4 ms·

A lot of which is probably what makes us old-timers complain about how easy games are these days. I don't think i ever finished battletoads! On the flip side,

by latch 15y ago

A lot of which is probably what makes us old-timers complain about how easy games are these days. I don't think i ever finished battletoads! On the flip side, someone once commented that games should have a "toddler mode" where anything the player does just adds up more points and won't kill you. Obviously wouldn't work for every game, but I thought it was a brilliant idea.

wmf 15y ago
I like the way Jeff Vogel put it: "Make Your Game Easy. Then Make It Easier." http://jeff-vogel.blogspot.com/2009/11/make-your-game-easy-then-make-it-easier.html http://jeff-vogel.blogspot.com/2009/11/make-your-game-easy-t...
vacri 15y ago
Meh, I'm an old-timer and you know what? I don't long for the days where a minor fuckup had you redo a large slab of exactly the same damn thing over and over. There are so many games out there to enjoy these days that there's no point in wasting time to defeat an artifically difficult situation. "Yeah! I defeated Marioclone 239b level 23! I am the man!" just doesn't cut it anymore - bragging rights about mere timesinks are a thing of the past. Sure, some difficulty is nice, but be careful of the rose-coloured glasses of nostalgia.
dagw 15y ago
I think most current games already strike a good balance with the use of ratings, bonus quests and achievements. Basically anybody is able to complete the game by simply spending 8-40 hours playing, but getting a perfect rating, completing all the hidden quests and completing all the achievements will take the same sort of skill and dedication that those fabled games of old required. As an old-timer with a job and a family I really appreciate being able to enjoy and make progress in games despite only having a couple of hours a week to play.
eru 15y ago
> A lot of which is probably what makes us old-timers complain about how easy games are these days. Still there are some who buck the general trend. And I'm not only talking about indie games like Spelunky, but also (among all things!) several games for the oh-so-family-friendly Wii: Donkey Kong, Super Mario, and even Mario Kart on the higher difficulty settings.

by latch 15y ago

wmf 15y ago

I like the way Jeff Vogel put it: "Make Your Game Easy. Then Make It Easier." http://jeff-vogel.blogspot.com/2009/11/make-your-game-easy-then-make-it-easier.html http://jeff-vogel.blogspot.com/2009/11/make-your-game-easy-t...

vacri 15y ago

Meh, I'm an old-timer and you know what? I don't long for the days where a minor fuckup had you redo a large slab of exactly the same damn thing over and over. There are so many games out there to enjoy these days that there's no point in wasting time to defeat an artifically difficult situation. "Yeah! I defeated Marioclone 239b level 23! I am the man!" just doesn't cut it anymore - bragging rights about mere timesinks are a thing of the past. Sure, some difficulty is nice, but be careful of the rose-coloured glasses of nostalgia.

dagw 15y ago

I think most current games already strike a good balance with the use of ratings, bonus quests and achievements. Basically anybody is able to complete the game by simply spending 8-40 hours playing, but getting a perfect rating, completing all the hidden quests and completing all the achievements will take the same sort of skill and dedication that those fabled games of old required. As an old-timer with a job and a family I really appreciate being able to enjoy and make progress in games despite only having a couple of hours a week to play.

eru 15y ago

> A lot of which is probably what makes us old-timers complain about how easy games are these days. Still there are some who buck the general trend. And I'm not only talking about indie games like Spelunky, but also (among all things!) several games for the oh-so-family-friendly Wii: Donkey Kong, Super Mario, and even Mario Kart on the higher difficulty settings.