Comments on: Ace Ebb — Nintendo Master? Where is He Today? http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/05/22/editorial-searching-for-difficulty/ GameStooge: Just another Game weblog Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:36:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters Opens Friday | Game Stooge http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/05/22/editorial-searching-for-difficulty/#comment-4652 The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters Opens Friday | Game Stooge Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:31:59 +0000 http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/05/22/editorial-searching-for-difficulty/#comment-4652 [...] it does make me a little embarrassed to remember when arcade games were cool. Well, it’s cooler than Ace Ebb, anyway. Much cooler. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can [...] [...] it does make me a little embarrassed to remember when arcade games were cool. Well, it’s cooler than Ace Ebb, anyway. Much cooler. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can [...]

]]> By: jonahfalcon http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/05/22/editorial-searching-for-difficulty/#comment-3278 jonahfalcon Wed, 23 May 2007 15:43:26 +0000 http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/05/22/editorial-searching-for-difficulty/#comment-3278 Nintendo stooped to making a fake personality to make kids think it was alright to sacrifice their social lives to their console. Think about it. Nintendo stooped to making a fake personality to make kids think it was alright to sacrifice their social lives to their console. Think about it.

]]> By: Tom http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/05/22/editorial-searching-for-difficulty/#comment-3273 Tom Wed, 23 May 2007 04:08:56 +0000 http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/05/22/editorial-searching-for-difficulty/#comment-3273 You're approaching this issue from the wrong direction. You're asking "why are games so much less difficult now?" when you should be asking, "why were games so difficult back then?" The answer is simple - when you had hardware that could only handle the most basic of graphics you increased a game's longevity through difficulty rather then content. More games are easier today because the experience features more content and doesn't need a steep difficult curve to give it longevity and, therefore, value. If you're looking for that old-school challenge, though, emulators are everywhere and plenty of smaller, independent developers are still pumping out quirky little games that follow along with the "beat the player over the head until he pulls his hair out" design philosophy. You’re approaching this issue from the wrong direction. You’re asking “why are games so much less difficult now?” when you should be asking, “why were games so difficult back then?” The answer is simple - when you had hardware that could only handle the most basic of graphics you increased a game’s longevity through difficulty rather then content.

More games are easier today because the experience features more content and doesn’t need a steep difficult curve to give it longevity and, therefore, value.

If you’re looking for that old-school challenge, though, emulators are everywhere and plenty of smaller, independent developers are still pumping out quirky little games that follow along with the “beat the player over the head until he pulls his hair out” design philosophy.

]]> By: DEEP_NNN http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/05/22/editorial-searching-for-difficulty/#comment-3272 DEEP_NNN Wed, 23 May 2007 03:41:25 +0000 http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/05/22/editorial-searching-for-difficulty/#comment-3272 While it is unfair to rate the past as compared to the present I can say this. I'm almost embarrassed to remember the time I put in on such mundane button mashing pixel versus pixel games. The feelings of accomplishment were very narrow in scope. Rarely was there anyone to cheer or jeer or fancy long winded closing and credits. Just a simple "Total Score 9999". I always felt cheated and wanted much more. Thankfully, the gaming industry through innovation, technology and imagination have given me something that I think I've earned for the effort put in. The challenge is there and it is still difficult. Sometimes impossible and thus the cheat codes can come in handy. When all else fails, blow the snot out of the bad guys with infinite ammo and invincibility. Yeah! Some games these days have an very interesting story line and playing along for immersion may surpass the requirement to be physically demanding. Games these days are so much more than hardcore button mashups of the past. I don't want to go back to those games. While it is unfair to rate the past as compared to the present I can say this. I’m almost embarrassed to remember the time I put in on such mundane button mashing pixel versus pixel games. The feelings of accomplishment were very narrow in scope. Rarely was there anyone to cheer or jeer or fancy long winded closing and credits. Just a simple “Total Score 9999″. I always felt cheated and wanted much more. Thankfully, the gaming industry through innovation, technology and imagination have given me something that I think I’ve earned for the effort put in. The challenge is there and it is still difficult. Sometimes impossible and thus the cheat codes can come in handy. When all else fails, blow the snot out of the bad guys with infinite ammo and invincibility. Yeah!

Some games these days have an very interesting story line and playing along for immersion may surpass the requirement to be physically demanding. Games these days are so much more than hardcore button mashups of the past. I don’t want to go back to those games.

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