff just being handed to them, instead of them being made to work for it. I don't know how many friends w/ kids don't even make their kids do regular chores around the house anymore.

Games are getting easier, game developers are catering to these feeling of needing to get something for doing nothing, that is why we have these stupid trophies and achivements for doing what, killing X number of bad guys or passing X level, something we would have done during game play anyways. Providing adjustable game difficulty settings isn't helping any either, Fallout 3 on the most difficult setting is still easy to finish. The only game that has given me true difficulty on the most difficult setting recently is Dead Space, and before that Ninja Gaiden Sigma(I own a PS3), other then that I finish the vast majority of games w/in a week because of how easy they are, not because of how long they are.

I recently went back and played Altered Beast on the Genesis, I beat the game in about 3 hours of game play, most of the "short" games out now take at least double that amount of time. There are many other "afternoon games", as I like to call them, which were real short plays for the older systems but none of them were nearly as easy as games now a days.

Game developers need to get away from the thinking of "oh we have to create the most visually stunning game out there, who cares about how difficult it is" and get back to the "lets make this game fun and enjoyable and challenging" way of thinking, I think the gaming industry would do very well by making a difficult game people want to continue to play instead of games that people finish in a matter of days and go and sell it back to the game store...

Gameing companies are missing out on so much money because for the majority of games all we, the game players, have to do is wait for about a week or 2 until people start selling back games they have finished and go in and get a much better price on what is basically a "new" game. Another thing I have been noticing is the price cuts games have been getting recently. I have seen a lot of fun solid games get their prices cut almost in half after the game has been out for maybe a month where just a few years back you wouldn't see any price drops for at least 6 months on EVERY game...

Increase difficulty, increase enjoyablilty, increase how long people want to play a game, and it will increase profits, but I guess game companies just don't see it like that. Oh well, their loss of money and our loss of a good challenge.Posted at 1:54PM on Feb 7th 2009 by caanimal3008

I agree. Game Developers focus too much on graphics, but so do some of the gamers out there. I own a Wii, and my friend ripped on me because the Wii "wasn't as graphically good as an Xbox 360 (and my reply is that at least my Wii doesn't have 50 reasons why it breaks)". Its not all the developers fault; many gamers focus on stupid crap, like graphics. Sure a game could have great graphics, but would you remember the game later if the gameplay sucked? Games should be a challenge, like Super Mario Brothers or Megaman 9, not an easy hour like Dragonball Z Budokai.Posted at 2:21PM on Feb 7th 2009 by CMK

I love adventure games and if you play the old tomb raider it seemed more like a maze which not only scared the hell out of you but made it harder to get through now if you look at the remakes you have one path to follow and like four enemies in the entire level its lame come awn! Im sixteen i have no life lol i need something!Posted at 3:40PM on Feb 7th 2009 by Catie

Games had to be harder in the past because of what was lacking technology wise.
It took me 14 years to beat The Lion King for the SNES. That was a hard game. Newer games are built more for aesthetic appeal and less for difficulty. There are exceptions though, as always... like Devil May Cry 3. My patience wore out with that one.
Which may be why games are easier. We're less patient.Posted at 7:04PM on Feb 7th 2009 by Cherry Riniaz

Listen its easy. We have bred a generation of losers that expects a prize just for playing a particular game/sport. Sign your kid up for soccer and he WILL get a trophy at the end of the season. Thats the biggest of the problems causing this. Another is most games offer a Campaign only to get you acclimated to online play. The stories are usually lacking any substance and the campaign is over before you know it. Online play offers, usually, more challenge and more entertainment. This is the trend and the game companies are going to follow it.Posted at 12:10AM on Feb 9th 2009 by GaMeRx99

I remember the sense of epic power I felt as I destroyed Gannon or saved the world from the moon crashing down. Rescuing princess peach never got old and that final fantasy boss I wanted to beat so bad was always a challenge. When I played older games, I had a big challenge ahead of me. It took me 80 hours of gameplay to beat ocarina of time while it took 65 for me to beat Twilight Princess. That world 9-9 was always so hard and some giant creatures in final fantasy had me throwing the controller.

New games have also brought new challenges though, the DS Re-make of Final Fantasy IV is good, giving me so far 15 hours of gameplay. Super mario galaxy was very easy to beat but is hard to get all 120 stars. CoD4 has me challenged as I'm lacking skill in shooters. However a lot of games have proved to be extremely easy in the past year or so.
Lego Star wars, with little to no penalty for death and ridiculous extras ranging from invincibility to 10x studs it was no challenge.
These days, all that seems to challenge me is sequels to old games which still get easier as the nwer ones come out.

In my opinion, newer games are proving less of a challenge but are bringer new gameplay styles into the gaming world, such as the Wii and DS.Posted at 9:04PM on Feb 7th 2009 by A New Gamer

One other thing to keep in mind is that games didn't have stories back then like they do now. If I never finished Super Mario Bros. 3 and didn't find out the end of the story, it didn't exactly keep me up at night worried. Many games today border on interactive movies and you want the end of a movie to be accessible to all your customers. And there is a place for that, I believe. But I also think there should be a place for the very hard game with little to no story.Posted at 2:18AM on Feb 8th 2009 by Kyle

A very good example of this is when they created Ninja Gaiden Black because Ninja Gaiden was just "too hard a game" as many had ranted previously. Sure, Ninja Gaiden Black was fun and I was able to get past the game, but the bosses seemed WAY too much easier on black than on the first Ninja Gaiden due to the extra supply of potions and more save points.Posted at 9:16AM on Feb 8th 2009 by Tiny

I also noticed that these days, you get used to the easiness of some, and get a little annoyed when you go back. The main example I can think of is limited lives. years ago when i got my first playstation, every game had limited lives. but a lot of them i have these days, you could die a hundred times and still be at the last checkpoint....Posted at 10:45AM on Feb 8th 2009 by c.d.

You're actually totally off that mark in one respect. This is not limited to video games. I can name several other competitive games where this goes on. It boils down to pleasing the lowest common denominator. That is what drives sales and keeps you in business, unless you're content to deal only with a small niche, which normally won't make you rich.Posted at 5:02PM on Feb 8th 2009 by sitzkrieg

Its true even on the hardest level in the new metal gear solid not playing metal gear solid since the first one came out which was by far the best I beat it in 12 hrs....the problem with games is that its made to be beaten by the player what they should do is make it impossible to beat and have you come away with the win at the end.

P.S just play shooting games online people vs people makes it difficult one person is better then the next.Posted at 12:47PM on Feb 8th 2009 by jay

I think games nowadays are far more focused on the cinematics and graphics as opposed to anything that was out in the 80's and 90's and they are obviously easier despite the difficulty level. Back in the day, you would have only so many lives and so many continues where today it's unlimited. I think the challenge in today's games is Online where players give you the challenge. Posted at 4:54PM on Feb 8th 2009 by Jim Monroe

Games have gotten easier to an extent. First off, I think that with new graphics comes a new way of creating games. Games have almost turned into movies in which you have control of what goes on. That in itself isn't a bad thing, but I think the gaming companies want you to be successful so they make it easier for you to win. Also, there are difficulty settings... and too many of them. There should be only 2 I think, normal and hard. The Halo games have 4 difficulty settings, and Legendary which is the highest is just begging to be played, but why would gamers want to play something challenging when they can dominate and kick butt. Also, we old school gamers did not grow up with tutorials on how to play games, which are now in EVERY game... Except for Mass Effect which makes you figure it out just by sitting in a big field on Eden Prime. I don't think that all games are particularly easy, its just that we have so many luxuries that we didn't have back in the NES, SNES, Genesis days, such as unlimited lives and the ability to save the game practically any time we want. And as for the newer generation of gamers... Yeah they have no idea the type of hardships we played through... I was playing Mega Man 9 and with just my regular weapon, got to an extremely hard boss and lost, my 4 year old cousin was going around saying how bad I was that I couldn't beat it, when the only games he plays are Lego Star Wars/Indiana Jones and Star Wars Battlefront, all games that are particularly easy. So there are lots of factors, such as newer generations who want easier games, more luxuries for us old school gamers, Storyline over difficulty, and too many levels of difficulty to choose from. Posted at 5:18PM on Feb 8th 2009 by John

Back in the day being when Super Nintendo was out? How young was the person that wrote this? I'm only 30 and I consider "back in the day" to be Atari and the original nintendo with Super Mario and Duck Hunt. Anyway, modern games aren't about boring scores and repetitive cycles of similar levels only changing by a higher number and slight variances in graphics . Modern games are a simple version of virtual reality where you have houses and make money by performing various tasks. I'm refering to Saints Row 2 and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. You actually take on the roll of the character and expore the coresponding worlds. Much more fun in my opinion. It's not a pain in the ass like the older games. Does anyone remember Space Invaders? BORING!!!! And Pac-Man? The only difference in Pac-Man 2 was a bow and different fruit. That was making a killing for the companies versus todays games where they actually have to make something entertaining. Newer games are sorta a movie that you control. Way Sweet!!!Posted at 6:28PM on Feb 8th 2009 by Chris Garand

yup wat he saidPosted at 7:37PM on Feb 9th 2009 by zeke

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