Demo Play Coming To Nintendo Handhelds

I never saw the appeal of these, but I knew a bunch of people who had a great deal of fun with wizard mode on Nethack -- they didn't care about real ascensions, they just wanted to play game tourist. Seems like a fine idea to me.

It can also be a nice way (depending on how it's implemented) to quickly run forward and see what you should take to the next dungeon if you're playing guideless/internetless.

antimony

@gametr4x:

I was about to ask the same thing. Thanks for recognizing this as well.

@Dodgeball_anyone?: It's more like being able to play softball at the Tball stage of life, and if some aspect is beyond your abilities or wasn't explained well, you get some help.

houser

@Leanid: Excellent points there.

houser

@MrMuhnquai: I for one love the fact I can skip something that is tedious. I didn't play Gears to kill krill with a UV lamp while bizarrely having that energy tied to my engine. It's not a skill set that was inculcated by the rest of the game so if I can skip it when it gets tedious...awesome.

houser

@njd09:
Your really don't need to use the feature, it won't count towards your HARDCORE 100% completion or god forbid, count towards your massive kudos and bragging rights that are achievements/trophies.

Besides, you said it yourself. You consider yourself a hardcore gamer, then don't use the demo option. Hell, I've been playing games for over 20 years now and have owned and still do, a laundry list of games and consoles. So, if common definition is anything to go by, then yes I too am a hardcore gamer. It doesn't mean I will click that button.

Yet, I do understand that there are a whole bunch of people out there still getting into games. If this feature gives new gamers (who are put off by a steep learning curve) the ability to progress further in games, I can only see this as a good thing.

Can't you see where I am coming from on this?

furiku

Is this why it uses all the wii's power?

@MrMuhnquai: I'm so sick of people saying this is stupid. No it isn't. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO USE IT THEN DON'T USE IT!! Some people WILL use it and for them it will allow them to enjoy the game that much more because they can actually finish it. Get over yourself and stop being so close minded.

Josh Faul

@WPack911: Lots of games have that, actually, it's called "Credits", and many games have it either in the options menu or sometimes even the main one. :P

@Legendary Hoamaru: What I mean is that if a casual gamer finds the game too difficult or frustrating, they might use Demo Play and be disappointed that the "frustrating" section was dealt with so easily by the game itself or that the sense of challenge is really an illusion since anybody can use Demo Play whenever they want.

Thinking about it, some people will use Demo Play to the point they feel they won't have to anymore because they want to actually beat the game themselves.

Dochii

@dunbain: I can see this being the case. I also understand that for the demo play to work, the sequence has to either be entirely canned and scripted, or simple enough to be broken down into a few basic rules that the AI player can manage without exception.

It's too hard to say how this will translate into an actual game, but it could go either way.

liquidnumb

@njd09: See, that is just it. It's all about how you look at it. You are making a distinction between giving advice and having it done for you, where one is fine and the other is bad. I look at both of those as equally soiling the experience and won't do either. I don't like FAQs and strat guides because they help you and I feel most of the fun is actually figuring it out yourself.

Do I begrudge people who use them? Hell no. If that's the way they want to play the game, more power to them. Do I like it? Again, hell no, but I'm not going to pretend that the way I do things is the only way to do things and someone is somehow less than me by doing things differently.

dry-roasted-peanuts

@njd09: Thats your choice you MORON. Dear god.

@njd09: Retards? really nice way of putting it you moron

@MrMuhnquai: Its an option that is right there for when people get stuck, its there to use it if you want to, and it doesnt spoil a whole lot of the game, just the part you want to know how to complete. Think a little bit more about how this is helpfull instead of complaining that there are already guides out there.

@njd09: That would be your choice though, Mr. Hardcore. You could, you know, play the game without it if you really had a problem with it.

Honestly, with this new mode, companies would have less of a reason to dumb the normal games difficulty now. Why make the actual game easier when you could just toss in demo play? Hopefully this opens the gates for more bullet hells to be released here (I can dream right?)

@ye0073: Ahh... Billy hit it!!! "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." Bill Cosby. lol Nintendo is breaking the rules even Bill Cosby thinks so :D

@njd09: Then don't let the game play for you. But what if you reach a puzzle that you can't figure out? Or a boss where you can't figure out the pattern, even after an hour of trying? The only difference between using something like this and going to YouTube or GameFAQs is that it's within the game, and you can advance the game (but not save) afterward.

And if someone wants to let the game play itself, why do you care? You can play it the way you want to. Do you care if I cheat at Fallout 3 and give myself max stats? Do you care if skip all the side-quests and just do the main quest? Do you care if I use warp whistles in SMB 3? Just let people play the game the way they want to.

Also, there's been absolutely nothing to suggest that this is due to Miyamoto thinking Americans are lazy. I really want to know where you got that idea, because I haven't seen that at all.

pslong9

@Dochii: Demo play and Normal play are separate...so its the players choice if they cheat themselves out their experience. Its not like they are forcing Demo play on people.

@Detre: pffaw I haven't seen an impossible nintendo game in a while thats 100% first party. If this doesn't water my games down, im all arms.

@furiku: I agree. People who honestly take that much pride in their 'hardcore' skills, and take offence at this really need to grow up and realise that with games becoming more and more expensive to make, they need to lure in as big an audience as possible.

@njd09: Because every games company other than Nintendo doesn't have sales as their number one interest. Honestly this really is no different to a real time gamefaqs. It's an optional feature, if it being their discourages you, then that's your problem. Gaming is going to become more and more mainstream and yes 'casual' so get used to it. And again with the word 'retard'?

@raphelb: I definitely agree with your first point. Nintendo has put such an emphasis on catering to all audiences and that often serves to dilute the games. This way, they can focus on the core audience and still let the casual gamers take it at their own pace. Besides, there's no reason to freak out over a feature that I'm not forced to use.

anabbeynormality

What's the point in Nintendo's no-story games? It's not like the levels were interesting enough to... Oh, right. There MUST be people interested in seeing the levels, if not playing them.

Anyway, an old idea. Doom had this, even Wolfenstein 3D had this. To a lesser extent, I suppose.

But.....but they're GAMES.

They're supposed to be challenging.
n) a form of play or sport, esp. a competitive one played according to skill etc...

Now, I won't dare sit here and narrow it to "lol let only the skilled people plaiy!!!1"

But, listen, just because I can kill my uncle in Gears 2 doesn't mean I always could.

I PRACTICED. You know, in sports, sometimes the coach will say "Practice makes perfect."
(of course, you could take steroids/put in cheat codes)

And say all you want about game sports being different from footballs, baseballs, blackjacks, pokers, soccer, what the hell ever.

A game is a game. A game has rules, and a game sets a bar for you to push yourself to learn, some cases set strategy, or look for another way.

This, take it how you want, is the equivalent of pausing the baseball game so player #3 can walk all three bases because he finds the whole 'ball being thrown at you' thing, over stimulating.

Please, don't think I'm being a sour sport or something, but it's kind of the case. If you want your mom to play with you, well, that's great! It really is! Spread the love, I say! But don't put up the handicaps in the bowling alleys.

I know, "don't play, don't use!", but hey, nonetheless, don't you at least KIND of think this is devaluing and eventually dismembering what it means to have and develop skills for something?

Mesren_Makai

@njd09:

Now you've decided to insult people with learning disabilities on top of homosexuals (see post above). You're a treasure.

@njd09:
Using the term "gay" to describe stupidity or other insulting qualities is hate speech. This is undisputed fact. If you don't understand this, you probably haven't reached the part of primary school where they teach you what words are and aren't appropriate to say in public, and which ways certain words can be used.

@ye0073: That's probably the title of their new IP.

njd09

@Johivin: I don't care about mainstream crap. This isn't designed for mainstreamers, it's designed for RETARDS. It might sell, but that's really all Nintendo cares about anyway. I can just let the game play itself for me. If I'm a hardcore gamer and I'm getting bored, this gives me an out. I've got plenty of games that I haven't beaten, but if I had this shit, I'd have beaten all of them. Or rather, the computer would. All this is doing is discourage me to put more hours into a game when I can just beat it by watching. Lazy as fuck.

njd09

@ThursdayNext: +1

njd09

@furiku: I don't. I consider myself a hardcore gamer, and if I got stuck for a while on something easy, or just got bored, I'd let the game play, grab a few snacks, come back up, watch TV, and then I'd beat the game that way. That's the "future" of gaming for you. "Americans? We're not lazy." "Hey wanna play some Mario?" "Yeah let's demo play that shit and get high"

Exactly! (Note: I am an American, and quite honestly, am sick of the generalization that Japanese companies make about us. "That game's too difficult, let's dumb it down and then ship it". Leave it the way it is. You want help, go to GameFAQs and stfu.

njd09

@pslong9: It really is. If I let the game play for me, all challenge is gone. I don't care how hardcore someone is, maybe they're getting bored. Why the FUCK should I let the game stop playing for me? It's like being called lazy when you play games. Bad stereotype? Yup. But this just goes to show exactly HOW lazy Miyamoto thinks Americans are. Fuck this shit.

njd09

@MrMuhnquai: What's the difference? Except with this you don't need to go to youtube you can just watch the walkthrough immediately

@Kyle Mann: Buy a Wii then. Honestly, most Wii games are not even that challenging, and there's STILL gonna be this auto-play bullshit? Well, enjoy skipping "difficult" jumps in Mario.

njd09

@phinehas: A lot of people go there though, and that's why I write for gamefaqs, because a lot of people read it. Hey, if some people don't want to go there, that's their problem. GameFAQs is great, and it can only help.

njd09

@LedRush: If you seriously think he was trying to offend gay people, you're really reaching. He thinks it's a GAY idea, yeah, I said it, what, are you gay? People say it all the time, deal with it. I think it's a stupid idea as well (oh dear, I hope "I didn't offend you with my "hate speech") because instead of trying again, you can just let the game do it for you. "Hey man, you beat that game?" "Yeah man didn't die ONCE"

This is probably the worst way to encourage gaming, and I'll be interested to see how many hours people average for these games.

njd09

@LedRush: Make a freaking difficulty setting instead. "Hey, I suck, but I don't have to play, I'll let the game play itself for me." That's not gaming, and it's fucking retarded.

njd09

@dry-roasted-peanuts: It plays the game for you. A FAQ won't help you make a jump; I know, I write them. I still get questions emailed to me all the time, and I try my best to help, but it all relies on them because it's based on skill. Which is unfortunate because instead of including difficulty settings, we're letting the game play for us. I'm sure the casual Wii and DS gamers will love it, but I play video games to PLAY.

njd09

@Jekht: I'm surprised no one brings up how games are designed to sell. All companies want to do is make money. Demographically orient their titles to be able to sell the mot copies.

So, what this feature actually does is encourage diversity in games, so that people can play things above their skill level without issue. It encourages publishers to not dumb down their titles due to needing to appeal to everyone.

As far as I see it, it's a fantastic move to encourage gaming in titles they would otherwise not do. Not to flame bait, but I don't exactly see MS and Sony putting forth this kind of effort to bring in everyone. They'd be smart to take a few more cues from Nintendo other than motion control.

dunbain

@James Armstrong: Here's the humor I find in the general viewpoint of the so-called 'core' gamers. Complain that video games get bad mouthed by mainstream society and then complain again on systems that allow video games to become more mainstream and accepted. You can't have it both ways.

This system is designed to help people with overcoming particularly difficult sections. Games and sequels sell better when the people playing have played them through entirely.

Johivin

No More Heroes brings to mind another good use for this, and that is skipping the bad portions of a game. I like the game enough during the proper levels that lead to the bosses, but the "sandbox" stuff in between is awful. I wouldn't mind the game playing through that portion and then handing back control for the fun part of the game.

@MrMuhnquai: i honestly think this is a brilliant idea. Maybe Mario Galaxy 2 will be better because it wont be so damn easy like the first one.

Freaking stupid feature. Maybe they had Americans in mind when they came up with it (note: I am an American)...

NodokaHyuuga

@Mokon: Games becoming easier/dumbed down/more casual isn't something that just began recently. It's been happening since the PS1 generation of gamers came into the market. The same thing continued with the PS2 generation. It's a natural progression, and there's no use complaining about it. Look at what they have done to the FPS by bringing it to consoles. Yes, they reach a larger audience and make more money but it's on easy mode now. Regenerating health? Auto-aim? Slowing the action so console controllers can keep up? The changes are built into the system, not optional. THESE are the type of things that are killing games for "core" gamers, NOT demo play.

Leanid

It's no worse than cheat codes, game genie/sharks, strategy guides, FAQs, save downloading, difficulty settings or asking a friend/relative for advice.

You don't have to do use them if you don't want to and it's none of your damn business if someone else does.

dry-roasted-peanuts

@DustbinCarbonara: How do you make a easy/normal/hard mode for puzzles? How do you tell someone that to beat a certain boss you need to hit certain areas or use certain attacks? It's not because it's difficult, it's because they can't see the trick. These things have no bearing on difficulty, so this is where demo play would come in.

It can show you the answer but you still have to do it for yourself.

Leanid

@Fede17: Every TRUE gamer should carry around a special ID that is recognized by the International Council of Real Game Doodz.

@Fede17: Not only do you not have reasons to support your odd conclusion, you've decided to use hate speech to buttress your argument. You're a class act.

@KichiGuy: That´s why Gamefaqs exists.

Daniel Pizarro Sánchez

@MrMuhnquai: Some people don't have internet, or even know what youtube is. Such as, my two little cousins who have a DS, and a Wii.

@phinehas: I really wish more people would see it like you. Lets say a man is born without the ability to run. He can walk, but he can't run, yet everyone has a dream of going fast. He uses tools created so that he can go fast. It doesn't mean that everyone else can't run anymore. It just means that he too can live out his dream.

@Black-Dog-Howls: As someone else mentioned, those "art forms" didn't start as highbrow and then degenerate in quality as they became mainstream. In fact, most of them had concurrent mainstream and non-mainstream movements a sthey developed. If that's how you feel, then you don't understand the history of any of those.

Shakespeare was pop entertainment back in the day. So were operas, symphonies, etc.

Also, it's always good to remember that "quality" is very subjective.

@phinehas: Yeah there's been conflicting reports of how it works, I don't think it's been outlined by Nintendo in detail yet.

It doesnt bother me at all.
Its not likely us Kotaky readers will use this,
but there is a world out there. And its normal for developers to search new ways to gather more audience and garner more sales!
It might even work although its not really an innovation.
I remember a Sierra game a LOT of years ago, a adventure game with had some mini-games to advance the storyline and if you failed too many times if offered to skip to next part of the game. It was "Rise of the Dragon"! Anyone ? Im too old...

@MrMuhnquai: Firstly, console games don't have FRAPS (or well, the Wii doesn't, wouldn't be surprised if PS3 has some kind of recording device).

Secondly, Youtube clips don't make the game less easy. One game may need a complex combo of buttons, Youtube doesn't make that go away... This does since it controls the game for you, so it is more then a 'do as I do' and more in the line of 'I do as you should do'.

Personally, having a system like this that removes the need to goto Youtube and download a video is a system worth setting up. Of course you would have to weigh the advantages and disadvantages (a.k.a. this system may be hard to put into games at first).

Anyway I'm hopeful that it will make games harder.

0suited

@Black-Dog-Howls: Of course, you are correct. When something becomes too "mainstream" it degenerates and becomes debased. Now we are seeing a system where people can just skip the stuff they don't want. All in the hopes of getting more "Casual gamers" = moving more product.

It's a bad thing for gamers. Not just this system in and of itself (you don't HAVE to use it), but the general trend of making games easier/dumbed down/more casual.

Mokon

@Fede17: And what are your reasons supporting that?

We could skip hard levels back then, but we had to use a Jugem's Cloud, and we liked it!

Though, we had no idea what the hell a Jugem was...

@bigman88zz: Strangely, I think it's going to be all right.

@raphelb: @ 2) disjointed experience. Average consumer will not want to go to a separate website to figure something out. That's not fun.

You were prob. just joking, but I thought I'd throw it up there.

@Jekht:
I initially agreed with you, but after reading some of the other replies in this thread I want to go in the opposite direction. Maybe its because I've been playing games since Atari/NES days, but I would think that this could lead to devs making games harder. Think about it. If someone can use "Demo Play" to skip things that are too hard, while others can play normally, some devs could easily choose to make more difficult games to appease the core player group, while the less skilled can skip what they need to.

@phinehas:
I think I remember someone talking to Miyamoto at or right before E3 when "Demo Play" came up again that you would not be able to save if you used it. Of couse, things could change from now until NSMB Wii is out.

@Xaif: I also thought that the game would play itself past difficult sections if the option was chosen, but could be wrong about that.

@pslong9: You're right, we don't know how exactly it's going to be implemented, so it's probably not worth arguing over right now. My impression of this has been, so far, that it would allow people to skip sections completely by allowing the game to play itself, but that could be wrong.

For developers, though, any of them who implement these features may be just as willing for the audience to watch their game be played as opposed to them actually being played. Those who don't want it to be will probably not include it or will take it out completely is my guess.

This is a brilliant idea. Despite the whining coming from the "hardcore" here, there's literally no down side to this feature. People who want to finish a game without the demo can, and those that can't will feel less threatened by a steep learning curve. This is an option, and by definition, optional. So if you don't like it, don't use it. Don't hate on the feature just because it will allow "unskilled" "noobs" to enjoy gaming as much as you do.

Gay... someone who needs to skip hard parts of a game, shouldn't be playing that game in the first place =/

Should be called "Big brother mode." You know like when some little kid doesn't know or needs help.

Anyways isn't this a month after the fact? We knew all this at or the week or two after E3.

finalstation

@Black-Dog-Howls: Throughout this topic you seem to be condemning the whole whole demo mode concept while using wierd analogies. What the hell does auto-tuning have to do with demo code? It seems that YOU don't understand this mode if anything.

It isn't cheating. I think this article is misleading as in the past it has been described as the game showing the player how to pass a particular part in the game, not DO the part for them. i.e. you cannot save afterwards and instead have to do it yourself. I'd be very surprised if you've never in your life looked at an FAQ or video walkthrough to get past a particular part or better yourself at a game.

This is pretty much what demo mode is doing, unless it has changed since last time. But then again we don't really know the ins and outs of how the whole thing works so it's all just speculation at this point.

Using your auto-tuning comparison, what demo code is like, is someone tuning your voice to show how good it can be, then hitting the delete button and saying, right, replicate it.

Brought this to mind for some reason

Bluesnow222

@phinehas: It wouldn't bother me in the slightest. I don't particularly care how people play their games as long as they have fun doing so. However, I would imagine a developer would want people to play their game, not watch it. If this feature is implemented the way I think it's going to, it will really be meant to help people become better gamers and help them get past difficult sections, not to let the parts be skipped entirely. Also, my impression was that Demo Play wouldn't be available for all parts of the game, just certain sections, so you couldn't just ask the game to play itself until the end. Ultimately, it's a matter of implementation, and until we actually see how it works, all these complaints are unfounded.

Anyway, the no-saving aspect of the Demo Play means that the initial complaint of not learning the necessary skills for later on is pretty much baseless. If you have to go back and do it for yourself, you learn the skills and become more knowledgeable so you hopefully don't have to use the Demo Play later.

pslong9

@furiku: I agree. If anything, this could mean that some games may become challenging again. In recent years games weren't really hard. With this it could all change. I'm definitely looking forward to it.

CombatDispenser

@dougyfresh: I wouldn't mind it for that stupid burning caravan segment in twilight princess either. I managed it alright, but when my wife got around to it and begged me to do it for her, I really couldn't bring myself to go through it again.

ugh. i liked it better when all gaming companies considered every consumer core instead of all this core/casual crap. this extra bit of coding better not take away from the amount of data that can be allocated towards the overall game itself.

What's next? A game that plays itself AND automatically unlocks achievements?

Quick, someone call MS!

ourovoros

@MrMuhnquai:
Because it's obviously targetted at the people who would look up gamefaqs or a youtube video.

HANG ON A MOMENT!

Lozmaster

Two thoughts come to mind:

1) I fully support this decision if it will allow developers to actually make games difficult again. If casual players are going to be given the option to skip difficult sections of a game, then I want to start seeing MORE difficult sections. Hopefully this will allow developers to raise the general difficulty of games to somewhere above brain-dead level.

2) Instead of designing, patenting, and implementing some complicated system to help people skip hard sections of games, wouldn't it be a lot easier just to package every game with a slip of paper that says, "If you get stuck, please check out gamefaqs.com"?

@legacy5k: First of all, way to take something that the Kotaku editors wrote and ascribe it to Nintendo.

Second, what part of that is false? Games have been watered down in difficulty since the PSX era. There are few truly difficult games any more for those of us who have been gaming for 20+ years. There is a huge gap in skill level between someone who has been gaming for a long time and someone who is brand new at it, and developers have to take into account their entire audience, which usually results in dumbing down the difficulty of the game.

Demo play could actually lead to increased difficulty in Nintendo games, since they can make games harder but still have it appeal to those who aren't as skilled at gaming. And when you can't save your progress afterward, the user of Demo Play still has to go back and progress normally.

It's really not a bad idea.

pslong9

@Black-Dog-Howls: Yeah, human factors engineering is such a bullshit field. If a pilot accidentally retracts the landing gear instead of raising the flaps because the two levers are right next to each other and look identical, he should learn to suck less instead of wanting a cockpit design that makes things easier.

And what the fuck is up with buying tools from a manufacturer instead of making them yourself. And don't get me started on getting food from a store instead learning to farm and hunt. Geez, the sense of entitlement in the entire human race.

Syril

@pslong9: But why should that even matter? I mean, I see your point, but if people want to save after that and move on, why should you be concerned? That may be the way they want to play. Maybe some people will want to let the game play itself to the end boss or something - that's their prerogative. At least, that's how I see it.

@ThursdayNext: uhggggg MGS4...I still need to look up just how many hours of that "game" are cutscenes. It's too bad he didn't make up more objectives for ACT 2 which had tons of cool areas to explore.

@WPack911: There are some times where even I get stuck in a game somehow. This might help with puzzle sections. Don't join the bandwagon on the net just because you can play games with no problem whatsoever.

@Jekht: No, the point of games is to HAVE FUN playing them, not what you say. That may be the point of games for you, but for a lot of people the point of games is to pass time and have fun. This feature will be fine for a lot of people, and those who don't want to use it simply won't use it. I don't see what you are whining about.

Ferkner

@DutchOtaku: Mario Bros. games can be challenging, and yes, there are people with lower skill levels than you. I'm anxiously awaiting this new 2D awsomeness.

@phinehas: I especially don't see a problem with it if you can't save after using it, which was how it was described in the initial patent. Yes, you can watch the video of it, but you can't save your progress afterward.

pslong9

@Black-Dog-Howls: But they're not changing the game, if you don't want to use "Deom Play" then don't. You would have a point if Nintendo were changing the game to accomadate more casual players, but they're not, instead they are adding a nonintrusive system to allow all players to experience their games the whole way through.

@legacy5k: ?

@furiku: I AGREE GOOD SIR OR MADAME!

Just like I said in my post, it is an option that none of us will use unless its just out of curiosity. Its to help others get into it. I'm sure my parents will use it so that they don't hold me back, but once they get the hang of it, there's no need to use it.

Malaysia Isachargin

@Jekht: Sarcastic as it may be, I agree fully with your statement.

@MrMuhnquai: I really don't see how this is a problem, if you don't want to use "Demo Play" then don't. Anything that gets people playing games a bit more complex than wii sports is a positive thing in my book. Why should some obtuse puzzle prevent someone from completing a game they paid good money for.

@Black-Dog-Howls: That's a very low outlook on people. People don't want things easier(in video games), they want to have fun. People rag on WiiSports sometimes for the fact that its 'accessible' but it is also to a good extent fun.

If you were to use this all the time, you wouldn't enjoy the game, thus you'd be inclined to want to try for yourself.

Malaysia Isachargin

@MrMuhnquai: But that makes it a disjointed experience.

Some people who get frustrated with a game will leave it and possibly never come back to it. They won't bother with youtube or anything, they'll just hit the switch, turn it off, and forget about it. This option, which is right there can prevent the person leaving on a sour note and more than likely bring them back to the game at a later time.

Now all we need is Sony requiring demo's on their PSN games.

@furiku: I read that post as "if you don't like the "future"...

I like that as well. b/c it is.

@James Armstrong: People with skill will still have skill. This won't eliminate it, yo. I think we can all differentiate between a person who clears a difficult section by playing through it as opposed to someone who watches through it.

@Black-Dog-Howls: How do you know how it works?

You don't.

@DustbinCarbonara:
Have you ever seen someone struggle on easy mode in a game? You've never seen someone struggle on easy mode in a game have you... I've seen someone struggle on easy mode in a game, and let me tell you buddy its INFURIATING to watch and so annoying to be around them(since they ask you for help ALWAYS!).

@DutchOtaku: It will keep people from getting over-frustrated and leaving the game indefinitely.

@DustbinCarbonara: Because what if the objective is unclear, or you just don't know how to defeat a certain monster (ie, you have to smack it onto it's back, then attack the bright spot or whatever)? Making a "super easy mode" not only disjoints the gameplay, but it doesn't solve the problems of not knowing how to advance.

Also, it's not clear as to whether it'll be a video or whatnot.

@ThursdayNext: Haha, I love the comparison. Well done.

nworobes

@Malaysia Isachargin: Making things easier is the fast track to people wanting things easier. Like auto-tune killing the art of singing.

Imagine something like Risk or Stratego that basically cheats for you. The more people use it the more -they- become the base standard.

Black-Dog-Howls

@Jekht: This isn't necessarily just for "skipping". It may also help to show a person HOW to get past a certain point, thus letting them do it for themselves. For certain people, there are points that when a game gets frustrating or the next objective isn't clear, they'll turn it off and may never come back again.

This solves that problem. I don't see why so many people think there's something wrong with that, especially when it's completely optional.

@Kazzahdrane & Black Dog: His last paragraph kinda misses the point. It's not blanding down a whole meal to suit all tastes - it's giving people the option to add/take away certain parts of the meal. Hardcore gamers can have their AAA mealm, while others can decide to opt out of the potatoes (or save them for afterward), and some can skip right to the desert.

In other words, we can have our steak and eat it, too.

@El Critiquel: It's optional to butter your steak too.

I'm not missing the point, I'm just wary. When movies became for everyone, music, art, writing, the quality over all decreased. I can understand this is for profitability but this is just turning games into movies because some people didn't want to actually play their game.

Be it optional or not it doesn't change the fact that it's intruding on the fundamental reason for games to exist. The business side is screwing with the artistic side and this is proof that what's good for the industry isn't good for the medium.

Okay, they're making a demo play for casuals. That means it has to be easy enough for them to replicate in play and they're just showing it. You're not going to throw a fifty command puzzle at a casual and tell them to demo play it and then expect them to be able to replicate the results. It has to be easy enough for the people this is aimed at to be able to do.

Black-Dog-Howls

@Black-Dog-Howls: Dude, I agree with a lot of what you're saying, but the idea that music was somehow once not 'for everyone' is bizarre. The internet has allowed easy access to all kinds of different musicians. The last decade has been incredible for music. There's a niche for everyone.

With games though, I agree. It's either supposed to be challenging or it's not. If you're going to let people skip parts, you'll probably make it easy to begin with. Since hardcore gamers won't want anything to do with this, they'll demand other games, leading to the split you mentioned.

@furiku: +1

Kyle Mann

You guys are hilarious. "OH IM SO LEET, CASUALS ARE THE SUXORS"

It's called a CHEAT CODE, most of your precious hardcore games already have it. Only difference being you don't have to get up, walk over to the computer, and google for it. I'm all for this.

And another thing! Not all of us have hours to devote to gaming, and I tend not to enjoy spending my rare gaming time replaying games from checkpoints OVER AND OVER AND OVER again until my eyes/fingers bleed. I have given up on many a game for this reason. It's not that I couldn't beat it, it's that I don't care to play a game I'm going to spend hours trying to figure out. My gaming time is too important for that.

Back in junior high/high school, sure, why not? Yeah, back then, I beat all the Myst games, spending a ridiculous amount of time on each puzzle. But now? If I get 20 minutes to play a game, I'm just not going to bother if the challenge isn't fun and immediate. Bah humbug. And get off my lawn.

Kyle Mann

Didn't Alone in the Dark already feature such a system?

gametr4x

@Black-Dog-Howls: I don't get it then, how the hell does it work? I haven't seen it in action, so I was assuming you just push a button and let it go on by itself until you felt like resuming.

Doesn't change the fact that this Demo Play thing is for casual players, y'know, people who don't post on Kotaku. Core gamers get their britches all up in a knot for something they know they will never use.

Malaysia Isachargin

@Black-Dog-Howls: You're missing the whole point of this - it's OPTIONAL. Skipping isn't mandatory, if you want to enjoy the game the way the developer intended you to, then dont skip, play along. I dont see how someone else having the option to not play through certain parts of a game, detracts from your enjoyment of a game. And if you're worried about developers making games too easy, on the contrary, this might lead to higher difficulty levels, as the developer knows that if you find it too hard, you have the option to skip it.

@Jekht: Of course, this has all been done before under the name of CHEAT CODE, so I don't see what the big deal is...

Kyle Mann

@furiku: I agree, this feature is totally optional to use. Many times I have tried to get some of my friends to try something more challenging than Wii Play, and this could be something that could push them to do so.

The only issue I see with it is that it may end up hurting the quality of the game if they spend too much time on this feature...we shall see.

sweetie55

@Black-Dog-Howls: Your last paragraph sums all this up very well :)

@Malaysia Isachargin: Doesn't work like that. I'm sorry. It just doesn't. To know this for a fact look at devices like auto-tune.

Black-Dog-Howls

"without watering it down so much that it turns hardcore gamers off."

Nintendo just loves to insult our intelligence.

@Detre: I find these are times the niche is better than the mainstream. Making it for everyone can often times be a detriment to maturing an art form. Ex. music. The quality has significantly decreased since it opened up to everyone.

As such, titles should be separated by core and casual and defined by their genres with in that.

Just like Lady Gaga isn't meant for someone like me who enjoys Thelonious Monk or Analog Fish things shouldn't be dumbed down to appeal to everyone all at once.

You can't make a delicious meal by making it bland enough to suit all tastes. A sirloin steak isn't going to be delicious if you take into account a vegan in Minnesota or someone allergic to black pepper in North Carolina while you're cooking in Oregon.

Black-Dog-Howls

@Dochii: Something tells me that the "Demo Play" of the game wouldn't be at the fastest possible method available. Speed Runs are still safe, especially if it's pretty obvious that it's not a human playing...

What's with all the bitchy comments here by the way? If you don't like the feature, don't use it!

There is such a massive install base for the Wii and DS, I can only see this as a good way to get new players into harder games.

furiku

@dougyfresh: Hah, those damn whirlpools!

I was playing that very level last night! Just got passed dark link. It was much easier than I remember it being.

furiku

You all laughed at Hideo Kojima for his over-long cutscenes. You mocked him for making a game that you watch more than you play. Now, mortals. BEHOLD!!! Watching games is the future! Playing them is for crazy folk like you, and you, and you, and me.

If only Kojima had patented the idea first, then he could be the one with the money printing.

ThursdayNext

@dougyfresh:Don't remind me of that Dungeon.... lol

James Armstrong

Will they retroactively apply this to LoZ:OOT water temple?

dougyfresh

@DustbinCarbonara: Like Ninja Gaiden's Ninja Dog mode? That woud actually be cool but would require a extra set of Enemy Structure and Level features.

James Armstrong

@Jekht: I can taste the Sarcasm there my friend. *Licks it like sweat*

James Armstrong

@Jekht: thats the point of games to you. Some people just want to see whats going to happen and enjoy the story. I personally wont be using this but im sure theres plenty of people who will. As gamers we have to realize there are different people playing games then just us "core" gamers. What if my mom wanted to play zelda? This would be great for her since the most frustrating thing about gaming for her is failing doing the same thing over and over again.

Detre

"That Boss is to hard!" Seriously..... This idea is going to strip the word *Skill* from all new titles. Let the game play itself? What exactly is the point of buying the game then? It's as good as WATCHING a Video of gameplay.

James Armstrong

Welcome to Casual world..

by Nintendo

ye0073

Am I the only one who sees this as a convenient alternative to poring over a gigantic walkthrough while hoping desperately not to inadvertently stumble on a spoiler.

Syril

This is a brilliant idea! Once again Nintendo's constant desire to innovate shows. This is why I love my Wii!

Some of you guys are nuts. You do know it's an option, they are not forcing you to play the game that way. It's just for kids or adults who don't know how to play but want to just to spend time with their brother or children. It also helps them become better players, so that in the future, they can also forget using that option.

Simple. I for one will not use it, but I'm sure its one I'll let my cousins play around with until they get the hang of it.

Malaysia Isachargin

Oh, we had that in my day...it was called 'CHEATS'.

Stevil_T

There's a feature I'll never use. Games are easy enough as it is nowadays.

"Oh just skip this part?" Somehow I think even casual gamers will feel somewhat cheated out of their gaming experiences... No doubt frustrated and/or bored people will use it, but even then it might just become less of an actual game.

Also, so much for speed runs...

Dochii

EZ-MODE GO!

This is seems ok for allowing not so skilled gamers at attempted harder games but I can imagine a lot of gamers just toning down the difficulty throughout just to zoom through it. Kinda defeats the purpose of PLAYING.

JaztheSpaz

Next to be introduced will be "ultra quick play" that will help casuals with the problem of playing the game at all, instead with this feature you just skip the game completely and go straight to the credits.

How on earth will this keep a game actually fun?
Or better to ask who on earth could suck so bad at gaming they still fail a new super mario bros game.

DutchOtaku

Now Nintendo wants to target the most casual group of all. People who don't even want to play games. Brilliant!

Wow even for me who loves games but sucks at many of them, I find this to be lame.

WOAH, that could make it easy for my son to stay entertained with a game that's too hard. I doubt I'd use it, but he loves playing games until he gets stuck, usually I do it for him, but now....now he's unstoppable! Of course that's like if my dad let me play T-Ball when Softball got to hard....

In Soviet Russia game plays you.

Nice idea but why not just add in a seriously easy difficulty mode that people can access after failing several times rather than just allow people to see a pre-recorded video of how to play.

DustbinCarbonara

Of course this also neatly destroys the learning curve. The whole point of games is that they're hard enough to force you to learn how to do X and Y. Now rather than attempting that Zelda boss for the 5th time, if people fail once they'll just skip it, and subsequently lack the skills required to approach later patches of the game.

This is the lamest thing I've ever heard. Just watch a play-through on youtube if you don't actually want to play the game yourself.

MrMuhnquai

I welcome this from nintendo it'll get more gamers to try out there stuff.

Red_Dragon