Source: /cirosantilli/the-perfect-video-game-is-an-infinitely-hard-one

= The perfect video game is an infinitely hard one
{tag=Essays by Ciro Santilli}

Ciro once commented that the best game is an infinitely hard one, where you can progress infinitely. To which his great friend J. replied:
\Q[Fine, so the perfect game for you is <mathematics>. Stage one: prove the <Riemann hypothesis>!]
Or more broadly, one may argue that the perfect video game is life itself, or difficult life goals like making money, becoming famous or changing the world.

Thinking about it, "infinitely hard" is perhaps not a very precise term, as it could be interpreted as impossible. And if you have mathematical proof that something is impossible, it would be "pointless" to try, trying would be equivalent to pure <meditation>.

Maybe a better way to put it would be in terms of a difficulty curve. Real life also <the development cycle time is your God>[involves a lot of waiting, either for some experiment to finish running, of for you mental energy to restore a bit].

But so be it, you get the idea.

But this is basically what Ciro feels on every video game. It happens too often on <player versus environment>[PVE] games that things are is either:
* too slow and easy (Ciro would rather skip those with saves made by other)
* or too fast hard, Ciro would rather <tool-assisted speedrun> those parts

Not to mention the incredible breach of <suspension of disbelief> of most PvE games where enemies are unbelievably stupid. E.g., why doesn't Bowser just build one fucking wall 15 tiles high to prevent Mario from coming through to his castle? And then put a gate and a hundred guards in front of it? TODO there was a YouTube video of this, I think it was Toad pointing it out to Mario that it is quite weird that Bowser is so stupid, it almost feels like he wants to be beaten.