Are today's video games too easy?
I've been reading on line that games are getting easier and that if you don't get at least 40+ hours of game play that you've wasted your money. Games are getting easier? Are you high? Have you played any of the Grand Theft Auto console games, Ninja Gaiden, Call of Duty, or Splinter Cell to name a few? Those games are at least 30 to 40 hour games, minimum. Why do people like or want to play a game that is that long? If a game is good and worth finishing, people will MAKE time to complete it. No matter how long it takes. Probably the main reason some people don't finish games is because they become too repetitious, are seen as too difficult or the pay off for putting that much time into a game doesn't give the player a big enough "reward". The other reason? Life. Ain't it funny how that gets in the way of gaming? Not everyone can just sit own and play a video game for 10-20 hours straight. People complained the God of War was too short (the game ended up giving about 20 hours of game play and its "medium" setting). That's crap! The pace of the game was awesome. You had no idea how much time you were spending because the story, visuals and game play rocked. The game even recognized if you were getting stuck in a place because of difficulty and asked YOU the player if you needed help and would lessen the level of challenge for that particular event. What a novel idea! There's no doubt that the game's producer, David Jaffe, is a gamer and wanted his game to be fun to play. Did he care about the length (imagine that, a guy thinking length ain't important but I digress) not at all. He understood that people have lives and wanted them to enjoy the game and not have to sink 60 hours of their life to play it. Did I replay the game? Yes. Why? Because there were some things to unlock after beating it in the highest difficulty. Would I have replayed the game if there weren't unlockables? Hell yeah I would have. It was just that fun to play.
Bottom line for me? A great game is a great game no matter its difficulty or how long it takes to finish. Thanks to guys like David Jaffe for making a game like God of War that is a shining example of that theory!
Bottom line for me? A great game is a great game no matter its difficulty or how long it takes to finish. Thanks to guys like David Jaffe for making a game like God of War that is a shining example of that theory!
posted by Dutch DeGay at 9:47 PM
3 Comments:
I'm sorry Dutch. I always seem to disagree with you.
Its not just that games are getting easier, its that they are getting really complicated as well.
Damn, I've been studying, so this is going suck, but: People feel that games are getting so complicated because they have to cover up for bad game design and that they are getting easier to get us to fly through them so we can move on to the next game and they get our money.
Yes, I've heard some people complain that games are too short, but others are saying that...I dont care anymore. My brain is mush. Basically, the length is terrible because its all filler to cover bad game design and to keep us from bitching about how short their crappy game is.
People dont care how short GoW was because it was solid. Same for Shadow of the Colossus. Short game, but it was simple, hard and solid.
I dont think I make sense and I think I have a migrane. Go me. Goodnight. God I hope you kinda got what I was trying to explain...
I think these games are getting easier but yeah what Steph said, its getting tougher everytime a new system comes out.
But what I want to do is go back to the old school days, tough battles, enemies...ahh gaming bliss!
GoW was short, BUT it was made up in replayability...the tons of extras, god difficulity, etc. Shadow is an artzy game, so it being short is fine with me. I think short games aren't worth the $50, but they have to make the money somehow. But to see a game today that is worth the $50 would be a sigh of relief to me..
I think John is totally starting to touch on some real issues here.
The problems are:
1. Game are EXPENSIVE. They are expnsive to make and they are expensive to buy. If were are going to pay $50 for a game, we want something for it. And, since we are only human, we equate length with quality. But thats not true.
2. Developers are trying to keep us happy with long games, but in order to do this, they must add things to their original idea that make it convoluted and in turn, dilute the game play.
Where does this leave us? It leaves us at a place where we as gamers most come to the realization that length does not mean quality, only length. Yes, its 40 hours long, but does that mean it was good? A game is meant to challenge your mind, not just keep you drooling in front of a TV screen all day. Thats what MTV is for!
Let's say the community comes to a consensus that, yes. We want a GOOD game, not a long, slightly better than mediocre game. So, games are made that kick our asses and really challenge us, but do they really warrent a $50 price tage? I'm no expert on the industry and how they come up with their prices, but I'm gonna say probably not.
And this brings us to problem:
4. The indutry (and community!) only pushing for better graphics, so crazy ass machines like the 360 and the PS3 come out that drive up the costs of making a game.
Now a game costs $70, and we again can only see that if we pay $70 we want it to be 40 hours long and developers are forced, again, to dilute game play to get as much length as they can o keep us happy.
Its turning into a very nasy snowball that is getting out of control and if not stopped, is gonna roll right over this industry and kill it.
Its really something to think about.
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