Why are games so bloody easy these days?

[Grunker]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ ... Easy-Games

TL;DW: Difficulty-fanatics miss the point (i.e. the Codex too).

 

[MetalCraze]

Did the retard just say that CoDMW2 lets you approach the objective in a variety of ways?

"The depth can be in a form of choosing a perfect pokemon team" - stopped watching this shit right there

 

[baronjohn]

Sounds like he's 12.

 

[Ermm]

DEPTHZ ARZ NO PURELY CERBERAL>>> BEECAUZ MODERNWARF2ALLOWS CINMETAZIC EXP WITH DECIZIONS, LIKE A FLASHBANG
MODERN WARFNick NAURUTO*88700

FAV GAMZE SUPAR SMASH BROSZ BRAGRAWL 2

 

[Ermm]

I watched it all, and to quote AVGN, it's BUUUUULLLLL-SHIT.

Srsly, I didn't even fucking understood WTF he talked about.

Mostly he talked about approachable tutorials, and that he liked Modern Warfare.... VEEEry Much.
And Pokemons.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2454-Easy-Games

TL;DW: Difficulty-fanatics miss the point (i.e. the Codex too).

And I suppose you agree with this twit? If so, why?

 

[zeitgeist]

Why are games so bloody easy these days?

For the same reason why Escapist magazine articles come in the form of "funny" videos these days perhaps?

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Why are games so bloody easy these days?

For the same reason why Escapist magazine articles come in the form of "funny" videos these days perhaps?

Nice one.

 

[Grunker]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2454-Easy-Games

TL;DW: Difficulty-fanatics miss the point (i.e. the Codex too).

And I suppose you agree with this twit? If so, why?

Not in a million years. What he basically does is give superficial game-mechanics precedence over good design. His initial point, depth > moar monstar HP is pretty good, but it rings pretty hollow when he then goes on to list a couple of the most shallow games in the industry.

Actually, Kirithem consistently has this problem. He'll go on about "C&C DA KING! GOOD GAME DESIGN NEEDS MOAR LOVE! GAME MECHANICS AS NARRATIVE SO YA'LL DON'T KILL THE GAME FOR THE STORY!"

And then he'll say: "That's why Fallout 3 is such a good game, bro," and you realise he's a dumb-ass.

If you want a really good laugh, watch this one: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ ... -Mechanics

Shit was so unbearable, I couldn't watch it. An oldschool case of academising and overanalysing something into the extremes if I ever saw one.

 

[CrimsonAngel]

Because games became Mainstream and the Mainstream is stupid.

 

[Trash]

Play games that are harder. Meatboy is a good start. Hydorah is also fun (and free).

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2454-Easy-Games

TL;DW: Difficulty-fanatics miss the point (i.e. the Codex too).

And I suppose you agree with this twit? If so, why?

Not in a million years. What he basically does is give superficial game-mechanics precedence over good design. His initial point, depth > moar monstar HP is pretty good, but it rings pretty hollow when he then goes on to list a couple of the most shallow games in the industry.

Actually, Kirithem consistently has this problem. He'll go on about "C&C DA KING! GOOD GAME DESIGN NEEDS MOAR LOVE! GAME MECHANICS AS NARRATIVE SO YA'LL DON'T KILL THE GAME FOR THE STORY!"

And then he'll say: "That's why Fallout 3 is such a good game, bro," and you realise he's a dumb-ass.

If you want a really good laugh, watch this one: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ ... -Mechanics

Shit was so unbearable, I couldn't watch it. An oldschool case of academising and overanalysing something into the extremes if I ever saw one.

Well...thanks for that video...Missile Command is certainly much deeper than Joust. Or DigDug. Actually, the way he carries on about it, it is really one of the deepest games in history.

 

[Ermm]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2454-Easy-Games

TL;DW: Difficulty-fanatics miss the point (i.e. the Codex too).

And I suppose you agree with this twit? If so, why?

If you want a really good laugh, watch this one: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ ... -Mechanics

Shit was so unbearable, I couldn't watch it. An oldschool case of academising and overanalysing something into the extremes if I ever saw one.

Oh, yes, I wanted to link that myself. But I liked difficulty one better.

This guy deserves to be put in a box to Russia.......with Flashbangs.

 

[ZbojLamignat]

Painful.

Should definitely be put in the dictionary under "pseudo-intellectualism".

 

[Darth Roxor]

What the fuck is this guy even talking about? That games are supposed to be hard but not really hard and best if they have big tutorials, or wait wait, even better, make the WHOLE GAME a giant tutorial like PORTAL!

And, of course, the traditional 'YO HARDCORE GAMERS, STFU PLZ CUZ YOU KNOW SHIT' at the end. Real classy.

 

[Oesophagus]

Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but at the very beginning he says something along the lines of "I don't know why games are so easy these days, so let's switch to talking about depth"

 

[Phage]

The video definitely wasn't about difficulty. He does come off as psuedo-intellectual and preachy, but he does raise some valid points.

As for the actual question - I think one of the reasons why games seem easier now is that we've played them for years now.

"The depth can be in a form of choosing a perfect pokemon team" - stopped watching this shit right there

www.smogon.com seriously, pokemon has more depth than 90% of games out there.

 

[Orgasm]

Why are games so bloody easy these days?

For the same reason why Escapist magazine articles come in the form of "funny" videos these days perhaps?

/thread

 

[Phage]

If you want a really good laugh, watch this one: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ ... -Mechanics

Shit was so unbearable, I couldn't watch it. An oldschool case of academising and overanalysing something into the extremes if I ever saw one.

Holy shit.

I'm now partially embarrassed that I defended this guy at all. Should have watched that video first

 

[Ermm]

The video definitely wasn't about difficulty. He does come off as psuedo-intellectual and preachy, but he does raise some valid points.

As for the actual question - I think one of the reasons why games seem easier now is that we've played them for years now.

"The depth can be in a form of choosing a perfect pokemon team" - stopped watching this shit right there

www.smogon.com seriously, pokemon has more depth than 90% of games out there.

If so, then Asian MMO grinders also counts. And WOW then is 99% deeper than other games.
Seriously, it is only grind, grind and grind. And right team? Really? Just grind you pokemon furiously and you will wipe them out.
I admit I played one version (I think it was red) long ago, and I understood it was shit after some while.
It doesn't matter if Nintendo maked it, random encounters were too much.

 

[Grunker]

If you want a really good laugh, watch this one: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ ... -Mechanics

Shit was so unbearable, I couldn't watch it. An oldschool case of academising and overanalysing something into the extremes if I ever saw one.

Holy shit.

I'm now partially embarrassed that I defended this guy at all. Should have watched that video first

Kirithem is good at looking clever, because he can recite what he learned in teh game schoowls. That's interesting for us unenlightened to hear, sure enough. General facts about game design you might not know already. And as long as he sticks to that, it's alright.

Once he starts speaking himself, or bring up his brotha J's points, then it starts to dawn on you that this guy is, well, it's been said already; one motherfucking pseudo-intellectual poser.

 

[CrimHead]

Psuedo-intellectual? The escapist? NEVER

Seriously, that's pretty much their watermark. You want to read/watch an article proposing games are art written by a 14 year old with Ico as his prime example? BUDDY YOU'VE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

How do they propose it? If they don't propose that games are art when they are good games, they should be gassed.

 

[Oesophagus]

Anyway as to why games are easy nowadays:
http://rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=53419

 

[Phage]

The video definitely wasn't about difficulty. He does come off as psuedo-intellectual and preachy, but he does raise some valid points.

As for the actual question - I think one of the reasons why games seem easier now is that we've played them for years now.

"The depth can be in a form of choosing a perfect pokemon team" - stopped watching this shit right there

www.smogon.com seriously, pokemon has more depth than 90% of games out there.

If so, then Asian MMO grinders also counts. And WOW then is 99% deeper than other games.
Seriously, it is only grind, grind and grind. And right team? Really? Just grind you pokemon furiously and you will wipe them out.
I admit I played one version (I think it was red) long ago, and I understood it was shit after some while.
It doesn't matter if Nintendo maked it, random encounters were too much.

So. I'm guessing you literally didn't read anything on that site, right?

Here's a bit of a rundown. "Competitive Pokemon" (I know, laugh it up, but listen anyways) is pretty damn strategic minus the occasional critical hit.

All competitive games are played on simulators or over WiFi where all the pokemon are the same level. So no, you cannot just "grind" into competitive. All the high powered legendary pokemon are banned, as are a couple really strong ones. Retarded completely luck based moves like double team, are banned.

What matters is (and this is an extremely stripped down explanation)

- The composition of your team (too much of one weakness will lead to an easy defeat. having too many frail pokemon is bad. having no strong sweepers is hard to win with, etc)

- the EV allocation on your pokemon (pokemon gain effort points based on the enemies they defeat. By selective battling you can train certain stats to be higher. For example, speed and attack for a sweeper pokemon, or HP for a defensive tank.)

- Pokemon Natures, based on the nature of your pokemon it gains 10% more in one stat and loses 10% in another. Important to make the right sacrifice.

- Movesets. This is crucial. If you go into a battle with your herpderp charizard that has 4 fire moves, he's fucking useless. You need sweepers with variety who can potentially set up, walls that can stop a sweep, recover and provide support... etc.

- Items. This is also bigger than you'd think. There are certain items that will boost a pokemon's speed or attack/sp. attack stat but restrict it to using one move. There are items that power up your attacks for the cost of health. There are items that simply restore health. Having the right items is crucial.

- Breeding. This is only important for people who don't play on simulators and refuse to hack competitively viable pokemon into their games (aka. aspies). Each pokemon gets a value between 1-31 added to each of its stats, these are called IVs. Certain IVs are passed down from parent to child pokemon, so in order to "legitimately" create a perfect monster, you also have to breed the fuck out of it, or get really lucky.

There is of course a large amount of strategy within the battle itself. Do you send out your sweeper first? Do you put up a wall? Do you switch into a ghost thinking your opponent is going to use a fighting/normal move... etc.

Like I said. This is the basic explanation. Looks like this kiddie nintendo game blows most games completely out the water for strategic depth.



Btw - if anyone truly thinks this is kiddie shit, I dare you to grind, grind, grind, and right team and try to beat anyone worth their salt.


Edit: Here is a competitive analysis of a pokemon for those who don't want to go searching

http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/tentacruel