Big Ideas: Are games too easy?

Posted Feb 4th 2009 1:00PM by Akela Talamasca
Filed under: Culture, Features, Opinion, Meta BD

The other day I was listening to one of my favorite gaming podcasts when the issue of a game's playing length came up. The speakers were lamenting that games as a whole have gotten shorter, and that's a Bad Thing. I started thinking about this, and began to wonder if the issue is that games are shorter, or that they've just gotten too easy and seem shorter.

Then I started to realize that there's a whole kettle o' worms here, just waiting to be upended. Have games evolved to be easier out of sheer gamer need? Do games need to be easier to satisfy an older generation of gamers that has less time for games, or to appeal to the widest possible audience? Is the true purpose of games to challenge, or simply to appease?

When thinking about games in a meta way, it's generally useful to take a trip down Memory Lane and revisit history to see how we've come to this point. To wit: One of the ways in which games are too easy is in their allowance of Continues. Continues come directly from the days of arcade games, and the need to see everything the game had to offer. However, we paid money for every Continue in those days, something that obviously isn't an issue anymore. Back in The Day -- and here I'm going to set an arbitrary date, say, the Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis era -- games like the Megaman series were just so hard that inclusion of a Continue function was the one concession game developers were willing to make to their embattled audience. Even then, to access your particular game save required entering a specific code; it wasn't as simple as retrieving a save from a memory card.

In fact, Megaman is a good place to start to look at this issue -- it's difficult to imagine a more challenging set of gameplay mechanics. Megaman's jump always seemed just a bit too short to feel powerful, his default ammo not strong enough for bosses, requiring the use of the captured boss weapons, themselves requiring the collection of energy cells ... every step in that series of games (the regular series, that is, none of the Battle Network stuff need apply) is fought over tooth and claw. The challenges are exactly equal to the level of proficiency of the player and the abilities they're given.

Since then, the Megaman 9 game has appeared; and a generation of gamers who may never have played a Megaman game have widely hailed/derided it as being one of the toughest games to arrive in 2008 -- maybe even one of the toughest of the past 5 years. The reason it's so hard? Because it plays exactly like the old Megaman games used to. It's clear that our modern games are simply easier than games used to be.

But how can this be? These days so much money and time is spent on developing these titles, in many cases taking years to get a polished game out the door, surely these games are just as challenging as any old game ever was?

Well, it seems that part of the problem is in the way that you consider what games are all about. Are games meant to provide challenges to established gamers, or be accessible to people who have never touched a game in their lives? Are we looking at in-game mechanics as elements that need to be refined to the extent that they're nearly automatic, or is the true challenge in a video game learning to master a difficult mechanic itself?

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Tags: big-ideas, easy, featured, joystiqfeatures, opinion

17 Comments

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Yeah I beat Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in less than 24 hours. But I guess that is why there is a Veteran mode. Also it seems game developers are putting a lot more into the online game play and skimping out on the actual game itself.Posted at 3:37PM on Feb 7th 2009 by kyle

we'll i think that the reasons games are becoming easier is that the developers are spending so much time and money trying to make the game graphics and things like that better then the rest. so in doing this it makes the games shorter due to money issues.Posted at 6:17PM on Feb 7th 2009 by Taylor

I disagree with you Kyle. The game developers are spending more time on the online gameplay because more and more people are getting into online gameplay. Take for example COD4. Many people who have Xbox live spend more time on Online mode than the campaign. It is simply more entertainingPosted at 6:48PM on Feb 7th 2009 by Enrique

Developers will always set games to a particular difficulty that will make them enjoyable for everyone with less stress. If you want a more challenging experience, then maybe you should try playing online. Posted at 1:10AM on Feb 8th 2009 by Alonzo

well guys i believe as a game reviewer, that maybe we are getting better at games in general. As good game developers, they have a good or great online aspect, but should have an equal singleplayer.For example, COD:W@W the singleplayer was mediocore but the online is amazing. As in my oppion, game developers need to make hard games like Mega Man, or old NES games, but still have a good online. If you would like to comment me back pls leave acomment on my website @ GamingSigma.Wordpress.Com

ChillbillyPosted at 11:46AM on Feb 8th 2009 by sanders

Enrique, while it is true that more people are getting into online gameplay, isn't it also possible that offline gameplay is less entertaining because it isn't as well developed as Kyle stated? Yes, I agree, developers are focusing more on online gameplay because of the increased popularity of social gaming via Xbox Live, MMOs, etc. At the same time, I adamantly feel that games that offer single-player only campaigns have proven to be the best games in recent memory because developers give time to creating dynamic new styles of combat and enhancing the storylines to new places. I think of such games as Fallout 3, Bioshock, Portal, Mirror's Edge, and the like. When offline content is the focus of the developer, the game has a much bigger chance of becoming a quality single-player experience, which is what Kyle was trying to get at I think.Posted at 9:02AM on Feb 8th 2009 by Nacho

what you guys do not understand is, the games are not getting easier your just evolving with them. Give your 360 controller to your mother or father and see how well they do on easy playing COD4. Most likely no where. And as for them being shorter. well they are. And whoever is talking about its because of online gameplay. Your correct. No one is interested in playing a game by themselves, that's lonely. Y go alone when you can get a team of your friends and blow the faces off of unsuspecting english/australian 12 year olds that say nothing but mate.Posted at 10:14AM on Feb 8th 2009 by Aryn

I personally think the issue IS trying to appeal to a wider audience -- casual gamers. Casual gamers are a practically an untapped audience when it comes to serious games like tactical shooters... that's probably why Guitar Hero and DDR have such a huge market.

My best example is Burnout Paradise; they patched it on February 6th in an effort to make it more appealing to casual gamers. They tweaked the visibility at night so you no longer need to rely on your headlights (which may have been called for, but it was a challenge I was looking forward to overcoming -- no racing game has forced me to rely on my headlights before. It was tweaked before I ever got to practice), they made all the hidden objects glow so you could spot them at a distance, and they nerfed all the races up until your A-class liscence (and perhaps further) for offline content.

That probably did great things for people who thought the layout of the city and the AI were too unforgiving, but there's no thrill in beating the AI by a 1-minute margin either.

And by the way -- don't suggest online freeburn as an alternative to the single player, since the unlocks are only available in single player (although, mind you, they plan on releasing premium DLC that unlocks everything in the game for you so you can just brag about how easy it was. Bahh.)Posted at 10:25AM on Feb 8th 2009 by Patrick

While I agree single player modes seem to be dwindling somewhat, I also see online gaming bringing it not to the future, but maybe the past. Almost no one in the U.S. goes out to arcades and plays with other people anymore, and the internet is giving us some of that back.

Especially concerning fighting games. It used to be easy for people to talk up their skills on fighting games because there was little way for anyone to test them. Now that fighters have internet play, everyone can play each other and actually improve, and weed out the talkers.Posted at 2:02PM on Feb 9th 2009 by Fox

Well take COD 5 for instance, its shorter because, well, will somebody tell me the few minutes of world war 2 that they HAVEN'T showed us yet? also, it leaves a lot of players looking for more, so they can buy the next game as soon as it comes out, only to reveal another disappointment, although fallout 3 is fulfillingPosted at 1:03PM on Feb 8th 2009 by Symeon

Great article!
Yes! Of course these games are too easy! There marketed and made for young children. Theres a reason quake and counter-strike are the greatest FPS of all time. Quake was hard as hell itself. Counter-strike had decades of replay value. Sonic the hedgehog is STILL enjoyed to this day on the sega genesis. Every ps3 game I own I have beaten in less then 24 hours. GTA3 took me at least a year. FF7 took me a year.
People are dishing out 60-90 bucks for these new-age games and there nothing more than childish-nerfed-up pieces of crap. I even beat the new metal gear in 5 hours. You cant even blow the heads off people in the new GTA, OR FLY PLANES! I cant express how bad games have gotten over the past decade. My favorite is still Monkey Island.Posted at 8:16PM on Feb 8th 2009 by Quake1Veteran

I find that games that aren't over-advertised tend to be a lot harder than mainstream games. Maybe I don't have much experience, since I'm strictly an RPG gamer, but Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts- all fucking easy. Rouge Trader, on the other hand, was about eighty hours of fun, hard work, grinding... it was wonderful, I loved it. And I'd never even heard of it until I picked it up for $5 at a rummage sale.Posted at 4:24PM on Feb 8th 2009 by Marluxia

Ya, many of the online games have easier even shorter gameplay it seems. But some of the games that are more fun seem to be single player and not online. A lot of the games that have come out that don't support online have great replay value. Character customization and multiple choices have helped to make each play through unique and fun in my opinion.Posted at 4:29PM on Feb 8th 2009 by That Guy

Hmmm... are video games easier some are and some are made for different types of people. Remember back in the day games were for a niche group there weren't many. Now Casual gamers have emerged, online competitive gamers have emerged as well but, there are still those hardcore gamers that love the challenge. Pixeljunk monsters is a testament of the insanity that a challenge can bring to those insane gamers and having achievements/trophies amps up a games difficulty level. The trend I see is that games are easier to pickup but, still are just as hard to master as those retro games. Posted at 7:08PM on Feb 8th 2009 by Richard Hartline

I THINK THAT SOME OF THE GAME ARE EASY BECAUSE SOME OF THE GAME LIKE GEAR OF WAR 2 IS VERY EASY I BEAT THAT GAME IN LIKE A DAY, AND A OTHER GAME IS HALO 3 THAT WAS VERY VERY EASY TO BEAT, AND ONE LAST GAME WAS SKATE THAT GAME WAS JUST TO EASY. THEY HAVE TO MAKE GAME A LITTLE MORE HARDER BUT NOT TO HARD.MY FAVORITE GAME IT LEFT 4 DEAD.
Posted at 10:10PM on Feb 8th 2009 by KALVIN

Ninja Gaiden. Nuff' said.Posted at 12:36AM on Feb 9th 2009 by Alan

I don't think games have gotten any easier. Just the focus has changed. Back when Megaman came out, game developers were forced to make it challenging, in order to make money. Nobody was going to buy a game that was easy to beat. This made it so the gamer was competing against themselves. To achieve something. Also, gamers were a lot rarer. You couldn't walk down the street and say "BOOOOOOMMMM HEADSHOT" without people thinking you were some deranged nutjob. Now, I am sure that in most (if not all) college towns. You could, very easily, get away with that.

Now, in the XBOX/PS3/Wii/HighendPC days the focus is completely different. I don't think there is anybody of my generation (I'm 21) that does not know what Call of Duty 4 is. Gaming, as a whole, has become more acceptable. With focus on morons, new people, oldschool people, and people without time. The internet has come leaps and bounds, making it so that the primary competition now, is on beating your fellow players. The game controls are easier, but hard to master perfectly.

Try logging on to ANY online multiplayer game and play against somebody that is a veteran of the game(without hacking) and I am SURE you will see something a million times harder than Megaman. Fact is, people are not predictable. AI however is incredibly predictable so much that any one of those "hard" megaman games could easily be beaten on the second playthrough.Posted at 2:00AM on Feb 9th 2009 by Jmall