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There are always certain things that people just cannot do without, but at the end of the day, everyone needs a bit of mental stimulation to keep the old grey matter in a good working order. This is all good and well, but some things are just sent to annoy us, not grasp our attention for a few seconds, or make us think through what we should do in a logical and sensible manner, but just to defy convention and annoy.
There are plenty of examples of this sort of thing in every day life. The most apparent would seem to be supermarket carrier bags. I work in a supermarket, and it gets quite funny sometimes watching people struggle to cope with opening a simple bag to put their shopping into, but when the tables are turned and you have that one bag which wont open, we get some very strange thoughts running through some peoples' heads.
There are many more, there are the plastic packets which things such as cheese and bacon come in, bottles which wont open, until you give it to the weakest person in the room, and so on, and so on. But where's this going, well anyway, computer games can be challenging, you can sit and play a game for the first time on the hardest difficulty setting and be truely annihalated by the computer, especially in RTS games. Super Monkey Ball is so damn infurating also, this is a game which for all its goodness and refreshing originality, can be one fo the worst games to play. Agreeably it is a good game, nice graphics, decent challenge, but it's annoying on a level par with supermarket carrier bags. It's all fine and well having games which will challenge the player, but when there is little varition in the challenge, then games can become irritating and pointless. Hence Super Monkey Ball is a good game, until you reach levels where you don't see the point in having to get a monkey in a ball across something so narrow that it is barely visible. There is no proper prowess involved in the game, it's merely a game where you try and try and try at doing the same thing over and over. Admittedly these games were excellent when the Spectrum and the C64 were king, Llamasoft made some excellent examples of these sorts of games(Hover Bover anyone??) but in this day and age I expect a dynamic and interesting challenge, something which actually tests the old grey matter, and not something which merely relies on my reflexes and dexterity of my opposable digits.
Then again, maybe I'm just whining, afetr all variety is the spice of life, but I still cant feel that most of today's "puzzle games" are a poor substitute for a good challenging game.
There are plenty of examples of this sort of thing in every day life. The most apparent would seem to be supermarket carrier bags. I work in a supermarket, and it gets quite funny sometimes watching people struggle to cope with opening a simple bag to put their shopping into, but when the tables are turned and you have that one bag which wont open, we get some very strange thoughts running through some peoples' heads.
There are many more, there are the plastic packets which things such as cheese and bacon come in, bottles which wont open, until you give it to the weakest person in the room, and so on, and so on. But where's this going, well anyway, computer games can be challenging, you can sit and play a game for the first time on the hardest difficulty setting and be truely annihalated by the computer, especially in RTS games. Super Monkey Ball is so damn infurating also, this is a game which for all its goodness and refreshing originality, can be one fo the worst games to play. Agreeably it is a good game, nice graphics, decent challenge, but it's annoying on a level par with supermarket carrier bags. It's all fine and well having games which will challenge the player, but when there is little varition in the challenge, then games can become irritating and pointless. Hence Super Monkey Ball is a good game, until you reach levels where you don't see the point in having to get a monkey in a ball across something so narrow that it is barely visible. There is no proper prowess involved in the game, it's merely a game where you try and try and try at doing the same thing over and over. Admittedly these games were excellent when the Spectrum and the C64 were king, Llamasoft made some excellent examples of these sorts of games(Hover Bover anyone??) but in this day and age I expect a dynamic and interesting challenge, something which actually tests the old grey matter, and not something which merely relies on my reflexes and dexterity of my opposable digits.
Then again, maybe I'm just whining, afetr all variety is the spice of life, but I still cant feel that most of today's "puzzle games" are a poor substitute for a good challenging game.
The problem is, is this new take on difficulty settings. Compleating a game on the hardest setting gets you extra stuff (Goldeneye started it). Now with Goldeneye i found that a cool thing as I'm great at first person shooters. Meanwhile at Super Monkey Ball with my poor coordination I'm not so anything other than Advance I cannot do and i miss out on all the extras.
Difficulty settings are for those who are better or worse, I'm good at Goldeneye and Perfect Dark so therefore I should find more enjoyment in Perfect Agent but for those who aren't so good stick with Agent. Why is it I get extra specials though just because I'm good a that game? Life aint right.
Difficulty settings are for those who are better or worse, I'm good at Goldeneye and Perfect Dark so therefore I should find more enjoyment in Perfect Agent but for those who aren't so good stick with Agent. Why is it I get extra specials though just because I'm good a that game? Life aint right.
It depends what sort of mood you're in.
Monkey Ball can be very fustrating at times, but it's a lasting challenge if you want it.
Now if you thought that Monkey Ball was bad, have you unlocked Endurance on Rogue Leader.
To get a gold requires over 4 hours of solid play!
Now that's SERIOUSLY over-doing it!
Monkey Ball can be very fustrating at times, but it's a lasting challenge if you want it.
Now if you thought that Monkey Ball was bad, have you unlocked Endurance on Rogue Leader.
To get a gold requires over 4 hours of solid play!
Now that's SERIOUSLY over-doing it!
games like tomb raider bug the hell outta me.
Many a joypad has met its maker courtesy of ms. croft and her inability to land on a certain ledge.
Many a joypad has met its maker courtesy of ms. croft and her inability to land on a certain ledge.
There are always certain things that people just cannot do without, but at the end of the day, everyone needs a bit of mental stimulation to keep the old grey matter in a good working order. This is all good and well, but some things are just sent to annoy us, not grasp our attention for a few seconds, or make us think through what we should do in a logical and sensible manner, but just to defy convention and annoy.
There are plenty of examples of this sort of thing in every day life. The most apparent would seem to be supermarket carrier bags. I work in a supermarket, and it gets quite funny sometimes watching people struggle to cope with opening a simple bag to put their shopping into, but when the tables are turned and you have that one bag which wont open, we get some very strange thoughts running through some peoples' heads.
There are many more, there are the plastic packets which things such as cheese and bacon come in, bottles which wont open, until you give it to the weakest person in the room, and so on, and so on. But where's this going, well anyway, computer games can be challenging, you can sit and play a game for the first time on the hardest difficulty setting and be truely annihalated by the computer, especially in RTS games. Super Monkey Ball is so damn infurating also, this is a game which for all its goodness and refreshing originality, can be one fo the worst games to play. Agreeably it is a good game, nice graphics, decent challenge, but it's annoying on a level par with supermarket carrier bags. It's all fine and well having games which will challenge the player, but when there is little varition in the challenge, then games can become irritating and pointless. Hence Super Monkey Ball is a good game, until you reach levels where you don't see the point in having to get a monkey in a ball across something so narrow that it is barely visible. There is no proper prowess involved in the game, it's merely a game where you try and try and try at doing the same thing over and over. Admittedly these games were excellent when the Spectrum and the C64 were king, Llamasoft made some excellent examples of these sorts of games(Hover Bover anyone??) but in this day and age I expect a dynamic and interesting challenge, something which actually tests the old grey matter, and not something which merely relies on my reflexes and dexterity of my opposable digits.
Then again, maybe I'm just whining, afetr all variety is the spice of life, but I still cant feel that most of today's "puzzle games" are a poor substitute for a good challenging game.
There are plenty of examples of this sort of thing in every day life. The most apparent would seem to be supermarket carrier bags. I work in a supermarket, and it gets quite funny sometimes watching people struggle to cope with opening a simple bag to put their shopping into, but when the tables are turned and you have that one bag which wont open, we get some very strange thoughts running through some peoples' heads.
There are many more, there are the plastic packets which things such as cheese and bacon come in, bottles which wont open, until you give it to the weakest person in the room, and so on, and so on. But where's this going, well anyway, computer games can be challenging, you can sit and play a game for the first time on the hardest difficulty setting and be truely annihalated by the computer, especially in RTS games. Super Monkey Ball is so damn infurating also, this is a game which for all its goodness and refreshing originality, can be one fo the worst games to play. Agreeably it is a good game, nice graphics, decent challenge, but it's annoying on a level par with supermarket carrier bags. It's all fine and well having games which will challenge the player, but when there is little varition in the challenge, then games can become irritating and pointless. Hence Super Monkey Ball is a good game, until you reach levels where you don't see the point in having to get a monkey in a ball across something so narrow that it is barely visible. There is no proper prowess involved in the game, it's merely a game where you try and try and try at doing the same thing over and over. Admittedly these games were excellent when the Spectrum and the C64 were king, Llamasoft made some excellent examples of these sorts of games(Hover Bover anyone??) but in this day and age I expect a dynamic and interesting challenge, something which actually tests the old grey matter, and not something which merely relies on my reflexes and dexterity of my opposable digits.
Then again, maybe I'm just whining, afetr all variety is the spice of life, but I still cant feel that most of today's "puzzle games" are a poor substitute for a good challenging game.