Chibithor

@Brodehouse: I suppose it is all about semantics. I call that punishment. A penalty set by the game for your failure. You have to repeat the part you've done dozens of times before, even if it lasts only seconds. In any case, I do like the SMB system and it works well, though I don't like how it lends itself to brute-forcing a level until you luck out. I got the Kid too but patience had more to do with it than skill of any sort, which is what I think difficulty should be about. But it's not like setting the player further back will make brute-forcing impossible, just less optimal.

I can't really argue on what the writer thinks about the difficulty issue, as I haven't played Demon's Souls or the first Zeldas. He wants Demon's Souls Zelda, old-school Zelda, but I don't know what that really means, other than a difficulty increase and focus on combat rather than bomb puzzles. Sounds good on paper, I'd probably like it, even if it went as far as roguelikes. I get why you wouldn't, though, and I agree on many of your points regarding punishing the player.

@Brodehouse: It's still punishment for failure. You screwed up, you have to start over. No punishment would be to have zero penalty. Sure, it's not unfair, overly punishing or frustrating, (except the often mentioned Kid, Skyscraper and XOXO if it's bugged) but it still punishes you for your mistakes.

@Brodehouse: Death is punishment. If there's no punishment, there's no difficulty, and you reach Prince of Persia 2008 and beyond. SMB is punishing because the smallest mistakes will kill you and return you to the beginning of the level.

In any case, I'm loving the essays and hope stuff like them will come up in later Worth Readings(?).

@TPoppaPuff: Patrick secretly writes every article and does all Quick Looks all by himself

@TehFlan: Retro Studios is working on "a project everyone wants us to do" (Metroid!) for the console, if that counts. Darksiders 2 is also coming among some other multiplatform games. Also Smash Bros.

I'm very much looking forward to the movie, and beyond the initial confusion over the HBO series, it looks like it has the potential to become something pretty cool as well.

@golguin: I think a comparison with Gordon Freeman is more appropriate. Imagine him doing sappy monologue in HL3 and not using his HEV suit because some guy tells him not to.

I'll admit, though, I never gave Other M a fair chance. From the very first trailer I was already worried (Remember me?), and the more they revealed the less interested I became. I still haven't played Other M, and I don't think I want to. It's worth noting that Prime's one of my favorite games, probably #1, so that obviously affects my feelings on Other M. It comforts me that Retro is working on "a project everyone wants us to do".

On topic, I really hope they can get some more devs for this series, all three parts have been great so far.

@kgb0515 said:

I think the OP makes a valid point about popular gaming franchises, but there are still titles out there that felt original and fresh despite this doomsday mentality. Have some franchises grown stale? Absolutely. Have mechanics been given the "universal remote" treatment in certain genres (I'm looking at you FPS games)? Certainly. But to say that the industry is doomed due to a certain level of complacency on the part of devs and hardware producers is a stretch. With the input possibilities being researched (i.e. biometrics, eye twitch registration, etc.) the possiblilities are very exciting. I can't wait to see what gaming will be like in 2022!

Obviously gaming will already be dead by then, because the OP's warnings have been ignored.

On the best level/mission, I would've liked to see a mention to the 'dream' sequence in the bog in Bastion. Or maybe I've become a Bastion fanboy.