Is it me, or are games getting easier?

[M4A1Sopmod]

I think you have to look at the market. At the moment developers and publishers are trying to please as many markets as possible and in that effort they have cut the difficulty down in most mainstream games to accommodate new or inexperienced players. A game like the new Call Of Duty seems easy by old school standards, but that is probably because the game has been made "new user friendly" in an attempt to grab the new-gamer market. However, a game like ARMA2, which is made for a specific hardcore realistic crowd, can be murderously unforgiving. In conclusion, yes I believe games are being made easier to accommodate new players, but there are still difficult games being made.

 

[Samwise137]

I think games are changing the way in which they are challenging. I still have loads of trouble playing games like MegaMan just in that I die quickly or miss a jump or something. Games nowadays are challenging in that they are confusing, nonlinear, etc.

 

[Demons_Bane]

I think games are on majority becoming more easy to complete although this is not because game developers are lazy or uncaring I think it is a direct result of their idea of entertainment and demographic widening. Harder games generally aren't as enjoyable for most people there is much evidence in such a statement. Some people feel that a challenge is necessary to make a great game and i agree but a lot of people disagree and would rather be greek gods with machine guns slaying endless hordes of mediocre enemies then think tactically about encounters or the mechanics of the game.

In short, as developers expand their audience they try to make their product more diverse in turn they make their core consumers such as you the thread poster and me less satisfied. Demon's souls is great but I felt it too crushing personally.

 

[WittyInfidel]

Games did indeed used to be harder. However, most companies are trying to include "casual gamers" into their demographic. Ever since games like Bejewled and Plants vs Zombies, they realized there's loads of cash with the casual gamers. If they can entice them into their games, get get a slice of that pie, too.

 

[EmzOLV]

Considering I have yet to 100% a game on my XBOX since using my new one and new account (Rather than my ex's) I could argue a lot of the games are quite difficult for me right now.

Always something tiny I have to overcome as well! So annoying.
Ilomilo at the moment - arcade game but man has it just got frustratingly difficult. Cute tho!

 

[Hyper-space]

What you are referring to is the absence of games with a single difficulty setting. Everyone who complains about games being to easy nowadays choose easy or normal, as i hardly think that a "new and popular" game like COD:BLOPS is easy on veteran.

 

[Rusty Bucket]

They probably are, yeah. I don't think that's a bad thing though. Games are the only entertainment medium that will lock you out of content (that you paid for, I might add) if you're not 'good enough'. Wasn't such a problem 10 years ago, but now that games have gotten more immersive and are steadily improving their narrative and character development, locking people out of said content is really stupid.

 

[A1]

Try Demon's Souls's if you have a PS3.

Problem Solved.

that's due to the death of the arcade, witch point was to be hard so you put in that hard earned quarter into the slot, and another and another. but there is little point to imposable chalange any more.

That may be but I remember playing Toy Story on my Sega Genesis, and when you lost you went to the beginning. I beat it once. It was a hard game.

i remember toy story, i got to the Doomish pizza planet level once never beat it thou i may need to pull that puppy from the attic.

also Extra Credits made a great vid talking about this. it's on this site check it out.

I beat Toy Story for the Sega Genesis a number of times if I remember correctly. What exactly did you find so hard about the Pizza Planet level?

 

[Warped_Ghost]

If you thought cod4 was hard on veteran was hard then try Word at war.
Grenades everywhere!!!!!

 

[Kogge]

Did you for a moment consider that you are getting better at playing games?

 

[_Cake_]

I think games are getting more customizable, like they have options and settings to be more easy or difficult. I rather games be more fun and less tedious replaying the same thing over and over.

 

[KiKiweaky]

Not going to deny this, but I'm playing close combat at the moment and if you make mistakes it will punish you. Trying to root an infantry section out of a building can take ages, the ai can be a bit dumb at times but generally its defence is pretty decent.

It took me 2 attacks (15 minutes each) and cost me about 30 men to take a bridge. Was properly stressful too haha, my battle groups decimated now and the allies are coming in with reinforcemtns. I've about 15 men left, 2 machine guns and little ammo to hold the bridge until my panzers arrive.... next turn and relieve them. This is going to be bloody >

 

[mjc0961]

It seems like games have lost their challenge since the release of the newest 3 systems. Not sports games so much, but we will take an example like Halo: Combat Evolved. The game was difficult on the normal setting, and on legendary it was extremely difficult to beat. Halo 2 lost some of that pizazz and became a bit easier, and by Halo 3, ODST, and Reach, I just played them on Legendary the first time around for the win, without too much difficulty. I don't believe myself to be that great at the game, as I'm not, but there is a fading difficulty curve out there developers need to look at.

Maybe they got easier, I don't know. But there's also a chance that you were just getting better at the games as you kept playing them.

 

[guntotingtomcat]

I want a game to challenge me with new ideas and mind screwery.
I have never understood this need for a game that is functionally challenging. It just pisses me of and makes me stop playing.

 

[Netrigan]

It seems like games have lost their challenge since the release of the newest 3 systems. Not sports games so much, but we will take an example like Halo: Combat Evolved. The game was difficult on the normal setting, and on legendary it was extremely difficult to beat. Halo 2 lost some of that pizazz and became a bit easier, and by Halo 3, ODST, and Reach, I just played them on Legendary the first time around for the win, without too much difficulty. I don't believe myself to be that great at the game, as I'm not, but there is a fading difficulty curve out there developers need to look at.

And a lot of folks will complain that Halo: CE was easier than the games they cut their teeth on because of the recharging shields, so it's nothing new. The first time I noticed plummeting difficulty curves was Quake. Part of this was due to changing technology, as you could no longer fill a room with 30 or 40 bad guys, so instead a really tough room might have six people in it. But id really made no effort to scale up the difficulty after that. Quake II was even easier and Doom 3 was pathetically easy even on Hard. I never tried it on the unlockable Nightmare difficulty, but there was no area in that game that killed me more than once.

During the same period, you had Unreal which was stupid hard thanks to the AI of the Skaarj (one of the first times I ever got bored by a game because of its difficulty). Serious Sam started hard and got insanely hard if you attempted the higher difficulties (download the trial on XBL and try the harder difficulties to see what I mean). So there's usually someone trying to service the more hardcore element.

I think it has to do with the fact that hard games will often frustrate new players. And few companies will risk turning away potential fans from their IP.

 

[teutonicman]

Black ops was a bit of a pain in the ass, however I only found it to be so on the non shooter parts (ie vehicle sections).

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

Try Demon's Souls's if you have a PS3.

Problem Solved.

The problem with that game is that it was marketed as "Oh God look how hard it is!" which actually strengthens the belief that games are getting easier.

Here's how it goes: Games were rock hard back in the day to artificially lengthen the experience. Then with the advent of 3D gaming, we lost the whole trial and error style of game design but the difficulty remained, but the games still go easier.

Now the mainstream audience is the target in this generation, for ALL consoles. Mainstream gamers don't have time for 20+ hour games. So yes, games are getting easier. Not all of them, but the majority (where 10 years ago it was the other way round, I think).

 

[TheDooD]

It's just you.

While it's true that the world of quarter-eating Nintedo hard games is largely gone, it passed a while ago. In many respects, you're probably just better at games than you were before, which is sort of to be expected when you spend several years doing something for a fair amount of time.

Also, while the normal difficulty is almost certainly easier in Halo, I'm curious as to whether the perceived easiness of the later games isn't just the result of you having become so much more familiar with the games after having played all of them (though having gone back, Halo CE probably is still the hardest one).

Also, I really don't like this new cool-kid thing where you claim that everything's becoming easier and it's the fault of casual gamers and you need something more hardcore to satisfy your more refined tastes and superior abilities. I can understand that sort of logic applied to actual casual games (though I think it's stupid since they're not detracting from less casual games and a huge number of people enjoy them), but when you apply it to games that are emphatically not casual it just comes off as exactly the kind of elitist bullshit that gives gamers a bad image.

I don't think games are easier. I think they're better designed. You see, if a game is Nintendo Hard because half of the challenge is that it's controls are bad or something...then that's not a difficulty level. That's a fault due to the gap between programming and reality. So, my friend, if you're finding games easier, it's either what I've been saying or...you're getting better at them.

Pretty much this.

And if you want a hard game that illustrates the quoted point perfectly, go download IWBtG.

I don't want it to sound like the casual gamers fault, and although I made a bit of a rude comment about the Wii Sports and Resort. I would also like to point out the developers in my first post. That was my original target, and I became a bit zealous.

Also, I would like to point out, in no way do I believe I am superior at gaming, or that I have some ridiculously high level of taste in games. I play many genres, but have come to this conclusion. I also understand I have been playing the games for sometime now and they can become easier depending on franchise and my own favored niche in gaming.

Now rather than defend myself, I would like say casual gaming is fine, and I enjoyed Portal, but it seems like most games have fallen under the casual profile. Not requesting anyone to cater, but why not make a game with a bit more than a casual approach? Tutorials-especially tutorials make the game what it is in later parts and for one to develop new ways to go about achieving the goal of the mission at hand. Rather than something like a cover-to-cover style game where that is the objective and the way to win, but a new innovative approach within the game itself, something learned previous which gives the gamer a new way to go about the mission. That is difficulty. Having to use more than one strategy to win the game.

I don't want to push off "cool-kid" airs, but there is a developer out there with these ideas in mind. And philosophically speaking I am an elitist, but I don't quite think I am spewing "elitist bullshit" either. I am just a gamer with a question on why and to learn a bit from others while giving my own thoughts to make a better opinion of the statement and questions I have made/asked respectively.

Damn I was about to comment when what I was about to posted was basically what you said. I'm also an elitist that thinks the way you do when it comes to gaming. It's a reason I want to become a developer myself.