After playing a number of XBLA and indie titles that either fall neatly into the masocore genre or share some aspects of their design, I'm prompted to wonder whether this represents a sound direction for the 2D platforming genre. I'm primarily thinking of games like Super Meat Boy, Spelunky, and VVVVV but also games like Limbo. Although Limbo is not a particularly difficult or twitch platformer, it still manages to rely heavily on trial-and-error and memorisation in order for the player to survive. To some extent, this is an inevitable aspect of playing a platformer. Experimentation and exploration are the only ways to develop mastery over the game and progress through the levels. However, the way death is handled in the masocore genre is akin to using a save-state in an emulator. Nothing is lost, and arguably, nothing gained in the act of dying. Although I don't deny that skills will improve and are still relevant to the masocore genre, they are significantly devalued by an unacceptable level of chance and repetition: playing is more akin to beating one's head against a wall than rehearsing for the deathless speed run.
 
For the masocore player, death is cheap. It is inevitable, no matter how good you are, that some aspect of timing or control will falter and you will die, over and over again. However, although one dies frequently, very little progress is lost so death is not punishing in any way. Although these games are difficult, the punishment is so trivial that players of almost any skill level can feel compelled to try their hand until they've succeeded at the task. This is most obvious in Super Meat Boy, where fully completing the game entails dying thousands of times. I'm inclined to say this is contradictory and not particularly good game design, being difficult without being punishing dwindles its impact.  For instance, Mega Man features jumps as hard or almost as hard as the above games, but punishes you severely for failure, the point to the difficulty being that you master a specific technique and become able to perform on demand.
 
Don't get me wrong, my intention is not to denigrate any of the above games, some of them are very good indeed, but I would want to say despite the fact they are masocore games rather than because of it. And as a result, they aren't as good as they could be, certainly not the perfect or near-perfect games that some are suggesting. So Giant Bomb, I would be interested to hear what you think of the above argument, which I'm not necessarily sure of myself, and your thoughts on the genre. Is the way it handles death essential and part of the fun, or is it a tiresome albeit distinctive gimmick?