Tyler Winegarner Associate Producer, GameSpot Live	Now Playing: F-Zero GX, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Final Fantasy X Looking Forward to: Freedom Fighters, Need for Speed Underground, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Beyond Good & Evil, Gradius V

Hard Mode

There has been a lot of noise and back talk lately about the difficulty of games recently, how games just aren't as hard as they used to be, and what a shame that is. Well, I'll admit, sure, that there was much more challenge to be had in games past, that they put a greater demand on my reflexes and hand-eye coordination, and as a result of the lessened challenge in gaming, my once finely honed skills have deteriorated from misuse. But I'm not here to gripe about how good games were way back when or how we had to collect 100 coins before the time ran out to finish the level, not just to get a bonus, or something like that. No, I'm actually here to talk about how I appreciate, to some extent, a game that challenges my skill set but doesn't abuse me like the original Castlevania or Ninja Gaiden did.

I hate to admit it, but this game has been more frustrating than challenging.

I've been playing a good bit of F-Zero GX as of late, and it's a really satisfying game, to a point. I've been a big fan of the Wipeout series of futuristic racers on the PlayStation but have always been skeptical about jumping into other futuristic racers. F-Zero presents itself with an outstanding sense of style and then gives you a lot more than you bargained for with a staggering dose of challenge. I've clocked in many, many hours on this game, and getting through each championship cup has been a white-knuckle fight. After about the sixth or seventh time I'd been retired out of the sapphire cup by getting pitched off the final track, I muttered something to myself along the lines of "I don't have time for this!" which, looking back on it, got me thinking.

I tend to think a whole lot about how video games, and the industry that produces them, have changed as the first generation of video game players has grown up. When the world was fascinated with Pac Man, there wasn't much interest in "mature-themed" games, and at that time, games that were called such possessed about as much maturity as that section of your local video shop that you'd be embarrassed to be caught in. Now we're older, and it makes more sense that there's a viable set of games for mature gamers, with content that just isn't appropriate for young folk. The offset here, I think, has been difficulty in gaming. I don't know about you, but as a gaming adult, there's a lot more competition for how I spend my time--here at the office, socializing, or running errands, and, sadly, I need more sleep than I used to as well. As such, I'd like to get the most out of my gaming time, and maybe that doesn't necessarily mean plugging through a punishingly difficult section of a game until I finally get it right, many hours later.

This game has always given me a challenge that I can come back to again and again.

On the other hand, I have always appreciated games like Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. I'll admit, this game is nearly a year old and I still haven't finished it. I pick it up again every few months and get closer and closer to the game's conclusion. The challenge is always present, and it's always great, and every few missions it stumps me and gets shelved. Eventually I return to it like a loyal friend, and eventually I'll finish the game. It seems to me that this is the ideal way to present challenge to the mature gamer these days--give them a good progressive challenge but not a punishingly steep one.