"Gamers are losing patience" with 10-hour-plus games

[prowler]

The panel discussed the relevance of narrative-based gameplay in today's world of casual and social games. Looking at recent AAA releases L.A. Noire and Heavy Rain--both heavily story-led--they debated whether their long length was still enticing for today's gamer. "Gamers are losing patience," said Kennedy, when asked about his own experiences with Heavy Rain, "so many people don't reach the end and lose the full impact of the story." He wasn't complimentary of its narrative either, questioning the benefit of basing a game on long-form narrative such as film, resulting in a "bastardised" storyline that doesn't quite work.

...

While the point that social games might not necessarily have a definite end point was raised, the panel cited soap operas as an example of how ongoing storylines could work within a game environment. This could be aided by utilising social media to directly influence narrative and by implementing role-playing elements to further engage the player. [/p]

Gamespot

I'll start playing online shooters regularly when someone releases a game on par with Vanquish.

 

[Goli]

I like my 50+ hours JRPGs so I disagree.
Then again I'm not your average gamer.

 

[jonesman99]

No, gamers are becoming lazy. Be honest what wrong with a little reading going to hurt inbetween action sequences...

 

[KingVamp]

With all these complains about games being to short with not enough content?

I disagree.

 

[Nathan Drake]

I feel like this is an excuse for the next 35 CoD games.

 

[Depravo]

I like my 50+ hours JRPGs so I disagree.
Then again I'm not your average gamer.

I also disagree. Less than 10 hours gameplay is only acceptable for £5 indy games.

 

[prowler]

With all these complains about game being to short with not enough content?

I disagree.

You're forgetting that CoD gamers beat RPG gamers.
By a lot.

 

[RoMee]

I used to love playing 50+ hours JRPG
I used to collect everything and play all the side quest

Now for some reason I just play through the story and move on to the next game

 

[Schlupi]

Are you kidding me? What has happened to the world?

DO people refuse to read or get into an interesting story?

 

[ZaeZae64]

I like long games. As others have stated games are becoming too short.
The only people I can think of who wouldn't like long games would probably be the average CoD fan, and anyone who's only idea of a game is Angry Birds.

Half Life fo'evah :3

 

[raulpica]

Heavy Rain a long lenght game? Are they kiddin' me?

I finished it in something like 8 hours.

 

[Tonitonichopchop]

Imagine if the title read "Readers are losing patience with 10-hour-plus books".

"The panel discussed the relevance of lengthy books in today's world of books and comics. Looking at AAA releases Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings--both heavily story-led--they debated whether their long length was still enticing for today's readers. "Readers are losing patience," said Kennedy, when asked about his own experiences with Lord of the Rings, "so many people don't reach the end and lose the full impact of the story." He wasn't complimentary of its narrative either, questioning the benefit of basing a game on long-form narrative such as film, resulting in a "bastardised" storyline that doesn't quite work."

Seriously, pandering to a bunch of idiots isn't the solution (Unless you're talking money of course, and who doesn't?). Makes me sick.

 

[Wizerzak]

I think they 'gamers' they got their info from were not in fact gamers but a bunch of 'hip' people playing angry birds.

 

[Snailface]

Again, this argument that casual gamers are replacing hardcore gamers is preposterous. This drive toward smaller, cheaper games will backfire when the quality is shit and people get tired of them.

The push toward casual gaming is more the game industry being burned by a bad economy and wanting to take on less risk than gamers rejecting long games.

 

[dickfour]

Looks like people these days are suffering for attention deficit disorder. I think the negative implications of that extend far beyond gaming.

 

[DragorianSword]

Are you kidding me!!!
I play games just to know the story!!!
The story can't be long enough!
I always want to play ALL games of a series so I know the full story (even if they are crappy like Kingdom Hearts ReCoded)

 

[Ace]

IMO, the industry needs a healthy mix of both long games and short games. Remember, the biggest audience of videogames are adult males (20+), meaning you can't have too long games because they have lives (work, family, etc). On the other hand, there IS also a big demographic of people who DO have the time to play games that are longer (like kids).

It's just a matter of catering to the demands of the demographic. So far, I think Nintendo does this balance the best.

 

[Celice]

I used to sit through games for days before being done.

The last game I played, I couldn't actually believe it was as short as it was. And they charge $50 for about ten hours of a game?

It's not about being more efficient at games now than I was. I go back and I still spend days on those older games. These newer games may as well be rental-worthy, since that's all the time you'll need to get every last bit of fun out of the experience.

 

[Raika]

There are different types of gamers. Those people are the impatient and lazy gamers who'll never finish great games due to length, thus missing out on a lot. Oh well, sucks to be them.

I prefer games with length, the more hours the better. :3

 

[_Chaz_]

Why would they classify the 12 year old CoD crybabies as "Gamers"?