How modern games have made me a lazy player

As games continue to target a wider audience that has less time to play, our patience has gone by the wayside.

We expect our games to be simple and linear.

[lh_swe]

This article is such anus...filled with what I'd like call lazy reasoning, for one games haven't adapted because we have gotten lazier but becuase we have realised a critical aspect that games shouldn't need to be work...I mean we come home from work/school etc to relax with games not be pained by a frustrating game sequence.
Another thing I'd like to add is that when you die/fail in a game it's usually that particularly area you find difficult, then why would you wanna replay the whole level to master that particular bit (which is why clever use of checkpoints is key nowadays).

I get where the author is going tho, games becoming more accesible, accesible tho doesn't presuppose a lack in any real gaming challange...as I could spend hours listing games that pose a significant challange.

Edit- I would like to retract the article being 'anus' tho...as I can understand where he comes from.

[dorron]

Totally agree. That's what's happening to me playing Demon's souls. I love the game but get tired of repeting the whole level when dying...

[pat_11_5]

Hey,

I'm not saying games have changed because we've gotten lazier. I'm saying games have changed to reach a wider audience.

[lh_swe]

"How modern games have made me a lazy player"...is the title.

"I think it's because today's design choices and difficulty levels have turned me into something I didn't expect: a lazy gamer."

"Games today need to be ridiculously accessible." -In what sense?

There is a key distinction here, the lack of save points and painful backtracking to find what you've forgotten with no hint whatsoever...that isn't hardcore, that isn't cool and most of all that isn't fun, its just annoying.

True there are gamers who seem to want games to be work, to punish you again and again...there is reward to completing something which is difficult but there comes a point where some things are just plain annoying, a boss/level/puzzle being hard is one thing but to have it throw you back 20, 30 or even hours back is just a douche move...something which developers realised. -"Remember classic adventure games like King's Quest? If you forgot to pick up a specific item early on, you were essentially screwed." How is that enjoyable?

Sure it taught gamers to be more cautious with their lives...but the same challange can be found today just in different much less irritating ways, which is good because games aren't meant to frustrate the player.

"Extreme difficulty levels simply don’t exist anymore." Thats just BS to be honest, I'd say atleast 50% of the major titles have a difficulty level that will have players dying hundreds if not thousands of times during a single playthrough.

"on-screen hint systems, the ability to completely skip certain sequences" - and these aren't good things? I mean most games try and drive a narrative and if you've spent the last 2 hours trying to solve a puzzle it doesn't do a lot to serve the plot, now does it? Ohh and LA Noire has that function to reach a wider audience who might play the game for the cases and not the shooting...which is NOT a bad thing, you make all this look like its a horrible evolution, which it certainly is not to the majority of normal people.

[ChickeyCantor]

".I mean we come home from work/school etc to relax with games not be pained by a frustrating game sequence. "

A game that doesn't give me a challenge, and isn't giving me the slightest kind of frustration isn't really the type of game I want to play unless it just doesn't fit in that context ( i.e a tetris game).
I love it when I'm pushed trough my boundaries.

I've build much patience, else I could NEVER ace all Super Meatboy levels.

[jessupj]

I completely disagree with all of you. No matter what age I am, I want to be challenged when I play a game. What's the point in going through a game that holds your hand. You might as well watch a movie, because you sure as hell haven't accomplished anything meaningful in the game.

That's why Demon's Souls was so popular, because the hardcore demographic had been starved for so long of a game with any real challenge that didn't use cheap tricks. It didn't matter how bad you were, if you have the intelligence to step back and take 3 secs to understand why you died you would eventualy learn how to kill certain monsters. On the other hand if you're the kind of impatient gamer that doesn't try to learn from your mistakes you're not going to get anywhere.

If you only have 1 hour at best on a good day of free time to play games you're making excuses and most likely you're just a casual gamer in denial. There are of course a few exceptions, but most normal people can easily make time for their favourite hobby, whatever it may be. So if you have so little time for gaming, it's obvious your not really interested in them anymore, eirgo, a casual gamer that just wants an easy game.

Games haven't made yourself lazy, you've made yourself turn a casual gamer. If you want a challengless experience that's your call, but when I play games I like to actually have a deserved sense of accomplishment.

[dorron]

This whole explanation sounds very classist. Keep living in your high gamer status and hanging hardcore gamer medals in your jacket. Not everybody thinks like you.

I've got nothing against hard games, but some games are plainly ridiculously hard. I've played every Ninja Gaiden and beaten them (known as being fairly hard games) but Demon's souls is missing checkpoints all the way.

[pat_11_5]

I'm not saying every game has to be hardcore but a lot of games that were once considered 'core' franchises have gotten soft in my opinion.

[lh_swe]

So? How does that matter, there trying to please a majority...and I am sure if the majority thought like you they'd make them extremely hard once again.

[lh_swe]

@jessupj
If a person plays atleast an hour a day that surely doesn't make em a casual...you know most people ahve jobs, families and freinds, does a harcore gamer really presuppose that you should waste away your days just gaming?

The majority of people don't have that kind of time, its ridiculous to deny that. Games thus have to employ a pick up and play sort of mechanic where they can jump in and have fun and then jump out whenever they want.

I think it's extremely ignorant to say games have lost their challange...its just there in different ways...I'd even go as far to say that you die far more in modern games than older ones, they old ones just throw you back WAY further...which isn't the point...if you have failed against that level/boss/puzzle it should be that one you be trying to attempt again, not the 30 minutes of the gameplay leading up to that point. "if you have the intelligence to step back and take 3 secs to understand why you died you would eventualy learn how to kill certain monsters."- which leads to my point...you wanna figure out how to kill that 'monster', because thats the one you failed against...not the 100 previous one's, get my point?

I agree Demon Souls is a lot more rewarding than many other games, but its formula only works on certain people...and the majority of people just don't have the time to waste away hours to get past certain points.

[jessupj]

I can understand why you probably think I've got a high and mighty attitude about being a core player. I can appriciate there's gamers from all walks of life. I guess I'm just a bit bitter because so many developers are catering to the masses not, ie, dumbing them down. As a result there's far fewer game out there that offer me a challenge. I'm not saying make them super duper hard (ninja gaiden), I'm just saying don't make them incredibly easy, or at the very least give me an option to boost the difficulty level to an acceptably level.

I have a wife and a heavy study load, I can still make a lot more time then an hour a day, but I understand as soon as there's kids come along it's a lot different. I'm sorry for being arrogant.

[Cmpunk]

i hate my games not being linear' im used to that and thats how i like my games

[thespaz]

This guy needs to play Infamous 2 right now... oh wait.. he said XBox 360. Nevermind...

[lh_swe]

Infamous 2 isn't that hard on the hardest difficulty tbh...its hard but not like other games.