For better or worse, the majority of games in the market today are pretty complicated. They require hours of practice for players to have any proficiency at them and have some of the steepest learning curves the gaming industry has ever seen. Ever try explaining to a non-gamer how to play "Final Fantasy" or "Metal Gear Solid?" We rest our case.

But for the plethora of complex, unwelcoming games out there, some companies are taking note. The past few years have seen arcade-style games no longer relegated to "Namco Classics Collection" box-sets. Rather, stripped-down, simplified games are becoming the new face of the video game industry.

Nintendo is leading this wave of friendly titles, but Microsoft and Sony have jumped on the bandwagon in an effort to make gamers out of people who have never touched a controller. And what games do we have to thank for this shift? Well, you'll just have to read on for that. Game on.

Sundeep:

"Geometry Wars"

Sounds educational, right? Wrong, unless shooting things to bits is educational. "Geometry Wars" was originally a mini-game featured in Bizarre Creations' "Project Gotham Racing 2." You could access the game simply by walking up to the arcade machine inside the garage and hitting "A." More than likely, developers only put the game in as a minor fun feature. However, gamers soon found themselves trying to outlast and outshoot all those little Tron-esqe geometric shapes far more than hitting the racetrack.

In response to the popularity, "Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved," was released as both a mini-game in "Project Gotham Racing 3" and as a purchasable Xbox Live Arcade game.

The basic premise of the game goes something like this: You are a small half-hexagon claw thing that fires waves of triangles at a variety of other geometric shapes (each of which behaves differently). If you get hit, you die. If you live on, then they send more geometric shapes after you … and then you die. For a game that's quite visually stimulating (Remember all those geometric creatures trying to kill you? Well, when you blow them up they explode like fireworks. Now imagine that, only times 150), the game can get downright depressing what with all the death and destruction. You'll find yourself going back to play "Geometry Wars" again and again for no apparent reason other than to see if you can beat your old scores.

Ryan:

"Brain Age"

So it's not out in the U.S. just yet, but the gaming craze sweeping Japan is headed stateside in just over a couple of weeks (April 17). You may be left wondering, "What the hell is 'Brain Age?'" Well, let me explain.

The game is the based off a book by Japanese Professor Ryuuta Kawashima. Nintendo was reportedly looking for a game that would appeal to both gamers and non-gamers alike, so began courting Kawashima to work along with them to make a game based on his studies. The result is "Brain Age," a title that pushes gamers to their mental limits through a series of challenging, but fun, mini-games. Think of it as "WarioWare, Inc." for adults.

Players hold the Nintendo DS on its side, sort of like they would a book. They are given various prompts on the static screen and are then asked to respond in various ways either using the touch screen or microphone. One game might ask them to read a passage aloud to the microphone. Another could ask them to draw a picture of a volcano erupting. The main focus is on testing one's own cognitive abilities, resulting in the age of the player's brain. The main focus of "Brain Age" is to train yourself to the point that you score an age around 20 years old, the game's ideal brain age.

So it sounds a little bizarre at first impression, but the game is selling like mad in Japan. It's been topping sales charts since its initial release — it was within the top selling titles list for a high 34 weeks, selling 1,700,000 copies as of March 25.

Perhaps the most fascinating part of the title is its reported medicinal use. Japanese doctors have been recommending the title as a routine exercise for seniors, going so far as to equip clinic waiting rooms with DS units and the game.

Only time will tell if the title is as successful in the U.S. as it has been in Japan, but with Nintendo's addition of Sudoku to the game as well as the low price point of $20, the Big N may have another hit on its hands come April 17.

Sundeep:

"Lumines"

To this day the puzzle video game market has been handedly owned by everyone's favorite Russian game, "Tetris." With it's challenging downward-scrolling, line block-killing format, gamers have found that few other games really provide as much fun when you know you're going to be on a long car ride or trying to drown out your professors in class.

That is, of course, until now. Sony's PlayStation Portable features the first real "Tetris"-challenger in a long time with the game "Lumines".

Similar in many ways to "Tetris," the game features your basic block dropping (in this case squares) and stacking. Again, you are trying to prevent blocks from building up too high. However, in this case the objective is to match up colored squares to build rectangles, which are then erased once they reach the top by what's called the "timeline".

In addition to its simple game play, "Lumines" presents one of the richest visual experiences for any puzzle game in the current spectrum of modern games (that's not much to go on considering the number of recent puzzle games has been kind of weak).

With games like "Lumines," one would expect the puzzle game industry to suddenly start picking up their act, but still, game developers appear to be more fixated on creating the next great first-person shooter or RPG with an expansive storyline and high-intensity physics engines.

What ever happened to simple games?! They're so cheap to make! They are so addictive! Make simple games!

Perhaps, what's most important, is simple games like "Lumines" must depend on reinventing their genre. They can't just keep cloning "Tetris" or "Pac-man" to get away with selling games. They really have to make an effort to think outside the box. Compare that to "Doom," "Duke Nukem," "Half-Life," "Halo" … "Wolfenstein," "Unreal Tournament," "Quake" … you get the picture right?

Ryan:

"Katamari Damacy"

Yeah, "Katamari Damacy" is relatively old news by now. Chances are if you're even remotely interested in video games you've played or at least heard about it — and if you aren't … then why exactly are you reading this column?

For anyone who doesn't know about "Katamari," the idea is relatively simple and straight-forward: roll a ball of random things around, collecting items along the way until it's big enough to make a star. That's really all there is to it. Sure, sometimes the stars are smaller and sometimes they're bigger … but you're still just rolling random shit up in various locales.

Sound appealing? Yeah, didn't think so. At least, that is, until you play the game. With controls designated to only the two analog sticks, "Katamari Damacy" is one of the easiest titles to pick up and play for just about anyone. But ease alone doesn't make a good game — it needs that extra something to appeal to more than 4-year-olds.

This is where "Katamari Damacy" truly shines. The title (and its resultant sequels) is simply one of the most satisfying gaming experiences out there, without a doubt. See a car in the distance that you'd like to roll up into your ball of randomness? Go ahead and do it. Is that skyscraper annoying you? Roll it up!

For some odd reason, pushing around a strange mess of miscellany for hours on end is some of the most fun to be had on the Playstation 2. There's nothing quite as satisfying as setting out to mush an entire city into a giant cluster, than going out and actually doing it. Plus, there are few things more amusing than rolling little school children alongside bears and imagining the chaos that ensues — priceless.

And while Namco has said it has no plans to release any sequels past "Me and My Katamari" for the PSP, spin-offs have been numerous. Several titles have been somewhat mediocre, but "That Cloud Game" is one such title that continues the simplicity of "Katamari Damacy" on the PC. The game can be downloaded for free over at www.thatcloudgame.com and offers a little taste of the beauty of simplified gaming.

The only question that remains is whether or not Namco will cave on its current stance and grace the PS3 with an even more impressive "Katamari" game? For now, we can only hope.

Ryan ([email protected]) and Sundeep ([email protected]) are hopelessly addicted to video games. Ryan beat "MGS3" this weekend and has since moved on to working his way up the family in "The Godfather." Sundeep has been playing "GridWars", a "Geometry Wars" clone. You can download it at www.incitti.com/Blitz/. Enjoy 🙂