Disappointed by the elitism on display in this thread. All this tough guy talk is just embarrassing, people are using the same lame talking points that were used to justify harassment of that Bioware writer all those years back and it's just silly. Someone doesn't play a video game the intended way so they don't deserve to play it? What a stupid sentiment.
Sure, not all videogames are accessible to everyone, that's a fact by design, but that doesn't mean that developers shouldn't try to make their game as accessible as possible. Now that doesn't mean 'dumbing' down the experience, but simply providing options for people that might either have a disability that limits them or don't have the time to truly invest but still want to play a specific game.
Now since Dark Souls is always the poster child of this debate I'll use that game as an example. People argue that an easy mode would diminish the experience, that the struggle is core to that game, and yes that's true, but would adding an easy mode that boosts the health, disables the trophies, and locks the multiplayer for balancing reasons really hurt that core experience? No, it would be an option, an option that doesn't even interact with the core experience. An option that would also be easy to implement and not take up any resources.
The majority wouldn't use that option, but for the few that want to explore the world and see the story and lore unfold without the difficulty limiting their ability, it would be a great addition. It wouldn't effect all you hardcore gamers that don't need the developers to physically hold your hand because you all so grown up and tough and stuff, your game is left intact.
Honestly, the only negative I can think of is the damn toxic community would bully people who chose to play Dark Souls in the cinematic mode or whatever. I can imagine it now, 'oh my gawd, you played the girl mode? Burn your disc now, you don't deserve it!'
I want tough challenging games, I love tough challenging games, but I also want games to be more inclusive, and difficulty options are a harmless way to do that and have been doing that for generations now, and some games even offer a skip option, LA Noire is one to think of, and that's fine too. It doesn't effect you, it's merely an option for the people that want it.