Comments on Pixel Poppers: In Praise of Easy: Lowering the Barrier to Entry

@Steven: The Super Guide is a very intriguing conc...

2010-06-11T20:08:43.933-07:00

@Steven:
The Super Guide is a very intriguing concept, and if done right I think it's a fantastic idea, for all the reasons you list. I haven't seen its implementation for Galaxy, but I was actually very disappointed to see how it was implemented in NSMB Wii.

As you point out, the fact that it forces you to die several times before you use it means people who need it are subject to enough frustration that they'll often just quit. To my mind, it almost might as well not even be in the game.

It feels like a strange compromise - someone pushed for an accessibility-enhancing feature, and someone else pushed back with a hardcore, gamers-must-earn-their-fun philosophy, and the result isn't really helpful to anybody.

Very valid points. People are too quick to throw t...

2010-06-06T13:41:30.321-07:00

Very valid points. People are too quick to throw their arms up in the air whenever they hear of a game offering an easy option to people who are having a hard time, whining that "back in their day" they learned and endured through the harshness of a game.

For a recent example, look at New Super Mario Bros. Wii with its Super Guide feature. If a player dies 8 times in a row in the level, a green block appears in the level, offering the player to let Luigi take over and show the player how to beat the level. From there they can either take control of Luigi when they get past where they were stuck on, or let Luigi finish the level so the player can move on to the next. People cried foul over this, claiming that people can literally beat the game without effort and learn nothing.

First, to even use the guide, you have to die 8 times in a level. To beat the whole game with the super guide, you'd have to literally die over a hundred times and most people would stop playing after the first 20 deaths or so. Second, the guide shows people how to clear the obstacle they are stuck on and they commit it to memory the next time that same challenge comes up. Third, despite what most hardcore gamers think, a casual gamer CAN be dedicated enough to push past something they are stuck on. Fourth, it keeps the player playing instead of having to stop and look on a web site for help every time they are stuck.

Nintendo applied a similar feature for Super Mario Galaxy 2 and plans to use it for their next Zelda game. It allows Nintendo to make challenging puzzles and levels without setting the entry bar to only people who played the series for years. Plus having their games more accessible makes them more money.

My perspective: Working, married, father of 3-5 (d...

2010-03-08T17:01:15.166-08:00

My perspective: Working, married, father of 3-5 (depending on who I'm babysitting, at the time). I was an avid 40+ hr/wk gamer before I got into the family deal. I went from "Gotta finish this game." to "I can't buy this, because I'll never be able to play it."

The six-year-old plays way more than I do, these days, but "teaching" him to play any game is an hours-long process that's hindered by the fact that he's not strong enough in reading to follow along on extensive tutorial intros without continuously calling on me to explain every new step, which eventually leaves us both frustrated and never playing again.

When I saw the Bayonetta video, my jaw dropped. This is EXACTLY what I needed! Something I could play, whenever I manage to get some free time, and something the boy can play WITH ONE BUTTON and still enjoy the complete offering of visuals and participation.

It's just a pity it's not on the familyman's Wii.

@Jave: That is fascinating and very, very revealin...

2010-01-04T11:30:00.637-08:00

@Jave:
That is fascinating and very, very revealing. Thanks for sharing that!

An anecdote: Two of the guys from Wayforward were...

2010-01-03T19:52:13.248-08:00

An anecdote:

Two of the guys from Wayforward were on Retronauts to talk about Contra 4. At one point, they were getting player feedback, either from focus groups, or after the game came out (can't quite recall) but the players were actively complaining about that the game was too hard, and too immediately hard. When asked "well, did you try playing on easy?" each one of them said "Of course not!" or some variation.

Just thought that was worth mention, that even when they genuinely thought the game was too hard for them, it was so "demeaning" to actually play on easy that they either suffered through it or didn't bother.

Discovered your blog tonight at 1:30... haven't st...

2009-11-26T07:51:15.567-08:00

Discovered your blog tonight at 1:30... haven't stopped reading, you've really extrapolated a lot of concepts that've been concerning me. I like your writing style too.

I'd love to hear some of your deeper ponderings on the topic of social interactions in online gaming/communities, particularly around unique online behaviours such as trolling and spamming

Keep up the good work brother

Great post. I think Mastrapa hit the nail on the ...

2009-11-24T18:14:33.220-08:00

Great post. I think Mastrapa hit the nail on the head in that quote up there. It's only logical for a business in the gaming industry to look after its growing demographic.

Anyways, I'm sure it would be quite informative to look at statistics of which difficulty players choose. With so many gaming computers and consoles connected to the internet, I wonder if anyone has done that kind of datamining yet?

@Steven A.: Not to mention Demon's Souls! What I k...

2009-11-21T09:29:09.790-08:00

@Steven A.:
Not to mention Demon's Souls! What I keep hearing about that game over and over again is how incredibly hard it is, but in a totally fair, legitimate way. Clearly I need to get my hands on a copy for... erm... research purposes. :)

I'm having some trouble tracking down decent statistics, but it wouldn't surprise me much if there actually were no real decrease in the number of "hard" games coming out over time. The proportion might be diminishing, but a lot more games come out now than a decade ago, and way more than a decade before that. The market is so much bigger now.

I whipped up a little graph (thanks, NCES!) using the only numbers I was able to find: the number of pages in Wikipedia's 19XX video games categories. Dreadfully unscientific, and since it's Wikipedia it probably only includes the "notable" ones, so I'd expect the under-reporting to increase over time - as there are more and more games, proportionally fewer of them can be considered notable. Plus it probably leaves out tons of indie games and free Flash games and the like. So this is a lower-bound at best, but it's here if you want to see it.

And of course, in many cases, very easy games can also be very hard ones (Bayonetta, New Super Mario Brothers Wii, etc. etc.) so this isn't a zero-sum game. We can have more "easy" at the same time as we have more "hard."

So while I understand the threatened feeling, I think it's misplaced, and I agree with your "cheer up" - the future is bright! :)

Another well-written, well-researched post. I can ...

2009-11-20T11:29:46.174-08:00

Another well-written, well-researched post. I can whole-heartedly agree with this one.

I think a lot of hardcore gamers react negatively to "easy" in games because deep down inside, they're afraid that this may cause "hard" games may die out. They will certainly diminish in numbers compared to before. But c'mon people - Dragon Age just came out! Cheer up.