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Yeah, I love that feeling too! I just think that there need to be different levels so that more people can get that feeling, it needs to be you know... feasible if hard. The one drop to easy I did is because I died SO MANY times on just this one zone; I had managed the rest of the game fine on Normal so far, quite a few deaths but par for the course I thought.. but this area just wrecked my arse. I couldn't progress no matter how hard I tried, so after about 12+ deaths I set it to easy and went on from there. It still gave me some sort of challenge but it wasn't insurmountable any more, and that game went on to be a firm favourite in my top 10. Without the easy mode, I wouldn't have finished it ever.

Why does it have to be a competition that way though? Why does it have to be "not fair" to other players, if the modes are completely separate? How does a game having an easy mode tacked on so that a beginner or someone with less skill can play it take away from the experience of someone playing on Normal/Hard/Nightmare mode? I'd fully get your point for like... an MMORPG for example, where the entire world is a baseline; if you're making it easy for everyone it does alter the entire game, but even then most MMOs have ways of making the baseline content accessible to everyone but adding several "modes" of dungeons etc for people who need/want more of a challenge.

@Psycho666Soldier Regarding your question about challenges etc, not every easy mode has "no semblance of a challenge", or is a cakewalk; that depends on the game, and also depends on the player's skill. Everyone's version of "hard" is subjective, so catering more freely to help it be challenging but playable to even more people is something that should be a given. I normally play on "Normal" mode, but the one time I had to drop a game to "Easy" the baseline was still challenging enough for me between the controls and the atmospherics scaring me silly! If I went back on a replay (and hopefully with the sequel when it comes out), I figure I'd be able to play the whole way through on "Normal", and perhaps even move up to "Hard" someday. And yes, the storyline is a big hook; with a good chunk of games acting like interactive action movies these days, people are going to want to see the plot, especially if people who've already bought the game rave about how good it is; easier modes can allow people to enjoy that fully! Since the story is part of the artistic creation and it's out there to be seen, it makes sense to make it more accessible. Jane also brings up a good point: Money. It's not like spending a tenner on something you might not be able to finish; most console games are £30 minimum, and more like £50+ for the big name games. That's a LOT of money to drop on something and be dissatisfied with it.

Yeah, that's not a very friendly way of conducting a hobby though. It amounts to gatekeeping and with hobbies that are supposed to be fun, isn't the whole point to introduce more people to them and share that enjoyment? Video games are something you buy, and everyone can buy them, so why can't they cater to everyone? Someone with colour-blindness or slow reaction times due to a neurological condition absolutely deserves to be catered to, especially if- as has been previously mentioned by almost everyone in this topic including yourself- it doesn't interfere with/take away from the game's normal/hard/mega hard difficulty settings. Using a non-videogame example, that'd be like saying "Don't know how to draw? Don't do it. Wanna experience said crafting experience though? Speedpaints on YouTube. That's your option".

Exactly this! No one's saying that hard modes shouldn't exist; if you want to play something on Terror Mode with a zillion handicaps because that's what gets your rocks off then you should 100% be able to do so. However, everyone has different abilities and skill caps, and it seems silly that a game would lock itself away from a potentially bigger audience by having Terror Mode Only as the default setting. A game can still be scary or challenging and fun on 'Normal'- or even 'Easy'- if that's where the player's skill cap is, and as they get better at that game or games in general, they may even move up a difficulty level or two! Anecdote mode: