JEMC said:
That's a good point, but the contrary can also be said. If every movie were 3.5 hours long and fun, why would you want to see a movie that's only 2 hours long? And that's what happens with games, if the competition makes the same games but longer, the other publishers counterattack doing the same thing. Now, if the games have the same quality, then this is perfect for us as we get more game, experiences, etc for the same money. The problem is when that extra time is because of boring side-quests that do more harm than good, or even worse, when they add side-quests that make the main game look boring and unappealing. Personally, I don't want +100 hours games as I get bored long before that, but I don't want 4h games either as I feel ripped off. Rage has been one of the latest games to make me feel that way, it ends way too soon and too abruptly leaving (at least me) with a bad taste in your mouth. And yet, a game like Renegade Ops has given me many more hours of pure fun thanks to its replayability and different characters/vehicles. But of course, each genres deals with replayability and duration on its own way. |
A lot of that also comes down to individual preference. I struggle with games that are much longer than 10-12 hours tbh. Unless it's a damn good RPG, I ain't seeing it to the end I mean a year on, as much as I love it, I'm still only part way through Persona 4, I keep going back to it, but I just can't sit and play it from start to finish (damn ADHD! haha)
Yet take a game like Sega Rally on the Saturn. 2 cars + an unlockable. 3 main courses + an unlockable. I've poured hundreds of hours into perfecting those courses with the Celica, they're just such a joy to play over and over again. Daytona USA the same, though not as good a game IMO (the Saturn Port of Sega Rally is just hands down the finest crafted driving game ever, the courses were great in the arcade, but the handling wasn't quite right, they nailed it on the home port) There is only about 20 minutes of actual content in both, and they were full priced retail games, but I got more value for money out of them than games like Gran Turismo and Forza.
My main point really is, the bigger the game is, the less time there is to focus on the smaller things, corners are cut here, shortcuts taken there. Compromises have to be made. In RPGs for the most part, it's really uninspiring repetitive environments in the much larger games and as mentioned, the poor needless side quests. In racing games, there has been such an emphasis on adding extra content (we need more courses, we need more cars!) that the attention to detail has also been lost.
There isn't the opportunity to have perfectly crafted courses, you get from good to down right awful. The handling as well, so many cars, you can't perfect every single one so you get compromises.
I know it's a trade off, but the idea of value is completely missed. SEGA tried to ressurect Daytona USA on the Dreamcast giving it more life through additional vehicles and new courses. They were just filler, clearly way below the quality of the original 3 circuits. It actually detracted from the perfection of the original release, even though the original courses were still in tact and with a bit of fiddling you could fix the handling.
Jet Set Radio is my all time favourite game, there is just nothing that really could have been done to make everything gel any better than it did. They tried with Jet Set Radio Future and ended up with a mess of a game.
So yeah, it's all good and well saying well a long experience that is as good, is better. But theres very few occasions where it actually is. Most movies that are 3 and a half hours, are actually ruined by having poor pacing and needless filler scenes. Just give me a complete well rounded package and leave me wanting more. That's what sequels are for (if you have enough inspiration to be able to produce a sequel).
I just don't think length is any indication of value. Less can very often be more. I miss the 8 and 16 bit days :( I'm so glad digital distribution is allowing us to return to little pieces of gold rather than huge chunks of iron.
RIP Dad 25/11/51 - 13/12/13. You will be missed but never forgotten.
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