From the Age Gap

So I have been thinking recently about the emerging age gap that can be seen in videogames at the moment. An age gap is not really something has ever been present in gaming, because it has always been seen as a very "youth" medium. But now those "youths" who started gaming 20, 30 years ago, are grown adults, and are still gaming. This brings up the issue of how people who have been gaming for years digest the games they play when compared to younger, less experienced gamers. 

It's a common sight to see a teenager (or older) flicking around TV channels, see a black and white movie, and instantly move on, disregarding the movie as unwatchable because it is in black and white, from a different era. So what reaction might we see if a young gamer is presented with a classic point and click adventure perhaps, a gameplay device that is now all but redundant. Would there be the same reaction as the teenage movie watcher, unable to watch the black and white film? The thing is, while people can go back and listen to old records, or go back and dig out old films, games are different. Because you can go back and listen to music from a different era, and people do, the whole consumption and production of music has a somewhat cyclical nature, where there are waves and movements, often based on things that have happened in the past, and a similar thing happens with movies. But a game can't just be reissued on a new format, like a CD or a DVD. So much of gaming history is so time specific because of the way the industry works, with consoles and machines that are redundant every 5 years or so. I understand the emulation argument and I am aware of the rise of "reissues" on Playstation Network and so on, but in general, much of gaming's mythology and history is unavailable to younger gamers, and as such, they have a much narrower frame of reference of where their games come from, as opposed to their music or films.

So is there space for games to even become "classics"? Games that are referred to as classics, like Final Fantasy 7, Monkey Island, System Shock 2 etc, must seem like myths or legends to younger gamers with a proper interest. If they can't play them, can't find them in shops...how can anyone play through a history of games? How can games have a proper lineage?

The difficulties of Prince of Persia

The new Prince of Persia game has attracted some comment about it's difficulty, or lack thereof. There have been articles concerning the fact that it's just so easy, and whether this is a problem. 

It's true to say that the feeling of beating part of a game that has had you stumped for days is one of the parts of gaming that makes it so fun. However, is there now space in this post-Wii, broad gaming market for more mature and complex games than the likes of Wii Sports that can be completed by almost anyone?

This harks back to the great argument in videogames of narrative versus interactivity. Because by making PoP as easy as it is, Ubisoft Montreal are implicitly weighing down on the side of narrative, because making it easy allows everyone to reach the conclusion of the story. Yet it does try to position itself in a specific area of gaming - the artgame. Your companion, Elika, and yourself form a relationship very reminiscent of Ico and the whole game itself is structured much like Team Ico's other masterpiece, Shadow of the Colossus. The watercolour graphics owe much to Okami and Braid. So the game wears it's "artgame" influences on it's sleeve, yet it can never help feeling like a Hollywood remake of an independent film. The cheesy voice acting, the exciting chase intro and the tutorial all make it feel like a big game with a big budget, trying to do things things those smaller, beautiful games do so well.

But none of those games were particularly easy. I certainly took a week or so to finish off the final Colossus, and got pretty frustrated with Yorda in Ico, so why make PoP so easy? Perhaps the decision was made for corporate reasons - to broaden the appeal, maybe for artistic reasons - so people see it to the end. Whatever the reason, I think there is certainly a place in the market for easier, yet satisfying games such as this. It's something we will definitely see more of - the casual mode in Gears of War 2 for instance. Whether it will have an effect on the overall difficulty of games however, remains to be seen.