224: So Many Games, So Little Time

[zamble]

I really loved your article. I guess it's because you kind of descibed the very crisis I am passing thought right now, as I picture myself maybe a couple of years before you: I?m in the middle of my post-graduation course, working in the spare time, and married since last year, so I?m just missing the kids the full-time job to match you (if I sum up my course and my work it?s over 60 hours a week tough).
So my dilemma, having the same background as everybody else here, is: Will I ever be able to play again? Right now, I play just as little as the neurosurgeon of the other article (and I also deal with brains but from the other way around: I?m a Psychiatrist), and I don?t see it getting any better after I have children. Or if I decide to go for a master?s degree, wich I certainly will. Sometimes I even prayed that there were videogames in heaven, so that I could finally 'play in peace'!
But with your article, and the comments from everybody, I realized that I?m not alone. And, there are ways to work around it ? and not only the sublimation of reading about games, there?s real gaming involved! I may even sound weird by writing this, but this gave me a lot of hope, you know.
Maybe some day the industry might recognize us, the 'casuals' who weren?t always 'casuals' but were forced to do so because they grew up. The 'casuals' who take it seriously, who care about what they play. And maybe, from that day one, they will start making shorter, but deep, playing experiences for our complete enjoyment. At least, that?s what I dream.

 

[boholikeu]

Ok, I see where he's coming from, but honestly I don't agree about the whole short games thing. Long games are great! Sure he may say that it'll take him months to beat the game, but whats wrong with that? I remember as a young child, getting my Nintendo 64, and taking months after months to beat games like Banjo Kazooie. It took me ages because I was young, and wasn't very good at games. But it was awesome! I'd love it if I found a game that took me a year to beat! Even if I only got to play games for a few hours a week, I'd still prefer a long game, because then, as long as its a good title, I can play the same game for months on end and still love it!

I think the problem people have with long games nowadays is that they inevitably either have A) tons of filler that could've been cut out B) a sprawling story that is hard to enjoy in short bursts. This wasn't so much a problem back in the days of Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie.

For starters I will say that I have no objections to shorter, but still fairly complex, games for busy people. My problem of course being that they charge you the SAME price for those games as they do for a longer game with equal complexity that could keep you gaming for 40-80- or even hundreds of hours. There is no excuse for charging $50-$60 for a game with 8-10 hours worth of content.

This comes down to what I've been complaining about for a long time here on the Escapist: game industry corruption. Basically the game industry engages in price fixing and such so a new game, irregardless of development cost, length, or relative quality goes for the same price. A new game costs $60, it doesn't matter if it's a AAA title or a fly by night production. What's more the industry coordinates to the extent where they were able to set a $10 price hike not too long ago. This behavior is more or less illegal at least in the US, it's just that nobody cares (as of yet) in the US. People suspected of doing this with gasoline saw themselves on the receiving end of federal investigations and it was all over the news.

Sure, the industry sits there and defends this practice by talking about the sheer amount of money spent developing games. It however defends itself with the biggest and baddest titles, not the lesser ones that cost nowhere near that much. What's more in comparison to Hollywood movies and their budgets, people forget that you can own even the biggest Blockbuster for $15-$20 (oftentimes far lss), and that's including burning, packaging, distibution, and paying the stars extra money for special features for the DVDs, and who knows what else (perhaps even including a minor video game if you plug it into a DVD Rom). Heck, with the gaming industry they don't lower the prices even when they cut out a lot of that stuff with a 100% digital copy.

Funny that you mention DVDs, because last time I checked a 3 hour long blockbuster still costs the same price as an hour long indie flick. That pretty much destroys your entire argument right there.

 

[bjj hero]

I work full time and live with my partner and son. My gaming tends to start when he's gone bed for a few hours or when my partner takes my little boy to see her parents. This has greatly changed my choice in games.

If final fantasy 7 was released now I would not have beaten it a good 5 or so times, I dont buy RPGs any more (I made an exception for Mass Effect and will do the same for Dragon age). Online multiplayer is far more appealing. I can drop in for 2 hours of COD4, Flash point, StreetFighter 4 or EndWar (still not beaten the single player in EW) and get my fix in an evening. Its a good trade off for sitting through Xfactor with "her in doors".

More so than in other games I've noticed that some of the shine has gone from my game in titles like streetfighter, I don't have the time to put in to get to the level I used to play at. I'm betting It will be the same with Tekken 6. I used to dominate the tekken tag machine when I was 18. Jin and Gunjack, fun times.

 

[Liberuno]

The article really resonates with me. I have a young daughter and my wife and I are expecting our second in May. Time goes on; priorities change. For a while I found that I was still buying those 30+ hour content RPGs (I'm looking at you Persona 4), but I have a hard time getting through most of them now because it typically means a multi month commitment. I don't really have that kind of dedication for games it seems.

 

[Therumancer]

Funny that you mention DVDs, because last time I checked a 3 hour long blockbuster still costs the same price as an hour long indie flick. That pretty much destroys your entire argument right there.[/quote]

However, we're talking about products you buy not ones that you are renting, which is something else entirely. Interestingly getting around things like used games and Rentals which developers feel cut into their business is one of the big reasons why they want everything to go digital and effectively do away with the entire concept of physical media.

That said, when you buy a DVD the prices vary greatly, or at least when I buy them. Age, and how many they have already sold play a factor of course, but so does the overall budget/quality of the movie. For example your not going to pay the same amount for blockbuster costing a hundred million dollars, and say a release from "Ghost House Underground". At least not in most places. The former could set you back anywhere from
$15-24 depending on the retailer, the latter costs $10-12.

Oh sure, we can argue semantics back and forth, but the bottom line is that the industry is a corrupt mess that engages in price fixing, and is putting the squeeze on gamers as hard as they can get away with because unlike other consumer groups we have yet to fight back in any meaningful way.

 

[MrDarkling]

A fear that does loom over me as this article expresses.
I do my darn right best to enjoy my games but as time moves on I have less time to do such a thing.
If only I was immortal ;D

 

[boholikeu]

That said, when you buy a DVD the prices vary greatly, or at least when I buy them. Age, and how many they have already sold play a factor of course, but so does the overall budget/quality of the movie. For example your not going to pay the same amount for blockbuster costing a hundred million dollars, and say a release from "Ghost House Underground". At least not in most places. The former could set you back anywhere from
$15-24 depending on the retailer, the latter costs $10-12.

Hm, DVDs must be priced differently where you live because where I come from most DVDs are going to be in the $15-$25 range regardless of how much the movie cost to make ("special edition" DVDs are a little more expensive of course, but so are "collectors edition" games). In fact, I've found that indie titles are usually more expensive because summer blockbusters tend to drop in price after the first week.

Don't just look at DVDs though. It's the same for any industry. Books are never charged on page count, and CDs are the same price no matter how long the songs are.

 

[MrGFunk]

I expect to stay a gamer my whole life of course as I gain more responsibilities my gaming time will be reduced but damnit I will still play them!

You'll also see your game collection and your list of 'games I must play growing on your shelves...

I've got loads of games. It's tough to see. Although, my wife still doesn't question what essentially are ornaments.

A fear that does loom over me as this article expresses.
I do my darn right best to enjoy my games but as time moves on I have less time to do such a thing.
If only I was immortal ;D

Finally, a solution....

 

[Pimppeter2]

I whole heartedly agree, and I don't have half those things. Between basketball, school, and girlfriends, I'm actually scared that I will Love DA:Origins

 

[Deviluk]

That sounds good to me. I have the weekend totally open and also wednesday and thursday off (I'm a student). I completed Uncharted 2 in that two day space, and any game that lasts even longer (currently Dirt 2) gets boring after 2+ hours a time. Plus I don't have the money to buy the short and sweet titles every month like Ronald, I need the Oblivions and final fantasys to get my monies worth!

 

[LeonLethality]

I dont mind if its a short game if I enjoyed it and/or it has good replay value

 

[God's Clown]

Only problem I have with short games is they are priced more often then not the same as long games. 8-10 hour games shouldn't cost the same as a game that is 40+ hours long.

 

[cainx10a]

oh well, years from now, 1/2 hour games will become a standard [/sarcasm]

 

[UltimatheChosen]

On one hand, I can understand some people not wishing to buy games that they will, in all likelihood, never complete. However, like GodsClown said, the price point is a bit of a sticking point. Personally, I hate the idea of spending $60 for only 8-10 hours of gameplay.

 

[ma55ter_fett]

Well, I don't care about casual gamers to be honest. If I'm paying $60 for a title it had better offer alot of entertainment.

 

[salbarragan]

Sadly, I know exactly what he's talking about. I too no longer have any time to play games but now I have the purchasing power to buy whatever I like! 8 to 10 hour games are perfect for me because I still get the reward for beating a game even though it can take me a month to finally do it. Sadly, trolling these forums during my work day still lets me feel like I am a hardcore gamer even though secretly, I know that I relinquished that title long ago.

 

[FleaJr]

Why do you want to finish a game in under a month? If a game has fulfilling content then there is really no reason to reach the arbitrary 'finish line', as to me it seems that this is simply where content stops.

More content is not a negative attribute for anyone.
If you have lots of time, well done you, enjoy the game.
If you don't have as much time, play the game as much as you want, there's just going to be more to play for you in the future.

However maybe you are someone who values the act of 'finishing the game' maybe you want the achievements, unlocks or just the bragging rights. Simply put, you can't have them.
To paraphrase famous world of warcraft commentator TotalBiscuit "That's just the way the world works, the people that put more time in, get more stuff"

I'm sorry, but if you were given everything from the offset, what would be the challenge of playing the game, or the benefit of playing more, practicing or getting better?

Sorry if this was a little incoherent, I'm in a rush (ironic, no?)

 

[GoldenShadow]

I just turned 27 this month. I don't have a family of my own yet, but I work a demanding job. I am usually out of the house all day long. I work 12 hours a day on average for 6 days a week. My buying power is enormous, but my 1 day a week(today, monday) isn't really enough time to enjoy my hobby. I have so many games that I haven't even finished or even started yet. And I spent almost $1,500 to build this kick ass gaming PC this month too.
Core i7, 6GB RAM, Nvidia GTX 275, etc..

I still play L4D and I am mainly looking forward to L4D 2. But my steam games list has over 70 games on it and I barely play any of them. Far Cry 2, Fear 2, Empire total war all recent games never got the attention they deserved. And I bought Chronicles of Riddick Dark Athena and I haven't even installed it yet! I preordered Dragon age Origins from steam.

Plus I use my PC's Vista Media Center as an HDDVR (it has 2 HD TV tuners installed) to record my favorite series. I bought a 500GB hard drive to save everything up until I get a chance to watch them Even that was getting too full. So I added a 1 TB HDD. I keep telling myself I'll get to everything eventually. Maybe if I become unemployed down the road, I'll have massive hours of entertainment in front of me. Right now, I mainly just watch an hour of recorded shows when I get home, then go to bed and do my gaming on my one day off every week.

 

[Credge]

I don't understand arguments for short games. There is absolutely no way you could ever view a short game as a positive. Have a life? That's cool. That doesn't change the fact that a longer game is going to allow you to spend more time playing it than a shorter game thus increasing the value of the dollar that you spent.

And, when you have a family, things like that really matter. Instead of spending $60 a month on a new game, a longer game will allow you to spend $60 every 2 months, or, if you continue your trend, you'll have two games to play instead of just one.

All I see these arguments as is an attempt to persuade gamers that 8-10 hour games are acceptable. They aren't.

 

[Worgen]

I still want at least 12 hours out of a fps single player