Ben-DutkaFYI, I've sort of been on vacation since Thursday but I have managed to keep the site updated almost as normal. No previews or reviews for the past few days; you'll forgive me for that, I hope. I'll be back tomorrow night and hit it hard once again. See a brief update of what's to come below.
Length…it's a touchy issue these days
When Rocksteady said it would take 25-30 hours to do "everything" in the upcoming Batman: Arkham City , my immediate reaction was, "woah…that's pretty damn good." An instant later, I flashed back to the '90s and my RPG days and went, "…wait a minute, aren't you the same person that didn't want any game to last less than 40 hours?" Granted, I played RPGs almost exclusively in those days and in truth, action/adventure games are not that much shorter this generation. However, with the length of shooters leading the multiplayer charge, we're starting to become more and more familiar with 5, 6, 7-hour campaigns. And those who almost exclusively go online for multiplayer (a similar practice to my RPG-loving days) will say the campaign length is irrelevant. Plus, RPG fans will point to The Elder Scrolls and Fallout and go, "hey… lots of hours! Don't complain!"
But there has to be something to my reaction to the Arkham City revelation. I think we are getting used to shorter games, slowly but surely, and we are more accepting of shorter adventures. But then again, 10 hours in Uncharted 3 …5 times longer than a movie and some of the most fun you'll ever have. I can't really see myself complaining. What's your take on the length issue?
P.S. The reason there's a SaGa Frontier picture here is because I think I'm the only person I know who actually completed the entire game; i.e., all stories for all characters. I think it took about 120 hours. Anybody do it?
How will girl gamers establish themselves?
Okay, so another girl has had another apparent revelation . And while I don't necessarily doubt her complaints nor do I have anything against her public rant, I'm just wondering if female gamers are still seeking a particular voice in gaming. Let's face up to facts- the vast majority of interactive adventures typically don't include features, settings, and concepts that would be considered appealing to women. That's not a sexist comment; it's just an observation based on historic fact. As some form of violence – on whatever level – is usually a mainstay, that is hardly conducive to thoughts of female entertainment. In other words, the standard Lifetime flick is nothing like your standard video game. Yes, stereotypes play a role and while the girls battle that – as all of us battled the general gamer stereotype for many years – I wonder if they realize that they're facing a steeper climb.
The most popular video games every year most often include, for the lack of a better term, "guy stuff." The mainstream world will see it this way, regardless of what you perceive to be the truth. As boys, we were nerds for playing games, but we were playing virtual versions of G.I. Joe, now weren't we? I only have one question: how do female gamers wish to be viewed? And don't reply, "we just want to be seen as gamers, and that's it," because…well, I'm not buying that right now.
Personal gaming update
I probably won't stop playing Dragon Age II until it's done; it's too limited and the story seems barely existent, but I'm just hooked on the building and mission-ing process. As soon as it's done, I'll start up a Career in Top Spin 4 , and I can't wait (review coming soon). I feel behind but the good news is I don't really want to play anything else until L.A. Noire drops on May 17. I admit I'm intrigued by Duke Nukem Forever , though.
This week, expect reviews for TS4, Homefront , and Crysis 2 . I may also have some interesting new information for SOCOM 4 , as I'll be participating in a conference call on Thursday. Finally, we're sort of nearing the end of our new project; it just needs to be approved, which admittedly may take some time. After that, we can announce it…hope you'll like it. 🙂
One more note about length-
The other reason action-oriented games SEEM shorter these days is due to the advent of hard drives in consoles, and how we save our games. Back then, death was A. more common, and B. more of an issue. It was back to a save point, so the overall amount of time to beat a game was probably higher.
The actual game itself was just as short if not shorter. We just never could get through it as easily.
We know what you mean, a game that was a few hours long actually took months to beat.
Modern day example: Average gamer will complete a Demon's Souls playthrough anywhere in between 40-100hrs, even though we saw the clip of a guy's 1hr speedrun.
only reason why games back in the day felt longer is because they were god dam hard!
now days your babysitted through games, almost nothing is a instant death, almost nothing is a instant fail.
the first MGS on ps1, every single level if you were seen by a camera.
start again!
if you were seen by a enemy.
start again!
if a enemy saw a dead body.
start again!
if a camera saw a dead body.
start again!
games those days were so unforgiving, make one mistake, start again!
nowadays its oh thats ok, you cant just go hide for 20 seconds and somehow the enemies memory of your existence is magically erased.
its not the difficulty, but the forgivingness that has really effected the length and the feel of games.
i wish they would go back to the old days, but thats never going to happen!
Now that is a very good point I've not thought of before, Ben. It *was* more "forced replay" back in the days, youre right. And that was not necessarily a good thing, although I think some games has gone too far today and has too little punishment for failing.
Last edited by Beamboom on 3/20/2011 7:25:47 AM
The original Castlevania was 6 brutal stages. Never beat any as a kid. Going back during college was a straight sitting of at least 3 hours.
How I found the time for that, CV 3, Super Castlevania 4, and Dracula X was interesting. What a week that was.
Meanwhile my roommates were cursing trying to beat Ghosts and Goblins only to be deceived by an Illusion of Satan.
*raises hand*
I beat all stories in SaGa Frontier. I bought it mostly because it was an RPG that had a picture on the back of many PS boxes. I still have a hard copy of it, actually. 🙂 Back in PS1 days, I played, not quite exclusively, but nearly, only RPG's. (Some exceptions, of course) It wasn't until PS2 and my original XBOX that I began branching out. This is the first generation that RPG's haven't been my primary game of choice. Mostly because there aren't many AAA rpg's for consoles. (I said many, not none… just anticipating a response there. lol) And there certainly aren't many turn based ones, which were my favorite.
My PGU:
I'm doing some catch up. I always wanted to try out Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom, so I'll be giving that a whirl. For multiplayer, I'll be switching between KZ3 and AC:B. Last week I played a lot of MLB 11 The Show, and will likely continue to get in a couple games a week.
EDIT: FYI, in my opinion, AC:B is a very excellent multiplayer game. Especially if you typically hate run n' gunners. Patience and cleverness are rewarded in AC:B.
Last edited by Underdog15 on 3/19/2011 10:28:59 PM
I hear ya.
Apparently, modern RPG's consist of third person or first person shooters that incorporate levelling and stats tweaking, eg Fallout 3 and Mass Effect. Even Final Fantasy XIII lost a lot of strategic role playing elements just to cater to the ADHD "entertain me now and make it easy for me to finish" crowd.
Oh, I still have my copy of SaGa Frontier. It's right next to my mint copy of Suikoden II, actually. 😉
I've got nothing mint in original wrap. Would be cool, I suppose, but I'd just end up playing them. :p
It does seem that the average action game is shorter these days. When I think of these shorter games, they're usually jam packed with lots of high budget exhilarating moments. I'd imagine costs escalate pretty quickly when having to rig huge "oh crap!" moments in gaming.
I don't really have any interest in girl gamer sociological issues.
I would love to see a Contra Hard Corps review. I tried the demo on XBL a few weeks back and I really liked it. I'm not big on the newer anime look, but the game appears to stay true to it's gameplay form–that's where it counts.
I've also nearly dismissed Crysis 2 as a game I'm interested it. I really wanted to like this game, but it would seem Crytek likes to carry on like Peter Moleneux and talk big talk but come up short with the goods at the end of the day. But I dunno.
PGU: My family and I get to move this next coming weekend to get closer to the university I'll be attending. I'll have my hands full.
I took a little break from Lost Odyssey (i love it, no doubt)–it's the twitcher in me surfacing.
I finished Reach on Heroic. Fun stuff. Though, I think the Halo formula is beginning to feel really overly saturated to me. Reach has some of Halo's finest moments, but I get such a "been there, done that" vibe where most of what I value seems to have more to do with valuing the nostalgia of it's greatness back when Xbox launched. Maybe it's just too many sequels in too short of time. I have to compliment the MGS series in this respect. Never has any MGS felt milked to me. Where the hype of it's sales never seems to have caused Konami to push a new MGS out the door every year, or too frequently, because of it's great success and quality. Each game feels like a great "welcome back" experience with loads of new content and game play to absorb myself in
I gave up on Crysis 2 when the demo got pulled. Clearly there's no confidence in that title except for bluster.
I remember watching a behind-the-scenes clip in either GOW:Collection, or GOW3 where a SM developer goes on to say that a minor box-pushing or platforming segment may take weeks or even months to craft, only to be taken to the chopping block.
yeah, I don't know why I still have the demo on my HDD. Did anyone notice how lame it's XMB game highlight wallpaper is? (the image that appears when you rest on the game's icon). It's lame. Get this, it's a familiar Crysis 2 picture in the background, but within that image there's another smaller image of a similar type of picture… it doesn't even make sense. Hey, "look a me. I'm stupid game."
…yeah, I like to pick on pointless things =p
Lol!
Is it just me, or is this a longer WiR than usual? Don't worry about taking time off, Ben. Everyone needs time to recharge their batteries.
Game length doesn't really bother me as long as the campaign on normal can last nine hours or so. Anything less than that just feels like being shortchanged. And games that last upwards of 40hrs can be irritating, as more often than not, it becomes akin to a chore to finish them. I dunno.
Girl gamers is a tough nut to crack for guys. It occurs to me that they seem to feel a need to prove themselves. I don't mean any offence by that, but given the amount of sheer stupidity that they profess to cop in games because of their gender, it makes sense that they would feel that way. The problem seems to be that guys refuse to allow them to do that, and instead cast aspersions on them, rather than treating them like any other gamer. I suppose it is further compounded by what you mentioned in the article about the generalised appeal of games not being aimed at females. That is changing though, with motion controls and games like Heavy Rain. For some reason, I feel as though I'm drawing a conclusion that seems to correlate maturity to feminine intervention. One seems to be reliant on the other, or perhaps they both face similar challenges…
Personal Update:
Almost finished with Brutal Legend, and working on the review right now. Read the intro and first few Cantos of Inferno. Was trying to find Purgatory and Paradise yesterday with no such luck. But, I did manage to pick up 3D Dot Game Heroes, and I was going to get WKC as well, but STILL $100. I'll just wait for the second.
Had to laugh at being in Cairns yesterday while Prince William was at hometown. Was interesting.
Peace.
It's fun to read through Inferno and then see how they handled it in the video game. You really can't appreciate everything in that game unless you've read it.
I'm sure. I think I'll have to pick up Dante's Inferno at some point. I like the idea of what it is, but just don't have the damn time. Too many other, more interesting (to me) games being released and already available. I need Hiro Nakamura…
Peace.
P.S. Holy frick, I'm suddenly more interested in WKC: Origins. It's being developed by the same team that did Alundra and FF3. And it, along with WKC2 is apparently releasing in May. Aww crap. WKC or L.A. Noire?
Last edited by Lawless SXE on 3/20/2011 3:40:37 AM
Oh…I was at a book store two days ago, they had a copy of the entire divine comedy…
I miss games that have lots of content, not just length. Oblivion and FO3 are very long, but a lot of it is just filler without much context.
The PS2 era was full of action games that took a while to finish because of the depth, not the padding.
Still, nothing beats popping in FF7 and watching the next 70 hours of my life go by in a blur.
I don't mind five hour campaigns on action games at all, particularly FPS games that are little more than the equivalent of the summer blockbuster action flick. The time frame serves them well, I think. A forty hour plus campaign on a Killzone game would be a bit too much, I think. However, if an RPG had that amount of game time, I'd be hugely peeved.
I think the sanest thing for a girl gamer to do — or any gamer at all — is just hit the mute button and not use headsets. I mute everyone when I play online, and my roommates' puppy ate my headset and I've yet to replace it. Shooters, for some reason, bring out the lowest common denominator in games. When I played Street Fighter IV online the first time around, the community backing the game was immensely different from the community of any FPS I've played. Respectable, honorable, and a complete lack of crap talking.
Personal gaming update:
I'm becoming a game collector and didn't even realize it was happening. Ha. I haven't traded or sold a copy of a game in over a year and have amassed 57 PS3 games, which is the most games I've ever had at any given time. Which leads to that frustrating moment of, "What do I want to play?" and not being able to decide. I picked up Homefront, Dragon Age II, Bayonetta, Mini-Ninjas and Heavy Rain (again, finally!). Homefront is a bit lackluster from the single player aspect of it. It's a visual let down, it plays very closely to Treyarch/Infinity Ward's games, and is graphically hard on the eyes at times. Dragon Age II won't be started until I've finished Origins and Awakening. I don't know how much longer I have to go on Origins, but I imagine it's a bit of a ways. This is my third restart of the game, so it's become a bit tedious. Haven't touched Bayonetta or MiniNinjas yet, but did start Heavy Rain and so far, my complaints are still there — at least for the opening of the game. I will finish it this time, though, and it will stay in my library. Finished Black Ops on my original profile (MadPowerBomber, add me if you like! I don't mind, if you don't mind me secretly stalking your trophy status. Hahahaha), and played a little bit of Bulletstorm. I also spent a good chunk of the day talking on here, despite the horrible migraine that kept me out of work. I just gotta say, if I haven't before, this community of gamers is the best, most intelligent, and fun to talk to out there. Even if things get heated, you guys are all still really cool folks in my book. 🙂
That backlog of games is mind-numbing. Good luck finding a place to start. But it sounds like you need to finish DA Origins first….keep the rest in the plastic until then! haha
Sometimes I wonder why I have 25 or so PS3 games. Many just sit there, like they're going to someday be something more to me than what they were when I first played them. I dunno, but sometimes I think aside from Tekken and RPG's (they're so long) I should just rent everything. I'd save money and have more shelf space.
Dunno bout you Temjin but my collection makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I can run my finger across all those cases and raise up fond memories, not just of the games but what was going on while I played it. I hope all-digital never comes.
I know how you feel Mad. I have a problem with wanting to buy every game I can than get to overwhelmed on what I want to play. I also feel like World on enjoying just seeing them on my shelf. At least I know that if I want to play something I will most likely have it.
Right now I'm working on DA: Origins also. I'm also playing DS2, LBP2, KZ3, Ys I & II (PSP), and just finished Homefront. There is just to much great stuff.
Then the next few months I have some D1P coming out. Socom 4, L.A. Noire, and inFamous 2. Those will get me to June but after that there is many more. I don't think I'll ever get caught up.
As far as game length goes – I feel like 10-15 hours is a great starting point. Obviously this varies greatly depending on the game, but this length usually does not leave me wanting much more, and doesn't make the game drag on forever. You also have to take into account replay value/time (esp if you want that platinum)
I don't think you can compare RPG lengths to any other type of game…they have, and always will be, the longest games available.
But I feel like now there are many more GOOD games that I want to play, so I don't want ALL of my games to take 40 hours to beat. With games like FF – you can "beat" them in 30-50 hours, but to do EVERYTHING, can take FOREVER. This was fine when I was in middle school or high school. But now I get about 3 hours a night, maybe 4-5 nights a week. So that's only about 12-15 hours per week (and this will decrease even more in about 3 months). So to finish a game that takes 80-100 hours could take me 2 months. That's just impossible if you want to play any more games….which I do!
On the flip-side….a game that only take 6-8 hours is a freakin' ripoff in my opinion (I'm lookin' at you Homefront) And again, I'm a SP guy, so MP is just "extra" – it shouldn't be considered for "game length" since technically MP length is infinite if you so choose.
PGU: Finishing up Enslaved platinum, then I don't know. Not really interested in DAII, LA Noire, DNF, MK….my calendar is a little open until inFAMOUS 2.
You're not interested in some pretty interesting things.
Haha – thanks World. But we gotta have some different gaming habits right? I'm thinking about going with ME2 next….that should keep me busy.
yeah I'm still busy with it. Solid sci fi RPG if i ever saw one.
Where'd you go Ben? I spent a couple days at the casino.
Any game that clocks in at 5 hours should only cost $30, nevermind how the multiplayer is.
I really liked Dragon Age II at first, but now it's starting to piss me off. I know I'll finish it, but I agree there is no story yet. I'm just doing pointless missions, I can hardly even upgrade weapons and armor cuz even when I do every mission possible there aren't enough EXP points to get strong enough to hold the stuff. This game is a step back, and my review will reflect that.
Girl gamers are just fine. They either like "guy stuff" or they are happy with some niche stuff. I recently met the hottest girl in the world and she's a gamer who doesn't seem to have any chip on her shoulder about it. If women are worried about their standing in the gaming world then nothing is stopping them from creating a development studio for girl games.
Playing through Dragon Age II, it's fun but so much is not there that should be. Oh yeah and I bought Ar Tonelico 3 today. After I fix my backlog I can't wait to dig into that one.
Cape Cod. The casinos are a plague I like to avoid. 🙂
lol Cape Call of Duty
Games have suffered terrible loss in value in recent years. If the game is too short, I'm not buying it. It's just that simple. And no, personally, I don't consider MP adding to the value. Simply put, if I can finish a game in 2 evenings over the weekend it's not worth $60.
As for girl gamers, I think most of them would prefer that articles that talk about them just didn't exist.
I am in total agreeance with you. I don't think MP should even be considered when reviewing a game. I would even go so far as to say, MP is a worthless addition that hinders the development of the SP campaign.
Even when you have two different teams working SP/MP, most, not all, games will suffer from having to spend resources for MP development. Naughty Dog, in my opinion, has the correct formula for making an awesome campaign and an equally great MP experience.
Uncharted does it best. You always feel that you played a lengthy and well scripted games.
I'm not one to complain much, as long as it's over 5 hours I'm fine with it.
I'm just itching to get my hands on White Knight Chronicles 2.
I'm looking forward to a lot of games, but that game is like the one I REALLY want at the moment. Need a solid date…
well i guess i'll b the freak with a second head that will likely buy crysis 2. Im not sure about kz3 since it doesn't sound like the sp has changed much in quality (reviews say… might be completely wrong) and i cant say kz2 had the lasting factor of bad company 2. logged 300 hours still got a lot to go and been playing almost a year. Thats what i want to play if crysis 2 flops and kz3 im not interested, thinking either RDR lanoir or… crap what else… at least till infamous2
Killzone 3's single player flows a lot better than 2. The set pieces and action are a lot better too. Bigger environments and larger scale. It's a tad short but I had a lot more fun with Killzone 3's single player than I did 2's.
No SHIFT 2 review to foward to on the 29. Really want to know if that turns out good by PSX standards because right now…that game looks real good.
I really can't speak for all female gamers, but some of us do just want to play and not be judged or abused. Guys that don't have an issue, probably don't realize the ridiculous stuff that goes on. Let's say 10% of male gamers are jerks to female gamers. That means 90% are good guys and may not know what the minority is up to. But for us, when you play online with 16-128 people at one time, we play with a lot of jerks. Gamers are just a reflection of society, but some of us like to play to escape real life for a while.
Personal Gaming Update
Due to a tough financial week, I rented Homefront when I had planned to buy it. I liked it but have done pretty much everything I ever will in campaign mode. The multiplayer is good but I have more mp games than time. Might still buy it when I find it cheap but not right away for full price. I am playing the SOCOM 4 beta. I have mixed feelings on it. I like it but keep thinking I wish I was playing Killzone 3 instead. That is the only mp that I feel like I really want to play these days. Tried Crysis 2 but didn't give it much of a chance. It also didn't really grab me.
Don't let the average male gamer online find out you are a chick. Problem solved. I'm not trying to say hide who you are, but if you are getting judged or harassed, there are always 3 buttons while playing: The block button, the mute button, and the report button.
Last edited by LittleBigMidget on 3/20/2011 2:15:16 AM
I agree. I do mute and block people and my psn id does not give away my gender. But if female gamers have to be hesitant to use a mic too, then it is unfair. Also, I am not whining or bringing up this issue, only commenting with my perspective when others bring it up. This really is not my biggest problem in life.
I'm really excited about this new project. Not knowing stuff is exhilarating.
PGU:
I finished Homefront on Thursday and then got the itch for AC:B so thats all I'm into now. I'm loving it, but I feel like they constrict where you can go at one time more than 2.
Also, I got to yell at a Gamestop employee today for being a complete d*ck because I canceled my Crysis 2 preorder. People who are a**holes for no reason really p*ss me off.
I was going to state that the old retro games were short & why we didn't notice it, but Ben already did it in the 1st post.
As for female gamers, I'm all for it…the more gamers the better. And as I said before, there was one female in KZ3's Warfare mode that nobody could even come close to on the match boards.
My PGU,
There isn't any!!!!!!
After my PS3 red-lighted while playing KZ3's Warfare,and with my KZ3 disc still in it, I've tried to play Halo 3 & Splinter Cell:Conviction, but as I played them on my BotBox all I could think of is where my KZ3 points would have been at, & what I'd be doing in KZ's Warfare, had my PS3 still been working.
I've been thinking about trying to find a place that will rent me a PS3 at a decent price, but then I'd still have to crack open my PS3 just to figure out how to get the damned disc out(since none of the game-eject remedies on Google or YouTube worked). And after spending $139 for the Helghast Edition, I just don't want to have to spent another $60 to re-buy the game all over again.
Since I won't have the bucks till July, I think I'm going seriously going to need a 4 month long 12-step Program…. "Hi everyone, my name is Saint & I'm an Playstation 3 & Killzone 3 addict"
Last edited by BikerSaint on 3/20/2011 2:33:29 AM
You've always got the dozens of other consoles and thousands of other games to play. I have faith that you will be able to suppress the KZ cravings for a few months. And if needed, I'm sure PSXE can be a support group. 😀
Peace.
But wait… Red light?
Thank Lawless,
PSXE is my support group.
But even with my other consoles & games, every time I try to get into another game, my mind keeps reverting back to KZ3 & I want to brutal melee everything on screen.
And lately, I've been hating on my BotBox & Wii.
Yes, you read right…..I said red light.
You know how the PS3 does everything???
Well, mine finally decided to turn itself into a Sony traffic light,…it starts green, then instantly turns yellow, & goes into a constant blinking red light mode.
And it won't even turn blue to acknowledge that it's holding my KZ3 disc in Blu-ray cell-block 3
how long a game should be is entierly dependent on its type, and its story.
you dont want it to feel like its dragging out, but you dont want to feel like you missed half the game!
like KZ3, your in a spacefight, trying to stop a war then all of a sudden the game ends.
its like WTF?
did i get a edited version or something?
wheres the rest of the game!?
same as homefront, your in the middle of the games biggest battle, then all of a sudden the game ends.
its like your racing down a road at 300KMPH then all of a sudden you stop.
so you dont want games dragging out, or suddenly finishing you want a nice tapered feel.
like alan wake, its paced PERFECTLY!
one thing i loved about that game is its pacing.
it never feels stretched, theres heaps of moments you think ok this is the end, then the story takes a twist and shoots you back up ready for more!
FPS should be at least 8 hours long on the easiest difficulty because thats where most will play it.
RPGs should be at least 20 hours just on main missions, RPGs should be longer because there normally based on character development and a world over time.
its hard to see how characters change, and how the world changes because of you if its so short.
there normally allot more story orientated so a longer length would help that.
racing games should be similar 20 or so hours, because theres heaps of collection you can do, heaps of upgrades you can purchase.
no point saving up to buy the fastest car, then 2 races after you buy it the game finishes!
other games like puzzle, stealth, platformers is really hard to say.
id go with same as shooters, dependent on what the storys like.
if GOW3 did one thing right, its pacing.
did not feel rushed, did not feel stretched out, felt just right.
endings is something developers SERIOUSLY need to work on!
honestly can not remember the last time i finished a game and thought wow, now thats a fantastic ending!
actually i can, last time was infamous almost 2 freaking years ago!
allot of games these days fall into 2 categories.
1 all fuse no bang.
2 the WTF, did i miss half the game?
some suit both like KZ3, leading up the whole game to stahl, the whole game is about stahl.
the endings just so underwhelming!
you spend the whole game on a fuse, sizzling out, then ends with no bang.
WTF?
wheres the kaboom?
there was suppose to be a earth shattering kaboom!
so KZ3 suits both, theres no bang, and it just ends so abruptly.
most common though is the all fuse no bang, like homefront.
the 2nd one though, is more like GOW3.
has a really satisfying ending but its just poorly paced.
as i said before it feels like your moving at a nice pace, then just suddenly stops.
your left wondering WTF happened?
honestly, when i finished KZ3 i thought it was a joke, i sat through the credits thinking GG were playing a joke and there was still more to come.
sadly i was wrong.
developers seriously need to work on there endings though, there either boring as bat sh*t, or just finish abruptly.
im 80% of the way through motorstorm so far, and all i can say is meh!
first 2 were WAY more fun!
the controls are whats spoiling it for me.
the first 2 had very distinctive arcade controls which suits the series.
this though has a mix in between, which just gets annoying!
thing i hate most about it though is its constantly punishing you for things out of your control!
for example theres so many jumps in the game, problem is there blind.
if i had a nickle for every time i hit a jump, and hit it on the wrong side and because of that i end up slamming into a sign or whatever else, well, you get the story.
just gets seriously frustrating being punished for something completley out of my control!
how am i suppose to know theres a sign further up?
i have xray vision do i?
wish i could see through roads, would really come in handy!
Wait… Motorstorm released here? Dude! And here you're always complaining about us getting games later. Ah… no, I see. They did release it, but they've stopped shipments. Interesting.
I think with Racing games, it's important to have the game end shortly after you recieve the best car. If it drags on for too long, then it just gets boring as you feel as though there is no real competition. But because racers generally have a wealth of content anyway, there really is no limit on how long you can play for, as long as you're willing to put into it.
I agree on the other lengths that you've mentioned though, except for RPGs. I feel that they should really be longer because of the natural complexity of them. They need to introduce the mechanics over time and let you truly master them, rather than throwing them all at you upfront.
I also agree with you about the endings. So many games leave you feeling underwhelmed, or as though it isn't a proper conclusion. Brutal Legend just left me hanging…
Peace.
they did stop shipments, but check your local stores they may still have it in stock.
all of my local stores do!
ive stopped playing it though, its just really boring me.
trying to finish de blob 2 now, which is one of the very few games actually made here!
good game, gets a little repetetive but its allot of fun.
dunno why, but its really mellowing for some reason, just relaxes ya.
part of thats due to the sense of humor, the games constantly throwing jokes at ya.
I'm really touchy about game length because I don't have a lot of money and I need to get as much out of my games as possible.
They are saying Batman will take 25-30 hours to do everything, but that isn't that great for me. I don't play video games for platinum trophies or because I want to spend hours looking for tiny trinkets in hidden area's. They put those hundreds of hidden items in there to make the "game" last longer.
It's just a smokescreen though. If I play batman, it's for the batman aspect, for the gameplay. It's not so I can find a bunch of bat poo hidden in tiny little corners. In truth, the majority of people who want Arkham City, they'll only get 12-15 hours out of it most likely. They want to play batman, not hide and seek.
That kind of stuff is ok for those hard core trophy lovers who have an aching need for tedious, mind-numbing, easter egg hunts, but that's just not for me. I want gameplay, story, substance.
I just can't afford to pay $60 for a game that I'll be done with in only a few days. I need them to last. Luckily rpgs are my favorite, if I loved shooters I'd be screwed. Well that or I'd be playing a bunch of old shooters from the bargain bin.
I am glad Infamous 2 has implemented the create/share aspect, because I'll get hours and hours of unique gameplay. Whereas even if I really enjoy batman, once the story is done there probably won't be much more that I care to do, so Batman will have to wait till it's on the cheapo counter.
"It's not so I can find a bunch of bat poo hidden in tiny little corners."
That was absolutely HILARIOUS.