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Are Shorter, Cheaper Games The Way To Go?

Posted May 31, 2006 at 4:04AM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: PSP, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii Tags: gaming

Cheaper, Shorter Games

At $60 a pop, videogames are probably the most expensive consumer entertainment medium on the mass market, and with a price tag four times as high as CD's and DVD's you have to ask yourself, "are we getting our money's worth?" The average single player action adventure game usually lasts between twelve and fifteen hours, that seems to be the sweet spot for what's considered a fair length in the genre. RPG's are generally expected to last considerably longer (why is that?) coming in at anywhere between thirty and a hundred hours. Isn't it strange how we as gamers seem to place so much emphasis on the quantity of game we're getting as opposed to the quality? Of course no one wants to feel ripped off, but don't you feel much better having gone through a really, really good nine hour game at full price than you do after wading through a thirty hour monstrosity having paid the same amount?

Lets be honest here, an unfolding story is rarely, if ever, meant to be told over the course of forty hours, often times there simply isn't enough story to tell. How often in a Final Fantasy game have we sat through an absurdly dim witted piece of extended dialogue that more often than not has little to no bearing on the storyline and bores us to tears? There are also those segments of games that just don't feel quite right, that aren't quite up to the standard of the rest of the game, filler segments just thrown in there to artificially inflate play time. If the designer does have a 30 hour story to tell why not stretch it out over the course of several games in an episodic format (like a TV show). This format would allow for better pacing and more even digestion by the audience.

Would you feel better if you knew that game designers were trimming the fat, getting rid of all that useless padding they stuck in there to stretch a game out to the "fair" nine hour mark? Would you feel better if you walked into the local game store and saw the price tag on the games was $25? So what's the sweet spot, what's the amount of time game designers should be aiming for that would be both fair and fulfilling? I say five hours, five hours is just short enough that if you really wanted to you could play through the whole game in just one sitting, but if you felt like it you could also extend the play time over the course of a week. As the average gamer gets older he/she has less time to spend grinding through wave after wave of random battle and poorly executed set piece. Five hours is also short enough that most people will be able to actually finish the game. Of course none of this will fix a sucky game, if you buy a title and it sucks it doesn't matter whether it's six hours or sixty, it still sucks, but hey, at least you spent thirty five less dollars on it. So what do you guys think, shorter, cheaper games for all, or stick with the current trend of doing things?

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I think its a great idea as the developers can try something new and deliver us content faster with all the new improvements that they normally cant adapt while making a new game.

Take Half-Life 2: Episode one for an example, the game is like 2½ times short of HL2, but also cheaper from day one for the casual consumer. Take games like King Kong in mind cause they offer the same length of entertainment, but for 3 times the same price. So i am quite happy about this.

# I disagree — Guest 2006-05-31 05:10

I have to say, i disagree. I can see the angle you are coming from but unfortunatly 5 hours to finish a game just isn't enough. Even at $25. Thats still more than your standard DVD price.

And with a DVD these days you can get the film (about 2hours) with all the extras that will take a whole weekend if not more too watch. You can watch films over and over again, because you enjoy the story, you love the quotes, or you find it funny.

Rarely is a game ever like this, where you get much replay value. In 99% of games you have done it all the first time around - or - the 2nd/3rd time you have to do the same laborious tasks just to do the secret hidden one.

Games should be worth their money, in terms of quality and size. Final Fantasy's are a prime example because htey are a true thing of beauty. The whole story, gameplay and everything with it is fantastic.

On the other hand, a game like Metal Gear Solid, can complete that in first play through in 10-15 hours. But has plenty of replay value because of its great momemnts.

Unfortunatly not all games live up to this very high standard.

# Finally someone worked it out! — AnonymousTipster 2006-05-31 05:14

I feel that short but excellent games are the way to go (Mega-Mart anyone?).

The problem is whether they will sell or not. XBLA (XboxArcade) has some good short games like Geometry Wars - simple, cheap yet fun and addictive. Pound for playtime, that game is the best XBox game to me (others would argue Halo2, but I suck at console shooters).

That said, I'm not sure the 'common market' (i.e the group of people who buy Fifa year after year just for the hell of it) will work with the concept. Cheap means bad to them so they won't buy it unless there's lots of media coverage.

Welcome to the world of games development, where it's nigh on impossible to please everyone.

# No such thing as a cheap game — Guest 2006-05-31 05:16

5 hours? Are you retarded? The day I buy a game that's only 5 hours in length will be the day that I lose faith in the game market.

If developers are going to go through the work of creating a game engine that's good enough to entertain people and pull in enough players to make a profit, you'd better believe that they'll milk the game system as they rightfully should. If you can run through a game the first time through in under 4 hours then is the game truly worth buying? If there's no goodies to obtain then you're not going to replay the game more than twice. And if that's the case wouldn't you only rent the game instead? You might be the fool, but many aren't; hence companies dont make as much money.

It's clear that people enjoy longer games and if you don't there are games also aimed at children or people with ADHD. I'll stick with games that require sweat and frustration, and a complex yet interesting story.

# mmm... — Guest 2006-05-31 05:17

Well, the price is INDEED high, but that doesn't mean that games must be short for all the bored people to finish!!!

AND there are long games that are good and short games that really SUCK.

For example, Tales Of Eternia and Monster Hunter Freedom are really good, but Mercury is not THAT good...

PLUS, when a game is longer, the storyline is also longer, and you can understand and get into the game better.

# SiN Episodes: Emergence — ssj3fox 2006-05-31 05:18

Enough said... When Half-Life 2: Episode One comes out tomorrow at 1pm (-5 GMT) and I'm glued to it for the next 6 hours it will be confirmed. Afterward I'll open up Hammer and enjoy the new content! Same for SiN when the SDK comes out...

# Short But GOOD! — Guest 2006-05-31 05:20

i believe God Of War DEFINETLY fell under than catagory

# Guest 2006-05-31 05:21

The problem with using Final Fantasy as an example is that the entire 40hours was awful story.

# umm — Guest 2006-05-31 05:23

i disagree because unless the games are incredibly short they will not be released at a $25 price point. I do agree that the price is too high but making shorter games is not the answer. People like myself hate any games that I know I can beat in a few hours, if thats the case I will just rent it have my fun beat it and return no replay value needed.

# yeah — Guest 2006-05-31 05:24

yeah the make 50GB-a side blue ray discs 4 the ps3, and now they will decide to make a 5h metal gear solid... yeah sure pfosten OPFERRR

# pirates — Guest 2006-05-31 05:24

why do people pirate games? because they cost too much.. and most of the time, the game is rushed to meet a deadline.. so we the consumers get shafted in the end. what games these days need is REPLAY VALUE! i hate to beat a game, then have it sit on a shelf for ever because theres no replay value once you've beaten the game! these developers need to make games more fun to play OVER AND OVER. Not just once. they need to design a game where every action in the game causes a different outcome every time. that would be the ultimate game. I have ideas that havn't been used in games yet. i would love to share them witha game company. it involves a really complex reality algorithm. (as i call it.) You define everything in the game world with a variable and have a constantly changing outcome dependant on the changing properties of that variable.

# Depends on the free time you have — Guest 2006-05-31 05:28

#8: Mercury was great for me, one of the best games I've seen on the PSP. Keep in mind that many people doesn't have much time to play, if I have only one hour to play daily I don't want to spend the next two weeks growing an RPG character.

Monster Hunter was not for me, I played 15 minutes, hey, that seems a good game, such a pity that I don't want even to risk the first eight hours of gameplay, maybe the game gets boring afterwards, so I went back to Exit, simple but fun game.

I would say that there is two audiences in the console universe, people which has a lot of free time but not so much money, and people which has the money but not the time. The first will go for longer, complicated games, the latter will go for instant games.

# Why not just make the games higher quality? — Guest 2006-05-31 05:30

It seems like the biggest complaint is that no one wants to play that long. Why not just make the games a fair length at higher quality so that they do not bore you to death and make you actually want to play that long. I don't care if its the freaking never ending story game as long as its always fun to play. Why do you think MMOs are so popular?

# omg im an anon, go suck a ***** — Guest 2006-05-31 05:31

quantity over quality. id rather sit through a 50 hour so-so rpg than finish a really good game in 6 hours, then play it over again. That can get dull but with a long rpg you can get acustomed to things and always go back for things you missed the next time around.

Its quantitu...

# unlike — Guest 2006-05-31 05:39

you I need games that take many hours to pass , I play all my GTA games through without cheats like many of you , it just kills the experience , I don't use strategy guides cause it too kills the experience , gotta play star ocean till the end of time pass it in all modes including the bonus dungeons. The more time consuming the game the more it's worth.

# oblivion — Guest 2006-05-31 05:40

oblivion is the best long game. 200+ hours... the only way to go, unless its a fps. then all you need is good online play and replay value. i would much rather play a really crappy game for 100 hours than go and play a really good game for 15 hours. i want to play my games over the course of a month not over the course of a day.

# meh — Guest 2006-05-31 05:41

i dont care how much i pay for a game as long as it is fun all the 5-100 hours it takes me to beat it, like zelda games or oblivion ect...

# ... — Guest 2006-05-31 05:49

Cristopher C., I believe you misunderstand the purpose of the QJ Blogs. A lot of your posts are worthless opinion pieces, which are good from time to time, but seriously. Can't you find actual news like your fellow bloggers instead of writing up editorials so that, for once, other people would listen to your opinion?

I guess not.

# No — aonhagen 2006-05-31 05:50

At the end you will LOSE MORE MONEY for LESS GAMPLEY HOURS

And if a game is shot of long has nothing to do with quality.

See blizard by example

Now games will more short and less fun

# Oblivion — Chris C 2006-05-31 05:51

Oblivion's a great game, but the thought of having to wade through 100+ hours just puts me off. I'd much rather have the game stry delivered in small chunks, but still with the option to explore the vast game world at my leisure.

# Guest 2006-05-31 05:55

if u want cheaper games... stay one generation behind.... for example... in this generation with the ps3 and 360 its perfect for u (the author) to buy a ps2 xbox or gc...

# What? — Guest 2006-05-31 05:58

How could any company attempt to justify a game that has a playtime of 5 hours?

If anything, the problem is that games are too short. I recall Unreal 2 as an example: the game took about 10 hours from start to finish. Sure, it looked nice, but combat was so-so, and the story was pretty lacklustre. As a consumer I simply am not willing to pay for that.

If a game has a multiplayer mode that is enjoyable, or an active mod scene, it's essentially made. Just look at Half-Life 1, and then 2. Roleplaying games such as Final Fantasy get away with not having this purely on the basis that they have a story that takes 40-100 hours to play through. Oblivion is also showcases this - the game is MASSIVE. These games sell a lot, and I think this more accurately reflects what gamers want.

How many game reviews for less expensive games say, "The game is incredibly short, but that's OK because it only costs €15"? Not many. Game designers are rewarded for appropriate-length (depending on the game, naturally) stories and online modes that give a replayability value. They are *not* rewarded for making the game "short and cheap".

# Holy crap — [BOT] Bob 2006-05-31 06:00

I think by reading comments we've answered the question! Some people like short games, others enjoy long games, and some have a good time with both. Oh and guess what the game industry makes both, WOW! If you think the games are too expensive then rent it off of gamefly, or wait until its cheaper, or just get a job. I bought FFVII, God of War, Far Cry, Snake Eater: Subsistence, the first two Ratchet and Clank games, Homeworld 2 and more at $20-$30. I bought all Final Fantasies (except XI, and X-2), the first 3 Jak games, Ico, Shadow of Colossus, Metal Gear Solid 2, Homeworld, Turok: Dinosuar Hunter, SSX, and lots more at release price. Also I have a gamefly account with even a wider variety of long and short games. Each time I bought one I didn't see $xx.xx, and think about how many hours of entertainment this investment was going to give me. What I did do was think man this game is going to rock, $xx.xx? Hell YES.

# Games at 20-25$ — Guest 2006-05-31 06:06

60$ for a game is like: "No way!!" And almost the piracy that exists, exists because of the price tag.

Put the games price at 20-25$ each, for all platforms, and expect a sales rise in a flash!

Put the games price at 50-65$ each, for all platforms, and expect a piracy overflow, and companies closed doors...

Please companies! Support the gamers! Put some low prices and good games out there! And if you do that, expect a massive games profit from us!

# B — Guest 2006-05-31 06:10

Just wanna add something here, doesn't anyone other than me replay there games? Shorter games I replay just as much as longer games, making the longer games WAY more worth it than the shorter, but to be honest if ANY length game is really good like the Metal gear saga is really short and sweet, I think I've replayed each like 20 times by now XD.

As for the oblivian comments, the game is like 3 hours if you rush through, 100 if you explore, thats what makes it a GREAT game, morrowind is the same.

# STOP playing FF — Guest 2006-05-31 06:10

You obviously don’t get the point of these games so please stop playing them, and stop complaining. You are probably the kind of person that would rather watch movie than a show, and prefer a short story over a novel, so go ahead, but stop bugging us about it.

Wanker.

.

# . — Guest 2006-05-31 06:14

chris c is loco!

# to those who like short good games — Guest 2006-05-31 06:17

how many times have you heard of a game being too long? In reveiws, good games that are short are downed for being, guess what? SHORT! I know i dont like to play through a short game on a free day and get 4-5 hours into it and have it end. I dont want a thats it? expression. But for the adhd people out their game developers should start making multiple endings with variable lenghths. This is especially possible with ps3's 50gb blu-ray discs, though the development time will probably lengthen and deadlines will kill the possibility but its a good idea if you ask me.

# Is this news of any kind? looks like your stinking opinion. — Illegal Machine 2006-05-31 06:17

How about you stick to reporting news, and leave the opinionated rhetoric to the posters?

Next thing you know, with YOUR crazy method of writing articles, soon we'll see ALL opinions in the news page, and news in the comments section..

keep it up Bizarro

# Interesting — Guest 2006-05-31 06:20

I think that the gaming industry is diverse enough to support many different formats, including shorter cheaper games. As long as they release high quality titles I believe that people will continue to buy them no matter what the lenght.

# Sometimes Short and Sometimes Long — Guest 2006-05-31 06:20

I feel great being able to pay 20/25/30 bucks for a game like Lumines or Megaman...

Then again I am willing to pay my 50-40 bucks for a good game like Syphon Filter, or GTA

If only there where more cheap fun games, even distributed on line, a 10 dlls short game, I would buy them while waiting for the good bigger games... there must be a balance we cannot have only GTAs and Syphon Filter's(or however you write that)...

Even episodic short games would be interesting...

# - — AnonymousTipster 2006-05-31 06:20

QUOTE:I would say that there is two audiences in the console universe, people which has a lot of free time but not so much money, and people which has the money but not the time.

I agree with that. I love games like GW:RE and Kenta Cho's games (search ABA Games on Google) because they provide a quick shot of fun as I have little time. I was offered to test AutoAssault MMO, but ended up deciding against it because I knew I'd never have enough time to do a good testing of it. (Plus I might get addicted and never get any work done.)

P.S Unreal2 had a regular story, until the end. Best end of an FPS ever.

# There is room for both — Guest 2006-05-31 06:21

Problem with short games is you feel cheated and renting the game becomes a better option.

For short games you need to bring the price down to 19.99 at most and include some sort of online multiplayer. If a game has good multiplayer, replay value increases greatly and it makes the game fun to have for while. Also publishers are afraid of bringing short games because they are usually rated against longer fully priced games. If short game might get 70 while a full price one gets an 85 simply because the latter ones offers more gameplay. Also remember that most reviewers don't review the online multiplayer since no one else has the game.

I definitely see things like a game offering a good 5 hour experience with good multiplayer with a 20 dollars price tag and then getting add-ons for 10 dollars each. At about 5 upgrades and you have a full blown game. Not only that but the development is a lot shorter. Then in the future (as with most games) the price can become 40 dollars for the complete thing. Of course they will need to provide a good incentive to buy the extra content. New maps, new weapons, new vehicles, new characters, new difficulty, new levels, new modes, better multiplayer experience, bug fixes, and also to get more people to upgrade they could make it so that only players who have the latest upgrades can make move up to a new level or play online with other people with the upgrades.

This will definitely become a great option in the near future but it will definitely not be the only option.

# Guest 2006-05-31 06:23

short and long where did u buy lumines for $20... ur using wat #24 said and bought the game wayt after it came out....

# probably the kind of person that would rather watch movie than a show — Chris C 2006-05-31 06:26

Depends on the TV show, depends on the content of the show. It's not about the length, it's the quality. I've had to question the reasoning behind lengthy games because not only do they take such a long time to complete, but they cost so much money that I'm wondering whether I get a fair amount of game per dollar.

Is this news of any kind? looks like your stinking opinion.

Depending on what blog you're reading this article in, it is in fact listed in the opinions and analysis section of the blog.

# hey Christopher C. — Guest 2006-05-31 06:27

hey chris c, you fail it... like hard..

do you realize that inorder for a series to have as much content it would require a lot of titles, the video game market is already saturated with sequels as it is, if your theory is put into practice i can only see 2 things happening as a result:

in order to establish successfull game series there will have to be many more titles available on the market, and it will mostlikely confuse new commers to video games and you'll end up with title like "Prince of Persia XIV: Those levels where you're in that wierd water place"

in order to avoid that from happening they would probably have to change the price tag for longer games to a higher price and short games to lower, which'll confuse newbies even more, or just disestablish long games series, which will put us back to the arcade days and kill video games all together. you are also leaving out multiplayer games (counter-strike/ unreal/ starcraft/ warcraft/ sportsgames)lwh ere most of the development effort is put into FINETUNING, if games sell for half as much and the number of people who buy it doesn't double, they developers have less motivation to continue to perfect games (i think is awesome that countless people have played starcraft for 300+ hours yet its strength is not its singleplayer mode, it is in the finetuning that makes the game play fun [and fair!] against other people regardless of what races are chosen, that is what is keeping the game strong even after nearly a decade from its release)

it's cool that you're thinking about that stuff, but don't think you can challenge and already successfully established industry with such random ideas. just go back to your parent's basement and watch g4.

Anonymous does not forgive...

# My take on this is... — masr1979 2006-05-31 06:29

Well games ARE too expensive, no doubt about that, but I'll tell you the truth since back in the super nintendo era when I started to play RPG's I remember playing Final Fantasy II and everytime I was facing a boss a just wished that the game wasn't ending soon. I don't have as much time now to play, but I wouldn't like to take that away from those who can. Games should just have different starting prices if you ask me. Can you imagine paying the same for mercury for the PS3 as you would for MGS4? not that I don't like mercury or anything, but the games are not in the same league, they both have different audiences and the price should reflect that. Getting back to the RPG's some you can finish rather quickly if you don't go for all the side quest, so they could do that to try to keep the game down to a good 20hrs if you don't try to get everything in the game.

# dfsdf — Guest 2006-05-31 06:29

"5 hours? Are you retarded? The day I buy a game that's only 5 hours in length will be the day that I lose faith in the game market. "

you've been doing it for about 3 years. or you really suck at games.

honestly, the last game i got that took 12 hours to beat was FFVII. they just dont make long games anymore!

# to silenex — Guest 2006-05-31 06:31

making games cheaper, even with better sales will close more companies than piracy! over the past 20 years ive seen games go from 50 to 40 to 50 and now 60 dollars at release. If you dont like the prices for the games you love then go find another hobby thats cheap for you or just play a waiting game for them to lower in price to your liking. Piracy is done for a few reason not just prices.

Piracy reasoning:

1) been screwed by a company that you are dependant on (microsoft with windows)

2) people are cheap and feel ripped off when they look at prices and doesnt know how much work actually goes into making them. (if you look at the work being done now for games and what it was like before, youd think you got ripped when the nes and snes were spitting out 40-80 dollar games.)

3) they think that they dont matter and do it anyways thinking that it doesnt make a difference when it does.

4) ego-morons such as your self thinking everything should be easy for you find out the hard reality of the world and lash out stupidly.

reasons why ive gone to piracy

1) no longer can find old gen console games (nes, gamegear, snes, gen, ect) if its two gens or younger ill hunt it down and pay for it.

2) microsoft gives ***** versions of windows and drops them quickly till they get it right on rare occasion. the versions inbetween win98 and xppro are good examples, not including nt.

3) I own the games and want to play them portablly (yes i still have my old systems and games), and do not wish to murder my beloved systems to make them portable them self's without the know how or will to

# What's the playtime for tetris? — Guest 2006-05-31 06:32

Not everygame has a clearly defined playtime I could play a tetris again and again, or lumines, or a variety of games...

The game doesnt change much other than speed, yet we have a sequel to Lumines....

Same for minigames, they can be played again and again...

Playtime is not an issue for everygame, yes a RPG that last 5 hours is not ideal, but then a game could be crated in which you subscribe and every month or 3 months you get the next episode or expansion pack, that amortaizes the cost over a period of time, is like credit, instead of having to pay 60 bucks for a game that lasts 50 hours, I pay 10 monthly for a pieces that last 10-15 hours, It is probably more healthy (meaning I wont sit for 50 straight hours trying to finish it because I cant)

Episodic games are not probably going to replace games as we know it, but may expand what can be done with games, it can allow a different way of creating games, and we already do that with other media, TV, books that are published in magazines before being printed as a book, and so on, and while I have seated trough 20 episodes of family guy non-stop I usually watch them once a day, over a period of time

# Umm..... lol — Guest 2006-05-31 06:40

This has nothing to do with the psp, but I want everyone to know that I have a very long opinion(even though the chances of someone actually reading this a nil)

My opinion:

Do you ever wake up in the morning thinking, "Sony Computer Entertainment's use of addlepated clunks is indisputably pathetic?" Well, so do I. What follows is a call to action for those of us who care -- a large enough number to shatter the illusion that Sony Computer Entertainment can change its lackadaisical ways. It has been brought to my attention that I'm obviously afraid of shiftless four-flushers. While this is indeed true, Sony Computer Entertainment attributes the most distorted, bizarre, and ludicrous "meanings" to ordinary personality charcteristics. For example, if you're shy, it calls you "fearful and withdrawn". If, instead, you're the outgoing and active type, Sony Computer Entertainment says you're "acting out due to trauma". Why does it say such things? To rephrase that question, whatever happened to good sportsmanship? In classic sophist fashion, I ask another question in reply: Why can't it relieve its aching sense of inadequacy without having to address what is, in the end, a nonexistent problem? Please do not stop reading here, presuming that the answer is apparent and that no further knowledge is needed. Such is indubitably not the case. In fact, I'd bet no one ever told you that Sony Computer Entertainment claims that the best way to make a point is with foaming-at-the-mouth rhetoric and letters filled primarily with exclamation points. I respond that it is our responsibility to ourselves, to our posterity, to our ancestors, and to the God of Nature, which made us what we are, to enhance people's curiosity, critical acumen, and aesthetic sensitivity. Sony Computer Entertainment has a glib proficiency with words and very sensitive nostrils. It can smell money in your pocket from a block away. Once that delicious aroma reaches Sony Computer Entertainment's nostrils, it'll start talking about the joy of solipsism and how human beings should be appraised by the number of things and the amount of money they possess instead of by their internal value and achievements. As you listen to Sony Computer Entertainment's sing-song, chances are you won't even notice its hand as it goes into your pocket. Only later, after you realize you've been robbed, will you truly understand that I and Sony Computer Entertainment part company when it comes to the issue of boosterism. It feels that free speech is wonderful as long as you're not bashing it and the inimical vainglorious-types in its cabal, while I assert that it can't attack my ideas, so it attacks me. It could be worse, I suppose. Sony Computer Entertainment could convince innocent children to follow a path that leads only to a life of crime, disappointment, and destruction.

Sony Computer Entertainment likes to brag about how the members of its gang are ideologically diverse. Perhaps that means that some of them prefer Stalin over Hitler. In any case, implying that Sony Computer Entertainment is cunctipotent is no different from implying that the ancient Egyptians used psychic powers to build the pyramids. Both statements are ludicrous. We cannot afford to waste our time, resources, and energy by dwelling upon inequities of the past. Instead, we must fight the warped, distorted, misshapen, unwholesome monstrosity that Sony Computer Entertainment's theatrics have become. Doing so would be significantly easier if more people were to understand that to believe that laws are meant to be broken is to deceive ourselves. I shall not argue that Sony Computer Entertainment's newsgroup postings are an authentic map of its plan to crush the remaining vestiges of democracy throughout the world. Read them and see for yourself. In such a brief letter as this, I certainly cannot refute all the jibes of cheeky slobs, but perhaps I can brush away some of their most deliberate and flagrant strictures.

If the only way to invite all the people who have been harmed by Sony Co

# Micro Content — Guest 2006-05-31 06:40

What if people could buy games for a couple of bucks, like with cell phones, or other small puzzel games?

What if homebrewers could distribute their content trough a central sony website, where a homebrewer sends his game for approval, you know no sex, no copyright infringement, the code is then uploades in sony's database and signed...

Then depending on the price that the homebrewer decide (or free) sony gets a piece of the action, lets say 50 cents, one dollar, or a subscription service fee if the homebrewer wants to give his software for free, this allows sony to maintain the site, promote PSP among casual gamer and other gamers that may end up spending more money on sony without even noticing (I mean, who notices 1 or 2 bucks, an itune show or song--and that 1 dlls son only last 5 min not even 5 hours)

Or the homebrewer can say I want to sell my homebrew trough sony network for lets say 5 bucks, sony gets a cut of the action, sony also distributes some money to other licenses so they dont complain, like networks do sometimes with affiliates for taking some of their audience on-line...sony can even limit the size of the games on its network so it doesnt cannibalize bigger Game Companies market...

a)Homebrewers are sorta happy, or at least not as pissed off

b)Cheap games are available, casual gamers rejoice

c)Sony takes on Nintendo with innovation, because homebrewers are creative, some of the time

d)a good time is had by all

# Think again — Guest 2006-05-31 06:41

I think even if it was a shorter game it would not drop down to $25 maybe it would drop down . Most of the production costs are in designing gameplay and graphics not storyline or game length.

Even if it did drop dramatically in price this would not stop piracy at all. I free game is a free game. You can get Nintendo games for like $2 to $4 but people still do piracy.

Just my opinion.

# eh — Darkatomz 2006-05-31 06:41

it'd be nice, but it would never happen.

# .i agree in a way — Guest 2006-05-31 06:41

i think games should be shorter and at a cheaper price tag more like around $20 but with expansions packs built after a certain ammount of time to add on to the game. like kind of leave us with a cliff hanger and come up with another 1 in a few months or so not a new game every 8 months but like a new expansion every 2-4 months for $20 a pop and if we get bored of that game we can always stop and start a new series ya know so you dont have to waste $50-$60 on a game that we stopped liking after we have gotten 40% through and we can enjoy and purchase more games

# Not everygame has a clearly defined playtime I could play a tetris again and again, or lumines, or a variety of games... — Chris C 2006-05-31 06:42

Absolutlely agre with you, however those aren't the types of games this article is targeted at. Those games really ought to be priced lower than epic RPG's first person shooters and third person action adventuture titles for the simple fact that there are typically less overhead costs associated with creating them.

# You assume too much — Guest 2006-05-31 06:42

You assume that a long game is quantity only, and not quality.

1. RPG's are long because of the level grind. Would you like a game that took only 15 hours including the grind? That'd basically be an action game, why bother with leveling? And if your problem is why they add the aspect of leveling in the game, then you shouldn't be playing an RPG. Yes, RPGs are focused on long wastes of time where no story progression takes place -- the reward? Overpowering through the game w/ rare items and higher skill levels.

2. Short games like Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance for PS2 have been claimed to be great games, but too short because of the length and amount of cutscenes (What was a good time to beat the game? 10 hours? 12?). I like to think of Xenogears as an RPG that fails in the content vs. quantity aspect the worst however.

3. Tetris is simple as hell but lasts a long time. Obviously not much can go wrong w/ the game... thus it's cheap price tag when released new.

4. You fail to recognize that your 5 hour games might take more time to make than a 40 hour rpg, thus they will cost the same.

5. By taking our your argument on length of game being good or bad, you defeat yourself. That's all you had going for you from beginning up until the end. If you want to save money on buying bad games, go rent them. Developers looking for this 'sweet spot' is the same as their extending of the game to meet a time spot.

# one last thing — Guest 2006-05-31 06:45

has anyone ever thought of it this way? would you be paying more or less for a game split up into episodes or for the game in whole? an episode may cost 20-25 dollars a peice and be a 3 part series, but the game as whole could only cost 40-60. youll be paying the about 20 dollars more, why? packaging and printing costs.you may feel its less cause its broken up. Imagine if your consoles like that? for example, you could buy a ps3 for 300, but you could only play games. The hdd, hdmi, movie playback, picture veiwer, wifi, and internet were disabled and you had to buy liscening fees(at varying prices) for it to be enabled? you could easily get ripped off another 400 dollars at the least. why? because you bought it all sepretly at smaller seemingly cheaper prices. especially if it couldnt be hacked/modded.

# to 42 — Guest 2006-05-31 06:47

obviously you never played oblivion with its super long 200+ hours of game time.

# not length, QUALITY — Guest 2006-05-31 06:48

First off it isnt length of game, it is quality, currently Im playing Steambot chronicles on the PS the second, and I gaurantee that the majority of the market will overlook it but I assure you it is a quality game, while not the Elusive "Zombo.com" game that lets you do anything it comes close.

secondly, with the PSP, game quality is definitly an issue,

sony needs to do a few things off the bad, such as tell EA to quit making games, their games are overpriced crap. next they need to cut the sports and First person shooter titles, too many of them make the PSP look like a small xbox. now if sony wants to claim that their handheld is for the hardcore gamer, then why do most of the titles go after only the leisure/causal gamer (FPS, sports, racing) the folks who play these genres are anything but, the PSP needs more RPG's , more tactics games, stuff that takes many hours to play, and it needs niche games, so far it has only one,

if you look at the lineup of games for the PSP, how many are actually "Worth" playing, or how many actually Use the PSP's power, very few,

basically until sony realizes where the market is, like Nintendo did with the DS, their PSP will be but a second thought, a console with unrealized potential, perhaps when the emulation stuff comes out, we can play some cutting edge games, from 1997, oh, and sony, , , once the camera comes out, unless the idea is truly a brilliant brainstorm, dont waste time on adding functions, concentrate on games, the PSP can do enough as it is, give it some games next.

# WRONG — Guest 2006-05-31 06:48

i completely disagree

i can't stand short games. They fly by and before youknow it the game is over!

i think a good game should be about 25 hours

# Guest 2006-05-31 06:50

# Guest 2006-05-31 06:52

i believe games should be cheap and just have downloadable content to add to the games story that gets released every now and then like if they sol you 1/2 or half life 2 for $25 and you could dl the other half 5 months later the playing time is still good for half the game and plus by the time you dl the 2nd 1/2 you would have made that money back already instead of dishing out so much at 1 time

# Theory is good but.... — WarLord 2006-05-31 06:56

It doesn't work with every game genre. IMO, rpgs are supposed to be at least over 50 hours long. If I can finish an rpg in less than 10 hours than that is a crappy game, I don't care how good the story is. There'd be so many thngs missing in the formula: "Difficulty, extras, battle system learning curve". I wouldn't even want them to split it up into seperate parts in order to keep the overall game playing length short. In the end, it would probably end up costing more than it would if they were to release it all in one or two discs. Keep in mind that developers don't just charge for the game, but they also charge for the disc and the disc case that displays the cover art. If I bought all the parts to a 100 hour rpg, I'd end up paying more than I would if I was to buy the entire game in one disc. I also would hate having to buy another disc just so I can keep up with the story, or get to a secret location. [Same reason why I stopped buying the dot hack rpgs] And if developers were to even consider using this tactic, they'd be wasting alot of disc space.

Like i said, the idea wasn't bad, but there's just too many disadvantages. For those of you who claim they don't have enough time to play a long game, then I have two words for you: "Save Point". It's better to use a save point then to finish a 5 hour part of a game over the weekend only to run out to the game store just to buy the other part. You shouldn't even be playing rpgs if you're too busy to use a save point, I mean c'mon. I got two jobs over the summer and I go to college, yet I can still enjoy my fav 50+ hour rpgs.

# Where's my Brain Age — Guest 2006-05-31 06:56

So lumies was 20 long after its release, but even when released it wasnt more than 30 bucks, same for both megaman, an block party, all of them more casual games (Ok, save the Block Party is for little pre-pubecent girls comments, it is so what?)...

Now the Word Puzzle Whatever is coming out for 20 bucks, yes is not halo 56, it doesnt need to be, not every game needs to be halo... or whatever you like, for those who thing that halo is stupid...

But there is a demand for casual games, for cheap fun, Brain Age is selling great beause it can be fun for a lot of people, is cheap and can be casually played, yes some of you would say people who play Brain Age are gay and stupid, congrats to you for thinking that way, but then again neither you, nor I are the only customers in the game industry, and the game industry can address many different types of customers,

The problem is the PSP is addressing a smaller segment than it could, yes you say then get a DS, and eventually I would get to it, I like marion, yes he looks like Ron Jeremy so people that like the DS and mario may seem to you like degenerates... Saying well then dont buy a PSP is simple, is harder to think about what could be done to improve it, or that other people also like the PSP and would like to give it different uses, and like the PSP and would like to see it improve, some people dont like the DS and would like to have some casual cheap games, and saying well then collect postal stamps instead of playing games does nothing to contribute to the conversation, you might as well just fart, which by the way I just did...

# i see — Guest 2006-05-31 06:59

whats this have to do for psp?

# this is the stupidest post ever. — Illegal Machine 2006-05-31 07:09

the mere fact that qj.net paid christoper to post this trite is mind numbing at best.

Oh and Samsong. you need a therapist

# . — Guest 2006-05-31 07:10

JUST DONT BUY THE BAD GAMES

developers should put price tags accoding to the game they have made

GTA LCS is worth A LOT, MERCURY should be CHEAP. BOTH have their value and will sell pretty well this way.

# Like a credit card? But a whole new world — Guest 2006-05-31 07:10

Yes buying a game in episodes is more expensive, but then again buying a car, or a house, or anything on credit results more expensive but usually if you buy it that way it allows you to distribute the cost over time...

People could have the option, I can Buy final fantasy XXVIII for a good 75 bucks and play from begining to end, or I could buy the 10 episodes that make final fantasy XXVIII at 10 dlls every month... and I may have spent 25 more bucks, but given that it allowed me to distribute that impact over almost a year I may not even feel it....

Then again if a game is distributed over the net via episodes, not in the stores, in the store you probably buy the original first episode with much of the content (models and maps) to be used in the next episodes, or pay to get the episode from a download station, in case you dont have reliable high speed internet or dont want to give CC number over the net...

Is the episodes are being constantly created the game can be modified to reflect the way a game is being played, the aspects of the story that interest more, to bring a popular secondary character and give it more screen time, it can be a game where your characters age over time, where you have generations of characters that die and are born, or you chose to follow not the main character but another character's episode, and then go back and get the main character or the villian episode, or you may not care for the main character and follow only the villian's side... new maps coud be developed, user created content can be added... And while that is only a possiblity, the possibility goes beyond how you pay, but it can define how you play a game, how you relate to a game, or what can be done by a game...

Is a little by of the MMO model of paying a subscription but applied in a different way..... Or the sims where the expansion packs are cheaper than the original the initial investement is the expensive then it's cheaper

# my thoughts — Guest 2006-05-31 07:14

First of all, there is no ending piracy now. With cheaper games, it may decline.

Second, the only game that should take 100 hours is the REMAKE of FF VII. ::prays, and then prays more::

A five hour game on a console is BS. Five hour games are for handhelds and should cost 29.99 new.

Console action games should be 10-15 hours, console RPGs should be 30-50 and next-gen console games should cost 49.99. Current-gen games should be no more than 39.99 new. And, all games should have the 'Treasures' like God of War. I just thought that was awesome. The only games I ever wanted to replay right away were FF VII & Mario 64, so I'd say replay value is seriously lacking. None of this 'unlock god mode' for replay junk either.

But then again, I am a fair person. Businesses might go out of business if they followed my format.

And the PS3 is reasonably priced as-is until at least the holiday season 2007.

# I would rather have a 5 hour game — Guest 2006-05-31 07:17

I think this Chris guy is on to some thing, a 5 hour game to me means 5 hours that you actually play. Most games if you take the time to analyze them are short. A game like final fantasy may say that it takes 60 hours to complete but what they take into account is also all the videos that you watch, its really just 60 hours the first time you play.

I remember Chrono Trigger, now that was a true RPG, it was a game that you can also go back to because it was designed to also be played after you finnished the main quest. Unlike these stupidly long games that has you watching just as much of the game as you play.

A person can log more hours in tetris then a person can in FF7. (yup thats right I said it) When your someone like me you play games, not watch them. It maybe called video game but that doesnt mean that half the experience is about watching.

Metal Gear Solid is great because you can explore the game and complete it a diffrent way each time, there is also a difficulty setting that provides the same game but in a diffrent light, the new updates of metal gear (like the substance and subsistance games) also have small challenges that extend the game, so if you look at a game like that it seems short because of the main quest but is actually much more longer than any RPG because of the replayablity.

Now what would you rather have a 5 hour game that you can never put down or a 50 hour game that is the same thing each time you play it

# I will tell you... — Guest 2006-05-31 07:19

the mere fact that qj.net paid christoper to post this trite is mind numbing at best...

whats this have to do for psp?

It has to do...

It is an exploration of what could be done with the PSP, just because is not talking about a current game or artifact for the PSP does not mean that it does not involve the PSP...

I involves the business model behind the PSP.

The demographics of PSP players.

The possibilities of the PSP.

The current state of gaming, including the PSP.

And some of us like to discuss and talk about the possibilities in gaming, and our games, and what we would like to see or not, so far this post has generated about 60 comments, so if he is wrong he at least got people talking....

Then this is the part where somebody says to me:

Nah! You are a doodoo head... dont worry I have been

in elementary school so I can take elementary school

level of discussion... altough I never learned to spell

very well, damn public schools!

# me me me — Guest 2006-05-31 07:21

I like free games

# dumbass thinks he works at Sony — Illegal Machine 2006-05-31 07:35

whats this have to do for psp?

It has to do...

It is an exploration of what could be done with the PSP, just because is not talking about a current game or artifact for the PSP does not mean that it does not involve the PSP...

I involves the business model behind the PSP.

The demographics of PSP players.

The possibilities of the PSP.

The current state of gaming, including the PSP.

And some of us like to discuss and talk about the possibilities in gaming, and our games, and what we would like to see or not, so far this post has generated about 60 comments, so if he is wrong he at least got people talking....

Then this is the part where somebody says to me:

Nah! You are a doodoo head... dont worry I have been

in elementary school so I can take elementary school

level of discussion... altough I never learned to spell

very well, damn public schools!

The only thing anyone on this site will do with a PSP is going to be one of 3 things.

1. A software hack

2. a modification of some kind

3. actual use. (playing with the PSP itself)

so if you were under the delusion that you had some sort of athoritative control over the development of the software or hardware allow me to inform you at this point...

that you don't.

# SHORTER??? — Guest 2006-05-31 07:35

Games are already shorter :S , c'mon you can finish most of the newest games in 1 day or 2 :S what shorter games, games with 5 hour life span jeez gimme a break.

# don't want no short form game — tinglemaps 2006-05-31 07:42

i disagree with the article author. Short games with no story might as well be pacman or something.

no thanks.

Indepth gameplay requires a developed story, developed story requires time and that requires developers (developers developers developers developers) which requires moneys.

# Uh, okay — Guest 2006-05-31 07:43

"whats this have to do for psp?"

That is one of the funniest quotes I've ever seen. Just read it aloud to yourself. Where did this kid go to school?

# It is an exploration of what could be done with the PSP — Chris C 2006-05-31 07:43

Thanks for understanding the article, whoever you may be ;)

Illegal Machine: It's speculation, an opinion, you're free to disagree and voice your opinion in a civil manner, you don't need to get rude.

# i know i said it was the last one but bear with it. — Guest 2006-05-31 07:49

to 45.

Thanks for the long opinion, i bet you confused the hell out of the lesser minds. To me it seems your opinion is to focused on one company, Sony. Many companies use the same business ethics, along with people in psychiatrics, and education. Its common these days to be overly sensitive to items that have gone on for decades. Try to bear with me as my mind tends to wonder. The good sportsmanship has become lost over the past century of meaningless wars, based on bad sportsmanship, egotistical leaderships, and profitiering of companies that profit off of war. These fights have worn away at our spirits and turned our fearful focus slowly away from the unknown(religio n) to fearing the misleading information our governments give off to lead the peoples opinions. Not to mention business ethics, and truth-shock campaigns. As our fears broaden unknowingly, we will become paranoid and lash out in more criminal-like behaviours. This is because of the lack of control that is abtained by such broad media and government controled fear. To your issue of inadequacy issue, its not so much a nonexistant problem but more in relation to the good sportsmanship issue, its the sociaty we live in today that fosters such feelings. To rid ourself's of such feelings is a futile struggle but our children are another matter, we can teach them manners, good sportsmanship, right and wrong, and many more with good parenting skills based on our own educated nature and common sense. Though many are washed with fear and self doubts that they cannot or are unwilling to teach their children such things and rely on media and others to do so. As long as this happens we will continue to decline and fall to manipulation of the government and business. As for Sony's business ethics, they are the same as many others, although oldfashion, they work on less educated people. Repeative exicted remakes seem best to plant suggestions and unneeded wants and needs into thier heads. As long as stupid people exist, this will be the best business ethic for many comapnies. To Sony's glib mouth and sensitive notrils, many companies are the same. Microsoft expecially, thouroghly Americanized they send out faulty software saying its the best so people will buy it in its unfinished and buggy form. Even though they sink millions of dollars into the gaming market, losing millions along the way, they still have money to throw from peoples dependancy and unwilling nature to look for better product than what is already in mass. Sony, although its nostrails are sensitive, so are its ears, they listen to the lesser minded masses and higher minded masses alike, on thier opinions and what they think they like. The thing they lack is the differation of what is intelligable wants and needs and whats not. They follow the mass wants and needs of the populace, smart or not. Why? Business ethics, for a company to stay afloat and possibly improve to the point of corruption, they have to appeal to the highest mass of people. I do apologize for my spelling, and semi-limited vocabulary, sadly it lessens from the lack of usage and conversing with a varity of intellegnce. The world has become a scab over picked and pustering with infection and puss. From our imperialistic ventures, to our over zealous need to but our noses in places that it is unwant. The populace has become irratiable, rashminded, and well unintelligent. Sony along with many companies, will put out what we want to buy so they can make money. They do not try to convince little children to a life of crime and hatred, but we as a populace do through the teaching of ignorance and bad parenting. If your childs intellect is not at an appropriate level to know that video games are not real and only an means to express such criminal tendencies, then they should not play them. Theo only part of your opinion they i truely disagree with is that Sony nor any other company are not responsible for the corruption of our youth but we as a whole are. No child brought up in this world is truely innocent, the innocent are easily corrupt

# shorter not always better — Squallshomeboy 2006-05-31 07:50

I don't care how short a game is, the major gaming companies will still charge $50 or more no matter how long they are or how much "quality" we think that the game has to us. This conversation is just about pointless. Sadly, it seems like the gaming industry stopped listening to what we wanted long ago.

# it cut me off... continuation of 74 — Guest 2006-05-31 08:08

No child brought up in this world is truely innocent, the innocent are easily corrupted, especially if we do no teach them common sense and proper idealogy. If an innocent sees something they do not understand they will see it as a norm, something they can be done themself's. WE must break our children of this innocents with KNOWLEDGE of write and wrong before they become accustomed to thinging the corrupt as a norm.

I thank you for your opinoin and invitation, but i for one must decline. I have come to use Sony products through trail and error of other comapnies. I may be part of a small percentage or even a large percentage, to me it doesnt matter but to my own opinion and liking. I havnt been wronged as of yet by Sony or its products. I have not been convinced solely on insubstantial demostrations or advertising. My choices, have been based upon hands workings with any such product whether it be from any company. But in my opinion and observation, you may wish to limit your invitation to those who have not been dupted by their own intelect and the companies advertising into buying a faulty product and failed to go through the pretained steps to get a fully working product. (ie disk read error and sonys product help line will offer you a new ps2 or a referbished one, the ones who go for a referbished one have knowingly agreed to take another risk at a faulty product instead of a garunteed working one)

Sony Computer Entertainment likes to brag about how the members of its gang are ideologically diverse. Perhaps that means that some of them prefer Stalin over Hitler. In any case, implying that Sony Computer Entertainment is cunctipotent is no different from implying that the ancient Egyptians used psychic powers to build the pyramids. Both statements are ludicrous. We cannot afford to waste our time, resources, and energy by dwelling upon inequities of the past. Instead, we must fight the warped, distorted, misshapen, unwholesome monstrosity that Sony Computer Entertainment's theatrics have become. Doing so would be significantly easier if more people were to understand that to believe that laws are meant to be broken is to deceive ourselves. I shall not argue that Sony Computer Entertainment's newsgroup postings are an authentic map of its plan to crush the remaining vestiges of democracy throughout the world. Read them and see for yourself. In such a brief letter as this, I certainly cannot refute all the jibes of cheeky slobs, but perhaps I can brush away some of their most deliberate and flagrant strictures.

If the only way to invite all the people who have been harmed by Sony Co

# The idea — Chris C 2006-05-31 08:09

The idea is that because developers don't have to focus on padding a game out, they'll be able to focus on the quality of the content rather than the quantity. If the games are shorter there's a greater liklihood that they'll be more focused (not a general rule of course) and if they're shorter they'll hopefully be cheaper as well.

# Mixed feelings about this — Vipre77 2006-05-31 08:12

I was actually thinking about this exact same subject just a day or two ago. I was thinking of doing an editorial over at my bud Gabriel's website at www.xzentech.com where I'm an admin/forum mod.

I don't think you can assign one "ideal" game length to all games. Some genres simply work better being longer, i.e.: RPG's. Others, like puzzle or sports games, don't necessarily have fixed lengths. Then there's the action, platformers, fighters and whatnot that are probably best in a shorter format.

For those of you here old enough, think back to the NES days. How many of those games could you finish in a single sitting? Quite a few of them, actually. IIRC, the original Metroid game could be finished in under 2 hours if you were good enough. Then there was the Double Dragon games, Super Dodgeball, Superspike V-Ball, and tons of others. Conversely, you had games like Exodus Ultima, Final Fantasy, and Dragon Warrior that were the usual long-winded RPG. Games like Metal Gear, The Legend of Zelda, 1943, etc. kind of fell in the middle somewhere.

There does seem to be a trend in the last few years to make games longer, requiring save points or some other mechanism to resume your game in the middle. Some of this is due to people requesting the feature so they don't necessarily HAVE to finish the game in one sitting, even if it is a short game. Personally, I'm 28 years old, married, and I'm a home-owner. There isn't often days where I can devote enough time to sit through even a 5-6 hour game non-stop. Usually it's no more than 2-3 hours at a time.

I remember back in college when I bought the first Metal Gear Solid game the day it came out. I beat it the day after I got it. On one hand, I was a little miffed that the game was so short, which wouldn't have been so bad, but I found the game relatively easy. On the other hand, the game was extremely fun and I was going, "Holy crap! That was the most impressive console game I've ever seen!"

Last weekend, I was sitting down with Dragon Quest VIII. Yes, I know it's a long-winded RPG, but I normally like those. I like them because the length allows for a lot of character development and deep story lines rather than throwing some guy that you never learn anything about into a shaky plot without much background. Anyhow, so I'm playing DQ8. I'm running through the game at a pretty good rate, IMHO. Just over halfway through the game with around 30 hours in and I haven't had to run around in circles fighting hundreds of boring battles to level up my characters in order to beat the next boss. Things went well with the challenge level just right up until my battle with Dhoulmagus in the Cave of Shadows. I got whooped in no time. I ended up having to spend probably 4-5 hours or more fighting the same random battles over and over and over again to level up my party so I could beat Dhoulmagus in that battle. That's a lot of time to waste just to get to the point where I could finally advance the story some more. It felt like it was artifically making the game longer than it needed to be and really broke the flow of the game for me. Actually, I almost felt that I should have been rewarded for making it that far considering my low level. Interestingly, by the new rules in Dungeons & Dragons, that's sort of how it works now in that game. You get a lot more experience points and/or treasure for beating something stronger than you than you do if you come in and squash something weaker.

The other thing that is starting to annoy me is all the mini-games that they put into pretty much every RPG these days. Some people like them because it breaks things up a little, but most of the time they just annoy me. Things like the Chocobo races in the Final Fantasy games annoyed me to no end. Half the time, the controls in the mini-games are clunky, at best, making them more difficult than they need to be and they're usually longer than they need to be. If they HAVE to be there, they should be short and not so intrusive. I don't want to

# Short games with no story might as well be pacman or something. — Chris C 2006-05-31 08:13

I never said that the short games would or should have no story, quite the opposite actually. My reasoning is that the stories will be paced better and be more potent. In the case of episodic content there's also a greater chance of exploring the characters and developing them over a period of time.

# Mixed feelings about this (cont.) — Vipre77 2006-05-31 08:21

I don't want to know how much time I wasted on those cursed Chocobo races. Personally, if I feel the need to break up my gameplay experience, I'll throw in a different game for a bit.

So, yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. There's a place for games of all lengths, but I have to admit that there's no place for "filler" that doesn't really add anything positive to the game experience.

# you're an idiot — Guest 2006-05-31 08:31

what the hell are you talking about? Since when is there a 20 dollar game? Id rather buy a 40 dollar game that makes me use up about 50 hours of my time but unfortunately there are no more RPG games that make me play that long. So you're saying final fantasy is boring? I feel that all the FFX series are a lil boring, but to say "Final Fantasy" which basically set the foundation of midevil RPG or if not, set an enormous fan base for its games. You to say Final Fantasy is boring? You're an idiot. Squarenix, to me, seems to be loosing their foundation and building on it through their use of graphics instead of a good storyline. BUT, there are still the games FF2(US) FF3(US) FF5(J) and FF7(US) that will always be one of the best RPG's ever created.

# huh? — ibunkun 2006-05-31 08:41

if i have to pay 60€ for a game it should be lasting more the 20 hours for action games. RPGs even longer ~ - ~"" those damn episode things - . -" 25€ for a game play 5 hours and wait for anotherone? a game concept for 25 houres 5 epiisodes 125€ i bet the would go this way

# Mixed feelings about this — Chris C 2006-05-31 08:41

Thanks for the great read Viper, it's good to read comments that are insightful, intelligent and have something meaningful to add.

# There are more games than those we play — Guest 2006-05-31 08:56

Many seem to mention the games they play as the only ones that are played, or as if they were the ones that decided how gaming is supposed to be...

While the way you may play and the games you may play may be great for you it does not represent the entire game market, unles you spent 10 billion dollars in 2005 in games... even the bigest spender is not even a blip in the greater market.... While you may enjoy playing X game for 345 hours of intense story, not everybody does and even those of us that enjoy long games get to enjoy casual gaming...

Furthermore we in this forum have a voice in game development, because as gamers the money we spend in games suppors the industry.... Second, many of us program games, from the simple pong clone in Flash to complex 3d Person shooters or an RPG (Sometines using simple tools like an RPG creator or more complex programing languages)... Some other pursue career in the field of video games or are already a part of such field so the opinion we express may influence them.... Short games are for gays with short *****s may influence somebody to never again do a pong clone, then again somebody may do a short game just because they found they dislike the attitudes of hard core gamers....

As one of you mentioned, some of us dont have the time to play long games or do not want to make a long investement (money and or time), paying rent and enjoying other media may take some of that time, I know that watching porn takes time from my gaming, then again interaction with real human beings also takes time, so after watching porn, paying rent and hanging out with friends I may not feel like investing my time in a long game, by the time I am midgame I may forget what happend at the begining, or the maps, and places....

And as gamers get old, males around 30 being the ones that truly maintain the industry, we become senile, I at my late 20's already show signs of senility, it is probably all that damn porn...

So in conclusion saying saying that Final Chrono Fantasy Oblivion Tiger LVII is the greates game and everyone that doesnt play it is gay may be true but it really ads little to the discussion... I on the other hand prefer Grand Theft Auto, which may in you eyes mean I have little penis, but the size of my genitaly has little to do with the fact that I enjoy it

# ***** — Guest 2006-05-31 09:01

this is the biggest piece of ***** article i have ever read

# Short games with no story might as well be pacman or something — Guest 2006-05-31 09:06

Well the existence of pacman ot tetris doesn't mean that Final Fantasy, or Metal Gear Solid can exist...

Games by definition do not need stories... Tetris The Movie would be probably the worst Video Game Movies ever...

Video Games do have fictional worlds whether is a world of blocks that fall down the screen or Liberty City... And they have rules that define what can be done and how is done...example you press A something happens, if you collect 100 whatevers you get an extra something, if you beat the bad guy you win, or you lose whatever...

In some games the player can create the story as in Sim City (which may or may not have a story depending on whose definition of story you use, given that is a very ambiguous term even in academia)... or some other games allow you to leave the story for a secon a free play, roam , explore, play without even engaging in the story, let say explore in GTA, only create content for the SIMS but never actually play...

Games are like many other forms of communication, not every film tells a story, there is experimental film, paintings can be abstract, so games can also take that path, independent developers and programmers and even mayor companies can produce different categories of games not all of them tied to a story

# either way — RaiderX 2006-05-31 09:06

if the game was good enuff to make me wanto buy a sequal, I got my money's worth. If it wasnt, I got ripped off, and off ot EB for a trade-in!

# Solitaire — Guest 2006-05-31 09:15

I would pay my 4-5 bucks to have a solitaire game on my PSP just like I could do on my cell phone, I mean that is the reason microsoft came up with the origami/UMPC so people could leave their laptops at home and still play solitaire!!!

Everybody would buy the PSP, movies, music, internet, solitaire and tetris!!! That is all we need, dump the regular games and get me a solitaire!!!

It is a joke, dont tell me I am a *****head because I dont want SOCOM on the PSP, I like SOCOM, but i guess more people like solitaire, probably not as much...

# damn — Guest 2006-05-31 09:21

Hell yea we are getting ripped off, Thats why whe ripp them off, by piracy, downloading games

# dude. — Illegal Machine 2006-05-31 10:05

you still need to get your OWN screenname.

# .,.,m,w,em,. — hush404 2006-05-31 10:14

I like the idea of cheaper games but I'd feel ripped of if I payed $30 for a 5 hour long game.

# NOOOOOO — Guest 2006-05-31 10:19

Games are already short enough. If they get any shorter I'll beat them before I even know what I'm doing!

# Guest 2006-05-31 10:20

Pacman was an arcade game, dumbass. There's no comparison.

# ! — Guest 2006-05-31 10:23

Actual good games have replay value. RPGs, on the other hand, are barely worth playing through once, if at all.

# to 91 and everyone who thinks we are getting ripped off — Guest 2006-05-31 10:24

to all who are saying that we are getting ripped off could you tell us how you are getting ripped off? do not say its because the games are crap, its a bad excuse, anytime you buy something you take a chance with it. Like a toy, you may have fun with it or may not, a shirt? you ignore the tag and wash it wrong and its ruined, or it rips easily, or shrinks. A camera, it may take longer than others to take a picture, or eats batteries quickly. you take a chance with a game the same as everything else. If you dont like the price, do some research to see how much money it took to make that game. And if its still to expensive wait till the price goes down. So in repetition, Why do you feel your getting ripped off for the games so much your pirating them?

# a little too long and expensive — Guest 2006-05-31 10:30

i think its ok the way it is, 5 hours is a little extreme. i would say a 9 - 10 hour game should cost about 35-40$. it would give people a decent chunk of game but you would still be able to risk buying games with new concepts that your not sure of.

the real problem is the lack of innovation. not like the nintendo wii, but like GTA or guitar hero. Its getting better but its not there yet.

# My Opinion — LordDragon 2006-05-31 10:42

nocomment

# Cheap games — Guest 2006-05-31 10:43

a good point was made before people pirate because of the price. Regardless of the length of the game if you want that game, you will get it. Whether that means getting a pirate version or relunctantly paying the ridiculously high price for it.

If a game company finally got it in their thick heads that if they want little piracy they bring their prices down. At least then the non-pirateable homebrew scene might have been more successful.

Game companies dont want to lower prices in fear they will lose money - they fail to realise the chance are they wont lose money because more people will buy the game.

I can't stand games that are short and easy but at the same time longer games get boring unless the stroyline is good, exciting etc. Final Fantasy may have had a good storyline at the beginning it soon got repetitive and boring.

Lumines and mercury where decent until you got bored. e.g. an hour or so into play. Game companies cant please everyone as in game length, stortylines etc but they can please most people by LOWERING THE PRICES!!!

I know that seems as if i just want the impossible but there is reasons y it could be quite successful.

# Timeeee. — Guest 2006-05-31 10:48

RPG take so long because you spend so much time leveling up and doing side quests dumbass... And besides the longer a game last the better I say.

# My Opinion — LordDragon 2006-05-31 10:48

People that want to play short games should just become nintendo fans.I don't mind paying 60 bucks for a game.I work hard for my money and I demand to be intertained in my spare time.I demand 80 hours of game play 60 minuts of breath taking cut scenes and fmv.I demand all the easter eggs they can cram in.I am a Playstation fan,and so far I have not ben dissapointed(we ll,not to mutch)

# unfortunately, it's not that easy — Guest 2006-05-31 10:55

most games nowadays have teams of hundreds of people. the Assassin's Creed team has about 100 people or more, and they've been working on that title for nearly 2 years already. two years of paying producers, artists, writers, designers, programmers, testers, marketers, advertisers, magazines, and manufacturers tend to add up. the reason why the prices of the games are the way they are is primarily because they have to *pay* these people for making the game. the games just don't materialize out of thin air.

we're talking about a hundred or more people, with rent and bills and car notes to pay, so the publisher of the title, has to cover the cost of that persons time and talent. which ranges from $70,000 a year (for a designer), to $15,000 a year (for testers, of which there tend to be 20 or 30 on any given project), and if it's a larger publisher with multiple titles, you're talking about 300, 400 people in the building, working to make the game. that kind of help isn't cheap, or free ( at least *legally*).

let's break it up this way: the average game is costing $50 to $60 each.

$50

producer - $5 (per person)

writer - $5

designer - $5

programmer - $5

tester -$5

manufacturer - $5

rent -$5

artist - $5

janitors - $5

marketing - $5

it's a crude example, but i hope it kind of illustrates my point clearer. in order to cover the costs of all of that, they *have* to charge a reasonable ammount for the game. regardless of quality of the title, salaries and other expenditures need to be paid. a $25 dollar game would hurt more than help, as, there just wouldn't be enough money to pay for all of those people, and as a result, people will have to be laid off. and if every company that develops games laid off 50-100 people just to make games $25, there would be thousands and thousands of people out of work. but it wouldn't matter to you, because you just got the latest Madden or God of War at the discount price of $20 bucks, while the guy that programmed Krato's awesome combo move is in the unemployment line. like i said, it's not that easy. i see what Chris C. is getting at, and it makes sense in some ways, but the practicality of the situation isn't as clear cut as slashing prices. there are too many other factors to consider. that, and most big publishers are greedy, capitalist bastards (like Activision).

# are you sick in the head? — Guest 2006-05-31 11:24

what the f**k's the matter with you? games are already short, and a lousy article boasting a dumb idea isn't going to do any good for anyone. except cause arguments and embarassment.

# Everyone else did it so... — Guest 2006-05-31 11:46

Are shorter cheaper games are a good idea?

Yes.

Should they replace current games?

No

I'll add my 2 cents.

Its simple short games should be cheaper and long games should remain the same.

I like both but feel like I don't get my moneys worth with the shorter games. I beat it and usually don't feel like playing through again so I spent I ton of cash on 10-15 hours or so. Meanwhile a long game I play through takes 48-96 hours (maybe more) and even if I don't play again I feel I got my moneys worth at least.

So make current shorter games cheaper.

# Oops — Guest 2006-05-31 11:48

That I'll add my 2 cents should've been at the begining. You know if I wasn't required to put I title I wouldn't have added that and it wouldn't have ended up in the wrong spot.

# Read This. — Guest 2006-05-31 12:11

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

############### ############### ########

oh my gosh, DON'T DO THAT. That's like the last thing on earth you ever want to do, make games shorter..psh.

If anything, games should be LONGER. Think about all that wasted space on those Blu Rays if you make them shorter....screw special features, we want more gametime!

############### ############### #######

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!

# FF7 the "short version" — PSPrometheus 2006-05-31 12:12

Fight to the reactor = 30 to 45 min

run from shinra back to the base = 20 to 30 min

second reactor mission = 45 to 60 min

Save aeris = 30 to 45 min

Shinra corp building = 60 to 90 min

escape from shinra building = 10 to 20 min

Dialog ensues followed by "drum roll please" To be continued!

Correct me if I am wrong but people play games like the FF series for the story AND the gameplay. I could be mistaken but hey.

# :P — Guest 2006-05-31 12:21

Good to see others feel the same way.

# only because you're moderatly impersonating me. — Illegal Machine 2006-05-31 12:24

I'm flattered really, but you need to get your own screenname.

biter

# that's retarded — Guest 2006-05-31 12:33

would you really like a 5 hour long FF7?

what about GREAT games that have GREAT storylines? How many YEARS did we beg, and would have probably killed, for an extension/sequel/movie to be made?

i don't know about you, but if i get sucked into the characters and plot of an RPG i want that bastard to last. You would get absolutely NO depth or reflection from a cut and dry piece of crap. Innovative games are in as short supply as it practically possible, so you propose flooding the market with millions of gnats that we have to filter through to find something decent.

Furthermore, nothing like that COULD be any cheaper, really. The difference in cost between making a 12 hour game and a 5 hour game is virtually nothing. Most of the development goes into making the engine, the textures, and the environments, which can be recycled level to level to some degree.

And about that series idea....yeah. Um, so let's go back to my FF7 example.....at 3 discs you'd be looking at $75 dollars for the three installments. You should work for a gaming company as some seedy shiftless marketing manager. You know fans like me would be desperate for the next CD so we'd pay it. The good games would just be drawn out to bleed us dry. You're a moron.

# Long games — Guest 2006-05-31 12:33

I like really long games like Oblivion, which I've played for several hundred hours and haven't finished.

# No way — Guest 2006-05-31 12:40

Illegal machine, who the hell are you talking about.

Games are fine the way they are. If they are to expensive for you dont buy them or wait until they go to the players choice. all systems have it right now except 360 which i could care less about.

For example-Paper Mario for GC. Ive wanted this game since day one. But i waited, hell 2 years or so to get it. I only paid 19.99 for it and im happy, im 4 hours in and im guessing only 20% done i dunno.

# One last thing to add... — Vipre77 2006-05-31 13:09

Someone else mentioned the movie vs. TV show analogy and it got me thinking. Take a look at what happened to Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. Technologically , the movie was one of the most impressive ever made at the time and even now, I think, it still holds up well when compared to films released by companies such as Dreamworks or Pixar or even against FF: Advent Children. I'm not speaking to the quality of the story and writing just yet. Strictly talking about visual quality. When looking deeper, however, the story was a little bit weak (compared to a typical FF game) and the characters really didn't have enough time to be fleshed out in the same way that they would have been in a traditional FF video game. I think that is partly what led to the somewhat poor ticket and DVD sales for the film. FF fans went to see it expecting big things, similar to what you'd find in a FF game. In reality, there's only so much that you can cram into a 2 hour film that you lose a lot of the depth that you'd get in a 60-100 hour game. Taking the film at face value, ignoring the fact that it says "Final Fantasy" in the title, I rather enjoyed the movie.

Now take a look at the animated FF: Unlimited series that came out a couple of years ago. Being a series, they had much more time to flesh out the characters and come up with a little deeper story. IMHO, the story and characters sucked, but there was more substance there. It had more potential, but writing simply wasn't there.

So, in this instance, I would have preferred the FF movie over the show simply because I think the writing was better than the series. IMHO, The Spirits Within could have been better served as a mini-series simply because they tried to cover too much in too little time. Final Fantasy has always been about telling an epic tale of heroes saving the world in one way or another. Epics are normally a long story because it gives the audience more time to let the gravity of the situation sink into their imaginations. Cramming so much into a short time ends up being a little anti-climactic. It's all over just as the audience is getting warmed up.

# Not much choice — RommelTJ 2006-05-31 13:20

So your choices are shorter, cheaper games, or stick with what we have now?

What kind of ****** view is that! I wonder if you apply that concept to your life. "Hmm, lets see, would I rather have a smaller cheaper house? or should I stay with the same house?" WRONG. You always try to upgrade. In this case, you try to improve quality AND length.

Its like saying, I would rather have an orange over a chicken because you have to trim alot of stuff.

And by the way, you insulted alot of people when you mentioned Final Fantasy. There is no such thing as "dim witted piece of extended dialogue" in the Final Fantasy games. As a matter of fact, most people play those game just to read what you call dim-witted dialogue.

# No way, I agree with Chris — Scrogginsjh 2006-05-31 13:37

Japanese RPG's are SILLY. Just translate the dialogue into other mediums (novels, movies) and it becomes especially apparent.

# leave ff alone — Guest 2006-05-31 13:38

People if you hate final fantasy so much id like to see you do better

And ff does have replay value I still to this day play ff6

(ff3 us) because its a good game with an amazing story

Plus now with snes9x tyl i can play it anywhere anytime i get bored

Thats not to mention other rpgs such as KOTOR which is great because you can make different choices and there is a different outcome when you do

And im not speaking against fps's either

Because of mods and source ports I still play Doom II

(seriously you should check out Risen3D sometime imagine doom with 3d enemy/weapon models

and modern textures its awesome)

not to mention that all iterations of halflife are awesome

Seriously short games suck

About the shortest game i ever played and thought was cool was Silent hill 3 and thats cuz im a horror buff

if you think a game costs to much wait for a sequel and then buy the original for like 20 bucs

Or even better play a game that doesn't end like MMO's or Gran turismo 4 to a lesser extent

# @ Aaron — Guest 2006-05-31 13:38

"Illegal machine, who the hell are you talking about."

I like to have conversations with myself.

Preferably in front of the mirror.

BTW I hate short games.

especially armored core its really gaay

# $$$ — tinglemaps 2006-05-31 13:44

good games cost more to make, but they sell more, because they are good, so it evens out.

long or short, good games are what we want, long is prefered, of course.

# ... — funetik 2006-05-31 13:47

..............Katamari Damacy..................

It was made and brought out as a cheap game - $20

One of the best games ever :)

# Some crappy short games: — Scrogginsjh 2006-05-31 13:48

Metal Gear Solid

Super Mario Bros. 3

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

# ... — Guest 2006-05-31 14:00

Sorry, but 5 HOURS?!?!

Are you insane? The 'sweet spot' should be at least 10 hours... I would feel ripped off on a game if it only took me 5 hours to complete... Besides, I enjoy playing games like Metroid Prime 1/2 where it takes well over 20 hours to beat just one of it's games. It emerses you into the game better and just gives an overall better experience.

I especially enjoy games like The Sims or Animal Crossing, since you can play forever and not stop.

Sorry, but this post IS creative and all, and I enjoyed reading it, but your 'sweet spots' aren't exactly in the best of interest of me.

P.S. I'm in grade 8 and get about 2-3 hours of homework each night.

# AHHHHHH? — Guest 2006-05-31 14:04

You just called 3 of the best games ever crap

Youre crap sit and spin man sit and spin

SMB 3 wasn't short the game was 3 megs which was unheard of at the time it was one if not the largest nes game

Metal Gear isn't short either sure compared to some other games its not 30 hours long but think of the gameplay think of the presentation think of the sheer awesomeness that is solid snake (Exclude MGS2 from the Solid snake Portion of that)

And don't even talk about LoZ OoT what are you retarded thats like the longest and biggest zelda game not to mention how awesome it is i don't even want to go into details of story gameplay and Originality there

In conclusion

You go to hell

You go to hell and you die

and if you think i ripped that off of south park you'd be right

*****

# hi — Guest 2006-05-31 14:08

I dont agree with wat is being said.... i dont want to pay episodic pieces of entertainment... its not tv episodes ..... its videogames.... i dont want a ".hack" incident.... where all they do is just chop up the game and sell it in piece meal to the consumers.... i'm not here to collect multiple chapters of a game to get one complete game.... when i buy a game i want the completed product.... not portions.....

# How about we raise the bar. — Guest 2006-05-31 14:09

I say games should have about 40 - 50 hours of gameplay with enough richness and quality though ut each and every last hour that would normally be in a short 9 hour game. With that, fill it with enough bonus extras and multiple story lines to keep you wanting to play the game over and over.

Wait no game company would ever do that even if they could because people would only buy that game and that game allone and never purchase any other titles becuase it will keep them occupied for a long long time and cripple the game market because the short games keep people going out to buy more and more games becuase they can complete it in less than a day.

# AHHHHH? — Guest 2006-05-31 14:09

It put stars over ***** when i said ***** that gay ass *****

Let me spell that out F__A__G

Oh and sit and spin refers to me giving you the finger

like this

...................l......................

...................l......................

...................l......................

...............__l__..................

...................l......................

...................l......................

See the picture

# AHHHHH? — Guest 2006-05-31 14:17

Isn't anyone else pissed about post 122

Im offended by it so much i am going to be offensive

That ***** ass mother *****er has probably never even beat those *****ing games He can Go ***** HIMSELF

SUPER MARIO BROS 3 Rules

# Yeah... — Scrogginsjh 2006-05-31 14:17

Mario 3 takes about 5 hours to finish.

Metal Gear and Zelda average 10-12.

They are SHORT games.

My point is, these 3 games alone illustrate the advantages of quality over quantity.

# Jeez dude chill out — Scrogginsjh 2006-05-31 14:20

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=sarcasm

# Sorry — Guest 2006-05-31 14:24

Dude I thought you were serious im really sorry about calling you those things i was kind of thinking you might be sarcastic but with all the posts saying games like that suck one can never be to sure my kind is dwindling

Is the hardcore gamer 5 hour doom 2 marathon breed dying out? Or tis thus but a test? i bite my thumb at all opposition tis a shame though think in such pitiful ways.

# Whoa — Guest 2006-05-31 14:34

Thats a real website??

Now time for more 11th century speech

Tis a problem with game mothers this day

I say hey ho?

What commeth of sony at launch may suffice for a death for the playstation and a rebirth of nintendo that day?

Tis a fine hour an for Wii and its proclamations may scream from the foyers and balcony for sony shall utter these final words "To sleep, To die"

Thats what honors english in highscore brings

# correction — Guest 2006-05-31 14:35

High School not highscore sorry for the tripost

# *gasp* — Scrogginsjh 2006-05-31 14:42

I had no idea people were saying those games sucked and were SERIOUS! For shame!

Actually, I ran through Mario 3 last month.

Of course, I say short games are good yet here I am obsessing over Warcraft and Diablo...

# NO! — ZYXWVUT 2006-05-31 14:43

NOOOOOOOO WHO THE *censored* CAME UP WITH THIS CRAP! GAMES SHOULD BE AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!!!!!!! !!!!!! FF CANT BE FF WITHOUT A STORYLINE!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!! FFVII COULDNT HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL WITHOUT CUTSCENES! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOO THIS IS NOT THE RIGHT WAY TO GOOOOOO

# let's do some math — Guest 2006-05-31 14:57

price vs time is irrevelent. i honestly think anyone who buys video games, regardless of length, is retarded. king kong the film cost $200m to make, it costs less than $10 to see it at the cinema, it costs like $15 to own the dvd...why then do people accept a price tag of $60 for a video game that cost about $5m to make? since the government won't enforce a "profit cap" it's down to the consumer to make a stand. and the only way we can make a stand is to support piracy. follow china's example, dvd piracy is utterly rampant in china, so much so that dvd companies can't make a profit there...the answer? warner home video sells their original dvds for $2.65 to combat $1.00 copies. this is why piracy is good, it's the only way we can force the profit greedy companies to drop their prices to a reasonable level. and what is reasonable? less than $10 for a video game is reasonable. you think that's ridiculous? only because you're used to paying ludicrously high prices. let's use halo 2 as an example. halo 2 has sold what, 6 million copies? let's say it was sold for $10, multiplied by 6 million = $60,000,000. the game cost less than $5m to make. so that's a profit of $55m...i guess $55m isn't enough? it would seem not, $125m on the first day is what halo 2 actually made, they made a $120m profit in the first day of sales. ridiculous, it quite simply shoudn't be allowed. but the game playing public is what allows them to charge so much. make a stand, support piracy, force the companies to drop their prices.

# w00t! — Mdubz 2006-05-31 15:26

Shorter/cheaper games are totally ace in my book. I loved playing through King Kong, NFS: Most Wanted, Tomb Raider, etc. Freaking amazing.

WE NEED SHORTER/CHEAPER (BUT NOT QUALITY WISE) GAMES!!! W0000T!

# what a lovely article — Guest 2006-05-31 15:27

short and concise . . . to the point. Just like a video game should be. Cut the fat out but please, do keep the detail. Isn't it the small things that usually go unoticed that make something wonderful.

# true true — Guest 2006-05-31 15:34

we could also buy a really long game thats on like greatest hits or players choice thats really long so we dont have to spend alot of money for awhile while cuz were playing that game(someone might have said that im not gonna read all 136 to find out)

# WTF IS THIS POST — Guest 2006-05-31 16:33

simple, RPGs are amasing story, and the rest is action, if you don't like some part of RPGs just don't play them! I liek everything on a RPG, it's like a book, some part are not "ACTION PACKED" SO WHAT YOU STUPID ASS, if you want action just watch stupid gay movie with arnold s.(big muscle, no brain). I suppose you are the type to see the movie and let down the book right? you are just not smart at all... anyway, you they will make cheaper games that can entertain you for least time? DAH, you should know what is the key point in the nds and wii... -sigh- people want no brain games, for the non-gamers and gamers who wanna relax their hands and brains a little and just have some fast fun, you SHOULD understand that... I suppose you can't...

# Sooo many commmennts — Guest 2006-05-31 16:48

I hate that I'm always the last commenter sometimes, but I think that the exclusive games should range around 60$ since their next gen, but the non exclusives should be around 40 to 50 dollars!!!

# Hey look penis balls — Guest 2006-05-31 17:00

Got your attention good while games are expensive

They have every right to cost more than movies because any good game is better and longer than a movie (even short games are longer than 2-3 hours) and while 60 bucks is a bit much to pay i don't expect wii games to cost that much and unless sony drops the price it will be the only sony system i don't buy. piracy is wrong because it is a form of theft however free music downloads are ok because most pop musicians are nothing but money whores thats why i listen to underground rock. Besides stealing games wouldn't force companys to sell games cheaper it would destroy the game industry ie second game crash...remember the 80's yes i know they sucked but there was a game industry crash too although that was caused by atari making cheap games and overmarketing them

Anyway its only ok to pirate old games which isn't even real piracy no n64/ps games are still in production as well as nes, snes, every sega console games download those games if your to cheap to buy new ones those are great games anyway...

BYE

# Down with corporatism — Guest 2006-05-31 19:34

122. » Some crappy short games:

Metal Gear Solid

Super Mario Bros. 3

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

You, my friend are a fusking moronic idiot poor excuse of a gamer.. go run in front of an 18-wheeler semi on the freeway and see who wins.

Game Over.

Piracy is the way to go in some instances.. Like downloading every rap "artist" cd nowdays.. thats okay.. becasue they have no talent, and are pushing out retarded *****, to keep the youth dumb, ignorant, and retarded.. on their level.

Go download every cd you can while you can. fusk the RIAA and down with "democracy" and America.

# I agree with lower prices but..... — Guest 2006-05-31 22:42

The game industry already has strong foundations built beneath it, introducing a new system would only confuse and disturb the masses, I say if you want cheap games, Chris, look in the bargain bin or the preowned and pick up a old but yet brilliant game for 15 bucks! If you cant afford to pay the same reasonable price everybody else does then. It is up to the developers and publishers on what price to release a game, and is therefore essencial that they make a profit. This is not about amazing stories yet hindered gameplay time, this is a cheap way of getting the masses to agree to lower game prices, but the developers deserve their share too right? If they make an excellent game, fair play to them if they raise the price, its not about the length of it, its about how much fun and enjoyable gaming experience you get out of that time.

# Half Life : Blue Shift — Guest 2006-06-01 01:48

Need I say anymore? :(

# NO? — Guest 2006-06-01 04:56

So every game should be as long a it possibly can?

Forget Budget constrains?

Forget timelines?

Forget the kind of game it is?

So the next street fighter should take 50 hrs to finish...

Ok, every game is different and a such requires different play times, not only that games without end can and indeed exist, meaning as long as possible means no end whatsoever...

And while final fantasy has a strong story, meaning it controls or directs the game, other games dont have strong stories, then again tetris would make a lousy novel, and while the world of GTA could make interesting stories many people decide it is more fun to just explore and do stuff without paying attention to the story... other games like the Sims or Sim City can have a story or not, depending of what is a story...

Let me make my point clear, I like FF VII, not every game is Final Fantasy VII

# TV analogy, Books — Guest 2006-06-01 05:15

To those who comment about the TV analogy/Books/Stories...

Games do not, I repeat do not need to have or be stories...

Then the TV analogy does not refer to making it a TV show it refers that parts, sequences, of the game are presented in installements... Just like many TV shows... you can advance the game but will not be able to completly finish it until the next episode appears...

Price wise think HBO I coul buy a season of lets say The Sopranos on DVD or pay montly to watch HBO o pay for HBO on demand, I dont know if its in iTunes but if it is I could buy the episodes I like... With games it could be the same, We could have different models for different games, they could be cheaper or more expensive to sell or produce, they could be created in advance or change according to what people want or public response

THis does not mean that all games would be one kind of game, just like now not every game belong to the same kind of game.... Understand this, again, this is not an invitation or a suggestion that only short, or only episodic games shold be created just like not every game would become is MMO or not every games ir a long RPG or not every game is played on line or not every game is single player...

THERE is already some episodic games, Cartoon Network has just launched a game on their site in which you would access different content of the same game /episodes every month... the game in this case has a story and may enrich the experience of the watcher of the show since its not the show but happens in the same universe... You are going to say people that watch cartoon network are gay, and you are macho because you play rough games, and looong games,

NOW after some of you assert your masculinity we could get to an intersting discussion of what games can do and what games could be more suitable for which models, or if there are models that are being overlooked, or generes, like the old LucasFilm, or Lucas Art games, Maniac Mansion, the other about the island, day of the tentacle and so on, probably this kind of game are ideal for episodes because the are story based and could end episodes in cliffhangers.... Short RPGs would be interesting as short games if they offered replay value or could be played online as a sort of ad-hoc MMO, or mini version of a MMO

# as i recall — Guest 2006-06-01 08:47

lucas arts games sucked some major @$$. you couldnt save in them and they were like 15 hours long.

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