Topic: How are you going to enjoy the "mystery of games" ?

Let me explain. Back in the day we had Mortal Kombat, X-Com, Syndicate ... etc... We got those games and they were full of mystery and rumours. People who unlocked the blood code for Mortal Kombat on SNES (there was none, take that Michael, you dork!) and people were sharing strategies about the best weapons for each mission for X-Com and Syndicate. I loved that. If you were stuck, you had to go get a magazine that came out like once a month or twice a month maximum that had some coverage about your beloved game. All games kinda felt magic because you didn't realize what may lay hidden in the depths of gameplay and content.

MILD SPOILERS AHEAD FOR FIRE EMBLEM AND METAL GEAR REVENGEANCE In today's day and age everything is spoiled. Information technology blowing away every little last bit of mystery surrounding my favourite franchises. I used to check IGN for my gaming news, but I can't do that anymore. People are spoiling stuff in the comments and on the frontpage of IGN I read things like "Unlock the stun blade in Metal Gear" - what the hell? I don't mind Metal Gear but if I was a fan I wouldn't even want to know that there IS a stunblade. I'd rather stumble over it during normal gameplay and be amazed. Same with IGN putting "how to recruit Marth in Fire Emblem" on their frontpage, no way of avoiding it. I just got deeper into Fire Emblem replaying the GBA titles and I get the "awesomeoness" of Marth and I feel like it has been spoiled to me that he is in the new one. It would have been a "WTF" Moment if I was to discover that on my own....
SPOILERS END

So If you didn't read the above paragraph it was basicly me ranting about sites like IGN putting crucial-to-the-experience information about games on their frontpage that are just not avoidable. It's awful. Everywhere is a link saiyng "walkthrough" or "secret passage here" and I honestly want to experience it all for myself. But it's hard today. Same with movie sites. Those folks seem to have a bit more respect for not spoiling an experience but there is the ocassional thickhead that must ruin it for everyone posting the END of a movie in the thread title. Awesome.

So now with Miiverse and the modern media, how do you think about it? Don't you mind and love the information, always having a walkthrough at hand for your games or are you still oldschool-explorer?

I miss that stuff. Seems like devs don't really put secrets in games anymore.

Demon's Souls and Dark Souls is pretty much proof that a game can still have mystery and intrigue, even when the game itself gives players a way to do spoilers for other WITHIN THE GAME.

All it takes is good game design.

In some SNES games I had been stucked for months and had to try many different ways before I finally did it. After reaching those achievements I was unbelievably happy and proud of myself. So without internet the time period I spent for games was much larger and my brain was more required.
I miss these secrets, too.

I think some developers, Nintendo included, make some things ridiculously secretive, knowing people will just go on the Internet and get the answer if they get stuck. That was one of the thoughts behind the design of the 3DS' OS; that you could pause the game and go to the Internet to find help for a difficult spot.

That said, when I play a current game I try to avoid all Internet discussion about the game. Too many spoilers.

This is basically the Internet's fault. I know when I was a 7-15 year old kid, you couldn't go onto youtube and see some twenty something layabout complete the game you where playing on film, pointing out all the novel bits. And there was no guarantee you'd learn the secrets from you're friends- because it wasn't definite that anyone would buy the crappy game you bought. And just because you bought mags with tips and cheats, didn't mean they would have the cheats for YOUR game. The world was a much smaller place back then.

Also a not a big fan of all the content (e.g: beat 'em up characters) being available out the box apart from the DLC. But then I suppose they want you to buy the extra characters these days. I do miss the days when you were rewarded for wasting your time....

And this.

Basically games have changed and the environments that they're played in have changed. Once upon a time, games were short due to the restrictions of the format (small memory) and gameplay was lengthened by providing a series of unlockables and high difficulty. Now that more memory is available to developers they've moved their focus to creating a longer game through narrative and bigger/longer/more levels. Game developers expect people to go online if they're stuck, gone are the days of magazines and hotlines and they're designed with that in mind - including more characters/objects/costumes out of the box or through DLC.

That said, you should be able to avoid the information if you choose to and people wildly posting it in prominent places is obnoxious. Generally, I do try to avoid it but there are times where I seek help. The most recent example -semi-spoiler for Darksiders 2 alert - is the maze level in Darksiders 2 where, despite collecting coordinates throughout the game I suddenly discovered that they weren't in my inventory when I got there (really, you're expected to write these things down? That is old school!) so I decided that I had no choice but to look online for the coordinates if I wanted to complete it (I calculate it as a .004 chance of guessing the right path for each of the ten levels - 1/4, 1/4, 1/4 and 1/4). Still feels like cheating to me though.