please explain the situation. How is this thing and how did it become a poison?
(Guess i should play more bioware games)
 
please explain the situation. How is this thing and how did it become a poison?
(Guess i should play more bioware games)

It's propagating the idea that its ok for games to be so easy that it gives no challenge to any sort of gamer be them new, experienced, or old. That games should be movies first and games second.
 
It's propagating the idea that its ok for games to be so easy that it gives no challenge to any sort of gamer be them new, experienced, or old. That games should be movies first and games second.
Who's so fuckin stupid to believe that?
 
It's a simple matter. If you don't like video games, why the fuck are you in the business of making video games?
 
Just a quick speed read through that website, It seems she wants to more women gamers and game designers, by making games less logistical.
Games are what they are, you want less logistical games, go play club pogo. You want a deeper challenge, go buy starcraft.
 
So, I'm going to feel dirty admitting this, but I'm not even mad at her.

It's annoying that she's saying shit like 'oh yeeeeaaaah, you can get more women to play by turning videogames into movies,' but if what she's actually saying is 'oh yeeaaaaah, you can get more people overall to derive enjoyment from a video game if you give them a chance to just make it a movie' then I can't hate her. I know tons of people that would cream themselves over the bioshock story, be damned if I can get any of them to play it.

I dunno, when I was 10 or 11ish and I was watching my brother play through ocarina of time I would have killed to have the hand eye coordination to be able to play that game. I didn't. There was no 'stupid easy' I could set the difficulty to so I could explore to game on my own. As it was I got on when my brohter wasn't playing and rupee/poition/piece of heart farmed for him. :-/ To be fair I CRUSHED HIM in things that were more turn based but still, I considered fps games to be beyond my ken for so long that I never even tried again until college. :-/

I dunno, I think people are just being old hipster fags about video games. I REMEMBER WHEN A VIDEO GAME WAS A CHALLENGE. I REMEMBER WHEN YOU THREW YOUR CONTROLLER AT THE SCREEN BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T MEMORIZE THE EXACT MOVEMENTS REQUIRED TO GET THROUGH A LEVEL IN THIS SUPER SIMPLE PLATFORMER. I'M IGNORING THE FACT THAT GAMES LIKE THAT STILL EXIST BECAUSE I WISH I COULD FEEL A SENSE OF ELITISM FOR EVEN BEING ABLE TO SEE THE END CINEMATIC FOR EVERY COOL GAME EVAR.
 
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I dunno, when I was 10 or 11ish and I was watching my brother play through ocarina of time
I REMEMBER WHEN A VIDEO GAME WAS A CHALLENGE. I REMEMBER WHEN YOU THREW YOUR CONTROLLER AT THE SCREEN BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T MEMORIZE THE EXACT MOVEMENTS REQUIRED TO GET THROUGH A LEVEL IN THIS SUPER SIMPLE PLATFORMER. I'M IGNORING THE FACT THAT GAMES LIKE THAT STILL EXIST BECAUSE I WISH I COULD FEEL A SENSE OF ELITISM FOR EVEN BEING ABLE TO SEE THE END CINEMATIC FOR EVERY COOL GAME EVAR.

I remember when I had to get my brother to do the hard parts for me...and yeah, is it just me or were the old games much MUCH harder?
 
I remember when I had to get my brother to do the hard parts for me...and yeah, is it just me or were the old games much MUCH harder?
They had one difficulty setting, and that was 'my fingers are bleeding but i can't stop because I almost have this section burned into my muscle memory.'

er, something I should note, he was 11 years older than me. dat developmental difference.
 
They had one difficulty setting, and that was 'my fingers are bleeding but i can't stop because I almost have this section burned into my muscle memory.'

er, something I should note, he was 11 years older than me. dat developmental difference.
Mine was only 6 years older...dat slightly lower developmental difference
 
I remember when I had to get my brother to do the hard parts for me...and yeah, is it just me or were the old games much MUCH harder?
Single player games used to be much harder, one simple reason... no saving.
One of the hardest games to get anywhere was donkey kong, you had to be a pro to get past screen 3.
 
I like to see a range of difficulty settings in a game to allow the largest possible audience to enjoy the game (I do think that many games could benefit from making the hardest setting even harder, but that's a different story). With that said, the ability to simply skip combat that Hepler suggests is making something that is no longer a game in the same sense that it used to be. Having a good story with your game is great, but if you allow the story to take precedence over the challenge/reward system of a game (whether the challenge be platforming, puzzle solving, or combat) it's no longer a game, but simply an interactive fiction. (Which you could argue is a type of game, but even interactive fictions that are games are still riddled with puzzles of various sorts which prove to be the challenge/reward system, taking us right back to my point.)
 
Heh, Badguy, did you see this comment on the article?

Ah, so you too are a fan of Jennifer Heplers amazing writing!

I really recommend you her graphical novel, it showcases her skill at writing like no other. Its called M.I.T.H. Operation Smoking Jaguar, a real masterpiece, getting an incredible 1.77/5 in average by reviewers!*

I quote here one of the reviewers as they talk about the novel:
"The story focuses homosexual relationships to a large degree (easy once every three pages) and really builds up suspense by having the protagonist and his small entourage of male lovers have sexual orgies during pivotal moments in the battle for Earth"

And another:
"But, as I read, I found the story lacking and when two main characters pause in the middle of the impending apocalypse to make out, I almost stopped reading."

I think it is a blessing having a person like her in charge of the videogames I so much love! Her skill in creating realistic, deep and likeable characters is just what todays videogames need!

I find it saddening that people take potshots at Hepler for being female, her gender plays no role, its her genius that people are reacting to.

*It was not possible to vote 0
 
Heh, Badguy, did you see this comment on the article?

sarah_with_gun_to_her_head.jpg


To be serious for a moment, I can see where Giildy is coming from. I never had a good grip on the controls for the Silent Hill or Resident Evil games, but I was still really interested in exploring them. That yearning to explore a fascinating world but are blocked from the challenges built in the game is a bit of a love/ hate relationship. Some people would argue that without the challenge and just the world the game would be just as good. IT depends on the style of the game, whether its one tailored to the theme of exploration or not. Not to say that a game not based on said theme still has a rich value in exploration, there is just somewhat of a challenge for it.

I don't think its hipster bullshit to want games to not be so easy. Always seen myself as a middle of the road kind of gamer, good at everything but not amazing at any one genre. There were games back in the day that WERE too fuckin hard. Contra, Street fighter, Castlevania, Ghost n Ghouls, those games had an insane difficulty. The reason for this is that developers had to prolong gameplay with the limits of both the amount of code their system and budget could handle. Difficulty was a means of lengthening gampeplay, not necessarily enjoyment, but you didn't feel cheated out of a long experience.

Thats the middle ground for any good game: Finding a rewarding challenge and being the appropriate length of time and as a plus, a rich environment or story. I'm not looking to die over and over, but snags are more a common pitfall and are ever more rewarding when getting free from them. If Skyrim set all the enemies to not attack you, and gave you hundreds of dungeons and landscapes to explore, the game wouldn't be as fun. they'd be fetch quests. And in time the game would get boring in offering no varying challenge. Like most things a good deal of moderation and balance are needed in games today. Helpers not helping the cause by wanting to make games more like movies. Movies and books exist for a reason, as do the choose your own adventure novels.