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The Daily Grind: How easy is too easy?
Difficulty in games is a contentious issue at any point. Brian "Psychochild" Green recently had a musing on the topic of difficulty as it applies to most games, but even that discussion stops shy of discussing MMOs, where multiple difficulty levels are rarely an option. Designers can make harder events, but if the rewards are the same as something easier, no one will bother making life harder on themselves. That makes the "hard mode" more than just an increased challenge, and sets up a hardwired and sometimes arbitrary challenge-to-reward ratio. On the flip side... well, it's not fun to have the game just hand everything to you. We want to feel as if we're accomplishing something when we play. So today, we ask you, what's too far in either direction? What sort of penalties or challenges make something so ridiculously hard it's not worth bothering? By the same token, how simple does something have to be before you're annoyed at the ease of it all? What levels of difficulty can be tinkered with without making the game unpleasant, and what elements of gameplay are best kept at a set level?
You Have to Burn the Rope guy has new video game song
We were just starting to get a little nostalgic for Flash classic You Have to Burn the Rope when songwriter Reachground has returned with a brand new video-game-themed tune, "Reload Press Play." While it may lack some of the minimalistic charm of "YHTBTR," we'll be darned if we've been able to get it out of our head all afternoon. Watch for yourself right after the break.If you like the song, you can check out Reachground's blog to learn more about it and how you can buy it.
You Have to Burn the Rope: Behind the Music
We've made no secret of our love for the incomparable You Have to Burn the Rope, for both its ease and its brevity. But what really makes the experience for us is the hit song "Now You're a Hero," the end credits tune that rewards your limited amount of work. If you're interested in Henrik Nåmark, the man behind the music, we've dug up a few links for you to enjoy.First, you can go here and download an MP3. Then, once the melody is fully embedded in your cranium take it to the next level by checking the chords and playing the song at your next open mic performance. Everyone's sure to really, really enjoy it. Still no enough? Well, we've embedded Henrik's audio player after the break, maybe you should put together a whole open mic set. Chicks ahoy!
