Xbox 360 Game News, Reviews, and Columns - XboxFocus

The Pussification of Games

by July 22nd 2008 11:06 PM CDT1 Comments

Who was the one who decided to pussify my games? I ask this because this is what's been happening lately:

First, a major title is released to great fanfare throughout the lexicons of gaming culture. I pay $50-$60 for said title and begin the singleplayer campaign. The campaign is great but I notice I'm flying by levels at record speed and begin to wonder how much longer I have to go before it's over. Then it ends. After that, I unlock some difficulty level with a name like “Uber Extreme!” to convey that it's supposed to be hard, and I go ahead and work on that. And This takes place in a week's timespan. Two if I'm playing multiple games, three if it's an RPG. Then I play multiplayer until the next big game comes out. Rinse and repeat. Notice the pussification that takes place between the transition from classic to modern gaming.

You may be asking “But Jaleel, why do you want games to be so difficult? What's so fun about dying and then becoming frustrated with the game? I myself, am a pussy and quite frankly, I enjoy games that just let me just look at all of the pretty pixels and can be beaten on my lunchbreak.” Well sir, I'm glad you asked.

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You see, as mind-numbingly difficult and long as those games of yesteryear may be, there was no greater feeling in this world than what you would experienced after their completion. To stare in the face of the evil that handed you your ass multiple times, to declare yourself the rightful master of your domain, to stand on the shoulders of success as the credits roll; this is to stand with the gods. It cannot be explained to those who don't know of it's sweet reward.

On top of the taste of victory, higher difficulty also increases the playtime of a game. People I know who play the easiest difficulty in games (who also love cheat codes more often than not) tell me they do so because they just want to beat the game. I imagine these are the same people who turned immediately to the epilogue at the end of Harry Potter or load up on spoilers before seeing a movie. One is supposed to play games. If you're having fun with the experience, why are you in such a haste to end it? It may take me a longer time to get the same ending on a higher difficulty, but I get to play the original experience even longer than I might have otherwise.

I have no gripes with these people though. They can do as they wish with their purchase and that is what the "Easy" setting was created for. I also understand that not everyone enjoys playing on the same difficulty level or for long periods and I don't expect them to. If you want to play "Easy" and you bought the game, I encourage you to do so. My problem is with games that have stupid, easy "Normal" modes and only offer a Hard mode after you beat it; if they offer that at all.

The difficulty issue is only one half of the pussification process. The other is the ever decreasing length of games. Take Gears of War, a game that also helped on the difficulty front by offering a Hard mode off the bat and a redonkulous Insane mode upon completion. I loved the game, but I ended up debating the singleplayer in six hours. Five hours? Doesn't TNT show daily marathons of Law & Order about that long? The game should have be at least ten hours long, and since Cliff has announced Gears 2 to be about that length I'd like to believe he agrees.

I can't speak for other consoles, but I know 360 games have been making ground one front atleast. Most offer multiple settings ranging from “Magic Kingdom Ride” to “What The Hell Dude I Just Spawned” in difficulty, and I think this is the best approach to please all gamers. But the length for games that aren't RPGs just keeps getting less and less. Halo 3 is a great example, as it was about 2-7 hours shorter than Halo 2. I know development costs have increased, but so have the price of games. Make 'em longer. Harder, better, faster, and stronger,. I like multiplayer as much as the next guy, but don't pussify my games in the process.