Comments on: Masocore Games

By: What Super Meat Boy Taught Me About Business

What Super Meat Boy Taught Me About Business — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 04:39:48 +0000

[...] gaming bipolar seemed like a whole new kind of genre (as it turns out, the genre is called Masocore). And, like many PAX 10 games, I was intrigued and enthusiastic for the release [...]

By: QcChopper

QcChopper — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:01:39 +0000

I would add a game to the Masocore genre. It’s called Trials 2 SE, this game is bound to get under your skin and is really one of the most fun games I ever played. Oh the first levels are pretty straight forward and not too hard but wait, it get fiendishly, deviously, redonkulously hard! If you are a Masocore gamer, you owe it to yourself to try this game out, it’s really cheap and has a free demo.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:24:07 +0000

From the point of view of puzzles, it’s natural that the puzzle-makers must keep ahead of the puzzle-solvers. What might in one sense be thought of as ‘convention’ is in another sense the always-advancing line between these two forces. Crossword puzzles use advances/changes in language to keep one step ahead because the ‘rules’ are entirely codified. (Although you can find all kinds of variants as well: diagramless, etc.) But the most interesting aspect of this kind of pitched battle is that both sides agree to it. The puzzle-makers like it because it’s interesting to try to stay one step ahead, and the puzzle-solvers like it because it’s fun trying to keep up.

By: Jurie

Jurie — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 07:20:52 +0000

@fluffy: I personally have never played the first two Zeldas, so I wouldn’t know. Link To The Past, which I think is the third one, is one of my favorite games of all times though.

Most people, when they say ‘Zelda’, probably mean Ocarina of Time and later, since that game seems to have been particularly popular. Not with me: I never managed to play it through, and I tried two or three times. Every time I’d get stuck in the earth dungeon. No idea why, maybe the camera… I loved Wind Waker though.

By: abeck99

abeck99 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 23:51:00 +0000

It’s kind of like the evolution of Zelda mirrors the evolution of the industry in general. They intentionally tried to become more and more like the movies of the future: Movies but with interaction. Recent Zelda games are do something simple, watch a video, go where told, watch a video, fight a visually impressive but simple boss, etc.
It’s boiling down to one of the essences of video games: the flashing light rewards, the fireworks display of computer effects after winning. I like all the zelda games, but they aren’t rewarding to play, but rewarding to watch.

By: fluffy

fluffy — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:08:33 +0000

Interesting that people use Zelda as an example of games which are hand-holdy and easy, considering that the original is really damn difficult if you aren’t using a walkthrough. It doesn’t give you any indication of where to go or what to do, you just have to DO it.

Of course the second one used more hints and affordances to guide you in the right direction (although there’s still a whole lot of front-loaded difficulty, e.g. getting the lantern). It wasn’t until the third one that it basically says “Go here now!” and even then I’d say the difficulty stayed pretty decently ramped-up until Ocarina which was the first truly “easy” one (where it suddenly switched to a very cinematic feel).

By: Jurie

Jurie — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:40:43 +0000

Andy, that is certainly a sentiment I see a lot when trawling indie blogs. E.g. You Have To Burn The Rope ( http://www.mazapan.se/games/BurnTheRope.php ) which some people see as a slap in the face almost, but which presumably reacts to the standard tricks games use (some of which Zelda pioneered) to ease players into the game.

By: abeck99

abeck99 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:42:15 +0000

never mind– thats exactly what the article said

By: Chadius

Chadius — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:41:27 +0000

This example is from I Wanna Be The Guy. It is INTENTIONALLY designed to be platform hell. Its tricks and traps are so over the top it loops and becomes a beautiful parody of platformers in general.

Basically it’s like a “So bad it’s good” movie. But for videogames.

By: abeck99

abeck99 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:34:13 +0000

It’s odd because over the last five years, popular games have tended to become “Nintendoized” – that is more like Zelda in their easiness. Perhaps there’s a reaction in the hard-core gamer set to make games impossible again.