I'm having a hard time seeing why this is such a controversal thing, or why it is a bad thing.  Why do other people care if I use an optional feature of the game or not?  It seems kind of elitist to me when people claim that this sort of thing will kill gaming (if anything it will allow more people to enjoy the game) or that individuals should enjoy the challenge presented.  Whereas I love the challenge of some games, others just want to have fun and being challenged to the point of frustration is not fun to many people and they do not get any enjoyment out of that.

I think that people need to sit back and realize that an 'easy' game to most of us is a hard game to others (and yes, that includes Mario games).  While I got through New Super Mario Bros. no problem, my wife can't beat some of the levels and it takes her a few tries to beat any level.  She gets frustrated on those levels that are to hard for her and she will just stop playing because it is no longer fun for her.  Because of this feature my wife is OK with me getting this game as opposed to something else (ie, movie, another game, night out, whatever).  My wife really enjoyed Super Mario Galaxy, but she has little interest in Super Mario Galaxy 2 because of the talk about it being harder since she found the first game challenging to just get the 60 stars.  So Nintendo made another sale of New Super Mario Bros. Wii because they found a compromise between the long time gamer and the new gamer (and I actually hope they start putting this feature in most, if not all, of their games so that my wife and I can enjoy these games together).

Bottom line:  It is an optional feature, if you don't want to use it, then don't.  Those that want to use it should be able to use it without having to listen to others tell them that they can't enjoy their games using a feature that was included-- that's like telling me that I am playing The Conduit wrong for using and enjoying the single player campaign.

PC already has such a button.... F1.

One can play a game, not only for ego stroking (feeling of achievement), but a bunch of other reasons.  Things like having something for social gathering, or having it so you can see how the game unfolds, and see the story or level design.  A key is people get what THEY want to get out of the game, not presume that what you want is what everyone else wants.

You got all that from this question?

What I'm saying, and as I've mentioned earlier is that I consider a feeling of achievement, or ego stroking as you call it, as PART of the fun. I don't think developers should take this away in games. Everyone has weaker moments one might regret later.

Making games more accessible to more people is a good thing, don't get me wrong, but I think there's been a trend the past few years of games trying too hard to do so (getting too easy). One ends up with games that everyone thinks are ok but noone really loves (a bit like what happened to the movie Terminator 3 if you like:)

I think you need to read richardhutnik's reply, because you missed his point...

It's not about what you want from games... it's about what all kinds of people like. This feature gives everyone freedom to enjoy games as they want to.

Actually I didn't miss his point. MY point is that while trying to reach everyone you end up not really reaching anyone. I don't know how many more "I think" and "I consider" (or "imo") I can put in there. None of my friends, or myself, are really what you would call hardcore gamers but when we do talk about games we all agree about the trend of "dumbing down games" to make it fir for everyone. I just think it's a mistake to think you can make a game fit everyone. While you think this feature gives everyone freedom to enjoy games as they want to I think it also ruin a game for a lot of people. And please don't talk about how we have a choice. Things are not that black and white. PEOPLE are not that black and white. But I'm more concerned of how this trend will continue.

It's seems not much different than the Game Genie, except it shows you how to beat a stage.

Actually I didn't miss his point. MY point is that while trying to reach everyone you end up not really reaching anyone. I don't know how many more "I think" and "I consider" (or "imo") I can put in there. None of my friends, or myself, are really what you would call hardcore gamers but when we do talk about games we all agree about the trend of "dumbing down games" to make it fir for everyone. I just think it's a mistake to think you can make a game fit everyone. While you think this feature gives everyone freedom to enjoy games as they want to I think it also ruin a game for a lot of people. And please don't talk about how we have a choice. Things are not that black and white. PEOPLE are not that black and white. But I'm more concerned of how this trend will continue.

Oops! double post:)

How can this ruin the game for anyone, other than people without any self control?

As I mentioned earlier people are not that black and white. Actually I don't see this feature as a problem on its own. It's just that i't part of a bigger trend that I, and a lot of other people, don't like. Series that some of us enjoyed get patches and sequels that ruins it for us. We want games too you know:)

I think develpoers are focusing too little on just making a good game and too much on reaching everyone. IMO that's how you get mediocre games.