Portal Playing Dad Frustrates to No End

[beema]

This was a joy to watch! Always love seeing people have fun an amazement at the discovery of good games. Heck, my dad can't even figure out how to use a mouse, so this guy is miles ahead.

 

[luvd1]

That man has the intellect of a toddler. And people wonder why I hate them so much.

 

[Danceofmasks]

I have trouble comprehending how anyone could possibly have less than 120 APM.
(disclaimer: not Starcraft 2 APM, since that goes by the SC2 clock, which is 40% faster than IRL time on the ladder).
I mean really! That's only hitting 2 buttons a second!

This ... is an alien documentary.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Um, no offense, but....How exactly does this qualify as news?

I mean, its a funny video and all, but....you know....It's called the Newsroom for a reason.

EDIT: OK, I have been quoted 11 fucking times. If you were going to quote me: DON'T. Anything you were going to say has been said. If you were going to agree with me, it's been done. If you wanted to tell me "who cares?", it's been done. If were going to tell me that anything qualifies as "news" in this, the Information Age, then it's been done. If you were going to quote me because everyone else is doing it, well, that's been done, too. (Thanks for that, by the way.)

So....Stop fucking quoting me.

Well now I lost my train of thought...

OT: Those clips are teeth grinding experiences, I just wonder how we will do at that age

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

Before anyone plays Portal, they need to watch the trailer


...shows how portals work with a diagram. The game lacks a proper "tutorial" (I mean, technically the first two hours are the tutorial), and playing the game without a grasp on its actual concept is... just retarded.

I mean, did they tell him, "it's a game in which you solve puzzles using a two-way portal system, portal entrances/exits placed by a 'portal gun'"? Or did they just say YO DAD THIS GAME IS WICKED SICK YOU SHOULD PLAY IT.

Though I think the humour of Portal is enough to drive a non-gamer through it.

 

[acidfwd]

A man of his age never having played a video game before - that's truly amazing.

 

[Torrasque]

Holy fuck.
I had to stop watching after 4:50 because it actually started to hurt my brain...

There should be a game show where adults that don't play video games, play video games against each other.
Hilarity and massive frustration would ensue instantaneously.

 

[TheSquashedOrange]

The beginning was painful, but I think it clicked with him after a while, which was good to see. Nice to see the dad having the humour and good nature to go along with this.

 

[GeorgW]

I forced my physics professor to play Portal. He's a friend and I thought he'd enjoy it, also it's just hard to respect someone that hasn't played and loved portal, it's like they don't eat or something.
Anyways, at first he didn't realise that the mouse controls the gun, so he had some trouble in the first few levels. He did it at home, so no one could help him. But once he told us his problem we could help him through it. He needed a little more help in the beginning, but after a few levels he didn't have any problems. We were all so proud of him for getting though it.
My point is, even non gamers can handle portal, they just have to be smart and maybe need a little help at first. And portal is the best game for them, it's the best game period.

 

[Continuity]

Actually, this sort of news is especially important to me. I'm the type that is infinitely frustrated every time I see a game add yet another layer of complexity to its mechanics.

My brother's girlfriend just didn't understand Portal either. In fact, I think WASD movement didn't even make sense to her. I kind of wonder if designers need to start working on games to fill in that learning gap. Even if they aren't a monetary success, it might make more gamers.

There are plenty of softer option games out there but there needs to be games like this too for those who have already acquired the skills and want more of a challenge. In fact one of the problems with games today is that too many games are being targeted at beginners and those with lower skill levels, leaving something of a vacuum at the higher skill levels. However you cut it though, you're always going to have a first time coming up against WSAD controls, just like there is always going to be a first time using a controller... even a controller isn't that easy to use when you very first start.

To be honest WSAD controls, although not intuitive at first are the industry standard and more than that they are used for a reason... its the best key group for a right handed player to use.
Its like a QWERTY keyboard, massively unintuitive layout but once you get used to it its second nature... no sense in changing it now because hundreds of millions of computer users already know that layout.. harsh on beginners but thats the fact of the matter.

 

[Continuity]

So....Stop fucking quoting me.

Yeah, cmon guys, have some compassion, this is clearly a cry from the heart here.

OT: Yeah I think every gamer comes up against this at some point why they try to get a non-gamer they know interested in their hobby, we forget I think how many thousands of hours of play have honed our skills into second nature.

Edit: Sorry for the double post! Thats me walking out of the room and forgetting that i've already made a post..

 

[koolgool]

Wow. xD I never expected my video series to get this popular, much less featured here on Escapist Magazine. I'm also amazed by how many overall positive comments I'm getting. Knowing the internet, I expected more flaming, but it's kinda cool that people can understand what it's like having a parent who knows next to nothing about gaming.

 

[Syntax Error]

Looks like his first problem is caused by him not realizing he can go through the portals both ways. I think they could at least have told him that.

It's actually one of the problems the devs faced during testing (listen to the commentaries, it's very insghtful. Learning that the Companion Cube was made so that they can get players to carry an object all the way through a test chamber was particularly fascinating). Funny thing is that it took me a few seconds before I figured out that the lady in orange I was chasing was actually me >.<

 

[ethaninja]

Haawww what a mad dog ;D

 

[tkioz]

I don't think I could stand to watch someone do this in real life, it would just be too painful... I use to get really annoyed watching novice computer users use their machines, slowly, slowly, moving the mouse pointer around the screen, taking forever to get it from one spot to another... I just wanted to grab the mouse and flick my wrist to get the damn there where it is going!

So... I don't watch people using their computer now, I look away, just like when I have blood tests, it's less painful and disturbing, even though I know it's going on, then if I'm watching it.

 

[tkioz]

Actually, this sort of news is especially important to me. I'm the type that is infinitely frustrated every time I see a game add yet another layer of complexity to its mechanics.

My brother's girlfriend just didn't understand Portal either. In fact, I think WASD movement didn't even make sense to her. I kind of wonder if designers need to start working on games to fill in that learning gap. Even if they aren't a monetary success, it might make more gamers.

There are plenty of softer option games out there but there needs to be games like this too for those who have already acquired the skills and want more of a challenge. In fact one of the problems with games today is that too many games are being targeted at beginners and those with lower skill levels, leaving something of a vacuum at the higher skill levels. However you cut it though, you're always going to have a first time coming up against WSAD controls, just like there is always going to be a first time using a controller... even a controller isn't that easy to use when you very first start.

To be honest WSAD controls, although not intuitive at first are the industry standard and more than that they are used for a reason... its the best key group for a right handed player to use.
Its like a QWERTY keyboard, massively unintuitive layout but once you get used to it its second nature... no sense in changing it now because hundreds of millions of computer users already know that layout.. harsh on beginners but thats the fact of the matter.

And someone QWERTY boards even have the arrows on the WASD keys now, mine does at least. I think the problem is the level of the intro tutorial in most games, or even operating systems, it's hard to offer a choice without sounding like your a condescending prat.

Most long time tech users skip over tutorials, I know I do 90% of the time, because I know what conventions are in programs and games, if a program doesn't work with cntr+v for paste for example it's doing something wrong as far as I'm concerned.

But the trick is teaching new users these systems without annoying the crap out of people that already know this stuff.

 

[Sixties Spidey]

Sounds like how my dad would play games like Portal. Then again, my dad would classify anything in the first person genre as a "Gun Game" and dismiss it completely, so I don't think he'd even touch Portal.

 

[Zinaxos]

I watched these, and now I want to do this to my non-gamer mother. Give her the best puzzle game ever (portal) and watch her progress through this wonderful game. It would be awesome.

 

[Derek_the_Dodo]

I tried it with my girlfriend, she didnt too much like it. She couldnt seem to work out the standard left stick movement, right stick camera (got it for xbox) controls, let alone even try to solve the puzzles.

i figured portal was perfect because its simplistic environments and mechanics and there isnt (until the later levels, with the turrets) any enemies.

might give her another go with it...

 

[castlewise]

This was fascinating, actually. The dad shows remarkable resilience to frustration!