Rant #22 – The Deevolution of Video Games

If you just look at the sound and graphics you’d say video games have taken a huge leap forward, but I’d argue just the opposite.  While games today look pretty the game play has been dumbed down to the point where it’s almost impossible not to beat a game.

Most games today have the option to save as many times as you want and at any point in the game.  You can literally save games like Arkham Asylum and Mass Effect after every enemy you kill.  You can also adjust the difficulty to the point where the enemies drop dead if you go near them.  Try that shit with older games like Battletoads or Ninja Gaidan.  I’m willing to bet 98% of anyone who’s played those games haven’t even come close to seeing the ending.

The fact that games have become so easy to beat has spoiled the gamer.  Now when people play online games everyone looks for the cheapest and easiest way to play with the least amount of strategy involved.  People will go to fun online poker sites and go all in on every hand, or hack a game so that you can insti-kill anyone, or snipe spawn sites in games like Halo. 

So now we’re stuck with entire game systems like the Wii where no strategy is involved, you just wave your arm around like an idiot and someone randomly wins or you play a game online and half the people in the game are trying to find a cheat or exploit so they can win without putting in effort.  I miss the days of side-scrollers, 3 lives and some continues.