Have Games Become Too Easy?

This is apparently a much-talked about issue, but I actually just realized that. I really thought I was the only one that was feeling this, and I wasn't even sure of it until I saw that other people had the same opinions. The question is this, are modern games too easy? Has the difficulty been toned down too much? Are developers too liberal with constant auto-saves? In a way, this is true. Games have definitely been made more accessible because it appeals to a much broader audience than before.

This isn't to say that all new games are just cake-walks. It's just that most serious gamers today grew up with games from the late '80's and '90's. Back then, almost every game was freaking torture. Remember the original Ninja Gaiden? Or the Contra series? Pretty much every classic platformer had it's ridiculous frustrations. Blind turns and pit-falls, limited lives, and you had to start over from the beginning if you died. There were no auto-save points. Remember how everyone made a fuss about how hard Devil May Cry 3 was? It was mainly because there were no save points. But if you stop and think...that's how EVERY game was in the 8-bit and 16-bit era.

One important point that I have to mention is that this isn't necessarily a bad thing either. A lot of people don't like it, but it's not an obvious flaw in the industry. In fact, the "easiness" is just a result of video games improving. Making tons of progress then having to restart is frustrating, so automatic save points take all of that frustration out. "Impossible" levels from the classic era were really just levels with design flaws, riddled with things like pin-point accurate jumps and totally blind turns. The same goes for boss fights. Basically, they're not technically making games "easier". They're more...fixing game design.

But anyway, I do agree that games have definitely changed in terms of general difficulty. Back when I was playing on my Super NES, every game required you to master all the gameplay mechanics and memorize every part of a level if you wanted to beat it. There was plenty of trial and error, but by the end of it, you felt incredibly satisfied. It was a long, hard fought battle. And that's precisely what modern games are missing. That sense of satisfaction. I don't remember the last time I played a game through, and really felt satisfied at the end. Every game has just been "do this, auto-save, do that, auto-save, quick-time event, auto-save". The game holds your hand for so long that by the end of this smooth ride, you think "huh? It's over?"

To name of few great games that were really just cake-walks: Assassin's Creed series, God of War 3, Vanquish, inFamous, Uncharted series. If you've noticed, these are some of the most highly rated games of this generation. That says a lot. And again, they're not bad games. Just...maybe not so challenging by the end of the day. But there's another issue here. Normal is basically easy mode now, but when you switch it to hard, it's suddenly completed unbalanced and ridiculous. I thought God of War 3 was easy, so it switched to Hard mode. My god, I was dying in 3 hits. What's with this imbalance?

What do y'all think? Are games too easy these days? If so, is it a bad thing?

Megaupload Shut Down

This place (the United States) is supposed to be the most freedom loving place on Earth. Well, recently I feel like I'm living in a place that's secretly trying to turn into a police-state. If you haven't been living in a cave in Afghanistan, then you obviously know about SOPA and PIPA. There's no need for me to talk about that. Just know that at the moment, SOPA has been pulled back due to the internet's incredible backlash. PIPA is in a similar circumstance as well. So for now, we've won. For now.

The current buzz is the shutting down of Megaupload. It's not SOPA related, but it definitely gives me the same Nazi vibe. Basically, the FBI shut it down due to it being involved in illegal activities. That's basically what SOPA was trying to do, wasn't it? It was trying to shut down entire websites for what a few individuals were doing. Well it looks like the government can do that anyway! Megaupload is one of the biggest download sites, and my personal favorite. How the hell are they supposed to control and monitor what EVERY fucking person puts on the site? I'd normally give a more intelligent argument, but I'm just furious. No need for holding back. These people are FUCKING.NAZI'S. 

Though, you can rest easy because our revenge has already been taken care of. The internet's freedom fighters, Anonymous, took down at least a dozen government websites including justice.gov and every major website tied to the music industry. That was a moment of triumph. But still, Megaupload is no more. That means a ton of things I've hosted on that site will be gone forever. That includes some links I have on this blog. Sigh...I don't know what to say. I guess I just wanted to talk about the big current event. I have nothing else to say. Just keep aware of the events that follow, and support any protests that arise again. And don't worry, they'll NEVER win. It's a few asshole politicians against this ENTIRE generation. 

As a side note...anyone else find it funny that nobody gives a shit about starving children or raising awareness for diseases on a daily basis, yet when the internet is threatened, every fucking person alive jumps on the bandwagon. I mean, its understandable. Nobody cares about anything that doesn't directly affect them. I'll be honest; I walk past homeless people, and I really, really, really don't care about any starving people overseas. And don't be a hypocrite and tell me I'm horrible, because YOU don't care either. Be honest with yourself. Either do something, or admit that you don't care. Don't be a fake.

$1000 Gold Cake

I was watching a special on the Travel channel, it was something like "Forbes top 11 indulgent foods", where it counted down the most fancy, decadent, expensive foods in the world. Among this list was a desert in a fancy restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey.

This...is a GOLD cake. And that's not just a fancy food coloring. That's REAL gold. 24k gold to be exact. And as you would expect, that little slice is $1000. It's called the Sultan's Golden Cake, and it's pretty much something out of an ancient king's ridiculous menu.

Yeah, this pissed me off a bit. I mean, really? A cake covered in gold? Is that really necessary? Is gold tasty? Its a fucking mineral. I thought it was just decoration too, but I think they actually eat the gold. WHY?! But yeah, this is why I have no respect for the wealthy. That sort of money can feed a small third world village for years, but rich people can just mosey over to a restaurant and throw it away on a fucking cake.

So to the wealthy, 1%....