Are games getting easier or are we getting better?

[Batman's Biggest Fan]

I remember in the old 2D days I wasn't as interesting in video games since I could never finish them, but now that I'm 16 years old and ever since 3D games came out, I though "Oh, these are a lot easier than 2D games, I can beat these 3D games.", but having gone back and replaying some of the 2D classics like, Mario Bros., Zelda and Sonic, I found I was able to beat them with ease. I guess in my case I've gotten better. How about you?

[Juu-kuchi]

A mix of both. Wind Waker was an easy title in an aspect, but I blame it's ease also on my experience playing Zelda games.

We've also become somewhat intelligent when it comes to games. Now we know how to look around in surroundings, how to discern what to do next in some regard and use logic more often than so in finding a way to do something.

[Tapout]

It's both. I remember back when Super Mario Bros. 3 first came out my friends and I could never get past World 4. Now I can beat the game in about 20 minutes.

Games now are easier though. There are a few exceptions, but most developers are too focused on graphics and/or storyline to think about gameplay.

[James]

Games now are easier though. There are a few exceptions, but most developers are too focused on graphics and/or storyline to think about gameplay.
Not really. It's learning curve and the probabilty that most players not been as hardcore as the minority intense group don't have the attention span or interest to be ploughing 150 hours into a game to complete it. They want a game they can end... since they are not hardcore intense gamers, a lot of games keep a learning curve and length which matches that demograph.

Games in the end are their to indulge their target audience, so a games length will to a degree try and hit the demograph.

But yes games are easier.. I was looking at the reviews for Battlestar Galactica before I bought and they were whining how hard it is. When I played it I found it hard but not impossible.. not compared to some of the 8-bit games in the 80s where people rarely got past level 4... Yeah, there is a lack of save points, but I'm already half way through on the second full day of having it... it's hard, but not impossible. I'd say on the whole, most games have the balance right.

Again it depends what consumer the game tragets to how hard and long the game will attempt to be. IMO :)

[Master Moron]

Anyone who says games are getting easier has not played the new Grand Theft Auto games. Almost everyone I know used tons of cheat codes in order to beat those games. I'm the only one who managed to beat it without cheats and it was freakin heard!

Another near impossible game, Gran Turismo 3.

[Artimus Gigan]

It's really both

The Original Zelda is very easy as is Adventures of Link, both games are fairly straight-forward to do everything 100%

But games were also not as refined, some games had difficulty fluxes, Level 2 would be insanely easy, level 3 would be hard as nails, level 4 would be moderately easy, then level 5 would be nearly impossable...

They have smoothed out the difficulty so it doesn't develope into controler throwing frustraition(controlers of today are WAY more expensive and delicate than the previous ones)

Games can still be made in difficulty like they did back in the days of old...Maximo is certainly one of them...

Also there were many extremely hard games that took sheer luck(which is never a good thing) to get thru even a level...Dino Riki was one of them...they will never make games like that again...never in a million years...

[Batman's Biggest Fan]

The only cheat code I ever used to beat a game was Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu and Banjo-Tooie (because my friend put them in, otherwise I probably wouldn't have.)

[James]

Anyone who says games are getting easier has not played the new Grand Theft Auto games.
I would say those who say they are harder needs to back to the 80s and try some of the games then - many were literally unbeatable or had no end.. :p



Almost everyone I know used tons of cheat codes in order to beat those games. I'm the only one who managed to beat it without cheats and it was freakin heard!
I beat GTA3. Got bored with Vice City so not really tried. It wasn't that hard. Each level was doable, just took a lot of attempts. I come from a generation where it was rare of hearing of someone completing a game - if it COULD be completed - without cheats.. certainly not the case these days.. and I welcome that change.

[Tapout]

I thought Vice City was pretty easy. Maybe that's just because I grabbed the Hidden Packages before anything else and was able to do the first mission with a minigun. :)

[EinBebop]

Games are more complex. Gameplay is infinitely easier.

I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing... the games that are TOO easy (Windwaker, for one) are few and far between, IMO.

And for the hardcore gamer, I think the success of Viewtiful Joe and Ninja Gaiden, both seen to be by the masses as very difficult, are showing gamemakers a demand for more difficult games, but the easy ones aren't going to go away, either. I see more diversity in the future.

[Classic Speedy]

I don't know about easier/harder, but why must a lot of games nowadays require you to jump through unreasonable hoops to unlock items? I've owned SSX 3 for 6 months and I STILL haven't unlocked everything for every character. Don't get me wrong, it's an excellent game, but come on, having to play every character's career mode is unbelievably tedious. There should be a "skill measuring meter" where, if you're obviously skilled enough after a short time, you can have everything unlocked without having to do all the laborious work.

[Frank Castle]

It seems like more of the non licensed games are starting to get more difficult like Ninja Gaiden, Breakdown, Viewtiful Joe. Plus I think it all comes down to how time much the designers want a person to enjoy the game. Example would be making the game too hard and having players not even want to play it anymore. (Ninja Gaiden did that to a couple of my friends) And the amount of creativity in difficult places withing the game. Like instead of just giving the bosses massively large amounts of strength as opposed to studying the opponent, finding the weakness, then exploiting that weakness as much as possible. (Which could be fun in a fighting game IF done right.)

[EinBebop]

Like instead of just giving the bosses massively large amounts of strength as opposed to studying the opponent, finding the weakness, then exploiting that weakness as much as possible. (Which could be fun in a fighting game IF done right.)See, I feel like too many games (and again, Windwaker is a great example) are set up so that the ONLY way to beat a boss is to find his weakness and exploit it. Once you've found the weakness, it's ridiculously easy.

[Opaque]

Alot of the games from the 80's were tough because of technical problems. slow reaction time being the biggest one. Games with better play mechanics are, while not on purpose, easier to play becuase of them.

I think alot of it is that we are getting better at playing them. I remember the first time I palyed Mario 64 I couldn't freaking land where i needed to to save my life. I couldn't land on goombas or turtles or nothing. The whole 3D way of play was hard to me. But now it's not even a concous action and I land eveyrhting perfect. All 3D games are easy. But Mario didn't suddenly change the way it played, so obviously I got better.

[Mr. Pedro]

I'd like to think that I've gotten better.:sweat:

I do recall being absolutely terrified by certain games back when I was a wee lad. It was about a year ago that I started to pick up the GBA Mario remakes. The games that drove me to tears as a child were now being completed in a matter of hours, so it's fair to say that we do get better with age.

But yes, I do feel that many new games nowadays are made easier to get the "casual" gamer to buy the game. But I'll be happy as there's a good challenge in what I play from time to time.

[Daredevil_2003]

It's a little bit of both, imo. I know I've gotten much better at games since I was 5, but I can also tell that alot of titles these days have that learning curve that others have mentioned to pull in the average Joe gamer. But overall, I'd like to think it's just because I've gotten better. :D

[RAINMAN]

I was good back then and I`m still good now. Althogth there a few games that are challenging, most are just plain easy. If I didn`t have a job that take up too much of my time I would abil to end a game 2 weeks after I bought it.

[BohemenIdeal]

I think you get better at old games with practicw. You realize the different patterns and such. I also think some games are getting a bit easier like WW. Then theres Viewtiful Joe hardest game I played in awhile maybe the hardest I ever played.

[True Noir]

I haven't noticed much. Ninja Gaiden was a really tough game, but Beyond Good and Evil was one of the easiest games I have ever played.

[Frank Castle]

Beyond Good and Evil was one of the easiest games I have ever played.But it was a great game.:)

[Artimus Gigan]

If you liked Beyond Good and Evil, Kya Dark Lineage should be right up your alley...

and for 20 bucks now, a bargain...

Also lest we not forget Metal gear, the stages are easy, but the added realism is what makes it challanging, there was really no realism in 2D generations and when they tried to add realistic looking things it ended up looking campy(hey rmember those FMV games?), oh an 8-16 bit bosses were really in then surreal catagory. I remember playing Dinosaurs for Hire(it was like a Contra but with demi-human dinosaurs) you could play as a T-Rex, a Triceratops or a Stegasaurus, and they fought ninjas, cyborgs, movie props, real Grade A WTF catagory stuff, the only thing was that you just had to shoot whatever badguys there were, and the bosses consisted of a Giant Saurian that climbed a dam and you had to hit the blinking limbs, a robotic triceratops which again you had to destroy it by hitting the blinking limbs, the bosses rarely had anything to do with the stage. But today's bosses atleat go mostly with the theme and usualy there is an explaination on why they are there...

[TacoHunter]

Its both. Man, did I ever feel a great sense of accomplishment when I beat Link to the Past after months and months of playing. And now, here I am playing through Four Swords Adventures, I feel at least a bit challenged, but not as much as I did those many years ago playing Link to the Past.

I feel the puzzles in 4SA are equal if not harder then those in LttP. So I'd like to think its because I'm now so freakin' hardcore, with the mad crazy skills.

I complain about Wind Waker, and even Ocarina of Time, being too easy but I have to keep in mind, I wasn't the target demographic for WW. I was for OoT, but Nintendo fixed that problem with Majora's Mask and the Master Quest.

So I should really just stick with games I know to be for the hardcore...too bad those games are hard to come by on the Gamecube. Resident Evil, Viewtiful Joe, Ikaruga, and PN03, are basiclly...all there is.

I would buy a PS2, but...no, I'll just wait for PS3. As for Xbox...I'm strongly thinking about it.

[matta2fatta]

another thing that makes games easier nowadays is the ability to save like back in the if u wanted to beat mario u had to play the whole game thru now u dont gots to

[True Noir]

But it was a great game.:)
Cheap and fun. Like Artimus said it was a great bargain.

[WolfieKiwi]

Sometimes it depends on the category of the game..

I think R.P.G. is the toughest

The toughest game I've ever played was the Resident Evil for both G.C. and playstation.What game limits your saving options? Resident Evil does..

[Mog]

Games have gotten easier because technology has gotten more open. Remember Megaman? You were thrown on a 2D level and were tasked with getting to the end. But it wasn't easy because to get to the end you had to get through every enemy, and bypassing some were harder than killing them.

Then 3D games came out, and you actually had options. You didn't have to fight every enemy. You could pass by enemies, abuse glitches, and sometimes back track to get some health or a special item. And you can save. The save system alone made games easier, but it also made it less of a headache. Kind of a trade-off.

[guinaevere]

Yes and no. Depends on the games.


<snip>GTA<snip> Almost everyone I know used tons of cheat codes in order to beat those games. I'm the only one who managed to beat it without cheats and it was freakin heard!

Another near impossible game, Gran Turismo 3. I don't think it was that hard. Although you're definately right about everybody using codes and cheats for it. I was working at a local EB when the game came out, and I'd have kids coming in to buy the cheat disc thingys, and I'd give them a hard time about using them, telling them that I beat the game without cheats. "hey, but you're a- a- girl!!" ooooh, exactly my point. :D

Getting all gold medals on GT3 is VERY, very tough, I'll give you that.


Sometimes it depends on the category of the game..

I think R.P.G. is the toughest wow. And I've always found rpgs to be very easy. Interesting.

[Master Moron]

wow. And I've always found rpgs to be very easy. Interesting.

You know, the hardest rpg I've ever played is the Sailor Moon rpg for SNES. It starts out easy enough. Then you split up and you have to fight this ridiculously hard boss with Mercury alone. Your attacks do about 3 points of damage each and she kills you in about two hits. At first I thought it was one of those battles that you autmatically lose. But, then I got a game over screen and I was like what? The only way I could beat the boss was by putting the game at 10 times the normal speed and fighting hundreds of battles in order to become not so incredibly weak. After leveling up dozens of levels it still took like two hours in order to beat that freakin boss. I think the programmer's were on crack when they programmed that game.

[Artimus Gigan]

I want you all to play Final Fantasy 4 Hard Type(it comes with FF Chronicals)


then you can comeback and talk about Hard RPGs, and I am not refering to that sissy-fied SNES Final Fantasy 2 version

Zeromus Hard Type is a boss that you will all learn to hate....

[Skiptastic]

If you want to feel bad about how good you are, start playing Treasure games. They will make you cry, especially Radiant Silvergun or Ikaruga. They will make you weep like a four year old.

[Tapout]

If you want hard go get Onimusha 3 and do the Critical and Chain Critical training. I have never been so frustrated with a videogame in my entire life. I have two new holes in my wall because of that thing. It got to the point where I said "F it" and broke out my Gameshark, which I almost never do on the first run through a game.

[guinaevere]

I want you all to play Final Fantasy 4 Hard Type(it comes with FF Chronicals)


then you can comeback and talk about Hard RPGs I didn't say my word was law, or that I even considered it to be. Just that I find RPGs easy. But more so, they just don't interest me.

So I'll be passing on your request for now, Mr Gigan. But thanks for the recommendation. :D

[Bogey B]

anyone who says viewtiful joe was easy on v-rated (or any difficulty really) is full of lies, LIES! but, yeah it's both for you see there are some companies (snk, capcom) who still make games the level of hardness, for lack of a better word. while others like nintendo and sega are kinda easing off while retaning all the same fun

/could anyone follow that?