A Difficulty Decision Revisited - Page 2
Reader Response
Hello ^_^
I thought your article "A Difficulty Decision" was great, I just thought I should send you some fan mail, lol. After creating a site myself and writing a few articles, I reliased how good it make a person feel to get feedback. Any ways I've seen the same thing with my young cousins, who have also asked me to let him win, and I even thought about why, it seemed like an odd question at the time. Your article put some clarity to that question, also it makes me feel proud about being from the first generation of gamers, lol ^_^ . Any ways I thought your article was excellent and you should keep on writing about interesting subjects like this, hope to read more, sayonara. Cfree
Hi Jason
Great text you wrote there, but i'd disagree in some Points. I'm 23 now, never was an Arcade gamer and grew up with commodore, atari and pc's. but still i consider myself as being a veteran gamer. There where always possibilities to cheat but i rarely did. But if i have no idea where to go next and have searched everything i have a look into a walkthrough (even better if there's an in-game help). And i don't think the new generation is different. I had to look for three kids aged 7 to 12 last Monday. They where playing Super Mario Advance 2, and if they didn't get farther they just tried over and over again. Maybe it is because they don't know you can actually cheat games? Ok, they collected extra lives in an easy level but does that count as cheating? Playing SSMB with my Cousin (aged 14), he most of the times lost. But he wanted to fight over and over, until he won a battle.
I think everyone has to find it out himself that cheating is spoiling the fun. If not, they will probably stop playing games when getting older, because they will always need to cheat a game in order to beat it.
I think the Point you mentioned about difficulties not only applies to Action Games but also to strategy games and economical simulations. If you loose the game over and over and you don't really know why, the game is shit...
I also think that a game only needs to be fairly challenging. Luigis Mansion was quite easy, but great fun. And so will the new Zelda hopefully be. Full of ideas and fun, but still playable without dying hundred deaths and being stuck here and there.
Finally i wanted to thank (all of) you for your work, making N-Sider a Jewel under the Ninty sites. No Copy-paste news but REAL articles which are hopefully being read by developers.
have a nice weekend
Reto
Hey there!
First I would like to congratulate you for your remarquable web site and its beautiful design and creative content. Its articles about gamers and all that doesn't only concern game previews, reviews, impressions etc are something that a lot of other web sites lack.
I have just finished reading your article titled "A Difficulty Decision" and I have gathered my ideas on the subject. I will mostly speak of the second part of the article. I will not deny I have in the past somewhat abused walkthroughs and cheat codes myself. But this was when I was about 10 or 11 years old (can't remember for sure). I used walkthroughs for Tomb Raider ans cheat codes for Age of Empire. Now that I am 15 years old, I don't feel like I need to win whatever I must do (like ask you to stop playing so I can beaut you up easily or look up for cheat codes in magazines). I am now a normal gamer aware of the feeling of accomplishment. All of that to say that I think these problems might fade away as you get older. Of course this might have been different for older gamers who didn't have the opportunity to play in "very very easy mode" if you see what I mean. Well, I could ad up all the factors existing and imaginable like you almost did, he he, but hum, I don't have the time (or patience for this). So that's it
Sylvain
PS: Hope I didn't make too much mistakes
...you just discribed my 7 year old brother! He's actually pretty good but i can still stomp him (most likely do to 11 more years of gameing experiance than him). He dosn't mind losing to me but he'll throw a fit if some he can beet wont play. He has cerebral palsy (its not very bad) but he plays almost one handed and due to this he hasn' really been able to play at all untill the past couple of years(he uses his thumb on the stick and his fingers for the buttons but he' starting to use two hands mor recently, anyway i'm digressing) He's been watching my friends and I play video for almost 6 years and we thought his fits about losing wher because we didn't really lose the games he saw us play, so we figured that the idea that games are to be played not won(you would'nt belive how long it took us to straighten that statment out) He basically thought you play a game and you win. Shadyshark
A while ago while my little cousins were visiting me, I saw some behavior that I found funny. They're 6 and 9 at the time. They were playing Mario kart 64. Now, here's what's funny: when the younger one was losing, he didn't care. Whenever the older one was losing, however, he restarted the race until he won. At one point it got so bad I whispered to the younger one to let him win. This makes me believe that impatientness with games is personality-based. The reason your nephew's friends were like him could be because people with similar personalities tend to hang out (at least at a young age). Solis887
Aloha from Hawaii = )
I am defined by your statistics as an old-school gamer. I'm 28, in the military, and have been playing video games as a part of my entertainment, for over 20 years. Started out with the 2600, and progressed through Vectrex, NES, TG-16, Genesis, SNES, through today with the GCN. I was never into the PS1 or PS2. I still own a Saturn, and it sees just as much use as my Cube. This is the reason I am writing. I'm single/no kids, but on of my buddies is married w/2 kids, ages 9 and 12. Probably once or twice a month I head over to his house with the Saturn and a multitap to play Death Tank Zwei off the Duke Nuke'm 3D game. His kids are no worse at the game than he and I are, yet they say, "Wait, don't kill me, I'm not ready!" I have none of that, and wipe them out with a 3rd shot. The first time I heard them say that, it kind of shocked me. My parents always taught me, if you aren't going to play to win, don't bother playing. I never won Monopoly or checkers, or even chess as a child with them letting me win. If someone is going to let me win, I would rather not play. Just thought I would add my two cents to the mix, and am very interested in the feedback you get from this editorial. Also I wanted to say, it definitely one of the most interesting ones I have read on a gaming website. Keep up the good work!
~EW
Hey Mr. Nuyens,
I'm writing in response to your 2-day special, Difficulty Decision. Day two of the special has hit pretty close to home for me. I'm 16, but I do own a NES, and SNES, thanks to my older brother. I don't really know what generation I would fit into. I follow the, "strategy guides are for cheaters, unless they're absolutely neccessary, but even then should only be used for that one part of the game" mentallity. Am I old school? or am I new school?
I have an experience similar to yours. My cousin, who's now about 7 or 8, was playing Pokemon Stadium one day. He was having fun and I was teaching him what buttons do what. Then he started to lose to the computer and simply reset the game. I was miffed, confused, disturbed even. How could he do that? Where's the challenge in that? Why bother playing the game then? He did the exact same thing when he played Super Smash Brothers: Melee, or he would ask if I could beat Classic mode for him. That made even less sense. Why does he want to "play" a game and yet, let me finish it for him?
BUT, there is hope for younger gamers yet. Another cousin of mine, this one 10 or 11, was almost exactly the same, but, now he's actually decided to take the challenge of the game. He wanted to beat Classic mode himself! He even wanted to go into training mode to get better. Then again, this is just one situation, but... it's still nice to see that with age, comes the want to be challenged.
Kids are stupid and don't know how to really enjoy a game, but they grow and learn that half the fun is losing. It's fun to discover, by yourself, how to get somewhere, how to beat someone and where something is. I think strategy guides ruin games. Where's the fun in knowing exactly what happens next?
thanks for reading
beej
Dear Jason,
Excellent article, I am currently 21 and a student learning to program so I can make video games, personally I attest to everything you say about the 4th generation of gamers (1st gen. arcade, 2nd gen. Atari, 3rd gen. 8-bit, 4th gen. 16-bit, 5th gen. 32/64-bit, 6th gen. 128-bit) and those who come after them. Though I started young as a gamer at the tender age of four, I have become a master of games striving to unlock every secret and facet of a game till it has completely been beaten. I constantly laugh at game magazines and their whiny editors/writers complain that games are too hard (i.e.. rouge squadron 2) and that more games should have an easier difficulty. Personally I believe the biggest downfall in gaming history was when Sony entered the market. Mass producing games of inferior quality and an easy difficulty level surged the market much like what happened to the Atari 2600. Currently Public Relation firms and sex appeal are what are being pumped into the minds of our youth today, the children gamers are being programmed by the TV they watch. Unfortunately not only children are being programmed, take a look at which systems have the most commercials on TV. Xbox has the most commercials followed by Playstation 2, while Gamecube has the least by far. Now this is what we see today in America, a website did a poll to see what was going to be the hot seller for the Christmas console, the results were Xbox. Yet when those polled where questioned what made them choose that one, their number one answer was demo models. Yet it wasn't game play that everyone said caught their eye it was the graphics, and the advertisement of these graphics.
I currently work at a youth center where we provide Day Care for children, and parents are either divorced or both working. Their children spend all day at the youth center from 6:30 am where we feed them and take them to school, pick them up from school and then the kids stay at the youth center till 6:00 pm. At 6:00 pm their parents finally pick them up (often trying to get them in one of our social programs that run from 6:00-8:00, so they can have some time alone). These parents then plop them down in front of the TV while the kids get dinner (usually fast food) do their homework and then go to bed. Where are the morals and common sense being taught in this time frame? Their are not. This is all being done so the parents (if there are two) can afford the newest furniture and the newest car which they then replace every 1-2 years. Yet these people are not struggling with money (if they where they could not afford the day care program) yet they choose material possessions over their children, a sad state. So where am I going with this? Well parents are not their for their children to teach and nurture them, instead kids are taught the newest best toy makes up for love (as parents often try to buy the children's affection) and that TV can teach the kids while I the parent does nothing. Then they can complain to the government how kids can be badly influenced by what is on TV and in their video games. Today's parents want their kids constantly babysat so they can do nothing but chase the media dream, the newest possession to keep up with the TV Jones.
Lets fade back to the PR issue with game systems, Xbox may have the biggest PR work up team but as shown in past games it does not have the graphics nor the game line up over gamecube. Yet everyone has seen mass advertisement shoved in their little reticules of the greatest gaming system of all time and its line up of games. Magazines have been rating the Xbox games with 9s and 8s especially the highly acclaimed Halo, because of this everyone is buying it. Allow me to say this one notation of my opinion, I am a computer gamer and have many consoles Nintendo and non-Nintendo and Halo is not the Alpha Omega of games. In truth as far as a FPS goes a computer gamer would give it merely a 60-70% rating, Gamespy.com and Gamersdepot.com both stated this. So why is it that all these magazines give this game system and its games such a great rating? A very simple answer look at the top corner or the bottom corner of your game magazines and the review websites you go to and see who publishes it. Almost 80% of computer magazines, game magazines and so on, are done my ZDnet. Now ZDnet is a company who has three primary companies who pay its bills, they are in the following order of the largest donators and contributors in advertisement or in some other monetary form, Microsoft, Nividia, and Intel. I wonder why the system is getting such great reviews and ZDnet just keeps getting bigger.
P.S. All commercials are slated to an a person who has a base income after taxes of about $60,000 per year with a second grade reading level.
Sincerely,
Christopher Duffy
liked your article on difficulty. It was perhaps a little to academic for me in parts, but ahh, what can I say, Im bitter about Rare, and it comes out in everything I read and write. In response to your article I just wanted to make one other additional point though. In recent years, games have become much more story oriented. I think some of this has to do with advances in systems, but a lot of it also stems from a demand put forth by customers. In the same way that a reader wants to read about how a character moves and changes in a book, there are a lot of newer gamers (not just kids either, but some older generation players who either played real casually as kids, or God forbid, couldnt even afford a system until we were what, 16) who like a game to have a story. Most times these stories turn out to be idiotic, but theyre there and they draw gamers in in a completely different way than we were drawn into saving the princess in Super Mario 1 - 3. They push you forward through the game, not so that you can see what the next big challenge is, but so that you can beat the stupid thing and see how the story ends. Thats the big difference I guess I think now. Gamers used to play for the challenge, I agree, but now most play so that they can see the ending.
I guess as I write this Im having trouble pinning down exactly how that difference pans out, and Im not even sure if its exactly true, but I think theres something there. When I was a kid, certainly I did want to save princess Peach, but not in the same way that I sit at school and wonder what will happen to Cloud, or Conker, or even Mario next. Theres a certain story quality to games that has become quite important in more recent years. Look at the development that took place from Zelda 1 to OOT. Before I go on though, I must admit that this whole idea doesnt fit real well with your story about kids and SSB:M (a game that also doesnt fit my theory of games having more story), and it doesnt explain the recent popularity of things like GTA3, but I think that some of it has kinda filtered down now, and like you said, kids dont care about challenge as much as they used too. They started off now caring about challenge in games they wanted to beat, and now they just dont care about challenge at all. That may be a lie too though. And not just that kids dont want a challenge, but also that we, as kids, did play simply for the challenge. When I was young, I remember getting beat by people in games all the time, and just wishing that once I could beat them. If they ever did let me win, I might have even known it for a second, but as a kid you have this ability to forget that as quickly as you realized, and instead you just dwell in winning. I dont think that we are that much more noble than they.
Anyway, I havent developed this thought well, and if I was really trying to be convincing Im sure I coulda done much better, but for now itll have to do. Wes Johnston
you made some very interesting points about gaming challenges today.i myself grew up with the 80s gaming and home computers such as the atari 800xl etc.i also think its a noteworthy point you made about access to cheats and walkthroughs via the internet.back in the 80s and early 90s my generation had no such access,so it was a simple case that if you wanted to progress in a game you had to complete the challenge yourself and believe me this could be very difficult sometimes.im prone to using walkthroughs myself,but only on rare occassion such as when im so stuck on a game,im tearing my hair out.but i find it much more challenging and rewarding to complete a game myself.i also wanted to note that perhaps your fiancee's nephew felt that beacuse you were older he thought it was an unfair challenge,perhaps he wanted to show you he was capable of winning,even if it mean cheating?he wanted to show you he was not inferior at games because he looked up to you...perhaps amongst his friends of his own age he would have competed as normally against them.
also made some interesting point about how nintendo have got the right balance between challenge and playability of their games.i think it amounts to how addictive a game is and how challenging it is and therefore ultimately how rewarding the experience can be.good point you made i thought.
Regards alex mitchell(UK)
Wow, I must say that I'm really enoying your new N-sider articles, and this one was particularly thought prevoking. I'm 22 now, and I got into gaming back in the days of Atari 2600. I have every Nintendo console, and only Nintendo consoles, and reading your article made me think back to the days of the old NES, when we really didn't get a chance to beat many of the games out there, but played them all the time anyway ( I never actually got to beat and Double Dragon games, much to my bemusement). The part regarding your nephew sure is interesting, but it does make me think that maybe it's a bit too generalized. Remember, cheating started back when we were young, with the Game Genie. I pretty much hated that thing, just as I hate Game Sharks and such today, as I think once you cheat, it's simply not fun. But my point is, Game Genie was a huge hit. Our generation of gamers must have thought as little of cheating as the younger ones do now, right?
Anyway, I must say that I think the future of video games is certainly looking good. Super Mario Sunshine was a great game, and those warp zone levels really made me feel like I was playing a 3D version of an old 8-bit game, where your ability to time jumps meant everything. Once again, great article. Oh, and hats off to the resident artist for that pic of Mario jumping towards the pole. Very nice!
-Paul Palmer (Toad64)
I have faced many the same issues when dealing with the youngsters. My mom has younger kids over all the time for whatever social things their parents do. I have no clue. Point is, they are here, and we play SSBM when they are. I try to get the younger kids (these kids are about 10 maybe) to show a bit of pride in their work. I never let anyone win, although they sometimes ask. I try and make them earn their keep. If the two younger kids wanna fight without me, they can, but it's usually fairly boring to watch, as they hand over kills one after another, much like you described. If I get into a game, I act as sort of the instigator, usually standing tall with Link, and if the kids look like they arent fighting hard enough, I throw some bombs in to 6mix it up, or distract one of them by making them fight me off before going in for the easy kill. Its all about training, and I think, with time, we can teach kids that there is a feeling of pride attactched to smashing your friend over the head with a barrell. Lucky for me, my like-aged friends come over near daily and we play for an hour or two, in which we have so many good fights that it boggles the mind. Anytime you stand up and cheer after a hard victory versus two Fox's and a Samus, while I am playing the lowly Jigglypuff, is damned exciting. I think the "cheats and walkthroughs" thing hurts the most though. They sell them with the games, and it just encourages kids to use them. I laugh when the retailers ask if I want a guide with a game. Whats the point of playing if you already know where everything is?! I just dont understand...
-Goober
I just read your interesting feature "A difficulty decision", and also agree with your points about young children playing games differently from adults.
A little background before I express my ideas: I was born and raised in Australia, and have Chinese parents. Sometimes I travel to Singapore to stay with my bro' (currently working there) and other relatives. Often I stayed at my young cousin Tim's house. Tim is a 10 year old with a Playstation. He doesn't play it much to say the truth, i'd say he's only allowed during holidays, and some other days because of their hectic studies. Anyway, when I was there it was school holidays, and I spent a few weeks at his house.
I got to know him well over that time, as well as his friends who lived near by. Kids are a lot of fun to be around ( it hink we gamers can relate to kids really well tho). Well, Singapore has lots of pirated games (esp. PStation), and so Tim's collection was reasonably well stocked, (about 20 games). I found that some games were alot more accessible to children than others.
With Streetfighter II the boys had lots of fun, and provided much entertainment. When I suggested we try Metal Gear Solid, they all agreed to give it a try. So we loaded it up. It was quite enrossing for a while, and we all enjoyed playing the cinematic game, until we reached a bit where we had to shoot a few guards. Where as I had alot more wilingness to keep trying to replay the section. The kids after 4 or 5 goes, said they didn't like the game. So I think a child's enthusiasm in a game can quickly diminish when it becomes relentlessly difficult.
Also, when I play Tekken with friends these days (usually try my best to be competitive) I can face loss as challenge to play again to win. Face losing 40 times in a row, and I may start feeling like its futile to keep trying to beat my opponent ( whether its human or computer). I think with children, the number of losses may be smaller, before they start to feel that overcoming the challenge is too difficult. Maybe its because we've already completed many games and have some sort of 'competence'. And young children feel that lack it when they come across am obstacle that others can overcome. I know I got tired of getting beaten in Street Fighter II at times when I was alot younger, but for be a polite, good sport I remained enthusiastic. However when I did get good at Mario Kart (battle mode), or Street Fighter 2, I found the best way to retain a new players' interest and competitiveness, is to 'give' a little here and there. It makes them feel like they are improving, It allows younger or less experienced players more space to develop their skills.
This is one reason why i was turned of 'ghouls and ghosts' at the demo kiosk years back. My one and only initial impression was that it was impossible, because i could get past the first level ! Mario World, however gave areas to breathe between challenges. Places where it was save to take rest for a few seconds.
Well, sorry for the lengthy (and very mildly edited) e-mail - I hope you found some of my views helpful to you :)
Keep up the good work at n-sider !
warm regards,
Trev
- a 22 year old gamecube owner from Australia
First of all, well done for writing such a great feature. I found the explanation of difficulty very useful for the small games I make in my spare time. Now though, my thoughts:
My first experience with videogames came from the Commodore 16 (earlier than the '64 I believe) that my older siblings owned. I found most of the games extremely difficult because I was very young. However, I recently dug out the old Commodore and had a quick go on some of my old favourite games, and they were still just as hard as I remembered, and still just as fun. Because the graphics weren't exactly stunning, the control never more than basic and the actual design never very complex, the difficulty was a huge part of what made those games fun. The aim wasn't necessarily to see the next amazing level, but merely to show yourself and those around you that you had accomplished something amazing - even if it was only avoiding crashing your submarine into a pink hairdryer (er, don't ask) - because it was so damn difficult to do. You weren't supposed to see the whole game. Newer games have a much bigger ability to amaze players, and so the designers would much prefer if you got to see every level, so they can show off their brilliant designs.
I personally like the focus of the modern games. They're more relaxing and enjoyable to play, and offer a greater reward for the increased amount of money you pay for them (compared to much older games). However, I also love the insane challenge of the early games and I think it's great to see a few recent games becoming more challenging (e.g. Super Monkey Ball, Super Mario Sunshine). I think that one reason games have become less difficult though, is that they have been able to create a lot of fun without just relying on difficulty. Mario 64, for example, could provide hours of entertainment through just messing around with the controls. As technology advances maybe games' fun factor will become slightly more detached from difficulty, but I'm sure they'll never get much easier.
Keep up the great work,
Arthur
Very interesting article..in general I agree with you on part one...basically there is nothing I can really think about to add to question..
In part 2 however...I think there are quite a few things. The fact that the guides are 'commonplace' is definately a factor in why so many act as they do..but it isn't the only one.
I think it really has to do with a young childs way of thinking in general...and then that combines with guides for free.
When we were young (yes I'm of the 'vet' generation..so I speak of we..in the sense of all vets). I can almost asure you..we all wanted to win. I think I remember one time loosing to my older brother and I litterally bit him for it..I'd do things like throw controllers..say he was cheating..and I would beg him to let me win..etc. I wanted to just win..didn't matter how..just wanted to win. And I really think most people might remember such fits when they couldn't beat a game..heck..I dstill hear about the 'throwing a controller syndrome'...its the start of many Nintendo makes quality hardware stories ;).
The point is..back then..if we wanted to win. It was close to impossible for many of us to get any quick answers to how to beat a game. Many of us didn't have guides (I know my parents saw no use in em an I could never get em). None of us could really look this up on the net.
Over time we became accustomed to the fact that we were not going to get much help. If we wanted to win (especially in the days before saving progress) we had to play the game over and over and over many times..loosing repeatedly before we figured out to move to spot A when boss uses weapon A..then spot B when boss starts up weapon B..what weapons we would have..etc.
But now..as you said...there are strategy guides..you can just look up that pattern to beat the boss on the net.
I don't think kids nowadays are really any different from how we were back at their age. They have just gone into gaming in an age where its easy for them to get such information. Because they have been given such information...because people have let them win...thats how they expect things to be.
---
Stafir, who can proudly say, he is fully capable of whooping his older brother's butt in any video game there is.
What u wrote was one of the greatest and most true things i have ever read. Im 18 and having Spent a lot of my time around the video game stores i see kids from age 4 upwards coming in a picking up a controller if the game is too hard they will throw the controller in discust.
I have played a child of around 7 in a game of bloody roar on GCN. now u know the rules if you lose its the next persons go the winner carries on well i was enjoying this game and i wasnt going to give my turn up so i finished this kid of in quick fashion. he went off crying and you know i was like wtf but then went back to playing. A minute or two later the boy comes back again but this time he brought his mum and said "there is he the guy who beat me" with a sniffle. This mother comes up to me and goes "my son said you beat him in this game hes only 7 why didnt you let him win".
I looked straight at this lady and threw her the most annoyed look i had ever given anyone. "Well..." shes says "im waiting for your answer" i turn around trying to ingnore this lady Yet again i hear this annoying voice "dont you turn your back on me" and she taps me on the shoulder. I spin around "look lady i cant help it if your son is a big cry baby and cant take losing but he did so just leave me alone." tihs resulted in me losing the match and having to hand over the controller. The look on this ladys face was priceless i dont think anyone had ever talked to her like i had he just goes ok and takes her son away. Is it that the next generation of gamers are brought up to be sore losers and quiters there still are a few good kids out there who if they lose will re challenge and re challenge again and again until they win then rub it in but what the hey thats all part of it.
Man if you read this thanks im guessing no though as im not very good at punctuation and all
Anyway Later
BRETT
Hey, I enjoyed reading your article! Heh, I've been saying these exact things for 2 years. A few months ago I was worried about the EXACT thing you wrote about, I was thinking about when I have kids. I decided it would start them on NES/GB then work up to SNES/GBA etc... I could already see this being a problem, and I'm glad others (like you) have noticed it too. I work at a video game store, and what me and my co-workers noticed, was the average age of users buying guides/gamesharks. Almost 100% of the time, it was kids buying Gamesharks, or their parents buying it for them. The ONLY time it was ever for an adult, is if they just started getting into games in the 128-bit era. People who are "new" to gaming, will return a game saying "it's too easy". We asked them why, and found it cause they used a gameshark/guide. Well no wonder it was easy! DUH. Try playing it how it was meant to be played.... I was getting really worried that the trend would just keep going in this downward spiral until everything was just point and click adventures. Luckily, it seems things are starting to head in the right direction again.
I still have memories of me beating NES games when I was 5 years old. I could beat super mario bros like nothing. Then I look at 5 year olds today, and think to myself "Wow.....these kids can't even beat the FIRST LEVEL of super mario bros ......". I was really happy when nintendo started5 re-releasing old school stuff on gameboy color/advance. It's a step in the right direction!
~kong
Ur article made me laugh about the bit with the younger children having to win. This is probably true cos my little brother was like this, playing a f1 game and turning all the damage off and putting on automatic brakes so he could bash ppl infront out and meaning that he could win. i asked him do u think that u are good at the game, he continually says yeah. This is probably why games like tekken always sell, even tho they r the same game each time. The game is far too ez, i could beat the computer on the hardest lvl without havin to learn many moves.
I hate cheaters cos if u ever played Phantasy Star Online on the dreamcast practically everyone cheats, everyone has the best weapons best armor and best mags. I stopped playing PSO because of that cos there was no satisfaction of me getting to the highest lvl as it took me hundreds of hours and no one believed i got it legally and others got my level and my weapons with a few codes in minutes. They thought they would big and hard. what is the point of playin when all enemies fall down in 1 hit?
The worst thing is, some ppl on that game have psychological problems they enjoy killing the players.
I really hope that this doesnt happen in Gamecube version of PSO too.
If the challenge in games goes up there must be something more cos if u played street fighter the endings were the same on lv8 as on lv4. Street Fighter unlike tekken u have to know what u r doing to win thats probably y like it, other people cant say there boss cos they whack buttons faster. same as MGS2 the ending was the same. so you could just play the easier option and still finish the game.
The difficulty cant go up because the games wouldnt sell unfortuanetly. Still i like the hard games like f-zero and ghouls and ghosts(havent completed it yet cant get the golden armor past the 1st stage)
thanks for writing such an informative piece cos i never thought of game difficulty like this b4.
Ivan Yip
First I want to say great article and I really enjoyed reading it. I think you're correct on large scale. I'm 13 and have many friends that cheat and do anything to win, I've even called them cheaters and and they wheren't insulted in the least and just went on saying "So?" I have a really high code of honor when it comes to videogames, probably because I've been playing them since I was 4 years old. I never use heats of any kind and only use walkthoughs when I'm stuck and can't move on (not doing so would ruin the game in my opinion) and other than that only after I've beaten the game and am trying to discover secrets. I don't know, you might think that it's not a big deal, after all I'm 13 and basically between the Generation Gap, but something amazing is that my younger brother who's 10 right now is exactly like me, if not he has even higher principles than me. I just told him about the story of your fiances's nephew and he just laughed at my face. Then I told him I was serious. Then he goes "Geese, what idiots, there's no point in winning like that." It's not exactly a questioin, but I hope you find my letter enjoyable. I'm glad that there is still hope for the younger generation.
Ryan Nill