Games Are Supposed To Be Fun, Right?

The Game Chair has up an editorial examining the increasing complexity and learning curve that pervade todays games. He examines the reality that, for many people, games are becoming simply unfun. From the article: "As a Gamer, I am amazed and delighted that games have advanced as far as they have. I'm still blown away everytime a new Final Fantasy or Legend of Zelda game comes out, and I look forward to spending hundreds of hours with them exploring all of their intricacies. That being said, the same things that attract me to these games might repel others who are casual gamers or non-Gamers. The importance of the 'pick-up and play' style of games, for me, lies not only in the nostalgia that I feel for them, but also in the importance of having games that are accessible to everyone."

Re:In other news...

[0racle]

Mario is too hard, I've never even come close to beating it. Now 100h on Final Fantasy is something I can handle.

What games need more of...

[Digital Vomit]

Here's a list of things that software developers should continue putting in games. Thankfully they haven't steered away from these features for decades:

• When you die, you should always start back at the beginning of the level. This builds perserverance, which is a good character trait.
• If a game is really good, gamers won't mind excessive backtracking. Getting the key at area A, inserting it into the slot back at area B, heading back to area A to move the now unlocked lever, and running back to area B before the door closes gives the player a lot of time to look at the beautiful backgrounds and maybe learn new and better techniques to defeat the monsters along the way.
• Have every neat thing in the game become available after completing a certain task. In fact, don't make the regular game available until you've successfully completed a few training levels. This gives the player goals to achieve. Oh, and don't make multiplayer available until you finish a few single player levels. This just gives the players a chance to practice before playing against each other. To be fair, never put in any code to make all "unlockables" available. If someone can't put in the forty hours of gameplay to unlock the cool stuff featured on the back of the box, they shouldn't be playing the game.
• Nothing says "fun" like a big maze!
• A great way to introduce variety in a game is to use the same bad guys, but make them different colors. This surprises the player because he thinks "Hey, I've fought this guy before, but he was a different color. Something's up! I'd better be on my guard"
• Include as few options as possible. Too many options may overwhelm the player.
• Never re-use gameplay from previous games, even if thoes games did well. You can always improve the control scheme on the First Person Shooter genre.
• Players should not be allowed to save their games "whenever". This makes them too easy. Have save points strategically placed throughout the game (but not too close to bosses).

I'm sure there's more, but these are the ones I could rattle off at the top of my head. So, stand tall, video game developers, and continue providing the level of excellence that has stood the test of time in the video gaming world!

Re:It's NOT about length

[brkello]

And yet lemme tell you after the tutorial and a few hits from me, mom was playing like a pro and enjoying it.

So you would hit your mother every time she made a mistake? That's pretty cruel, but I imagine very effective.

I know that was just a typo...but I used to stand behind my brother when he was play Descent and smack him a little bit every time he got hit. It made the game more realistic and he played a lot more carefully.

Re:It's NOT about length

[Cornflake917]

I am brkello's little brother. If anyone out there is listening to this...HELP ME! Everytime I sit down to play a game, he comes by and beats the hell out of me for no reason. I think he is delusional. He keeps asking me "See!? Isn't this more realistic!? Aren't you immersed!?!?" All I can do is just scream in pain has he pounds me into the ground. If there is anyone merciful enough out there, PLEASE call the authorities. Oh damn! I think he's comi l;akdfa;