WHY THE FUCK DO I SUCK AT VIDEO GAMES!?

[VenomMacbeth]

I've never beaten Sonic the Hedgehog.  Any of them.  I usually get hung up on, like, the second fucking level.  So I read up on Strider & go "hey, that's supposed to be relatively easy!"

Nope.  I can hardly get past the first stage without dying at least twice.  Does anybody else have this problem??  Am I just a retard when it comes to playing games??  It's very frustrating when I have to basically beat any game I play by repetition & memorization, with little to no skill involved at all.  Very un-fun. 

FUCK.

[esadajr]

Don't be so hard on yourself. It just basically takes practice and a "bit" of patience. When I began playing the NES (and basically when I was a kid) I had no patience at all.

Friends would teach me how to play and analyze patterns (I didn't know what "analyze" meant back then), the most important lesson was "it's just a game, it's suppossed to be fun".

When I began playing just for fun, that's when I fiished my first game, then the second, etc

By the time I got my Genesis, pretty much every game had its fun side (with a few exceptions. I'm looking at you Awesome Possum).

[MrFlutterPie]

Here's the problem playing these games now a days as adults.

1. We're slower than we used to be as kids.

2. Time commitments mean we can't play games from 3:30pm to 10:00pm every weekday and all day on the weekends.  This means we're not memorizing the game as much as we should.

3. Choice.  As collectors we simply have to many games to choose from making it easy to play something else.

As kids we had more time and less game selection so we played the crap out of any game we had because we had so few.  We had no other games to play so we mastered the few games we did have just through sheer repetition. Now a days if a game pisses me off I can rage quit and pick one of a hundred new games that I have barely played.  These old games require a person to practice and master them.  Now a days we're too busy and have too many games to distract us.

[esadajr]

It's very frustrating when I have to basically beat any game I play by repetition & memorization, with little to no skill involved at all.  Very un-fun. 

how old are you? You sound like you can breeze through "call of doodie" but has troubles with 8/16 bit games

[Tatsujin]

Sonic 1 is one of the easiest game ever made. Still can 1lc that, after 20 years blindfolded.

[Joe Redifer]

I usually get too bored playing any Sonic game to make it all the way too the end. 3 levels of the same thing for each stage? No thanks.

[VenomMacbeth]

It's very frustrating when I have to basically beat any game I play by repetition & memorization, with little to no skill involved at all.  Very un-fun.

how old are you? You sound like you can breeze through "call of doodie" but has troubles with 8/16 bit games

Not really.  I'm generally pretty terrible at modern games, too.  I'm 22, if that's any indication.  I think the problem is that I really didn't pay any mind to video games at all until I was about 7-8.

[HercTNT]

don't feel alone. i watched a 5 year old beat ducktales on the nes and i can't get off the first level. just embarassing.

[Bernie]

I usually get too bored playing any Sonic game to make it all the way too the end. 3 levels of the same thing for each stage? No thanks.

TRUTH!

[esteban]

It takes me weeks and weeks to dig deep into games these days, something I could do in a fraction of the time when I was a kid.

This is frustrating...knowing that beating Ghost Manor is going to be a major project. Why do I suck at this game?

Here's the problem playing these games now a days as adults.

1. We're slower than we used to be as kids.

2. Time commitments mean we can't play games from 3:30pm to 10:00pm every weekday and all day on the weekends.  This means we're not memorizing the game as much as we should.

3. Choice.  As collectors we simply have to many games to choose from making it easy to play something else.

As kids we had more time and less game selection so we played the crap out of any game we had because we had so few.  We had no other games to play so we mastered the few games we did have just through sheer repetition. Now a days if a game pisses me off I can rage quit and pick one of a hundred new games that I have barely played.  These old games require a person to practice and master them.  Now a days we're too busy and have too many games to distract us.

'Tis the truth. I think that a part of that mentality has stuck with me, because I always try to find something to appreciate about a game (for example, a totally generic shoot-em-up might have one slightly inspired element to it—one decent boss fight, say—which is not enough to save the game from mediocrity, but it's something).

Of course, I can't/don't always find stuff to appreciate, but I try.

Recently, I finally admitted to myself that PCE TURRICAN will never,ever, ever provide me with much enjoyment. I've had this game for many moons and it just lacks a "hook" to pull me in. It's technically a better game than many other games (e.g., Super Pitfall, NES) that I spend time with and actually enjoy in some twisted way (Super Pitfall...I used to hate it, but it hooked me, somehow).


BACK ON TOPIC: Dude, you totally suck at games. I just re-read your posts..damn! No skills! You could have all the time in the world and you'd still be stuck at the first boss in China Warrior.

Damn. 

[BigusSchmuck]

About the only games that piss me off these days are Choplifter and Ghost House for the sega master system. Damn those are hard! Fun though...

[VenomMacbeth]

Dude, you totally suck at games. I just re-read your posts..damn! No skills! You could have all the time in the world and you'd still be stuck at the first boss in China Warrior.

Damn. 

Hey now, I can at least get to the third-level Kung-Fu Master boss before I start failing miserably.

[PukeSter]

The problem with Sonic games is that the game design is not fun. You may have like 50 rings, and are ZIPPING along the hill. then BAM! Out of nowhere a stupid robot hits you, and it's not even your fault. Also, Special Stages are no fun in any game.

The only sonic games I've beaten are Sonic 2 (using the 14 continue option), and Sonic CD (got all good futures, and maybe 5 time stones). I am not a fan of Sonic 3 and Knuckles, and Sonic 1 I like, but haven't played much.

Currently, I am almost done with Sonic Colors though. Great game!


EDIT: Also, it takes a few days to get the grips of a game, but it can take forever to beat. Here's some examples for me.

Legendary Axe=5 days
SideArms HuCard=2 weeks
Aeroblasters=3 months?
Sega Pitfall II SG-1000 version=2 months (and it was 100%)

All games vary for me, but some are just impossible, like R-Type.

[RoyVegas]

EDIT: Also, it takes a few days to get the grips of a game, but it can take forever to beat. Here's some examples for me.

Aeroblasters=3 months?

You actually beat it legit or is that with cheats?

[esteban]

EDIT: Also, it takes a few days to get the grips of a game, but it can take forever to beat. Here's some examples for me.

Aeroblasters=3 months?

You actually beat it legit or is that with cheats?

I know! It took me a long, long time to beat AeroBlasters and I struggled with SideArms for a bit before beating it. I still choke/mess up in both games (I have not mastered them).


I'll add that lukester made a good point about how some games can just....not click. It's a mental block, or something, but my performance is SO INCONSISTENT in the Darius series. I don't know why, but I just haven't made a real dent in any of the games. Partly, they don't grab my soul, and hook me in, like other games...but, I also feel LIKE I SUCK AT DARIUS because I don't make progress like I expect to.

WHY DO I SUCK AT DARIUS SERIES?

[PukeSter]

You actually beat it legit or is that with cheats?

100% legit, all on my own. I think I had 2 continues left also. Now, I would suck of course.

I don't know why, but I just haven't made a real dent in any of the games. Partly, they don't grab my soul, and hook me in, like other games...but, I also feel LIKE I SUCK AT DARIUS because I don't make progress like I expect to.
WHY DO I SUCK AT DARIUS SERIES?

I used to own Super Darius. I was horrendous at the game. Too many different stages to pick, and too long to power up fully. At least the art was nice.

[VenomMacbeth]

Ironically, I'm actually somewhat okay at Super Darius/Darius Plus, but that's because I played it on repeat for several days.  I still have trouble beating the aptly named Hard Mollusk, and I can't figure out how to defeat My Home Daddy at all. 

Ya know, I wanna say I actually finished a game of Darius Plus one time, but I can't remember for sure...

[VestCunt]

Here's the problem playing these games now a days as adults.

1. We're slower than we used to be as kids.

2. Time commitments mean we can't play games from 3:30pm to 10:00pm every weekday and all day on the weekends.  This means we're not memorizing the game as much as we should.

3. Choice.  As collectors we simply have to many games to choose from making it easy to play something else.

As kids we had more time and less game selection so we played the crap out of any game we had because we had so few.  We had no other games to play so we mastered the few games we did have just through sheer repetition. Now a days if a game pisses me off I can rage quit and pick one of a hundred new games that I have barely played.  These old games require a person to practice and master them.  Now a days we're too busy and have too many games to distract us.

4. Too much time. When I was a kid, I couldn't afford to rage quit because I was probably renting the game or borrowing it from a friend.

5. Less (dork) status recognition, competitive motivation, and social support. The drive I had to be better at games than my friends growing up was incredible. Contra, Life Force, TMNT2, River City Ransom, Mario Kart, and SFII were fiercely competitive games in my town. The two guys who beat Metroid one summer were legends. Ninja Gaiden and SMB skills were carefully evaluated by a panel of peers at sleepovers. Zelda and Shadowgate trivia was swapped at the lunch table. Forums and youtube recall a little of this, but it's not the same.

[esteban]

Here's the problem playing these games now a days as adults.

1. We're slower than we used to be as kids.

2. Time commitments mean we can't play games from 3:30pm to 10:00pm every weekday and all day on the weekends.  This means we're not memorizing the game as much as we should.

3. Choice.  As collectors we simply have to many games to choose from making it easy to play something else.

As kids we had more time and less game selection so we played the crap out of any game we had because we had so few.  We had no other games to play so we mastered the few games we did have just through sheer repetition. Now a days if a game pisses me off I can rage quit and pick one of a hundred new games that I have barely played.  These old games require a person to practice and master them.  Now a days we're too busy and have too many games to distract us.

4. Too much time. When I was a kid, I couldn't afford to rage quit because I was probably renting the game or borrowing it from a friend.

5. Less (dork) status recognition, competitive motivation, and social support. The drive I had to be better at games than my friends growing up was incredible. Contra, Life Force, TMNT2, River City Ransom, Mario Kart, and SFII were fiercely competitive games in my town. The two guys who beat Metroid one summer were legends. Ninja Gaiden and SMB skills were carefully evaluated by a panel of peers at sleepovers. Zelda and Shadowgate trivia was swapped at the lunch table. Forums and youtube recall a little of this, but it's not the same.

Some GB, NES, Genesis, SNES games did have a competitive social aspect...but they tended to be the very popular games.

If you were playing lesser-known titles (or lesser-known hardware....TG-16, SMS, Lynx, etc.) you were competing against yourself.

Well...

ANECDOTE: Yes, borrowing (I only rented occasionally) certainly imposed a serious deadline. I STILL HAVE NOT BEATEN SECTION Z , EVEN THOUGH I BORROWED IT 2-3 times from Tony Ng in Middle School and made lots of maps. I did beat Wizards & Warriors in record time, though. I'm trying to remember the kid I borrowed W&W from but my sad brain is substituting him with someone else. TONY TOLD ME HE NEVER BEAT SECTION Z. NEITHER DID HIS BROTHER. This other kid never beat W&W.

[bob]

Looking back, i cant believe how much time i sunk into W&W.

[turbofan1]

I usually get too bored playing any Sonic game to make it all the way too the end. 3 levels of the same thing for each stage? No thanks.

Agreed,I`d rather play A game like Kid chameleon.I always saw the sonic games as nothing more than an average platformer with A silly gimmick.Every now and than I`ll try to play sonic 1 or 2 just to see if I missed something over years. Video game mags like egm and gamepro just over hype these games.

[Joe Redifer]

I think I'm better at videogames now than I used to be. Some games seem tough because I haven't played them for years but I relearn quickly. But I can still blow through F-Zero after not having played it seriously for several years. I suck at today's games like The Last of Us. Everyone says its easy as shit. I find it pretty damn tough... and boring. I guess it all depends on what type of games you're used to playing, because modern games always whine about how hard retro games are (they're not any harder).

[PunkCryborg]

Ive always thought of myself as being bad at games but I somehow managed to clear  a shit to of them in the last 3 years. I think I'm just patient with them idk. I still suck at games i've been playing my whole life like SFII

[roflmao]

5. Less (dork) status recognition, competitive motivation, and social support. The drive I had to be better at games than my friends growing up was incredible. Contra, Life Force, TMNT2, River City Ransom, Mario Kart, and SFII were fiercely competitive games in my town.

I remember this as well.  SFII was by far the fiercest, if only because there were all of a sudden so many people in the arcades and everyone with a home console had it. That was one game I remember playing the heck out of just to be able to hold my own in the arcades and against buddies at home.  

R-Type was another I played way too much just so I could give my other TG16 friend a run for his money when we got together.  (I don't think I ever beat that one though)


And I suck at ALL Darius games.

[turboswimbz]

Man I suck at games too.  But I have a shit ton of fun with them.  Particularly I suck at shooters - (I ignore backgrounds where the shots come from)

easier shooter games I can't beat:
Blazing lazers
Download

I also can't beat sonic games - although the boredom factor kills me most often.

I mostly don't worry about completing games, I just have fun with them.  If I play a game over and over and win so be it, Otherwise I am fine with just enjoying the games. 

Even with most people being way better than me I still manage a clear or two.


That being said you probably suck at games for the same reason I do, it's hard to concentrate with all that pussy around you 

[MrFlutterPie]

I mostly don't worry about completing games, I just have fun with them.  If I play a game over and over and win so be it, Otherwise I am fine with just enjoying the games. 

This is my philosophy as well.

[geise]

ANECDOTE: Yes, borrowing (I only rented occasionally) certainly imposed a serious deadline. I STILL HAVE NOT BEATEN SECTION Z , EVEN THOUGH I BORROWED IT 2-3 times from Tony Ng in Middle School and made lots of maps. I did beat Wizards & Warriors in record time, though. I'm trying to remember the kid I borrowed W&W from but my sad brain is substituting him with someone else. TONY TOLD ME HE NEVER BEAT SECTION Z. NEITHER DID HIS BROTHER. This other kid never beat W&W.

Random:  In 97 my brother got back into a Nintendo faze.  I wached him pick up Section Z after 9 years (never owning it) and beat it in one sitting.  Just amazing!

I actually think I'm better at certain games now than I used to be.  I just challenged myself, but sometimes friends.  Now with forums and high-score threads I find myself sticking with certain games a lot longer to try and beat the next high-score.

[esteban]

ANECDOTE: Yes, borrowing (I only rented occasionally) certainly imposed a serious deadline. I STILL HAVE NOT BEATEN SECTION Z , EVEN THOUGH I BORROWED IT 2-3 times from Tony Ng in Middle School and made lots of maps. I did beat Wizards & Warriors in record time, though. I'm trying to remember the kid I borrowed W&W from but my sad brain is substituting him with someone else. TONY TOLD ME HE NEVER BEAT SECTION Z. NEITHER DID HIS BROTHER. This other kid never beat W&W.

Random:  In 97 my brother got back into a Nintendo faze.  I wached him pick up Section Z after 9 years (never owning it) and beat it in one sitting.  Just amazing!

I actually think I'm better at certain games now than I used to be.  I just challenged myself, but sometimes friends.  Now with forums and high-score threads I find myself sticking with certain games a lot longer to try and beat the next high-score. 

DAMN your brother. Now I am even more annoyed!

[geise]

Well now you know what to do this weekend.    *mommy why is daddy locked in the room cussing and swearing*

Your quest awaits!

[esteban]

Well now you know what to do this weekend.    *mommy why is daddy locked in the room cussing and swearing*

Your quest awaits!

STATUS: "Mom! Dad won't let me play Section Z even though it's my turn! It's not fair. And he sucks at it! The fucking douchebag sucks at it." -- my daughter, age 9, ratting me out this weekend.

[turboswimbz]

Well now you know what to do this weekend.    *mommy why is daddy locked in the room cussing and swearing*

Your quest awaits!

STATUS: "Mom! Dad won't let me play Section Z even though it's my turn! It's not fair. And he sucks at it! The fucking douchebag sucks at it." -- my daughter, age 9, ratting me out this weekend.

That Girl must be Jersey.  Excellent use of Fucking Douchebag at such a young age.  they grow up so quick.


FUCKING BITCH STATUS: When the fook we gonna get a new Damned Le Turbo Doodle?????

[esteban]

Well now you know what to do this weekend.    *mommy why is daddy locked in the room cussing and swearing*

Your quest awaits!

STATUS: "Mom! Dad won't let me play Section Z even though it's my turn! It's not fair. And he sucks at it! The fucking douchebag sucks at it." -- my daughter, age 9, ratting me out this weekend.

That Girl must be Jersey.  Excellent use of Fucking Douchebag at such a young age.  they grow up so quick.


FUCKING BITCH STATUS: When the fook we gonna get a new Damned Le Turbo Doodle?????

Somehow, if only by sheer miracle, I'll have a new Le Doodle. 

[turboswimbz]

"sheer miracle"

Miracle you say: like a miracle found in:


A guy can hope you'll doodle one of his all time favorite games . . .

[Jabberwok]

I was gonna say that Aeroblasters is easy but... nowadays it isn't  I mean back then I breezed through it like a cakewalk but now it has the best of me  Also, back then R-Type was easy & could beat it effortlessly but now, I can only make it to stage 6 without dying  Have I gone soft? I mean I still remember all the patterns & timings!!!

 

On the other hand some games I could never finished back then due to short temper like the American RPG's (The old AD&D games from the late 80s) I can now finish with ease but the fact that I can appreciate such simple & slow games while taking my time & enjoying every detail no matter how insignificant is proof that a gamer evolves in his own way... Now I can actually enjoy content designed to be enjoyed as opposed to just "beating a game" as if I was trying to break a record...

A game I recently enjoyed is AD&D Pool of Radiance for the Commodore 64 : I bought this back then but never played more than 2 minutes as I thought it was painstakingly slow...

[VenomMacbeth]

Now I can actually enjoy content designed to be enjoyed as opposed to just "beating a game" as if I was trying to break a record...

This is me all the way.  I love the nuances developers put into games to add depth, flare, variation, etc.  The problem arises when a game kicks my ass in the first level & I'm unable to reach, and therefore appreciate most of that content.