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Finishing your games is a good idea, but can be really frustrating. I find that leaving and coming back is a huge help to me. But if you're really not enjoying it, why force yourself to play it?
Unless you're in a dare/bet. Then YOU MUST FINISH.
Playing a wide variety of games seems like it would make you a better gamer, but only in the sense that you'd be more worldly and maybe know some tricks you learned from other games. But if a game requires twitch reflexes or micromanagement, you would train those skills just by playing the game.
Playing a game, a lot and consistently, will always improve your game (lol). But don't keep doing the same wrong moves over and over again.
For instance, if I wanted to improve at Halo, I would look up strategies and memorize weapon spawns, AS WELL AS just playing the game to get better.
Anyways, liked the blog and best of luck to you!
Unless you're in a dare/bet. Then YOU MUST FINISH.
Playing a wide variety of games seems like it would make you a better gamer, but only in the sense that you'd be more worldly and maybe know some tricks you learned from other games. But if a game requires twitch reflexes or micromanagement, you would train those skills just by playing the game.
Playing a game, a lot and consistently, will always improve your game (lol). But don't keep doing the same wrong moves over and over again.
For instance, if I wanted to improve at Halo, I would look up strategies and memorize weapon spawns, AS WELL AS just playing the game to get better.
Anyways, liked the blog and best of luck to you!
Good blog, Ali. ;O)
I think all you need is patience. I seem to have an abundance of patience that helps me complete almost all the games I start playing. That, and the fact that it is not a good idea to get a new console and play its games, when you still have a lot of games you are in the middle of with your other console. You end up with the 'ooh, shiny' mentality which takes your attention from elsewhere.
Other than that, I don't know what else to suggest.
I think all you need is patience. I seem to have an abundance of patience that helps me complete almost all the games I start playing. That, and the fact that it is not a good idea to get a new console and play its games, when you still have a lot of games you are in the middle of with your other console. You end up with the 'ooh, shiny' mentality which takes your attention from elsewhere.
Other than that, I don't know what else to suggest.
I think playing a wide variety of games would stifle your progress. You'd become a "Jack of all trades" but you'd also end up being kind of stunted in each individual game. You'd be above average at a lot of games, but I don't think you could reach full potential that way. Do I make sense? Anyways, good blog! I've been trying to improve my skills at FPS games too so I can finally beat Bioshock!
I feel the same way, and I think age and spending less time on gaming in general are huge factors. I started up a Warcraft 3 campaign the other day and couldn't even get past the first level on normal. Back in the day I'd blitz through that shiz without a second thought -- my response time was faster and I was well versed with the game. I find that I have to really grind and play something over and over and over again to be good (MNC for example) but I'm never the best. Honestly I can't give any advice except to find some magical youth potion or play the damn game endlessly.
Let's put it like this Homie G! (See what I did there? ^_^) Are you going to let ME of all people, finish more games than you??? o_O That's what I thought! =P
Practice, practice, practice. There are some games where you just need to keep on playing to see any improvement. Generally your skills will transfer across games of the same genre but moving away from your comfort zone really puts you in your place. I've found that having a stubborn-streak helps, letting me play a level over and over again until I succeed. My roommates for example will refuse to watch me play Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit now because I will spend over an hour attempting to beat a friend's time.
If you have access to a PS3 I'd suggest Demons' Souls. Yes it can be unforgivingly difficult, but it is a game where you really feel yourself improving as a player as you develop strategies and become more aware of what you need to do to survive. It's almost like you level up alongside your character in real life.
If you have access to a PS3 I'd suggest Demons' Souls. Yes it can be unforgivingly difficult, but it is a game where you really feel yourself improving as a player as you develop strategies and become more aware of what you need to do to survive. It's almost like you level up alongside your character in real life.
I think I've definately gotten better at videogames over the years. It's definately because when I'm thrown some kind of challenge, I'm always looking at what the developer wants and not how I want to do it.
Which is a shame, I guess, because I'm not really playing the game like I want to. I'm basically, stripping it down and putting it together in the blink of an eye. I first noticed that when I played Shadow of the Colossus and Em pointed out that I switched plans on the fly pretty quickly, instead of bashing my head against a wall with failed tactics that I think might work. The only answer I could come up with was that I was constantly watching for my cues, put in by the devs to make things easier.
Sad thing is, once you start picking up on these things, then you start picking out how developers share strategic ideas. Pretty much all of the Resident Evil games have similar boss tactics and the original Dead Space was basically signposting what weapons you needed from the sheer scale of the rooms you entered.
To be honest, I blame my Amstrad CPC 464 games and the sheer difficulty of those games. I barely finished any games on that system. Talk about being thrown into the deep end. Thanks, Lord Sugar!
Which is a shame, I guess, because I'm not really playing the game like I want to. I'm basically, stripping it down and putting it together in the blink of an eye. I first noticed that when I played Shadow of the Colossus and Em pointed out that I switched plans on the fly pretty quickly, instead of bashing my head against a wall with failed tactics that I think might work. The only answer I could come up with was that I was constantly watching for my cues, put in by the devs to make things easier.
Sad thing is, once you start picking up on these things, then you start picking out how developers share strategic ideas. Pretty much all of the Resident Evil games have similar boss tactics and the original Dead Space was basically signposting what weapons you needed from the sheer scale of the rooms you entered.
To be honest, I blame my Amstrad CPC 464 games and the sheer difficulty of those games. I barely finished any games on that system. Talk about being thrown into the deep end. Thanks, Lord Sugar!
I kicked ass in DMC3 on Hard and boy, did my forearms and hands ache afterwards. But then when I played Bayonetta, I was thinking because I was good in DMC, this should be easy right? Not so! I was getting my ass handed to me constantly, especially later on in the game. Maybe I was watching her animations more than I should have, rather than watching what the enemy was about to do ;-)
I have these The Wizard moments with games. Happened in Bayonetta. Happened in Demon's Souls. Happens every so often in Marvel vs Capcom 3. Think my motor skills are still comparable to what they were when I was younger but I don't have the time/patience to play for 8 hours straight like I did back in the day. Though I definitely feel my age with music rhythm games. Yeesh. My 21-year-old nephew beats my ass in that.
While finishing games is nice from an economic perspective (you bought them, after all!), I wouldn't say that it is an especially important part of gaming. There are plenty of games I haven't finished, games I stopped playing when they stopped being fun.
The whole reason we play games is that they are fun, and I don't think being "good" at games is really any valid goal, excepting the fun you have when you're really good at anything, and you know it.
Don't beat your head in trying to find ways to remedy your faux-pathological issue with game difficulty. Have fun with games. That's what actually matters.
The whole reason we play games is that they are fun, and I don't think being "good" at games is really any valid goal, excepting the fun you have when you're really good at anything, and you know it.
Don't beat your head in trying to find ways to remedy your faux-pathological issue with game difficulty. Have fun with games. That's what actually matters.
I think the other questions to ask are "why do I want to become a better gamer... and what is a better gamer?"
Why do you want to finish the game, or play more genres?... for yourself, or because peers say that this is what makes a "better gamer"? Will being on the leaderboards for a game make you feel better... and why would it make you feel better? Do you want to actually become competitively good at a game (which requires a lot of devotion) or just become socially good at a game (and gain casual friends that you regularly play online with?)
Would you rather put the time in to complete a game.. on the hardest difficulty... or would you rather skip around between different games.
Personally I don't think there is such a thing as a "better gamer". It's a rare person who plays a lot of different genres, on the highest difficulty and completes the game and additionally holds leaderboard status in onlline games - and these people must not have any semblence of a real life (or else they are simply gifted).
For myself I know what I want from gaming... and I agressively pursue this. For offline games I want to relax... I want an RPG or FPS campaign that entertains me, is fun, gives me a feeling of power while offering some minor modicum of challenge. I don't care if I finish the game or not, as long as I enjoy my time with the game. For online games I want a game to play with friends where I feel I'm competent, but moreso where I can work with these friends to achieve a team victory. This is the enjoyment I get from online games.
I think that simply finding games you absolutely love to play... makes people a "better gamer".
Awesome Monthly Musing by the way!!!
Why do you want to finish the game, or play more genres?... for yourself, or because peers say that this is what makes a "better gamer"? Will being on the leaderboards for a game make you feel better... and why would it make you feel better? Do you want to actually become competitively good at a game (which requires a lot of devotion) or just become socially good at a game (and gain casual friends that you regularly play online with?)
Would you rather put the time in to complete a game.. on the hardest difficulty... or would you rather skip around between different games.
Personally I don't think there is such a thing as a "better gamer". It's a rare person who plays a lot of different genres, on the highest difficulty and completes the game and additionally holds leaderboard status in onlline games - and these people must not have any semblence of a real life (or else they are simply gifted).
For myself I know what I want from gaming... and I agressively pursue this. For offline games I want to relax... I want an RPG or FPS campaign that entertains me, is fun, gives me a feeling of power while offering some minor modicum of challenge. I don't care if I finish the game or not, as long as I enjoy my time with the game. For online games I want a game to play with friends where I feel I'm competent, but moreso where I can work with these friends to achieve a team victory. This is the enjoyment I get from online games.
I think that simply finding games you absolutely love to play... makes people a "better gamer".
Awesome Monthly Musing by the way!!!
I think part of my problem is my Everything or Nothing mentality; I either want to completely finish a game or I want to just avoid it. The problem is, that any kind of difficulty spike tends to put me in the latter category. I give up far to easily and I don't try hard enough to work through my difficulties.
After talking to Dtoiders at PAX, I quickly realised that there's no actual game franchise or genre I'm actually good at. Talking to people, they were good at Schmups or FPS games, but I'm just good at the dozen games I seemingly play on repeat. I suppose there's a degree of inadequacy there.
After talking to Dtoiders at PAX, I quickly realised that there's no actual game franchise or genre I'm actually good at. Talking to people, they were good at Schmups or FPS games, but I'm just good at the dozen games I seemingly play on repeat. I suppose there's a degree of inadequacy there.
I think if anything I'm becoming a worse gamer with age. As a nostalgia freak I will occasionally dust off old NES and Sega games I used to play as a lad and I'm constantly surprised by how controller breaking tough they are. "I used to play these things for fun?"
Of course, then I remember that as a kid I had pretty much limitless time to just grind away at a game and become really freaking good at it. These days I just can't dedicate that kind of time to any individual interest.
Also, to be clear, I think you should only play games that you enjoy and find fufilling. If that means you only like a couple of similar genres played at normal or easy difficulty, there is nothing wrong with that. You shouldn't be expected to play shit you don't like just to prove how much of a hardcore gamer you are.
Of course, then I remember that as a kid I had pretty much limitless time to just grind away at a game and become really freaking good at it. These days I just can't dedicate that kind of time to any individual interest.
Also, to be clear, I think you should only play games that you enjoy and find fufilling. If that means you only like a couple of similar genres played at normal or easy difficulty, there is nothing wrong with that. You shouldn't be expected to play shit you don't like just to prove how much of a hardcore gamer you are.
Wait, you mean we're supposed to actually be "good" at games? Dammit I knew I was missing something. I wish I even had a handful I considered myself good at, but honestly I almost never finish games so it's hard to determine if I'm any good at them at all.
This is something I always wonder too. In terms of multiplayer, I didn't really get in to playing online until CoD4/Halo 3 were out.I was rubbish at them both to begin with but 3-4 years later, now that Reach and Black Ops are here, I'm always one of the top players in any lobby and seem to constantly improve. I don't know if I've peaked yet or if I'll continue to get better but when I finally do, I can't seem to comprehend why.
I was thinking about this back when I got perfect dark on Xbox Live.. I was so excited because I played the crap out of that when it was out on the N64 (I was 14) and After playing through it on xbla I went and looked at the challenges I beat and didn't beat. and I was stuck on the EXACT same ones as back on the n64! It got me thinking.. Have I really not gotten ANY better at games in 10 years?!??! It's pretty crazy to think about.
The only thing I can think of is playing on Hardest difficulty from the get go and not giving up. When I first got my 360, I was still stuck in the "Normal" difficulty area. When I saw you got some kind of reward for doing hardest, I wanted everyone to know I was a bad ass (well, figuratively).
So, since I stuck it out on Hardest until I was finished, I've now gotten ridiculously good at most genres that I play. I'm still a chump at strategy games and RPGs, but I'm making progress.
Diversifying your game range could also help. You'll be more accustomed to the random challenges that games will throw at you and you'll never feel frustrated. Puzzle games are a bit iffy, though, as some are routed in logic while others require rote memorization to complete.
Whatever you decide to do, backing down isn't what will help you. If you get stuck on a certain encounter/challenge/problem, don't give up. If you're swearing like a sailor and throwing things, then it's time to shut it off and come back.
So, since I stuck it out on Hardest until I was finished, I've now gotten ridiculously good at most genres that I play. I'm still a chump at strategy games and RPGs, but I'm making progress.
Diversifying your game range could also help. You'll be more accustomed to the random challenges that games will throw at you and you'll never feel frustrated. Puzzle games are a bit iffy, though, as some are routed in logic while others require rote memorization to complete.
Whatever you decide to do, backing down isn't what will help you. If you get stuck on a certain encounter/challenge/problem, don't give up. If you're swearing like a sailor and throwing things, then it's time to shut it off and come back.
