GoNintendo 'End of Day' thought - Taking gaming skill for granted

Time for me to get some rest. I've been feeling extra run down lately. I think I might just need some more regular sleep hours. I'll try to get myself back into a more regular routine and see how it goes. I hope you all are doing well! See you in a few, short hours.

I have a lot of friends that play games. Some of them play quite often and are very into gaming in general. Others just try out games now and then, picking up random titles and giving them a go. That means we have a lot of different skill sets flying around in our place. There are all sorts of games that take varying degrees of skill, but when large groups are around, we're usually playing party games. It's when the more intimate gaming sessions come together where i really learn things.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been spending time with a few people that dabble in games. They don't play all the time, but they do play a fair amount. These people have randomly been coming together to try out some games they missed over the years. Since I have a sizable collection of games old and new, I'm the local arcade! These friends know to drop by here and I'll be more than happy to set them up with whatever they want.

Watching all these people has had a really big impact on me. I've come to realize just how much about games I take for granted. I'm talking about basic gameplay mechanics and cliches that don't even register in my mind anymore. Things that I've been doing in games for a very long time now. Watching these people play has had me realize just how frustrating and esoteric some game ideas can be.

Seeing stuff like this makes it seem like there's a good portion of the population that will never make it beyond casual games. There's just too many things that games are built on that late-bloomers won't be able to get a hold of. People will become too confused or frustrated to continue and push through to see the reasons why we like games. It's a bit sad, actually! I mean, what in the world can game developers do to counter this?

Have you ever had a moment when someone was having trouble with a game in a spot where you would breeze through? Ever see someone miss out on something that you'd consider ridiculously easy to tackle? Leave a comment and let us know.