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Post by héad.casé on Jan 5, 2013 11:54:58 GMT -5
I ask this because I just recently downloaded the SNES version of Mario Kart to my Wii and I just cannot complete the Flower Cup on 100cc. So do I suck or were video games harder then than they are now?
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Post by Red Impact on Jan 5, 2013 11:59:52 GMT -5
They used to be a lot cheaper than they are now to extend the shelf life. Otherwise, they'd have been much shorter. As technology got better and games could be more intricate, longer, or with online play, the need to make them stupidly cheap has gone away for the most part.
There are exceptions of course, like just about anything from Atlus.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2013 12:01:34 GMT -5
You need to change your difficulty settings.
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Post by SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman on Jan 5, 2013 12:04:01 GMT -5
On the average they definitely are. There are still some legit tough games but for the most part, they used to be more challenging. And don't tell me I'm saying this whil wearing nostalgia goggles, because even when I play old games I didn't play as a kid, they're still usually harder than most games today.
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Blindkarevik
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Post by Blindkarevik on Jan 5, 2013 12:10:04 GMT -5
I think a lot of us remember how good we used to be, but ignore the time it took to get that good. So when we pick up a game again after years and years, we get frustrated when we're not as instantly awesome as we used to be.
As far as ease of games goes, yes and no.... games have gotten WAY longer, with the exception of RPGs. Back in the day, an average game could be beaten in about an hour or two if you were good. So replay ability was the big thing, as these games were meant to be played in short bursts... so they'd toss more challenge per level to assure that you died a LOT, yet still walked away satisfied more or less. Now, games typically have an 8 hour minimum time to finish. There are shorter games out there, but it seems the majority fall between 8-12 hours to finish. In that, there's typically a lot more downtime and a lot more spots where you're just meant to blow through an area and feel like a badass for a bit before something stops you in your tracks... and even then, there are endless continues and respawns so you're never in a position where you have to start completely over, usually just feet from where you last died.
So, like I say, I think the difficulty is somewhat similar when given the length of time each game should take to complete. However, there IS a big difference between a difficult game now and a difficult game them.
Now, I know of a lot of people who will get pissed off about a spot they're stuck at in a game. Yet, two or three days later they tell me they finished the game. Whereas, I know of a lot more people who swear Ninja Gaiden is unbeatable, even after all these years.
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Post by EvenBaldobombHasAJob on Jan 5, 2013 12:15:05 GMT -5
they are easier, but I think that's just because the way games are designed and marketed now is very different from how it used to be.
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Beast Army Ass
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Post by Beast Army Ass on Jan 5, 2013 14:48:11 GMT -5
They were harder simply because they had to be in order to extend how much time you spent on a game to complete it. I mean the original super mario bros. you could be done within an hour if it wasn't challenging. There are exceptions on both sides of the fence of course (Kirby's Dream Land was easy as hell, but as stated Atlus games as a whole are hard as balls to complete), but in general if older games were simpler you'd have finished them a LOT quicker.
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Post by Drink Up Me Cider on Jan 5, 2013 15:40:01 GMT -5
I've been playing Sonic Racing Transformed and that is bull-bustingly difficult, even on medium. But you are right. I always play games like Halo/Gears/Witcher/Movie License games like Spiderman on legendary/Insane mode automatically because I know the game will just be holding my hand otherwise.
Back in the day (playstation 1, Xbox big green, gamecube, n64), a lot of my games didn't have difficulty settings. You played your game like FF7-8-9, Ocarina of Time, Vagrant Story and then if you wanted a challenge you can fight the super boss. Super Bosses do not exist anymore in main stream gaming, I hate that.
Sorry about the sidetrack, in short I agree that games are getting easier.
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Post by "Gentleman" AJ Powell on Jan 5, 2013 15:47:56 GMT -5
Go play Dark Souls and come back to me. Japanese games for the most part are just as hard, compared to other games made in other countries. Yet they seem to think we're the hardcore ones, what with European Extreme in MGS & the Extra Hard mode in the first Devil May Cry being exclusive to UK & US.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2013 15:49:22 GMT -5
For the most part, yes.
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Post by Red Impact on Jan 5, 2013 15:50:50 GMT -5
I've been playing Sonic Racing Transformed and that is bull-bustingly difficult, even on medium. But you are right. I always play games like Halo/Gears/Witcher/Movie License games like Spiderman on legendary/Insane mode automatically because I know the game will just be holding my hand otherwise. Back in the day (playstation 1, Xbox big green, gamecube, n64), a lot of my games didn't have difficulty settings. You played your game like FF7-8-9, Ocarina of Time, Vagrant Story and then if you wanted a challenge you can fight the super boss. Super Bosses do not exist anymore in main stream gaming, I hate that. Sorry about the sidetrack, in short I agree that games are getting easier. Ocarina of Time had optional super bosses? I didn't think they'd ever been in any Zelda game. For as far as I can remember, the optional superboss has almost always been exclusively in the realm of traditional RPG's. They still exist there, every Final Fantasy game has at least one, sometimes several. You don't see them in the hybrid action/rpg as often, and not in Bioware or Bethesda games, but they still exist.
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Post by Drink Up Me Cider on Jan 5, 2013 15:55:27 GMT -5
I've been playing Sonic Racing Transformed and that is bull-bustingly difficult, even on medium. But you are right. I always play games like Halo/Gears/Witcher/Movie License games like Spiderman on legendary/Insane mode automatically because I know the game will just be holding my hand otherwise. Back in the day (playstation 1, Xbox big green, gamecube, n64), a lot of my games didn't have difficulty settings. You played your game like FF7-8-9, Ocarina of Time, Vagrant Story and then if you wanted a challenge you can fight the super boss. Super Bosses do not exist anymore in main stream gaming, I hate that. Sorry about the sidetrack, in short I agree that games are getting easier. Ocarina of Time had optional super bosses? I didn't think they'd ever been in any Zelda game. For as far as I can remember, the optional superboss has almost always been exclusively in the realm of traditional RPG's. They still exist there, every Final Fantasy game has at least one, sometimes several. You don't see them in the hybrid action/rpg as often, and not in Bioware or Bethesda games, but they still exist. Ah crap, I meant about getting full leveled, fairy containers and the such in Ocarina...I haven't played it in years. I know for a fact that if Cloud is level 99 that Sephiroth is harder at the end. May be I'm confusing them.
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Post by Drink Up Me Cider on Jan 5, 2013 16:00:02 GMT -5
Go play Dark Souls and come back to me. Japanese games for the most part are just as hard, compared to other games made in other countries. Yet they seem to think we're the hardcore ones, what with European Extreme in MGS & the Extra Hard mode in the first Devil May Cry being exclusive to UK & US. Dark Souls is a great game...but it's so easily exploited and broken that even a crap player like me can beat the game, twice, just by having soul level 600+ team mates. It's not as hard as people make out. You just have to be nice, and not a darkwraith. Also I beat MGS2 (still sore about Raiden but whatever) on Euro-Extreme. It really wasn't that hard. It's the invincibility rails and the animation when you jump and grab that basically breaks the game.
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Post by britishbulldog on Jan 5, 2013 16:57:32 GMT -5
I think a lot of us remember how good we used to be, but ignore the time it took to get that good. So when we pick up a game again after years and years, we get frustrated when we're not as instantly awesome as we used to be. As far as ease of games goes, yes and no.... games have gotten WAY longer, with the exception of RPGs. Back in the day, an average game could be beaten in about an hour or two if you were good. So replay ability was the big thing, as these games were meant to be played in short bursts... so they'd toss more challenge per level to assure that you died a LOT, yet still walked away satisfied more or less. Now, games typically have an 8 hour minimum time to finish. There are shorter games out there, but it seems the majority fall between 8-12 hours to finish. In that, there's typically a lot more downtime and a lot more spots where you're just meant to blow through an area and feel like a badass for a bit before something stops you in your tracks... and even then, there are endless continues and respawns so you're never in a position where you have to start completely over, usually just feet from where you last died. So, like I say, I think the difficulty is somewhat similar when given the length of time each game should take to complete. However, there IS a big difference between a difficult game now and a difficult game them. Now, I know of a lot of people who will get pissed off about a spot they're stuck at in a game. Yet, two or three days later they tell me they finished the game. Whereas, I know of a lot more people who swear Ninja Gaiden is unbeatable, even after all these years. I beat Ninja Gaiden a couple of times. Why is that always brought up as one of the hardest games? It had a great ending for an 8 bit system.
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Post by Drink Up Me Cider on Jan 5, 2013 17:00:47 GMT -5
^Yea I don't get that either. I'm a massive DOA nerd and played Ninja Gaiden 1-2 and beat them on multiple difficulties. BUT on the hardest of the hard difficulties on Ninja Gaiden, jeez, that's tough.
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Goldenbane
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Post by Goldenbane on Jan 5, 2013 17:30:33 GMT -5
I think this falls in the whole "marketing" category, but games back in the day were arcade first...ported to home systems second (a lot of the time). To make money on an arcade game, you have to force the player to put more and more quarters in to beat the game...thus harder levels, cheap enemies and deaths, ect.
I know for a fact that games are much longer today than they ever were in the past, especially RPGs. I went back and played Final Fantasy...a game I recalled taking weeks and weeks to beat...but having mastered it, and knowing everything there is to know about it, I can beat it in maybe a day or two. Meanwhile, a game like Dragon Age Origins, another game I've mastered completely, still takes me several days/maybe a week, to complete...and that's not counting all the downloadable content and expansions they've put out for it.
Needless to say, I certainly agree that old games are much harder than games today, but today's games are much longer.
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Post by Cyno on Jan 5, 2013 17:57:10 GMT -5
A lot of games back in the day were developed with an arcade game's mentality. Basically, arcade games were intentionally made very difficult so people would pay more quarters in order to overcome the challenge and earn bragging rights.
Games are generally easier these days with a few exceptions. But that's a side effect of game difficulty becoming more fair instead of obnoxiously cheap. Better technology also allows for more precise player control.
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andrew8798
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Post by andrew8798 on Jan 6, 2013 0:40:59 GMT -5
A lot of games back in the day were developed with an arcade game's mentality. Basically, arcade games were intentionally made very difficult so people would pay more quarters in order to overcome the challenge and earn bragging rights. Games are generally easier these days with a few exceptions. But that's a side effect of game difficulty becoming more fair instead of obnoxiously cheap. Better technology also allows for more precise player control. MK a good example of this
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ronin705
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Post by ronin705 on Jan 6, 2013 1:02:13 GMT -5
Hell yeah they are. I find myself flying through them nowadays, makes me wish we had a Gamefly like site for Canada so I can stop wasting my money on games.
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xCompackx
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Post by xCompackx on Jan 6, 2013 1:05:12 GMT -5
The only real times when I think "This is way too easy" is when the game tells you what to do. Both Batman Arkham games are guilty of this and I'm not a fan of it.
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