Does it seem to you like OLDER games were harder to beat than Newer games are today??

I started playing some old PS1 games recently and I remember always thinking back how I couldn't beat this or that boss or this or that level, yet now I seem to beat every game I get, weather it be for 360/PS3/Wii, I always seem to beat it, I don't play MMOs because you all know those are insane to BEAT.....
I just find it odd how some of the best games specially RPGS/Action of the older gens seem to be the hardest, the only game I seem to be hardest beating is Demons Souls (I don't consider it a MMO on my half since I have yet to play it with a team, which I may need to do soon) and that is for PS3 but other than that is the hardest game I have played this gen, its odd isn't it?

It was due to the lack of online capabilities. They made games hard so it took time, practice, and strategy to beat instead of running and gunning your enemies down (FPS). Games now are easier due to this and the fact the market is becoming slightly more catered toward "casuals" in a sense that they want more business so they appeal to those who aren't hardcoe gamers.

yeah, I played a lot of PS1 when I was younger, but I thought I just svcked. I remember playing Resident Evil Nemisis and not knowing the controls. I thought you only needed to press one button to shoot, when it was really 2, so I played through the first hour thinking I had no ammo and just kept stabbing zombies with the bayonet...but yeah games were harder back then(unless I just svcked). even Spyro pissed me off. stupid purple dragon...

Keep in mind older games, were about 20 minutes in length if you didn't die....
If they were easy, it would of been a whole different thing. We'd be saying todays games are harder.

Not to mention, since the target market for video games is now like 7-50, since all ages are generally now playing different forms of games, they are usually a bit easier. But I dare you to say there is a harder older game then Legendary difficulty on Halo XD

A lot of older games (at least the kind I play) were ports of arcade titles, which had eating your quarters in mind. Most of it can be overcome by memorization though, so I'm not sure if I'd even consider them all that hard. RPGs I can't comment on, as I don't think I've ever played one that was truly difficult.

I love this video of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wotZMGkR_0M. I'd say danmaku shooters are equal parts memorization and skill, and are certainly harder than the vast majority of games I've ever played.

Yes, it seems games are generally easier nowadays than in the bad old days, when just beating the game required super human effort (speaking of NES era here ). Of course in NES era the insane difficulty was propably used to mask the length and repetition of the game :shrug: Or maybe i just get the games faster now, and they seem easier because of that? :whistling:

I hate admit it, but i can't beat Megaman 10, i bet i could've 20 years earlier, but not anymore

Legendary Halo 3 and Halo: Reach were quite easy. Halo: CE and Halo 2 were tough but could be beaten relatively easy if you know glitch routes, were just quite good, or if you paced yourself.

I sure as hell don't believe that ever play Arc the Lad 1-3?
Now I don't know what hours these all are suppoused to be beat in but I still haven't beat them except number one

Arc the lad 1 I had 11 hours n 34mins in it
Arc the lad 2 have 23 hours and 23 mins in it
Arc the lad 3 have 44 hours and 48 mins in it, have to start over after i beat number 2 since you get extras for number 3 for disc versions i believe only

Now i MIGHT have just been stuck for to long on the last 2 games but i highly doubt it
You must be thinking of older FPS because most RPGs anyways back than were atleast 20-50 hours long some even said it on the back of the box O__O

Ok the games that I own for PS1 on disc are FF1-9,Arc The Lad Collection, XenoGears,Chrono Cross,Legend of Dragoon,Parasite Eve 1&2.

Here are the hours for the games I have played, some are ones were I have started over on so forgive me lol but yes all are RPGS so this may not matter later on.
The FF games I have save files for atm are FF7-8

FF7=47:30
FF8=26:41
FF9=2:34 (restart)

Legend of Dragoon=4:47 (restart)

Parasite eve= 2:13 (just started)

Chrono Cross=6:06

i would say if its a PC centric game then in general no......console gams definitely. the mario games on the SNES were more challenging thant most console games today. there are games out today that provide a decent challenge......metro 2033 on hard mode is definitely a challenge its great cause it gives them the feeling of the first resident evil games where im always just about to run out of ammo. the STALKER games are excellent as well although once you figure out what to fight and what to run away from its not overly hard even on master level. im using a mod that dramatically ups weapons damage so essentially you die in a couple of hits or one hit to the head.

i recently bought the serious sam HD from steam cause i played the game when it first came out. i put it on the hardest setting and proceeded to get my ass kicked. i had to relearn how to play games like that since most modern games focus on taking cover and tactics while serious sam is purely a twithc shooter. auto-aim on console shooters is so awful now that you literally have your cursor several feet away from the target and it still locks on. its like every game started using the smart-guns from AvP all of a sudden.

another thing ive noticed in recent years is that on consoles the npcs seem to react slower when they spot you. some games cover it up fairly well by making the npc yell out for support or say some phrase like "im gonna pee on your corpse" but in the end its just covering for longer reaction times between them spotting you and firing on you accurately............ive played some games where i swear that the first several bullets that come out of their guns are non-damage bullets or blanks.

And what games are those? All the games I've got in my head took me weeks to finish.

Console games definitely have. PC only games I think have as well, but to a lesser degree.

Is that STALKER games really good???


I love your avatar:) Makes MarbleHornet less scary

Or months.... [censored] you 00 agent difficulty with your lack bullet proof vests and hard to find objectives! And I've never beaten temple in all the years I've had it. But I love goldeneye

Ya...O__O I can't remember if I beat that level either ?:(

That's my opinion as well. At least if you're talking about graphical games. Some of the all-text adventures were enough to make me turn them off. Probably why I never got into those.

Admittedly there does seem to be a lot more games that are praised for being hard then there used to be, as if being hard is a unique feature now. For example, when someone talks about Super Meat Boy, or Demon Souls, they're almost always going to mention the difficulty. I don't remember people talking about games like that before this generation. But then again, my memory is pretty terrible.

But personally, all of the instances I can remember of games being difficult back in the day was because you had to overcome glitches or poor programming. Super Meat Boy is a really great, difficult game, because when you fail, you know that it was your fault, and you simply need to get your timing right to beat the level. I never got that feeling with older, difficult games.

I'm glad that games are now beatable without too much extra effort and frustrating. I don't have a lot of time to replay a level dozens of times because I was 2 miliseconds off on my timing during a platforming section. Also, having to restart and reload just breaks up the flow of the gameplay for me.

To make an anology with books:
Which is easier to read, a book by Focault or a book by JK Rowling? Just because the former is mind-numbingly convoluted doesn't mean it is a better or more rewarding book to read.

Maters what games you are talking about , FPS always seemed to be short in some regard. I have been playing a point and click adventure today for about three hours and have had quite some fun. I guess I should possibly look into them a little bit more ....there was a good point and click adventure series that was pretty good , had some tough puzzles I heard too .
By most terms most of the games now seem to be really easy unless it is veteran on COD and it just pisses me off.

Hard games in the past weren't always hard because of glitchy programming. I remember the Original 3 Mega Mans + Original Mario Bros, and Ghouls n Ghosts(or is it Ghouls n Goblins? Can never remember). Those games were just flat out HARD, no glitchy issues at all that I recall(I recently replayed the original Mega Mans on a collection disc, and they were still damn hard(tho not quite as much as they used to be). Those are just the games I remember off the top of my head, there were many more hard games that weren't glitchy(Original Dragon Warrior comes to mind, as well as TMNT). Games are definitely easier now-a-days then they were back in the day, and the difficulty back then was NOT always due to glitches or to mask the length of the game. Would like to see ANYONE beat ANY game I have mentioned in this post in under 20 minutes.....LOL

That damn water temple in Ocarina of time......I remember as well games that are older being harder. Then again I remember games being hard going back and playing them and beating them easily now.

No one thinks they just got better at games?

This.

no cus i still svck at goldeneye and perfect dark :shrug:

The older the games were...the younger I was, so I did not have a natural talent to adapt to different video games.

I don't know Final Fantasy XIII was the hardest final fantasy that I've beaten and I've played III, IV, V, VI, VII, IX, and those with the expection of 7 and possibly 6 , are hard.

To answer the question I think it's more of what's considered flashy over Hard Bosses. I think Flashy, meaning your going for more of a cinematic approach over a hard boss.