While there have been MANY games that I hit a "brick wall" in that I couldn't get past, I'm not sure that it's such a good idea to have such "cheats" as part of the game, and it certainly should be done in a case-by-case basis.

Shigeru Miyamoto didn't get where he is today by being an idiot, so I'm sure he has some valid reason(s) to include such a feature in this game. We may not know the whole story here.

Despite a lot of games being too hard for me, I'd rather give up in frustration than cop out and have the game spoon-feed me my victory. The real thrill of seeing a new level or outright beating a game is knowing that you EARNED IT. Switching on "training wheels" when things get just a bit challenging not only reduces the thrill of victory, but it sends a poor philosophical message to our kids, in my opinion. The feeling of "OOHHH, AAAHHH!" at seeing a new level, plot twist, or character upgrade would largely be lost if you just passively just sat back and watched the game play itself.

I never did beat the original "Half Life." I spent perhaps two weeks of continual play trying to beat the final boss. I did indeed check the internet for hints on how to beat the boss, but it appeared that I was doing the right things, I just didn't have enough weaponry, and I made some unwise choices on my "save-game" points to where I couldn't go back to an earlier save to collect more ammo before the final boss battle. I spent more time trying to beat the final boss than I did completing the entire rest of the game, and I finally got tired and set the game aside for a later date, which I never got back to.

Yet, if I had "training wheels" on the final boss, what would be the whole point of playing the game? The victory would have been totally hollow.

All that having been said, as long as the "training wheels" can be disabled, giving the player a CHOICE as to how they want to play, I don't see a major problem. I would never use such a feature, but if I could, at the push of a button, let the game get me past a hard part, that might be too tempting to resist.

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