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Old 09-04-2007, 06:54 AM   #1
Xerihae
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Name: Chris
Location: Wolverhampton, UK
Posts: 358
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Declining Challenge in Games?

Something Molly said in the "What is 'Fair'?" thread got me to thinking. Are games less challenging than they used to be? (Games in general).

I remember games like Another World, where you couldn't save and death basically put you straight back at the beginning. I remember games like Flashback where you could only save at certain points and repeatedly dying could be very frustrating as you appeared at that point once more, but was ultimately a brilliant feeling when you finally figured out how to beat the difficult bit. I remember online games such as an old, old game that used to run on BT Micronet here in the UK called Shades, where a death could set you back weeks or even months. It was even possible to go from just below the highest level (which took more hours than I like to think) all the way back to the beginning again because someone killed you. Despite this the people I knew who played carried on and eventually got to the top (where they became immortal), regardless of the fact that when Shades was first running it cost a lot of money because you had to pay for the phone call AND the time you played the game.

These days I feel games are easier. Often you can save wherever you want, the death penalties are minor or non-existent, and the games just don't seem as challenging any more. So, what do you think? Are games easier these days? Why is this? Am I just better at them than I used to be?

I think they are easier, and I believe it comes down to money. You see, hard games are hard. They're not suitable for people with little patience, and because of the "Me. Now" attitude that seems to be becoming more prevalent in our society they're not particularly popular. This poses a problem for games developers (and more so publishers) who are basically in it to make money. It's to their advantage to make things simple, to make things easy, as that widens the potential customer base they have and therefore increases their sales. The occasional niche product may do well, but the games industry by-and-large is run by people who have no interest in games and are only interested in making as much cold hard cash as possible.

A bit cynical perhaps, but it's something I believe to be true. If you think otherwise then I'd love to hear why!
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