Hero-of-Time Posted July 10, 2013 Posted July 10, 2013 Regardless, it's a pretty interesting point to consider...WOULD kids/'new gamers' struggle with SMB these days? If Miiverse is any indication then the answer would be yes. The Super Metroid and Super Mario World posts being a prime example of newer gamers struggling with older games. I read an interesting piece the other week about how the younger generation, and even some older ones, don't have the patience or attention span to keep trying when failing something. The article marked it down as the arrival of the internet on our phones and iPads. They said that people have far too many distractions and things crying out for their attention, which is why they can't settle on anything and give up when they fail on something. As a kid I finished all the Mario games on my NES. It was a challenge but then most NES games were. Most games had no save states and when you died you got sent right back to the beginning of the game. I suppose it's games like this that crafted me in to the well oiled gaming machine I am today. Games have become a lot easier as time has gone on and I suppose I have gotten a little soft as a result. I played through Super Mario Bros 2 on the Wii U earlier this year and found it incredibly difficult. I still managed to finish it but I seemed to have more trouble now than I did when I was a kid. Playing NES games as a kid is why I always laugh when reviewers go on about how each of the NSMB games and claim it is the hardest Mario ever. Clearly these people didn't grow up during the NES era or if they did then they clearly have forgotten about the Mario games they played as a child.
Rummy Posted July 10, 2013 Posted July 10, 2013 Oh man, tell me about it. I died so much more than I expected to on SMB last night, and I realised how thin my patience is. What's amusing is as a kid, I was even more impatient so rushed too much/made silly mistakes...yet spent ages hitting blocks and gathering coins etc. It really is the sort of game that takes time and pattern learning like the old school were, but I've evolved so away from that and the patience for it. I just happened to be fortunate enough to already half-recall some of the patterns! If you can find the article @Hero\-of\-Time I'd def be interested in reading it.
dwarf Posted July 10, 2013 Posted July 10, 2013 Cube, hate to say this but you are awful at SMB Booted up SMB, ran through 1-1 no prob (well lost my 'shroom) hit the top of the flag pole and shut down. Game is way fucking harder on the 3DS though, tiny too close misaligned buttons and tiny D-Pad. Fuck that noise. Hand me a NES or SNES controller and it's muscle memory from there. He's good at plundering treasure though.
M_rock Posted July 10, 2013 Posted July 10, 2013 I never experienced the NES generation, because I was too young for that. I'm a nintendo 3DS ambassador, so I have a couple of NES titles now. I find most of them horrible. They are just simply too hard. I love a hard game though, but it should be hard to beat because of the right reasons. The reason I find the NES games hard is because they are often very unresponsive. Controlling Mario in SMB is so frustrating, compared to the newer titles. But for example, with a game like Super Metroid I never had a problem. That game is also very hard, but because of the right reasons. It is challenging, but not annoying, and the controls are responsive. The game is hard, because the enemy design and level design are designed that way, and not because of a technical shortcoming. So yeah, I can finish hard games if they are difficult because of the right reasons, and not some annoying limited capability. I also love that the games are now easier/friendlier. I have an aunt who is now 56 years old, and she started gaming about 5 years ago. The first game she played was brain training, and her first "real" game was NSMB. Now if it wouldn't have been for the perfect controls in NSMB she would have never experienced how fun videogames can be. She now also plays Super Mario 3D Land, NSMB2, Luigi's Mansion.... Heck she even completes them 100%. So yeah I'm all for multi-layered games that are easy at the start, but offer a deeper challenge for more experienced players.
Dcubed Posted July 10, 2013 Posted July 10, 2013 Well this is exactly why Nintendo introduced things like Super Guide, so that they can design more difficult games while not leaving the less skilled/experienced players out in the cold (the difficulty jump from NSMB DS to NSMB Wii is staggering!) Reading the Miiverse pages for games like SMW and Super Metroid is often a painful experience when you see players struggle on really basis stuff. It's then that you really appreciate the need for these kinds of systems to assist newcomers!
Fused King Posted July 10, 2013 Posted July 10, 2013 Most people who I have encouraged to play a game who really aren't gamers usually always struggle with the controls. It takes them a lot of time to understand the mechanics and usually blame the game for bad controls and whatnot. I always 'learn' the game, instead of dismissing it, but certainly some people don't have the patience for it.
Hero-of-Time Posted July 10, 2013 Posted July 10, 2013 If you can find the article @Hero\-of\-Time I'd def be interested in reading it. This wasn't the article I read but it is very similar. http://www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/mar/11/technology-internet-pupil-attention-teaching and another http://www.forbes.com/sites/tykiisel/2012/01/25/is-social-media-shortening-our-attention-span/ There are quite a few articles like this out there as it seems to be a popular subject/study at the moment.
Jonnas Posted July 10, 2013 Posted July 10, 2013 I remember playing Super Mario back when I was really, really young. I didn't figure out the B Button made you run, either. I just couldn't figure out how my cousins were making that Raccoon fly. Dying at the first goomba is really common, too. Players losing 3 lives to the first level of SMB when they barely played games before is perfectly common. I did smell the article's bullshit when it came to the bottomless pits, though. Everyone understands bottomless pits.
Wii Posted March 10, 2015 Posted March 10, 2015 Real Life Peter Griffin Speed Runs Super Mario http://kotaku.com/worlds-best-peter-griffin-cosplayer-tries-a-mario-speed-1690388555#
Kav Posted March 11, 2015 Posted March 11, 2015 I remember playing through Super Probotector with my brother and neither of us lost a life... could I fuck do that now!!!
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