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Started By
Message
Xbox could soon feature AI and human helpers to take control over during challenging games
Posted on 3/3/26 at 12:07 pm
Posted on 3/3/26 at 12:07 pm
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In the future, however, there could be a massive change in how players receive their much-needed help, judging from a patent filed by Microsoft detailing a cloud-based Xbox system to let human or AI helpers take over temporarily.
This post was edited on 3/3/26 at 12:09 pm
7
Posted on 3/3/26 at 12:29 pm to The Pirate King
Are people incapable of adjusting the difficulty level on their own? 
Posted on 3/3/26 at 2:59 pm to TideSaint
quote:
Are people incapable of adjusting the difficulty level on their own?
Ive never been adept at busting out intricate combos on action/fighting games. The older I get, Im just getting worse and it makes my hands hurt sometimes if I go at it for too long. I still enjoy the spectacle of games like Devil May Cry and Mortal Kombat so nudging the difficulty sliders or switching to easy mode is something I ve started doing sometimes. I think I may just hang up my controller if it gets to the point Im letting AI do the work though. IDK .. maybe disabled folks would appreciate it.
Posted on 3/3/26 at 3:20 pm to The Pirate King
Why not just watch a streamer play the game instead? Or just watch a youtube of all the cutscenes?
Watching video games turn into movies with optional interactivity makes me sick.
Back in 2014 Miyamoto once spoke his mind on this years ago in a rare moment of brutal honesty
"Miyamoto gave his thoughts on what he calls the "passive attitude" of casual gamers. He states that they take a stance where they say, "Okay, I am the customer. You are supposed to entertain me." He cites this attitude as being "pathetic" saying, "They do not know how interesting it is if you move one step further and try to challenge yourself [with more advanced games]."
Pathetic really is the right word.
Watching video games turn into movies with optional interactivity makes me sick.
Back in 2014 Miyamoto once spoke his mind on this years ago in a rare moment of brutal honesty
"Miyamoto gave his thoughts on what he calls the "passive attitude" of casual gamers. He states that they take a stance where they say, "Okay, I am the customer. You are supposed to entertain me." He cites this attitude as being "pathetic" saying, "They do not know how interesting it is if you move one step further and try to challenge yourself [with more advanced games]."
Pathetic really is the right word.
This post was edited on 3/3/26 at 11:40 pm
Posted on 3/3/26 at 3:36 pm to The Pirate King
Is it just me, or is difficulty just plain different than it was when we were kids?
For me, the epitome of a "hard" level was this:
Or this:
For me, the epitome of a "hard" level was this:
Or this:
Posted on 3/3/26 at 3:46 pm to The Pirate King
Ngl, I was thinking about this just the other day. There is a small handful of games I’ve put down because they became so unpleasant to play—mostly involving overly frustrating stealth sections, which I loathe. I wish I could skip past those moments so that I could continue playing the rest of the game.
Posted on 3/3/26 at 5:37 pm to The Pirate King
What’s the point of playing a game then? If I’m playing dark souls I’m playing it for the challenge and thinking.
Posted on 3/3/26 at 9:08 pm to skrayper
quote:
Is it just me, or is difficulty just plain different than it was when we were kids? For me, the epitome of a "hard" level was this:
Absolutely. And you had to do that shite every time you booted it up. It was legit hilarious that battletoads had entire level maps for basically the entire game in Nintendo power….because not a single kid in America was beating the 3rd level
I always wondered what it would be like to play the rest of the game.
Posted on 3/3/26 at 10:58 pm to The Pirate King
Death Stranding 2 made bosses optional. I thought it was for pussies until I got stuck in my first play through and didn’t want to eat it again to a stupidly designed fight with already clunky combat. I just wanted to get on with the (awesome) story. Didn’t feel nearly as dirty as I thought it would. I’m not 16 with nothing better to do with my time. I barely have time to do any form of gaming. If I’m legit stuck, sometimes 15-60 minutes of saved leisure time is worth the hit to ego. Even if I don't take it, I appreciate the respect exhibited to me in giving me the option
This is just adapting to the preferences of the modern gamer. Day to day existence is frustrating enough, and people are ok with it not seeping into leisure time too. It’s not entirely society’s increasing lack of resiliency. People just don't care as much about beating things on hard, they enjoy games that respect time, they enjoy games that focus on story, etc. Roblox and Minecraft (2/3rds adult) speak for themselves
Expressed inversely, people who were into the brutal MMO leveling grinds and end-game raids of the early 2000s (me) weren’t inherently more virtuous or dedicated. They were mostly kids or adults who genuinely had nothing better to do. They almost found purpose in subjecting themselves to pain that simply wouldn’t be tolerated today with the alternative leisure options available and opportunity costs
The right question might not be something like "why are today's gamers so soft?"
It might actually be closer to "why were yesterday's gamers such mentally ill losers?"
This is just adapting to the preferences of the modern gamer. Day to day existence is frustrating enough, and people are ok with it not seeping into leisure time too. It’s not entirely society’s increasing lack of resiliency. People just don't care as much about beating things on hard, they enjoy games that respect time, they enjoy games that focus on story, etc. Roblox and Minecraft (2/3rds adult) speak for themselves
Expressed inversely, people who were into the brutal MMO leveling grinds and end-game raids of the early 2000s (me) weren’t inherently more virtuous or dedicated. They were mostly kids or adults who genuinely had nothing better to do. They almost found purpose in subjecting themselves to pain that simply wouldn’t be tolerated today with the alternative leisure options available and opportunity costs
The right question might not be something like "why are today's gamers so soft?"
It might actually be closer to "why were yesterday's gamers such mentally ill losers?"
This post was edited on 3/3/26 at 11:28 pm
Posted on 3/3/26 at 11:13 pm to Tiger2025
quote:There have been a decent number of surveys that have catalogued gamer motivations. Quandric Foundry's is the most comprehensive modern dataset (almost 2 million participants). The report itself is like $3k but summaries are easy to pull
What’s the point of playing a game then? If I’m playing dark souls I’m playing it for the challenge and thinking.
In short, you're in a minority
quote:
Motivation % of players scoring high What it means
Completion / progression ~60–65% Unlocking things, leveling up, finishing tasks
Exploration / discovery ~55–60% Seeing new areas, curiosity about worlds
Fantasy / immersion ~50–55% Escaping into another identity or world
Story / narrative ~45–50% Caring about plot and characters
Community / cooperation ~40–45% Playing with friends or groups
Strategy / planning ~35–40% Thinking through systems and optimization
Challenge / difficulty ~30–35% Enjoying tough obstacles
Customization / expression ~25–30% Character design and personalization
Competition (PvP) ~20–25% Beating other players
Destruction / chaos ~15–20% Blowing things up, spectacle
Creative building ~15–20% Constructing worlds or objects
quote:
Broad player cluster Approx share
Exploration / immersion oriented ~35–40%
Progression / achievement oriented ~30–35%
Social / cooperative oriented ~20–25%
Competitive PvP oriented ~10–15%
Posted on 3/3/26 at 11:48 pm to RemouladeSawce
You make an obvious false equivalency between difficulty and "time wasting"
Grinding boars for 8 hours to level up in WoW is obviously not the type of "challenge" people are asking for.
It has nothing to do with this generations or that generation either, it's simple human nature.
The vast majority of people will always flow to the path of least resistance. People flocking to a path that doesn't prove that way is superior, it proves it's easiest.
Same reason there are far more extremely fat out of shape people than there are fit people. It's way easier to just sit on the couch and eat donuts than bust your arse in the gym and be in great shape.
You're bragging about being the donut guy.
Grinding boars for 8 hours to level up in WoW is obviously not the type of "challenge" people are asking for.
It has nothing to do with this generations or that generation either, it's simple human nature.
The vast majority of people will always flow to the path of least resistance. People flocking to a path that doesn't prove that way is superior, it proves it's easiest.
Same reason there are far more extremely fat out of shape people than there are fit people. It's way easier to just sit on the couch and eat donuts than bust your arse in the gym and be in great shape.
You're bragging about being the donut guy.
This post was edited on 3/3/26 at 11:49 pm
Posted on 3/3/26 at 11:59 pm to RemouladeSawce
quote:
Challenge / difficulty ~30–35% Enjoying tough obstacles
Only audience that should matter. So many AAA games are already way too easy.
Posted on 3/4/26 at 12:29 am to StansberryRules
quote:Hate to kill the sweaty romanticism but overcoming video game difficulty really just boils down to the single variable of time invested. The only real question any “hard” game asks of a player is how much time they are willing to spend before succeeding
You make an obvious false equivalency between difficulty and "time wasting"
In 2026, "time spent" flips into "time wasted" for the average consumer far earlier given the opportunity costs of jobs, families, and infinite alternative leisure options. It's less picking a "path of least resistance" as much as it is optimizing effort / reward. Skipping a poorly designed boss fight because I want to get on with a story that I'm enthralled by isn't taking a "path of least resistance" - it's choosing to allocate more time to the things I want to do and less to the things I don't
If we're being honest, you can realistically boil down the most frustrating gaming experiences faced (the kind that would've prompted using AI / help if it was available back in the day) down to one or more of the following traits that really aren't a function of "difficulty" or preferring paths of least resistance
1. Bad gameplay / design
2. Bad controls / input lag
3. Disproportionately unforgiving / cheap mechanics
4. Too few save points / lost progress / long runbacks
5. Poor tutorials / teaching of fundamental mechanics
6. Bad camera
7. RNG
Even with Dark Souls - a series with genuinely challenging gameplay mechanics - its perceived "difficulty" is significantly influenced by the effects of #3-6
Ultimately today's gamers are on a diet and have to pick and choose their donuts, and their standards for when they do are higher
This post was edited on 3/4/26 at 1:16 am
Posted on 3/4/26 at 7:35 am to skrayper
Man, I haven't thought about that underwater TMNT level in a long, long time. frick that level. It usually took me two or three turtles to get through that level. I'd always waste Raphael and Mikee on it because they're combat range sucked.
Posted on 3/4/26 at 9:39 am to ForeverEllisHugh
quote:
Only audience that should matter. So many AAA games are already way too easy.
Nonsense. You'd never get any AAA games if they tried to appeal only to 30% of the audience.
Posted on 3/4/26 at 9:40 am to skrayper
quote:
For me, the epitome of a "hard" level was this:
To me, those levels were the epitome of "I'm never playing this game again." Even as a kid, those levels felt like a complete waste of time. I sunk so much time into that Ninja Turtles level before finally giving up.
This post was edited on 3/4/26 at 9:41 am
Posted on 3/4/26 at 9:43 am to The Pirate King
quote:
Xbox could soon feature integrated AI and human helpers to take control over for challenging segments
Posted on 3/4/26 at 10:02 am to RemouladeSawce
quote:
Hate to kill the sweaty romanticism but overcoming video game difficulty really just boils down to the single variable of time invested
Just laughably false. This is no more true than saying anyone could make the NBA if they just practiced enough.
There's a wide range of factors that go into being successful at any endeavor and investing time is just one of them.
Posted on 3/4/26 at 10:09 am to StansberryRules
quote:My b for forgetting sticky controllers from all the donuts you’ve been eating, you fat sweaty frick
There's a wide range of factors that go into being successful at any endeavor and investing time is just one of them
Posted on 3/4/26 at 11:11 am to skrayper
I feel like the swimming level in TMNT is overrated by everyone in terms of difficulty. As a kid I would get through it relatively unscathed.
To me, the “hard” games were those that were ported over from arcade and were designed to basically force you to pay a bunch of quarters to get through them. For example, I find the TMNT arcade game to be more ridiculous in difficulty than the original TMNT NES game.
To me, the “hard” games were those that were ported over from arcade and were designed to basically force you to pay a bunch of quarters to get through them. For example, I find the TMNT arcade game to be more ridiculous in difficulty than the original TMNT NES game.
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