What Happened to Hard Mode

Fucking rights doggy! This society is full of pussy whipped chumps that need to be breast fed through life! Amp that shit up!! I want to play Mike Tyson over and over as he beats the hell out of me and has the audacity to laugh at me, and the ridiculousness of Shredder on the first TMNT for the NES and god knows how long it took me to finish off Ninja Gaiden…just saying.

I think developers have taken the easy way out and just gone with trying to pump out as many online games as possible. This way they don’t really have to put any effort into making any single player journey to long and arduous. Also, on a side note, whatever happened to the two player games of yesterday? How hard is it to find a good two player game that you can sit down with a buddy and hammer out some good old fashion fun?

The good coop game category is dying faster than a homeless guy in a blizzard. Even first gen consoles had some great games like Baldur’s Gate Dark Alliance. Have you ever played that on Extreme? It would easier to gouge your eyes out with a rusty spoon.

I smell a new article coming up…

While I agree mostly with what you say, it should be noted that extreme difficulty settings do have their place. Take Demon’s Souls for example. It’s a throwback to the truest of true, unforgiving, hardcore games. Now, I want to be challenged in my games, but this is taking it too far. I play games to relax, not to get the violent urge to strangle my neighbor’s 5 year old cause he just won’t stop crying while I’m repeating this goddamn level for the 30th time and just need a single fucking moment of silence to concentrate on the game. I regret nothing.
Anyways, like I was saying, games these days are more about the story and presentation, and moving fluidly through them is the only way to enjoy these more refined aspects of a modern game. So while hardcore games may have their place, it wouldn’t be right for every game do be that difficult. If you want hard games, why not increase the difficulty setting on Modern Warfare 2 to Veteran, or play Demon’s Souls on Easy, or blindfold yourself next time you hunt hobos. Difficulty definitely has it’s place, and while it’s true that it’s harder to find these days, that’s only because games have become so much more than the twitch based linear progression games of old.

I should add that in my opinion, the game that got the “difficulty” setting just right was Super Mario Galaxy. It was challenging enough that you could die at any moment if you weren’t careful, but not so hard that you couldn’t realistically pass a level with only one life. A lot of people may claim that it was too easy, but what i found it to be was enjoyable. It presented to the player an incredibly fun journey, through some amazingly fun game design. It’s one of the only games I can remember in recent history that actually made me smile, which is exactly what I want when I come home from a hard day at work. For me, I’d take that any day over repeatedly playing the first level of Demon’s Souls until I commit child homicide. But to each their own.

If every game were impossibly hard it wouldn’t benefit the industry. However, just because games are more expansive doesn’t mean they have to be easier to beat than a foster child. I want to play games, not sit in front of a screen being dictated a series of uninteresting tasks.

Sure, the lack of any real challenge may benefit the game’s ability to tell an uninterrupted story, but that doesn’t benefit the reader if they’re looking for something to actually play. MW2 understand people sometimes don’t want to be spoon fed. Include a super hard difficulty mode in every game!

That being said, people who want a story without any challenging game play should stick to Choose Your Own Adventure books. I suggest Bully on the Bus, as they obviously need to learn how to deal with the real world’s lack of constant parental supervision.

The average gamer is over 30 and has been playing games for a decade; we’re up for a challenge.

The average gamer is over 30, and doesn’t have the time or patience to replay a level 50 times. The poor sales of the hardcore games and overall trend to reduce difficulty is proof. You’re in the minority. Talk to me after beating Demon’s Souls.

Okay, let’s use your example of Modern Warfare 2. It has an extremely hard difficulty mode and as such appeals to real gamers and casual gamers.

It also had the biggest entertainment launch in HISTORY. Sold over 4 million copies the first day and has had over 25 million players online.

So why don’t all games provide a really hard difficulty mode? Make it difficult and they will come. Maybe people afraid of a challenge would have more fun playing games that they can beat easily, like Barbie Horse Adventures.

Your comments about MW2 are irrelevant. Do you honestly think it was the “veteran” mode that drove the sales of MW2? I’d argue it was the stunning visuals, tight gameplay, and refined multi-player experience that incorporated addictive RPG elements. But who knows, maybe it was the difficulty setting.
Demons Souls and Etrian Odyssey are proof that they won’t always come simply by making a difficult game. In fact, Nintendo is proof that they most likely WILL come if you make a shit grinning easy, family approved, shovel-ware title. That’s where the money is.
From peddling crack at the retirement homes to poisoning neighborhood cats, I already have enough challenges in my life. So say what you will, put when I finally come home at the end of a long day, Barbie Horse Adventures provides me exactly what I need.

I think Demon’s Souls is being judged unfairly. It’s not that hard. It really isn’t. It requires a lot of concentration and granted there have been a few occasions which have nearly given me an aneurysm but once you learn the flow of the game and adapt to the combat, it’s like any other RPG for the most part.

Like most games every level has a few way points to unlock which partially minimizes the repetition of dieing.

It’s certainly not an easy game but its also not impossible like you make it sound.

Demon’s Souls, 4.5 stars out of 5. One of the most refreshing games to hit the market in years.

There’s no denying that Demon’s Souls is one of the hardest games to come out in a while. There’s no hand holding in this game, the player is responsible for everyone of their actions. One small mistake and it could be game over, back to the start of the level sans all your cash.
I never claimed it was impossible, and never made a judgment call on how good of a game it is. I was simply saying that it is a throwback to the hardcore games of old. It’s not for me, and it’s not for most people. It’s a game targeted at a small segment of gamers, to whom it fills a huge chasm in their hardcore game library.