Games used to be harder. It sounds like the same sort of nostalgic elitism that music snobs indulge in, criticising current bands for lacking the legendary quality of yesterday's heroes. As the industry has grown, the big titles have moved towards toning down the difficulty, in order to give a smooth experience to as wide a range of players as possible. Nowadays, if you want a real challenge, you have to select "hard" mode, which usually just means more enemies and less ammo. But difficulty is at its best when it's an intrinsic part of the design: players have to think about the game in another way – and earn their progress.