Have been playing quite a bit of Dead Rising recently. Wow, it’s gotta be one of the hardest game’s I’ve ever played. Fun, but hard.

In part, the funky approach to save games make you feel like you are reliving the same nightmare (ie, the beginning of the game) over and over again. Moreso, it comes down to the sheer intensity of “scoops” and “cases” that you need to pursue in order to fully complete the game. And, I suppose, the somewhat frustrating NPC AI that you have to drag along.

Anyway, once you get past the hardness (ie, buying the official guide book is a huge help), the game is just super fun to play - in the beat-up-hordes-of-zombies-with-your-bare-hands kinda way. Joy.

Makes me think of some of the game research into the idea that what makes games fun is not always the “fun” but the hardness/challenge of it all (ie, the frustration is part of the value).

On a related note, those crazy boys from Mega64 gave their treatment to Dead Rising. Not necessarily their best work, but pretty funny if you’ve played the game!