Warning: my statistics background extends not much beyond AP Statistics in high school. So its completely possible that this thesis has no real mathematical backing, but I think it is an interesting concept nonetheless.
Introduction
Whenever there's discussion about game X being superior to game Y, there's always some sort of discussion about which game is "harder". But the problem is that when both games are multiplayer games, its considered rather silly to say that one game is harder than another, simply because, in my opinion, the game is as hard as your opponent is good. Its not something inherent about the game that makes it hard; its simply a measurement of how good your opponent is. I always consider these discussions to be rather trivial and impossible to resolve for two reasons:
1. Because a value criterion of game difficulty does not necessarily fit the thesis that a game is actually "better", and
2. Because there's no objective way to quantify a game being "harder"; even if your own experience says that a given game is harder, its based on a subjective experience and doesn't necessarily mean that its the same for everyone else.
The first part is a subjective statement that I make from my own opinion and its not something that can really be discussed beyond the surface, but the second one is always considered to be a factual statement. But I've always wondered if it is, in fact, possible to quantify game difficulty in PvP games.
Well, if I didn't have a working theory, I would be writing this blog post, wouldn't I?
The thesis is based on the following concept: A more "difficult" game has more ways for a "better" player to differentiate him/herself from a "worse" player. Unfortunately, this is a statement that has to be taken as an unprovable axiom, but I believe that it is a statement that is intuitive enough that it doesn't need to be proven. So I will leave it at face value.
But how do you determine how many ways a game has for players to differentiate between each other? Well, you could count them, but that's rather silly, and it doesn't correctly capture the measurement we're trying to make. But once again, anything that measures the game based on the game mechanics is guaranteed to be subjective and not mathematically or logically rigorous.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Kogan's (Personal) Top 5: Most Difficult Things in Games
Video games aren't just all fun and games, I can give you that. Video games make you work for your reward. However, we come across some games that perhaps take "work for your reward" and take it to the extreme. No matter what case, hardcore games nor "casual" games.These cases can sometimes ruin a games experiences, other times the rest of the game eclipses that part and makes you forget about it. Today I will be talking about these instances of what I believe are to be the top five. Also no, Water Temple is not anywhere in this list, I didn't think it was hard.
Friday, March 29, 2013
The Art of Gaming: Zelda Style
There are quite a few games that can be considered art, from the peaceful Flower to the daunting Shadow of the Colossus to the entire metal gear solid franchise. These are praised for their visual style, and in the case of the latter two, story. I, however, want to talk about a game near and dear to my heart: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
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