Dying in video games, like in real life, seems to be a natural part of the process. You play, therefore you die -- and you usually have to start over.
But does it have to be that way?
Not necessarily. I recently spoke to three developers who've all been making dying in games a little less painful. They explained to me why they're saying no to "game over" screens in their games and what they tell critics who claim they're making video games too easy.
So here's what the makers of "Mushroom Men," "LEGO Batman," and "Prince of Persia" had to say...
[Image: Michael Talbot]
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Though November's "Tomb Raider: Underworld" is ostensibly a faithful continuation of the franchise featuring everyone's favorite buxom adventurer, there is one fundamental difference: You can now customize the gameplay to fit your play style by making certain aspects of the game easier or harder.
These mid-game difficulty weaks are presented in addition to the standard pre-game Easy/Normal/Hard options.
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A couple of weeks ago at a Ubisoft press event, I learned that "Far Cry 2" will have multiple difficulty levels. Big deal. But the man telling me this was Clint Hocking, the game's creative director. And Hocking always has an interesting way of putting things.
As Hocking prepared an Xbox 360 version of the game for a demonstration, he and I briefly chatted about the game's easy mode. "We have a tendency to make even the easiest difficulty levels disgustingly hard," he told me.
"Far Cry 2" will have an easy mode that will not disgust. How easy would it be?
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Sorry, Sid Meier, but I haven't spent more than 30 minutes with any version of "Civilization." My first look at one of the games' thick manuals was enough to suggest that maybe this series, despite the universal critical acclaim, wasn't for me.
But, the idea behind "Civilization" -- world domination -- is compelling. It's this underlying interest that excited me to check out an hour-long demonstration of "Civilization Revolution," Firaxis and 2K Games' attempt to make "Civilization" console-friendly.
Most previews I've read for "Civilization Revolution" have been written from the perspective of a gamer familiar with the series. I'm absolutely not. My challenge to "Civilization Revolution" was simple: if you really are a console-friendly version of a complicated PC strategy title, I should be having fun before the demo's hour is up.
Yesterday, I made my way over the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time to visit 2K Games' offices in Novato, California, about 25 minutes north of downtown San Francisco. Finding their office was no small feat; there were no gigantic logos to guide me through the surrounding construction. 2K said I wasn't the first to lose their way.
The demo was meant to focus on the multiplayer features, but producer Jason Bergman suggested I spend a little time in the tutorial first. While the 2K Games PR representative in the room resisted at first -- the rep wanted to make sure my time was spent with the multiplayer they were specifically showing -- Bergman's suggestion eventually won out.
Good thing, too. Without the tutorial, my impressions might not have been nearly as positive (or coherent).
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To those who are tired of numerical review scores and have no confidence in five-star ratings systems, I would like to present a new way to judge video games.
Well, not really. Or at least not completely seriously.
Last week, after closing up shop at work, I went to an EA Christmas-in-October event. I played a bunch of the publisher's upcoming 2007 games and realized that I could say quite a lot about them just by describing how I died in them.
Does telling you how I bought it in each game help you determine if you'd buy the game? Let's try this: judging a game by how it kills you.
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Tiger Woods showed up at "Chelsea Piers" Tuesday to hit some trick shots and hype "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08."
Sure, I talked to him about that game, which has some cool features.
But I also needed a "Resident Evil 4" update, since he said he'd been playing that when I interviewed him two years ago for one of his games.
You can read him talk about the game and his gaming habits at MTVNews.com. (Though maybe I didn't need to tell the world about how his sweaty hands affect his Wii playing? Not sure.)
Anyway, his "RE4" answer, from my article:
"I haven't played 'Resident Evil' in a while, so I finished the game and off to the next challenge." He played on medium difficulty. Not easy mode? "That's not a question."
I highlight this bit because I've been talking to some friends (including Croal) lately about the prospect of playing through games on easy mode. Most won't lower themselves to do it. But we're now out a month from "Halo 3" and I want to re-play the first two games. How to do that quickly? I'm going to play them on easy.
At least I thought I would. But now that I type it, it feels wrong.
Is there ever a right situation for playing on easy?
