First the obvious... As time goes on the graphics of games are getting increasingly better, thinking back to when computer games first became popular there were so many that will always remain as classics and as still very fun games to play, but have you ever noticed that alot of the games you will think of are also probably too hard to complete even by todays extreme gaming community?
Take for example pacman, from watching a brilliant documentary film called "king of kong" i found out there are 255 levels in pacman. Around 12 of which are actually original levels but are just repeated several times each. This game will forever remain as one of the most well known games out there and people still find it quite entertaining to play it, but yet very few can get passed the first level or two (I myself have managed only up to level four before failing miserably) . Even though no one really gets far in this game it is still loved by everybody, it shows that if a game is simple enough, but still fun, graphics never have to be an issue because its not what matters when it comes to quality games (Another great example of quality gameplay but bad graphics is final fantasy VII, yes when it was first realised the graphics were top of the line but by todays standards they are nothing, but yet people never complain about the graphics, instead they always talk about how absolutely amazing this game is and square enix haven't bothered to remake it because there really is no need to)
Okay so we got pacman as our classic example, now lets take a modern day one... "Call of duty modern warfare 2" (CoD). In my opinion this game is very, very entertaining so I not against people when they say how amazing this game is, but when compared on a basic gaming level to pacman I would say pacman will still be more popular as a "gaming classic" fifty years from now and heres why:
For me, on a basic level there are a few things that make a game forever popular, storyline, memorable characters, and good gameplay.
Storyline: Now pacman doesnt have a storyline so it scores no points for that and CoD has a storyline (Im guessing) but no one will remember it, only the fact that you have to kill a load of guys for whatever reason. So CoD losses points for having a stoyline but not actually trying to impress us with it.
Memorable Character: Everyone knows pacman and what he looks like, he is the most basic and memorable game icon out there and again i believe its down to simplicity. Big points to pacman. CoD doesn't have any memorable characters because all the army guys look the same just with different weapons, again CoD looses points.
Gameplay: There is something is the simply gameplay of pacman that makes it slightly addictive but forever memorable. Controlling a yellow head and having collect little balls and fruit while getting chased by ghosts around a grid doesn't exactly sound fun but for some weird reason it is, and surprisingly its very very fun. Now for CoD in terms of gameplay meaning you vs the computer, there's not that much to it. The thing which makes this game memorable is the player-vs-player (pvp) aspect of it, which does still count as gameplay but in a totally different way from pacman. the pvp of this game is probably the best I have played for this genre of game. grabbing a machine gun and filling your opponent with bullets with everything around you is blowing up, for some strange reason, has an fascinating appeal to it. I wonder why...
When i first picked up pacman as a child i was never able to get passed the first level but yet i still continued to play it and it still remains in my mind as one of the best all time classic games even though it is a near impossible game to complete. CoD on the other hand was, just like pacman, a very fun game to play as soo as you first pick it up, but i found it way too easy (playing story mode and against people online). Now im not saying i am a master at first person shooters (fps), but im sure when playing this game anyone thinks they are the next John Wayne of the fps world. So even though CoD is obviously a much easier game compared to pacman people still find it highly entertaining.
The obvious reason behind CoD fame lies in a few things; Great graphics, explosions, and destroying real players online.
It seems like there is a basic rule for every game that comes out these days, 'if the graphics arent stunning then the game is crap'. Ask any young gamer what their favourite game is and i bet that 99% of them will say a game thats visually stunning but lack in storyline and gameplay. You could put it down to because games these days have the capability to stun you with the graphics but then again, when playstation one was out hardly any games relied on great graphics as a selling point to their games. The majority of them were about storyline and even if they were advertised for having great graphics the gameplay was still probably better than most games out these days.
Another must have for new realised games is 'online play'. I think this is why stoyline and gameplay (offline) is affected so much, because everyone cares more about being able to play with their friends than going through a great story. Another thing you will notice when it comes to story modes in alot of games is the ability to skip through cut scenes and texts. This is a great feature to have but i think it was put in place more because people dont care whats happening because the story didnt impress them enough. I think game creators now see it as "lets put any text/ cut scene in there along with a skip button because no one is actually going to bother to read/watch it". The only reason why people rush though story modes these days is to unlock things that allow them to play more online content (instead of taking their time and enjoying the game). Knowing that their audience is just wanting the bonuses from completing the story mode, creators make it as quick and painless as possible to do so.
Remember when games were hard but still enjoyable but now whenever you cant beat a boss you get frustrated that you cant kill them in one hit? Remember when you couldnt beat one of the elite four but still kept aiming to have you name in the hall of fame? Remember trying to kill Sephiroth being such pain in the ass? These days because everyone can ask game designers for a bigger weapon to beat a boss (updates) they use this so much that game designers save the hassle of having thousands upon thousands of people complaining about the game being too hard by just having the one hit kill weapon already in the game and ready to use. When it actual fact the complaints they are sending to the designers secretly read this "im not skilled enough to beat this boss and i cannot be bothered to become better at this game so i demand you put something in so that i can kill him without having to use more than one finger but still feel the sense of achievement.....NOW!" This is exactly why games are becoming easier and easier as time goes on. The ability to complain and demind an easier route has become such as simple thing to do that im sure soon you will be purchasing already completed games with everything unlocked and yet you will be congratulated for doing this and be awarded for your efforts of clicking the "buy" button the game's retailer website.
To summarise (finally): The basic reason(s) as to why games are getting easier as time goes on is because people care more about graphics than gameplay, more about PVP than PVE (playing against the computer; Player versus environment), how powerful the weapon is that you are holding than the skill it takes kill the boss (or player), but still want the sense of achievement. Because the internet has given gaming the ability to complain and change games when needed for an actual good reason, we have decided to rape this service and use it to make things easier and faster for us, instead of enjoyable and challenging.
........But we can change it. Think about it, we have the ability to complain and criticise, so doesn't that mean we have the ability to thank and applaud those for creating a tough but fun game? yes people can complain about games being too difficult but if you are also willing to show you still are finding it fun and nicely challenging then surely games will continue to stay at (or turn back to) a tough, but fun level of quality gameplay and storyline.
I could continue to rant about this annoying topic, but i think i have said enough and covered enough points, let me know what you think...
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