Today’s gamers crave choice. Choice in how they progress through a game; choice on how they develop their character. The gamers of 13 years ago needed not these things, which is why Irrational Games is including the punishing 1999 Mode in BioShock Infinite.
Video games are too big, and too hard. Even for those of us that will argue against this notion until we’re blue in the face, there is an increasing amount of data that proves it. Here’s what seems to be going on in game development right now to address it.
If you’d like to play video game football but you stink at it, don’t worry. The next Madden will put a voice in your ear, telling you how to excel.
In an essay for Gamasutra last week, academic Lewis Pulsipher mused that games have become so complex as to feel like work, and the stratification of hardcore and casual gamers puts games in a far less inclusive posture than other entertainment.
Just because Square Enix is releasing Dragon Quest IX on the DS, doesn’t mean they’re putting out an easy game. On the contrary, DQIX is going to be difficult says series creator Yuji Horii.