Take a look at your video game library. How many of those games have you completed? How many of those games did you intend to complete, but abandoned them because their challenges became too difficult or repetitive? How many RPG stories have you spent tens of hours without seeing their endings?

I have always prided myself on completing most of the games I play. Sometimes it is a labor of love; other times it’s a job for work’s sake. The sense of accomplishment that comes from taking down a difficult boss is a big part of what makes video games attractive. But, even as someone who accepts a challenge, I often find myself thinking that a particular fight is ridiculous, that the layout is working against the player, or that I wish there was a way to skip a particular section of a game. While I’m a fan of putting my social life aside for a night with a boss battle, the reality is that most gamers don’t finish the games they play.

The ultimate goal for game developers is to create an experience that combines challenge with accessibility. How this is accomplished is still a work in progress for most of the industry. Most developers still rely on a difficulty level system that allows players to select their skill level early in the game. Others implement adaptive AI that adjusts on the fly to their struggles or mighty achievements. The most controversial but highly praised innovations in this field like Bioshock’s vita chambers and the saving grace hand of the Prince of Persia. Both games basically wave a white flag in terms of striking a balance between accessibility and challenge. I love both games, but couldn’t help feeling like I was cheating in both, as neither penalizes the player for missing.

Beating the challenge of a game is heartbreaking for a gamer like me, but for newcomers or those without skills, being able to complete games that would normally be outside the range of your ability should be a rewarding experience. Developers also get the satisfaction of knowing that most players are watching the full game that they spent years of their lives on.

At this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, Shigeru Miyamoto detailed another option, one that I was immediately scoffed at. In Miyamoto’s upcoming Wii title, New Super Mario Bros., players can activate a feature currently referred to as “demo play.” When activated, this mode plays the game for you. It is intended to help stuck players move on to the next section of the game. After giving this idea some thought, I realized that it could be the white whale that the developers have been trying to release since the beginning of the games.