No more coddling, video games -- hurt me more!

EDITOR'S NOTEfrom Rob Savillo

John explains elegantly why my sense of accomplishment in a game like Demon's Souls is far and beyond many of today's offerings (exemplified in this exaggerated College Humor video). Anxious as he is for the design philosophies of yesteryear, he should consider the upcoming Dark Souls.

I miss games that not only require you to think, but also force you to develop the skills and reflexes to execute your plan. The most ominous degradation is the modern-day shooter. There was a time when a hit was a hit, not a signal to go for cover until you regain your lost health.

I remember losing men and women while playing Rainbow Six. The honest gamer in me (the part of me that plays games as they were meant to be played) mumbled a curse word and then ventured forth. Having an untarnished roster at the end of the game would have to wait for the second play-through.

It's every bit as fun as it looks!

Yes, we can create our own metagame to make things more difficult for ourselves or simply play on a high-difficulty setting, but why choose such a thing? Why put ourselves through the aggravation when there is an easier road? The choice is up to the gamer.

There was a time when I would decide to do a minimalist play through of past Zelda games, but once I grew to a certain age, I lost the time and patience. Gamerscore and trophies are all the metagames I allow myself at present. Some of them are tough as nails (Modern Warfare’s “Mile High Club” comes to mind instantly), but for the most part, they’re just time consuming. Time does not equal difficult.

If I’m being honest with myself, I suppose I’m grateful for the choice of difficulty settings. The part of me that has other things to do doesn’t need the constant aggravation of difficult video games. As fun as a well balanced, hardest-of-the-hardcore game can be, not many people have the time.

I don’t want every game to make me work for every inch. Occasionally, though, I wish the only option was to get my butt kicked by the masochistic hands of unrepentant developers. Every now and then, I don’t need (or want) the luxury of a safe word. So, to Tomonobu Itagaki and whoever else gets off on making gamers work for it: Give it to me hard and make damn sure it hurts.

P.S. Battletoads hurts too much.

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Tags: Ninja Gaiden, Dead Space, The Legend of Zelda, Battletoads, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six

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Brandon Guerrie

August 19, 2011

Great Post John. I actually own the original Ninja Gaiden for the NES, and I am still working on its completion. There are many games back in the day that I never beat, maybe it was because I was too green and young. Back in the day I could never beat Zelda 2 (I even called the Nintendo Power hotline on how to beat the Thunderbird). Games are much more lenient these days; they have destination pointers (Bioshock, MW2), and it feels they hold your hand all the way. But for Ninja Gaiden, there is no mercy -- they seem to get harder and more difficult after each release.

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John Michael

Thanks, Brandon. I never did beat Ninja Gaiden (NES). When the Xbox version came out, I was so excited to unlock the NES trilogy and use my matured gaming skills to utterly destroy the game. But, man, they throw down the gauntlet right into your face in 6-4. I still get night terrors.

Rob Savillo

I still can't beat the NES Ninja Gaiden, either. I could never get past the final boss.

Ah, man. The devilry just wouldn't stop!

And by the way, I'm really looking forward to Dark Souls.

Jason Lomberg

Punishing experiences went away because the fanbase grew up. During the NES era, the average gamer was younger, with less disposable income. We had to derive maximum value from every purchase, meaning we accepted design quirks that we wouldn't tolerate today. A game's difficulty could often be attributed to stiff controls or repetition.

These days, I'm more interested in the experience.

I think it has more to do with broader appeal. Publishers want to attract more than just the super hardcore, who will put the time into learning a games finer points. That's why (I think, anyway) any future Rainbow Six title will never be what it was. It was too unforgiving if you made silly mistakes. I think the kids growing up on CoD would hate it.

But yeah, I'm with you when it comes to enjoying the experience. I wouldn't play a terrible game just because it's hard. But if a game's great, a steep difficulty would be icing on the cake. Especially since they are so uncommon these days.

Jonathan Oyama

August 22, 2011

I confess that I have actually beaten Ninja Gaiden 2 for the NES. If I tried hard enough, I could also probably beat the first one. Well, I still have to get over the fact that Ryu can't climb walls in the first one. Danged 2D platformer game mechanics.

Sam Alegria

I'm going to buy battletoads right now.

Play it with a buddy... You'll kill him within a couple of hours... then you'll kill yourself.

that should be a comic lol

Ben Villarreal

Great post! I've found myself gravitating to survival-horrors of late just for the sake of playing a challenging game. Even downloading Resident Evil 2 on PS3 has been rewarding in this way. Plus, I still go through stints of Demon's Souls, haha!

Thanks, Ben. RE 2 sucked a lot of life out of my teen years. I got proficient enough to do speed runs. My record for Scenario A (using Leon) is around 1:37:--. I can't remember the seconds. Love that game!

I purchased it from the PSN store recently... I was limping before I even got to the police station. :(

That's an epic speed run time!

On my first play through, I died before reaching the police station. It felt great :-)

Reggie Carolipio

I managed to get through NG1 and NG2 on the NES, but NG3 just kicked my ass. It's as if the designers felt that if you got through the first two, then they had failed to stop you and made the third one crazy hard.

One of these days I'll return and beat it. Maybe now I'm ready. Or not.

Dang. Props on getting through the first two!

I still hate Ninja Gaiden 3. The second stage kills me, no matter what I do.

Ian Hawkins

You should consider revisiting the STG genre.
The object of these videogames is to perform a One Credit Clear (1CC). The shmup genre is different from other genres in that using a Continue is considered a cheat and not a tool designed to be used to validate progress or accomplishment upon reaching the end of a particular title. People who know to attempt the 1CC engage in the hardest and fairest challenges known to videogames.