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Check out this article, "When Did Gamers Become So Soft?" that was sent to me from a friend.
They talk about Tomb Raider:
Contrast that with the original version of Tomb Raider, which is the most obvious inspiration for Uncharted. Lara Croft's freedom of movement was much greater, and consequently the chances of her coming to harm were greater too. Between then and now, the granularity of the player's control has been devolved, and we spend more time prompting the action instead of being the catalyst for it.
Thoughts?
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Article: When Did Gamers Become So Soft?
#2
gamerguy475 
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Posted 20 November 2011 - 05:18 AM
why would they think uncharted is inspired by the original tomb raider games? its very similar to legend but has nothing to do with the originals.
and on the subject of controls, i think the earlier games had much more precise control whereas CD games have kinda "floaty" controls where Lara falls of ledges a lot. i wouldn't say they really devolved tho
and on the subject of controls, i think the earlier games had much more precise control whereas CD games have kinda "floaty" controls where Lara falls of ledges a lot. i wouldn't say they really devolved tho
I wish this would happen in real life :-]
rule I live by:if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing
rule I live by:if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing
#3
trps1
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Posted 04 April 2012 - 09:26 AM
Yep - games are certainly easier than they used to be. But I think they are trying to appeal to a broader market. Years ago, most of the people buying games (and most of these were teenagers) were "hardcore" gamers - who spent hours every day playing games. Now there are much younger kids and much older adults playing the games. Much of this new audience only have a casual interest in games or just don't have the spare time to play. So games are shorter/easier.
The change in audience hasn't just affected game difficulty either. Games are much more censored now too. Just compare TR1 with TR Anniversary. There's no blood in Anniversary and her bones don't go "crack" when she falls. She just flops around like a sack of potatoes when she dies. Gaming has entered a new era.
But I guess things had to change. When computer/video games were first invented, they were very simple games and they didn't have levels. The game got harder just by getting faster or by adding more enemies until the players couldn't physically keep up any more. As long as the player could keep up, the game went on forever. Some games could theoretically be played to infinity. Later games were more advanced by adding extra levels with different settings, more scenary, different enemies, etc. But this took much more time to program so they only had a limited number of levels. People started to complain that some games were too easy. By the time we got to the mid-1990s games were getting so complex that they were getting seriously expensive. Most games cost about one day's wages. When you handed over that sort of money for a new game, and then found that you finished the new in under an hour, you were seriously unhappy. So game developers increased the difficulty in a big way and increased the number of levels. It was a value-for-money thing. And this was the era in which the original Tomb Raider came out.
Things have changed since then. Games take much more time and money to develop because the graphics are so much more detailed. But at the same time, games are relatively much much cheaper. All the time goes into developing graphics and not into programming extra levels. It's just the way it is.
Having said that, modern game players often seem to take the easy way out though. For example, many people complain that TR Legend was too easy. The game came with three optional difficulty settings - Easy, Medium and Hard. Most people choose the easy setting first then complain that they finished the game quickly. They then switch the setting to hard and then complain that they game was boring because they already knew the story and could solve all the puzzles. People are hard to please. When the next game comes out, make sure to start out on the hardest setting possible. The game just might last that bit longer.
It's interesting that they mention the Uncharted games. These have similar difficulty setting options (easy, medium, hard) but once you finish the games it unlocks a very hard setting. On this setting there are heaps of extra enemies thrown in, to the point where it is insanely difficult. You can die a dozen times trying to get to the next checkpoint because there are grenades flying everywhere. Progress is made more by dumb luck and trial-and-error. Not exactly a satisfying gaming experience.
The change in audience hasn't just affected game difficulty either. Games are much more censored now too. Just compare TR1 with TR Anniversary. There's no blood in Anniversary and her bones don't go "crack" when she falls. She just flops around like a sack of potatoes when she dies. Gaming has entered a new era.
But I guess things had to change. When computer/video games were first invented, they were very simple games and they didn't have levels. The game got harder just by getting faster or by adding more enemies until the players couldn't physically keep up any more. As long as the player could keep up, the game went on forever. Some games could theoretically be played to infinity. Later games were more advanced by adding extra levels with different settings, more scenary, different enemies, etc. But this took much more time to program so they only had a limited number of levels. People started to complain that some games were too easy. By the time we got to the mid-1990s games were getting so complex that they were getting seriously expensive. Most games cost about one day's wages. When you handed over that sort of money for a new game, and then found that you finished the new in under an hour, you were seriously unhappy. So game developers increased the difficulty in a big way and increased the number of levels. It was a value-for-money thing. And this was the era in which the original Tomb Raider came out.
Things have changed since then. Games take much more time and money to develop because the graphics are so much more detailed. But at the same time, games are relatively much much cheaper. All the time goes into developing graphics and not into programming extra levels. It's just the way it is.
Having said that, modern game players often seem to take the easy way out though. For example, many people complain that TR Legend was too easy. The game came with three optional difficulty settings - Easy, Medium and Hard. Most people choose the easy setting first then complain that they finished the game quickly. They then switch the setting to hard and then complain that they game was boring because they already knew the story and could solve all the puzzles. People are hard to please. When the next game comes out, make sure to start out on the hardest setting possible. The game just might last that bit longer.
It's interesting that they mention the Uncharted games. These have similar difficulty setting options (easy, medium, hard) but once you finish the games it unlocks a very hard setting. On this setting there are heaps of extra enemies thrown in, to the point where it is insanely difficult. You can die a dozen times trying to get to the next checkpoint because there are grenades flying everywhere. Progress is made more by dumb luck and trial-and-error. Not exactly a satisfying gaming experience.
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