Core gamers are in the minority (as we have been since forever), and it's difficult to find journalists that give us what we want. Kotaku, Polygon, Gamespot, IGN, etc, are not what we want.
Amen. I can't remember the last time I intentionally read something from one of the big journo sites. If a game is good, I'll hear about it through the grapevine.
I mean that's why I like watching Jim Sterling's Jimpressions, or Yahtzee videos, or simply to play the game myself and post first impressions here. Because I always can rely on the first two people to simply report the yes or no answer of "is the game fun". Meanwhile i try to provide readers here with some basic insight as to how the mechanics work and whether or not they are good. As well as some impressions in regards to the story.
I also want to brush on the topic of difficulties, especially in regards to Dark Souls-like games.
You see too many journalists who write articles demanding easy-modes, as well as people who agree with said articles, don't provide the read with enough context to paint a clearer picture.
Difficulty modes are not always a simple menu-based selection. Sometimes difficulty is dynamic as is the case with some survival horror games that will crank up the health of zombies if you are kicking too much ass, but also turn down their health if you are getting your ass kicked. Other games offer difficulty selection by the sheer nature of playstyle. Dark Souls even has a such a difficulty option as playing a ranged character can provide a vastly easier experience than trying to be a rolling ninja, or even hiding behind a slab of wall and blocking every swing coming your way can be an easier mode depending on how you are as a player.
Why do you think there are players who struggle and players who don't? It's not always about player skill, sometimes it's simply about the struggling player tried playing the game in a way that didn't "click" with them and if they tried a different approach suddenly the game wouldn't seem so scary.
MMO's do this a lot in terms of the class selection. Have you ever had a guildmate who was a badass on one character but kind sucked as another? A ranged DPS who tops meters but when they show up as a Mage they can't beat the tanks? Play style and player mentality has a big effect on what makes a game difficult or easy.
The real answer to the question about difficulty is, there really isn't an answer. Players are all too different from one another, just like people are all different, and some things click for some players that don't click for others. It's not the game's responsibility to try to adapt to all possible players, but instead focus on a tight designed gameplay experience that developers would hope works for as many people as possible. And you have to be okay with shutting out potential players in order to keep the game design at a core level of quality.
No difficulty mode is going to make someone who can not mentally track all the different things in a RTS game somehow capable of gold-staring every mission. No difficulty mode is going to make an easily motion sick player capable of tolerating a crazy FPS. It's just the way entertainment works.