My neighbors child, 13 years old or so, had some of his friends come over, which drove his mom up the wall. So she came over and asked me if she could borrow my console and some games yo keep them busy. She had already tried getting them to swim in her pool, go out and play a sport or just hang out out side. I went ahead and let her borrow my PS2, xbox and some games, pc ones as well.

An hour later I stop by to make sure the demons aren't ruining my stuff. They weren't, they were not even playing any of the games I lent them, they said they were too hard. Instead they we're taking turns playing Jack and Dexter. They had Halo 2, Half Life 2, Final Fantasy 10 (don't criticize me, it was a gift.), Morrowind, C&C RA 2 MGS 1 2 and , and a few hack and slash games.

Now, I'm already wondering how kids can play as many games as they do at an age where I was bouncing off the walls, but is what really gets me is that they play all these games and find Halo 2, MGS 3 and Half Life 2 hard. To make things even more agitating, they thought that C&C RA 2 was hard, impossible hard, which has got to be one of the easiest games in history.

If kids these days aren't playing sports, just being out side, or even playing games that challenge them, then what will the next generation be like? Kids who play a game that plays it's self for them? (I.E. a over priced movie, that can only play on a 400-600 dollar console.)

Lol, that's pretty sad.

When I was around 13 I was a total gaming nut.
I was doing crazy speed runs on Sonic the Hedgehog, I was tearing through Spyro 1 and 2 (the first two Spyro's kicked major arse), and I was spending hours upon hours upon hours mastering Gran Turismo 2 (still my favorite racing game of all time, bar none), and that means doing the 2-3 hour long endurance races too (yes, I did ALL of them).

I've slowed down a great deal (mostly cuz I've got many more things to worry about now then back in the day), but I still try to keep the gamer inside me alive and kicking.
If my kid becomes a gamer, and starts doing stuff like those kids, i'm signing him up for the baseball team and kicking his lazy little arse out the door (I might not mind if my kid isn't a gamer, but if he is, he better not suck or I'll be uber-pissed).

I will admit, I'm not that good at games unless I play them specifically, but unless it gets NES dragons lair hard, I'll stick through it until I want to kill something. yeah, yeah, I use cheats the first (few) times I play through a game, but at least I try.

I also just got Halo:CE for PC, and it's easy as HELL. I take a little damage, backtrack, shields recharge, I go forward, beat the part, then continue on.

Also, if you have an NES or NES emulator of some sort, get them dragons lair, just to make them know what hard TRULY is ($5 says they don't pass the first screen)

Well if one has yet to notice the fact that majority of games today are just sequels with the same gameplay. Also a lot of games are basically so easy becasue of their 'superweapon' features. Gamez like Haze, Crackdown, and Fracture and all games as such.

If those kids can't handle anything that still poses a challenge then all I can say is that they really arent getting anywhere and that is their lost.

I don't think there's a game out there that I would consider to be Hard...

I won't even go into the Halo series, because the ease of those two games are a joke considering how long it took me to beat them on the "Legendary" difficulty, only two days...

Though, I think I'm just at a supreme advantage when it comes to gaming. During my childhood, the first games purchased for me were twitch games that, I feel, enhanced my reflexes and hand-eye coordination considerably. The first things my parents purchased me for my Gameboy Color were Tetris, and Frogger. And I'm still proud to admit that I play Tetris and am freaking amazing at it...

But still, if these kids think games such as the ones you described are too difficult... Maybe they should either A.) Find a nice hobby or join a school extracurricular activity, Soccer or Football or anything, lol... or B.) Learn about the benefits of Euthanasia. XD

~Silentcrisis