February and March have dragged the videogame world kicking and screaming into an exciting 2012 release slate with games of all shapes, sizes and platforms out now and due for release over the next few weeks.
After finishing up The Darkness II recently and looking forward to the upcoming release of Mass Effect 3 (all while indulging in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning), the Question of the Day occurred to us:
Do you prefer shorter or longer games?
Do you have a rigid time budget in which to play games, or are you more concerned with getting more value for your money? Do short singleplayer campaigns and extensive multiplayer offerings seem like an appropriate trade-off to you, or do you still enjoy exploring videogames worlds on your lonesome for over 20 hours?
Do you prefer longer or shorter gaming experiences nowadays and why do you think this is?
(If you have a Question of the Day that you would like to put to the El33tonline community, mail it to oliver[@]el33tonline.com and we’ll send it out, with credit of course!)
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Comments:
Gotta say, I felt about ripped off after playing The Darkness 2 when I finished it in 2 days :( Game play does have a huge importance factor, but so does length.. I guess it's all about getting a combination of both!
Shorter games, definitely. If I could finish every game in 6-8 hours, but they were an entertaining 6-8 hours, I'd have no complaints at all. The 40+ hour epics actually put me off, as I know I'll struggle to find time to play them properly.
I`m more partial to longer games. Currently have 93 hours in Dark Souls with two bosses left. The downside is that this leaves little room for other games.
A regular game time i prefer is between 25-35 hours depending on how deep the game is but i`m happy with an average of 10-12 hours for shorter games.
I really hate games that are less than 10-12 hours because i feel like it`s a waste of money.
Multiplayer has become a huge factor in gaming which i dont have a problem with but if it affects the length or story of a game negatively then i dont like it.
Longer games. I miss when games used to always take at least 20 hours to finish. These days games like Mirrors Edge and the Darkness 2 are super short and are over before you know it. It makes you feel as if you wasted your hard earned money on them :/ Gimme an epic like Dark Souls or Final Fantasy that lasts well over 60 hours long any day of the week!
I don't mind if a game is short or long. If I'm having fun then it doesn't matter. The shortest game I played was Terminator Salvation on HARD. took me just 3hours to finish. and then there is Borderlands. Still busy with the DLC's. so I really don't mind. But just don't make it feel long by putting in a bunch of long cut scenes....got my eye on you CoD....
@POIjie - your last sentence has my vote
Woah, excellent question Oliver! I don't typically enjoy games that are too long, but have made exceptions for Borderlands, Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Galaxy and a few more. I like games that I can sit down and finish in one weekend if I choose to, so games that are between 10 - 20 hours are awesome. Multiplayer is a massive component, especially if the game is a bit shorter - if a shorter game has multiplayer it could save it in terms of value for money. But with that being said I really enjoy the campaign mode and that needs to be long enough to make spending my hard-earned pennies on it seem worthwhile.
I hate games that you can complete in one sitting, the perfect length for a FPS and TPS for me is 12+ hours and for a RPG it's 40+hours. The perfect example of not getting our money's worth of a game is Homefront, 4 hour campaign and underwhelming multiplayer that only has a few good points.
I guess it also depends on the genre.....
GT5 - well you never "stop" playing this
But personally I prefer short games BUT must still have value as I just dont have time to sit with games anymore
My time budget is extremely low. So right now it's minutes and not even hours :-(
I prefer short games. If it has replay value, all the better.
jGLZA with sooooo many games in the backlog do you actually ever replay games ?? I find I cant do it....you know the puzzles you know the boss's
Let's be honest, nobody likes 5 hour games so I'm not even gonna mention those ;) However, as for other games, it really does matter on how long the game can keep me entertained. If a game can only keep me entertained for 10 hours, it has better be a 10 hour game! Fallout 3, on the other hand, entertained me for 130 hours, and I loved every minute! So it really does just depend on the game :D
I prefer to have a little of both. There are some longer games like Red Dead Redemption or Zelda Skyward Sword that I have thoroughly enjoyed and are some of my absolute favorites. Shorter games like God of War or Heavy Rain are nice to though because I can play through them several times and still feel like I'm getting my money's worth. And PSN games are great for when I only have a few minutes to play and I need my gaming fix. You have to have balance in all things :)
Depends on my mood. Often I'll play a long game over a few months but in between I'll get in some short games :) I love those games that have both a short component and a long component. Like Soul Calibur V - you can play a few fights now and then or really throw yourself into it and win all the titles and become a sword wielding genius.