Skip to main content

An Open Letter to Game Developers

     This is a request to all those game developers that submit games to the app store. Please put an easy category on all your game levels so that semi-geeks can win eventually. I mean, hey, guys. I work a job and other things. I can't just play video games. Another news flash for you, not everyone wants to play on-line multi-player, okay? Don't make the game so we have to have other players to win. That leaves the hermits out in the cold.
    I scrounge and read and work and find some dynamite games. I win some levels, enjoy it, then boom! The grim truth rears its ugly head. I don't play that well.
     Seriously, it's like an epidemic in gaming. Let's take the phenom, Angry Birds. I really like it but I get to a certain level and it drives me nuts trying to overcome, baby! Same with Fragger. On Spiderman, I can't get past the Rhino because he flees too fast. What good are the awesome graphics of N.O,V.A. 2 if the two monstrous mechs blast my scrawny butt back to the stone age every day? Are developers trying to force us all to play multiplayer so that eventually we can link up and solve world hunger and bring about universal peace? I thought games were made to be fun? Perhaps they think we'll have to buy more games, faster, if we can't get past the half-way point on any of them. Great marketing tool.
    It's really simple. Just give an option in the menu. You can even make it a thinly veiled insult. Click Here If You Can't Deal With It And Need A Weakened Experience.
    If you would, let me rant a bit more. I got the free sample of Iron Man. The level they gave me for free was fun because I got to fly. I always wanted to do this but have only been able to do so a few times in my dreams. So I happily skip along to the app store, in my ignorance, and buy the full version. Guess what? The level I just completed is locked until I achieve some stuff. Stuff that would take a 10 year old about a day, maybe. I am still there weeks later. Games that I have written glowing reviews for on these pages now turn on me like a dog that I have fed and nurtured. Games like NFS Undercover and NFS, HOT PURSUIT, BIA2 and others.
    How pathetic is this? Asking your wife to get you past a certain level so you can relax and have fun again? The next thing you know, the developers will be selling level passes for as much as the games. I jest, because at least one developer has already done this, to the outrage of the citizenry.
    So I say to you, oh developers, only half in fun, set the elderly free to have fun. Create an easy button like the commercial. Set my people free.
From the author's green retreat, I'm CE Wills.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Biscuit

    Hey, everyone. What a relief that Christmas is over, huh? I don't think it was meant to be the way it is.     I started thinking about the so-called good 'ole days today. My wife says that at her house, they would take a left-over biscuit and shine their shoes before church. I one-upped her by saying, "Oh, yeah? I ate the biscuit when everyone got finished with it. And I was grateful for it." Truly, though, you can and people did, shine their shoes with a biscuit. Hey, they were greasy little buggers.     Speaking of greasy little buggers, I remember when everyone had wells and were very conservative about water, particularly those of us who had to crank a handle up and down to get a bucket of water. There was no daily bath. (No showers in those days, mate.) About twice a week we took a bath and here's the recipe: The oldest kid took a bath first, then the next oldest etc. You can see why younger siblings hated the older. Bathing in the...

Cake Is Better Than Swords

Hey, everyone. On Thanksgiving, we had a get-together here at The Author's Green Retreat. One lady brought a cake which I wanted to show you. It had the look of a Roman Coliseum about it. Inside it was just as decadent...and fun, as ancient Rome. When I cut it open, homemade marshmallow cream began to ooze out in several spots, running over the chocolate cake and peanut butter icing. It is best served warm so the cream is fluid. Very tasty. The same lady, and her children, are people who have played a lot of Skyrim. They gave me some pointers on the game because I am having problems with it. They taught me how to fast travel, and a ton of other things, but the main thing was the armor and clothing problem. This is a little embarrassing, but let me explain. Okay. For several weeks when I played, I would enter towns and everyone I met would comment on my nakedness. I would select a tunic and shoes, whatever, go back around people and they would say something about it. I guess I w...

Fishdom,the Smart Cover and the Natural Blond

      Hey, everyone. I have played several different games lately. Mighty Mouse has gone 'free' and I've played it a little. It's okay. You fly through the air and punch bad guys, mines dropped by Oil Can Harry's plane, and try to avoid hitting anything unless you are pushing a button that gives you super speed. There are a lot of levels but they get harder, fast, and that takes some of the fun away. Still, for free, I can't complain. Also, Polly Purebred is fairly attractive, for a mouse. I wonder if she is a natural blond? Only her hairdresser knows for sure.      Fishdom Harvest HD is an older game that we've had for a while. This is a fun, relaxing game that has you swapping tiles so that you can complete levels and advance. As this happens, you earn in-game cash and decorate your fish tank with fish, plants and equipment. I like it a lot.      I understand that Shadowgun is now coming out with a version that is o...