Games are becoming easier – there’s no question about it. You need only revisit some of the reboots of classic titles on the likes of Xbox Live Arcarde, PlayStation Network or the Wii’s Virtual Console for evidence of this; compared to most of these older games, contemporary games are a cakewalk.

Seemingly, the revelation for game developers in the latest generation of console gaming is that casual gamers are a fairly untapped and extremely lucrative market. Just look to the popularity of the Wii and its casual-gaming range – leaving the more powerful and supposedly more ‘hardcore’ systems in the dust in terms of sales, the Wii has been a veritable eye opener for the rest of the gaming industry.

I was among those that expressed concern when Nintendo announced a “demonstration” mode or “Super Guide” for the recently released New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Effectively, the mode sees the game take over the controls temporarily (after eight unsuccessful attempts) while a “model” approach to a particular segment is demonstrated. Players can resume control at any point, effectively allowing them to bypass difficult sections with no effort.


The common argument in favour of the Super Guide is that it’s not only more inclusive (so as not to put off amateur gamers), but it in no way impacts on these self-proclaimed “hardcore” gamers that feel cheated by it. Find the demo mode or easy difficulty offensive? Fine, don’t play it.

However, I can understand and sympathise somewhat with opponents of easy modes and “demo” modes. I guess my concern is that they detract from your personal sense of achievement to know that any old person can experience what you’ve worked hard to achieve. I know it sounds shallow, but to me it’s comparable to studying hard for a math quiz only for one of your classmates to sneak some notes out of their backpack. At the end of the day, you both pass. The fact that your classmate passes doesn’t affect you in any way, but still, you’re just that little bit bitter.

Certain games have a reputation for being difficult, and completing them has historically been somewhat of a badge of pride. The only two Nintendo Entertainment System titles that I owned and never completed were Blaster Master and Battletoads, both of which are considered two of the most difficult titles on the extremely popular system and, indeed, in general gaming. I could get up to the final level of each of them, and although it’s not nearly as good as being able to boast that I finished them, I’m still quite proud of that. And part of me feels that the experience of those final levels should continue to be something reserved for those that have played through the game as it’s intended to be experienced. Part of me feels that everyone loses out somewhat when an easy mode or a walkthrough is offered – both the player that opts for the unchallenging and watered-down experience and the player that opts for the challenging and (in my opinion) more rewarding experience.



One such franchise that has a reputation for its difficulty is the Mega Man series. Capcom released Mega Man 9 last year: a throwback tribute to the series’ Nintendo Entertainment System glory days, complete with retro graphics and the franchise’s notorious difficulty setting intact. It seems, however, that the difficulty setting of the classic franchise wasn’t popular with contemporary gamers, and Capcom recently announced that the upcoming Mega Man 10 will now feature an “easy” mode. Gaming cartoonist Steve Napierski (check out his strip ‘Dueling Analogs’ – essential reading!) is clearly not a fan of the developers dumbing down his favourite franchise, and he produced the following video. I couldn’t help but chuckle.



But at the same time, I understand the need for games and gaming to be more inclusive, and I understand that not everyone plays games for the ‘challenge’, especially now that games present a narrative proposition that’s comparable to blockbuster movies. I tend to plough through games like Halo 3 or Mass Effect on my first playthrough (on the default difficulty setting, of course) purely because I’m so absolutely engrossed with the story and I’d rather find out how the plot progresses than explore every nook and cranny of the game world. That said, I’ll typically follow it up with a more exhaustive playthrough on a higher difficulty setting the second time around.

Also, encouraging more people to pick up a controller is no bad thing in my eyes. I think that gaming needs to undergo a mainstreaming of sorts. It’s still largely seen by the wider public as a childish hobby (despite statistics that claim otherwise) and a bad habit, somehow more dangerous to society than movies or television. Perhaps mainstreaming is necessary in order to disprove these myths, and if Wii Sports and “easy” modes are needed to do so, I’m not entirely opposed. Perhaps then, once the wider population has become acquainted with gaming, we can get back to making them challenging by design and restore the sense of achievement that you have to earn. Who knows, perhaps I’m being too precious? Maybe some of the holier-than-thou gamers need a serious attitude adjustment.

In either case, until things change, I still have the fact that I nearly finished Blaster Master and Battletoads to hold on to ;)

NOW PLAYING



Halo Wars -Yeah, remember my short-term goal of regaining a K/D ratio of at least 1.0 in Modern Warfare 2? I got as high as 0.96 before getting sidetracked by, of all things, Halo Wars! I actually forgot how fun this game can be, and it’s surprisingly rich for a console RTS. It’s taken up most of my evenings this week.