[Muirdach]

Is that still the case, though? Now that we have a lot more casual gamers who want instant gratification - something that you could argue is everywhere throughout society - is "godmode" almost a necessity? I believe that games have been getting easier and easier. Compared to something like the original Mario which was huge and took forever, some modern games are a piece of cake and can be completed fully in less than a day.

I can definitely see this in MUDs and MMOs too, where a lot of players see "challenging" as a negative rather than a plus, especially where the gameplay itself is seen as secondary to the socialising. I think you can make the argument now that in terms of percentage of market share, more people want games to fulfill the role of making the player feel awesome and powerful, rather than being exciting and fulfilling in terms of completing something difficult.