Friday, January 20, 2006

Ribbit Ribbit Ribbit

In older days, video games were hard. So hard that they were unbeatable. Some games didn't even really have endings: Take the original Gauntlet: It had an endless number of levels that just got progressively harder. What was the point? We didn't know. They didn't tell us. I'm not even sure who "they" are.

In any case, now we expect endings in games. Hell, we expect fucking three act structure from them. And we expect to be able to play through the whole game. After all, what's the point of designing a game that only a few people are able to see through to the end? Its ironic that you* want to reward good players, but also want to make sure everyone sees all the hard work you put into making said game. Who cares if the final fight is the greatest gaming experience known to mankind if people keep getting killed by Darknuts (actual enemies from the original Legend of Zelda, I swear) on level six of twelve?

I guess what I'm observing, or what I have observed as I have gotten older is a shift in the focus of what games around about. Originally they were more like a sport for people with great hand eye coordination. Now they are more like interactive films.


* And by you, I mean "them."

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