90 per cent of new gamers can't complete World 1-1 in Super Mario Bros.

[cobl04]

“It may come as a shock to some of you that most gamers today cannot finish the original Super Mario Brothers game on the Famicom,” he said. “We have conducted this test over the past few years to see how difficult we should make our games and have found that the number of people unable to finish the first level is steadily increasing.”

At this point, a whopping 90% of participants couldn’t finish the level. (We presume that means they used up their few available lives before having to restart the game.)

He also noted that most didn’t understand basic game mechanics such as the run button, or that coins are to be collected and aren’t enemies, or the concept of a bottomless pit. About 70% died at the first enemy, and half of those died at that same spot twice. (Twice! At the hands [or lack thereof] of the first Goomba!)

Participants said that they wanted the game to be easier, and that Mario should perhaps start the game with a sword or a gun. Some didn’t even realize that Super Mario Bros was an actual vintage game.

A sad, and indictment on the youth of today. That part I've bolded in particular is a disgrace!

Nintendo CEO: 90% of New Gamers Unable to Finish Level 1-1 in Original Super Mario Bros - HotHardware

 

[bono_212]

Sensationalist journalism at its best.

Because you knew how to play Super Mario Bros. out of the box. Doesn't sound like they were able to read the instructions or had ever played the game before. What a shock.

 

[LemonMelon]

Some people didn't know it was a game.

Was Nintendo's chosen population comprised of people who had been recently taken out of cryogenic storage?

 

[cobl04]

Sensationalist journalism at its best.

Because you knew how to play Super Mario Bros. out of the box. Doesn't sound like they were able to read the instructions or had ever played the game before. What a shock.

Well it was a bit of a tongue-in-cheek post, not to be taken seriously. But it is pretty weird. That last paragraph I quoted is ridiculous!

 

[bono_212]

I didn't mean You as in you, I meant it as the collective you.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

A sad, and indictment on the youth of today. That part I've bolded in particular is a disgrace!

Nintendo CEO: 90% of New Gamers Unable to Finish Level 1-1 in Original Super Mario Bros - HotHardware

I don't know if it's necessarily "youth" here. The article makes the same mistake (unless some detail was missed/left out). I'd venture to day their study group wasn't children or youthful individuals but "new gamers" referring to anyone and everyone. Middle aged adults with their smart phones can be "new gamers" too.

 

[The Sad Punk]

Not surprising to see that this was satire, but it still makes me wish that games were more like they were 20/25 years ago.

That's not entirely nostalgia talking, even now I find it a hell of a lot more fulfilling and instantly gratifying to play 8-bit and 16-bit games, because I don't have to spend 3 fucking hours at the start to develop a bullshit plot about some beardy white dudes angst/learn how to shoot a gun for the 6000th time.

 

[Jive Turkey]

There are plenty of downloadable games that play like the old school ones

 

[No spoken words]

Not surprising to see that this was satire, but it still makes me wish that games were more like they were 20/25 years ago.

That's not entirely nostalgia talking, even now I find it a hell of a lot more fulfilling and instantly gratifying to play 8-bit and 16-bit games, because I don't have to spend 3 fucking hours at the start to develop a bullshit plot about some beardy white dudes angst/learn how to shoot a gun for the 6000th time.

Yeah, fuck that shit, Bonnie.