It's about time

[Skykid]

It seems to be some kind of pre-requisite in these days that games have to be long, and it's pissing me off. I like finishing games, it frustrates me when I feel like I have unfinished business - but at the same time the leftover titles are stacking up fast.

I find I have less and less time these days for playing games, and as such the current generation feels like it's slipping me by a little because I struggle to focus on one thing long enough to finish it.
I blame them for two things, the first being that they're too long, the second that they're not good enough games to hold my attention and they drag because of it.
Achievements and Trophies are dead to me too - I don't have enough disposable time to do anything except play a game through on defaults. If I manage that, I wouldn't even think about trawling back through to obtain gaymer points.

This probably is probably more aimed at people who go to work 8 hours a day, five days a week, and have live-in partners, personal projects and social commitments. Do you find major current gen games too long to commit to?

[nem]

I'm definitely gravitating towards more linear and shorter games. Short and to the point, that's what I like. Portal is one of the best examples of games not having to be 15 hours long. Mirror's Edge and Escape from Butcher Bay are two good examples as well

If it's longer than seven hours, the game mechanics have to be really solid to keep me interested. I haven't finished either BioShock or Half-Life 2, because the shooting parts in the former are absolute shit and the latter just drags on and on and on.

Now if only they made games in other genres that are seven hours or under, my gaming diet would be more than just shooting games

[brentsg]

Yeah even well liked games like Batman dragged on for me. I've participated in a couple threads like this on other forums and my thoughts are that consoles are starting to pass me by. Developers are way too focused on lengthening games by cut scenes and repetition.

I also seemed to do better when I didn't work from home too. I had more structure, when now I get some spare time I find myself picking up something that I still need to get done. I don't seem to leave my work at work..

But an arcade game, while I don't get dedicated blocks of time to make really good progress.. At least I can still enjoy a couple quick credits.

[Pirate1019]

RPG's are the most horrid offenders. Granted most of them don't require grinding of any kind of you've got even the most basic understanding of the game's mechanics, but they just drag on and on for any number of reasons. High encounter rate, slow battle pace, unnecessary flashiness when doing things like transitioning through menus, inventory management, fussing with equipment, Sphere Grid stuff that takes forever, simplistic but long-winded puzzles, and lots and lots and lots of (possibly unneeded) talking.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Most games I wish were shorter, but then you have excellently paced games like God of War 3 that I wish were longer (reports say that it's about 9 hours.)

[Acid King]

I don't really pay attention to modern games. People I know are always like "Have you played New Game X?" and I'm just like "Nah, I'm playing the same 10 year old game I've been playing for the past 3 years". I barely have enough time to put into that, let alone the most recent flavor of the month.

[Vexorg]

I can name quite a few games (FPS games mostly) I enjoyed for a while, but lost interest in mostly because they just dragged on way too long. Half Life 2, Uncharted and Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess are some of the ones that come to mind. You just reach a point where it seems like you've been playing forever, things are just getting repetitive, and when you start looking at stuff to see how much more you've got to finish it, and you're less than halfway through.

I pretty much avoid most modern JRPGs outright, since they seem to have largely turned into giant cutscenes occasional interrupted rudely by half-baked gameplay.

[system11]

I just use the save feature.

If they make games shorter, then all the gaming press and all the casuals are going to bitch and whine piteously about paying £39.99 for a 4 hour game.

[Pirate1019]

If they make games shorter, then all the gaming press and all the casuals are going to bitch and whine piteously about paying £39.99 for a 4 hour game.

I would hope that if the average game length went down, so would the average price, but I'm too smart to hold my breath over it.

[ZacharyB]

Seeing as to how the heart of the Shmup is a quick play where you can hone your skills and compete for something as indefinite as score, this kind of topic has to be expected on this board.

But there was a time, usually as teenagers, when we had a lot more free time and less baggage. That's the demographic for these kinds of games.

[cools]

I still have much the same amount of free time I had fifteen years ago - possibly more.

Everything nowadays feels like an unskippable locked tutorial cutscene menu that never finishes loading.

Let me play, idiots!

[Taylor]

Instead of games getting shorter, alienating the majority demographic, scoring badly in reviews for not being long enough, and being deeply criticised for not dropping prices in proportion because making a game half size is definitely not as simple as half cost - I think a more obtainable solution is enjoying more short-term goals instead.

[ncp]

Long games don't bother me that much. I prefer them to be around 15-20 hours and I am perfectly fine with anything under 30 if I am enjoying the game. None of them take nearly as much time as clearing... say... a Cave game anyway.

The longest game I played recently was Assassin's Creed 2 which I beat in ONE SITTING It was around 20-25 hours I think, I dunno, I lose track of time on weekends, and god damn that game was fun. Mass Effect 2 was a pretty good length, I think I ended up around 20 hours on that one.

On the contrary I have like 200 hours on Dodonpachi and I'm not even close to beating it.

[Pirate1019]

I think a more obtainable solution is enjoying more short-term goals instead.

Loves me some 360 achievements!

*puke*

[Taylor]

Heh, well some achievements are the worst offender for padding. But you can play most modern games for the next climatic moment, rather than just for the ending. If you just want half an hour of intense fun and a genuine feeling of achievement, there's always shmups!

[Shocky]

I'd gladly take shorter games, and still pay full price if the experience is intense and production values high. Been playing Bayonetta now for over 20 hours, and even though it's great in many ways, it eats up my precious time because of some stupid design flaws:

1. too goddamn long cut scenes - often my mind starts wandering after a few minutes or so, and anyway most of the story is just repeating the same formula over and over (demon/angel appears, Bayonetta talks trash, kicks ass | red chick appears, talks trash, escapes | "fear not my child, for I am watching over you...")
2. those books that can be found all over - boring to read, don't offer any clues or anything.. just a waste of time
3. loading times - (I guess this is a problem of the PS3 port), especially when dying and trying again or when entering Gates of Hell.
4. boss battles that take forever - they are epic, but it gets old when dying and restarting from an earlier checkpoint. and the save point is *after* the boss, this sucks...
5. having to search/break everything everywhere - takes time and is just a brainless auto-function. this is a common problem in most 3D action adventures, have to slow down and break/examine every fucking item, nook and cranny, or risk being stuck in the later episodes underpowered.

All in all, I spend too much of the playing time going through the same scenes again and again and watching the loading screen. Maybe I should just sharpen up and not die so many times in every chapter, but other games have shown that it doesn't have to be so: COD4 doesn't have any of those problems (what a relief that I don't have to search everywhere for weapons and ammo), Uncharted 2 is designed so that when you die, you can instantly try again from where the actual challenge begins.

[AraraSPAMWitch]

I'd gladly take shorter games, and still pay full price if the experience is intense and production values high. Been playing Bayonetta now for over 20 hours, and even though it's great in many ways, it eats up my precious time because of some stupid design flaws:

1. too goddamn long cut scenes - often my mind starts wandering after a few minutes or so, and anyway most of the story is just repeating the same formula over and over (demon/angel appears, Bayonetta talks trash, kicks ass | red chick appears, talks trash, escapes | "fear not my child, for I am watching over you...")
2. those books that can be found all over - boring to read, don't offer any clues or anything.. just a waste of time

Don't see how these two are flaws. Almost every cutscene is skippable, even from the very first playthrough, so that'll only really take up time if you let it, and if you're sitting around reading books in Bayonetta then I dunno.

[Shocky]

I'd gladly take shorter games, and still pay full price if the experience is intense and production values high. Been playing Bayonetta now for over 20 hours, and even though it's great in many ways, it eats up my precious time because of some stupid design flaws:

1. too goddamn long cut scenes - often my mind starts wandering after a few minutes or so, and anyway most of the story is just repeating the same formula over and over (demon/angel appears, Bayonetta talks trash, kicks ass | red chick appears, talks trash, escapes | "fear not my child, for I am watching over you...")
2. those books that can be found all over - boring to read, don't offer any clues or anything.. just a waste of time

Don't see how these two are flaws. Almost every cutscene is skippable, even from the very first playthrough, so that'll only really take up time if you let it, and if you're sitting around reading books in Bayonetta then I dunno.

What I mean is, all of this wastes the actual playing time. Even if you skip the cutscenes (is there really someone who does this? I want to see what's going on, but would like them shorter and more to the point), loading them takes time, the skipping takes time.. and the books take time, because initially the player doesn't know if there is important information or other benefits from reading them. After a couple of books it becomes apparent that they are just a waste of time. I don't read them anymore. I still think they are bad judgement from the designers - they don't fit with the fast pace of the actual game, and worst of all, they are just plain boring. In some games (Snatcher & Policenauts) I'll happily read all this "voluntary" stuff because it is so well written.

And hidden bonuses etc. should always be indicated with a clue, something subtle but noticeable feature in the environment, like cracks in a wall that can be demolished or such. Commando 3 did this well, there were visual hints like tank tracks leading into a wall that had a secret passage, an odd colored flower indicating a bonus stash in the jungle etc. Not this usual "break everything, examine everything" anymore, plz!

[RGC]

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[Square King]

I bought Lost Odyssey and Eternal Sonata near launch, around the time I was graduating from college and just before landing my first 8-hour/day office job.

I haven't finished either. Same with Dead Space, but I don't have my sweet surround sound system set up and I refuse to play DS without it.

[Khan]

wow I didnt realise alot of you feel the same way as me

part of the reason why I enjoying playing side scrolling beat em ups so much is because they are short and sweet and easily beatable in an hour or two, I really hate long games so I too never managed to finish HL2...I even went so far as buying it through steam a couple of months back to try again but I played for a couple of hours and just gave up it really doesnt hold my attention

besides i almost threw up the game made me dizzy

[Pirate1019]

I bought Lost Odyssey[...]

You fucked up dude. That game is terrible.

[Square King]

I bought Lost Odyssey[...]

You fucked up dude. That game is terrible.

I'm halfway through the last disc. I still dig it. Folks and strokes, folks and strokes.

[gabe]

I think this phenomenon started well before the current generation... But otherwise, I whole heartedly agree with the OP. I own games that have sat in their shrink wrap for months, simply because I don't want to start a 40-50 hour "project."

[ZOM]

I bought Lost Odyssey[...]

You fucked up dude. That game is terrible.

I'm halfway through the last disc. I still dig it. Folks and strokes, folks and strokes.

Don't listen to him, the game is great.

[FIL]

When games hit the 20 hour mark they have to be good to keep me interested. A lot of games run out of steam long before then but keep going.

[Ed Oscuro]

When games hit the 20 hour mark they have to be good to keep me interested. A lot of games run out of steam long before then but keep going.

I'm pretty hopeless; something has to be REALLY bad for me to give up on it. I'll be deadly aware something is complete garbage but I'll play it anyway. Must find better hobbies!

In any case, I'd really rather that all the top-shelf games be longer, but of course this leads to padding or lower quality. Everybody wants you to pay $60 though, so from my perspective more of Good Game X is better than less of it.

...I still need to head into the last boss room in Metroid Prime, though.

[icbluscrn]

I'm one that find games to short. Thats why i tried to get into rpg (to get more value out of it). Games like ghostbusters , modern warfare 2 and bayonetta are games i really enjoyed but at the end was like thats all? with that being said i have only finished maybe 3% of the games i started playing for the 360 which must be around 200 games.

[cools]

I think a lot of it stems from the games I'd play when I was younger - I very rarely played any form of RPG, with the majority being arcade style titles.

There is a massive difference between taking a few months to be able to finish a half hour long game, and having a game that can be played through in 20 hours. In the time it takes to achieve the former, you learn all the little intricacies in the game, and come to absolutely dominate it.

In essence, I've always been speedrunning and 100% 1CCing games. There was a point when I could play certain levels blindfold purely on muscle memory.

While you could of course do this with modern games, you're not going to. Speedrun 100% 1CC (or even 1LC) a 360 title? Nah... Look at the times taken for the action games here: http://speeddemosarchive.com/gamelist/SMSt.html versus here: http://speeddemosarchive.com/gamelist/360t.html - the latter of course using save states (no 1CC).

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

There's more important things to worry about in a game than what the clock says at the end. If length comes as a result of cheap lengthening, then it's not worth it, and I think most long games can't justify their length.