Why are games easier? My take on the subject

[J T]

I think it is difficult to say that games are easier now when there are so many more game releases nowadays than there ever were in the 80s and 90s. We went from hundreds of games on 8-bit and 16-bit consoles, to thousands of games on Playstation 2. And even if you include old arcade games, in modern times we have the explosion of the indie and handheld scenes. It's impossible to even keep pace with what is being released today, let alone play it all. With so many games, there have to be some highly difficult ones. And though this is the generation that brought us the term "walking simulator," it is also a generation of intensely difficult games like Super Meat Boy, I Wanna Be the Guy Gaiden, Cloudberry Kingdom, and Dark Souls.

If you're an old guy like me who has been playing games for the past 30 years or so, it's hard to judge if older games are harder because of their design or because you were a kid at the time and found them difficult because you were young and inexperienced with videogames. I can only judge old games I'm playing for the first time retroactively.

That being said, I think the more interesting question this thread has brought up is "how are different games difficult?" I think people have brought up good points about how difficulty can be achieved through different controls, or even controllers, level design, depth of strategy, etc. It's also interesting that difficulty is more important for some genres than others. With a strong enough storyline, difficulty doesn't even matter, which is how games like To The Moon, The Walking Dead, or A Wolf Among Us have managed to stay relevant. And was Dear Esther difficult? Obviously there were no challenges to your reflexes, but there were challenges in interpreting the meaning or understanding the nonlinear narrative structure of the game that don't fit neatly into our typical definition of what is difficult in a videogame. I'd be interested in hearing more about what people think constitutes difficulty. Battletoads, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Ultima 7, Space Chem, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, FTL, and Mega Man are all known for being difficult games, but they are difficult for entirely different reasons. So what are we even talking about when we talk about difficulty?

[IminDE]

Games most definetely are easier - take a look at some of the franchises. For example, Far Cry 2 is way harder than the new ones. Same with Splinter Cells, and so on. The casual gaming culture is to blame in my opinion.

[warlord]

Games most definetely are easier - take a look at some of the franchises. For example, Far Cry 2 is way harder than the new ones. Same with Splinter Cells, and so on. The casual gaming culture is to blame in my opinion.

Gaming culture is to blame in my opinion too. Gaming culture nowadays gives more respect for secondary aspects (graphics, details etc.) in games. In my opinion more important aspects like plot or story of the game (also that how hard and long aged game will eventually be) are usually ignored!

[Erik_Twice]

Gaming culture is to blame in my opinion too. Gaming culture nowadays gives more respect for secondary aspects (graphics, details etc.) in games. In my opinion more important aspects like plot or story of the game (also that how hard and long aged game will eventually be) are usually ignored!

It could be argued that plot and story are secondary aspects of games!

I don't think they are ignored, either, I would wager most reviews cover games from a thematic perspective.

[isiolia]

Gaming culture is to blame in my opinion too. Gaming culture nowadays gives more respect for secondary aspects (graphics, details etc.) in games. In my opinion more important aspects like plot or story of the game (also that how hard and long aged game will eventually be) are usually ignored!

The same gaming culture that has pushed the Souls games into selling well, heaped as many awards as the could find on the Witcher series, fills stadiums for eSports, made a big deal about 8/16-bit aesthetic games like Undertale or Stardew Valley (nevermind Minecraft)...

Presentation gets hyped, on occasion, but it always has. You can go back 20 years and see the hype for CD-quality audio, FMV, and rudimentary 3D. It's very easy to cherry-pick classic games, and remember the past with rose colored glasses.

[Marina0403]

I really don't understand what you r talking about. My games are fast and speedy

[NeoTechni]

I'd argue because user interface design has improved.

We have things like checkpoints and auto-saving to make death less of a punishment/annoyance.

[Hiki]

Gradius had checkpoints. I don't like checkpoints.

[Retrogameresource]

I read an interesting reasoning somewhere the other day: This was that back in the day, game storage mediums (like cartridges) were a lot smaller so the devs made the game harder so that they would last longer, because they couldn't afford to create lots of extensive environments etc.

But probably the biggest reason (that may or may not intertwine with the first reason) is that as the video game industry evolved and grew, the audience became a lot larger. To appeal to a larger audience, the games have gradually become easier and easier so they're accessible to more players. More games sold = more moolah and obviously they're going to do what it takes to maximise the amount bought.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Difficulty for length and the new wider audience are the 2 largest reasons IMO. Also arcade ports back in the day didn't always alter their difficulty from their quarter munching counterpart.

[Segata]

More accessible to appeal to the masses because games are mainstream now. pretty simple.