224: So Many Games, So Little Time

[Xman490]

"I became very reluctant to buy a game like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, a title that keeps you engaged for more than 30 hours. What adult has 30 hours to spend on a videogame, anyway?
I just envy my 18-year-old self, the guy I was before I went to college and gradually started to forsake my gaming habits."

This is very relevant to my situation, even down to the fact that I'm reluctant to buy the new Elder Scrolls game. The problem isn't money (though saving $10 in a sale along with the $20 I can save with the 33% off coupon I have would be nice). The problem is time; with my mother and grandmother nagging me every day to get my work done, I cannot dive into Skyrim, even on weekends. I even have a bunch of unfinished games, from Prince of Persia: Sands of Time to Half-Life 2 to Duke Nukem Forever (because I heard that it's funny to watch Duke be all full of himself).

 

[Smertnik]

I prefer shorter games as well. Something like 8-15h is ideal, anything above becomes a pain in the bollocks to play through. A game being 'short' is actually a selling point for me.

I remember ending up hating Okami because I wanted to finally play through it after putting it away again and again but the bloody thing just didn't want to end.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Note to self...don't get married.

*runs away arms flailing*

But seriously if I do get ever get married he better not want me to stop gaming. He may as well ask me to stop breathing...

 

[Carson Shindigg]

Indeed, it has become the same for me. I find the idea of 'clocking' a game these days to be almost impossible (Case in point, I was 4 achievements away from 100% in Forza 4, and it was only the time sink achievements left to get, then they released the porsche pack). I mean, back in the day, I finished Doom 95 countless times, as well as all the old gameboy games. And don't get me started on my year long campaign of micromanagement and domination in Medieval 2. (Might as well have renamed Catholicism to Venetianism )

And as much as I would love to play them, I have not yet purchased Fable 3, Skyrim, Mass Effect or Minecraft, because I would probably never reach the end of them. A game with a 10-12 hour story mode would be perfect. Having games sit on the to do pile as incomplete is not a very satisfying feeling. And it has impacted the games I now play.

MY recent buying trend for the last 12-18 months.

Dead Space 2
Catherine
Gears 3
Forza 4
SSX
Marvel vs Capcom 3

As a shift worker, with a girlfriend, and study to do (You have to keep learning in nursing even after graduation), I tend to find games like driving, sports and fighting games fit better with my schedule now. And a game like gears, where you can hit it out a chapter at a time, is also a more realistic and rewarding way of gaming.