Are next gen games getting shorter?

[Geoffrey42]

I believe that I understood your point perfectly well (and I did read your whole post, but thanks for the not-so-subtle attacks on my ability to read and comprehend, anyway), and I agree that games should support alternative control schemes, as a benefit to lefties, and everyone else.

shadow skill the point I was making was that it is in no way "equivalent" unless you can provide the statistics that I mentioned. 650 million cannon balls are, like, equivalent to 650 million gum balls. Because it's the same number. See? The entire world's population of lefties is not equivalent to the entire US population as a videogame market, UNLESS lefties make up as much a percentage of the world videogame market as the US does. If you read my whole comment with respect to your unsupported claim you should notice this, it is the part you apparently didn't read.

I agree with you on the whole about the need for alternate, workable control schemes, but THAT particular argument isn't helping your case.

 

[shadow skill]

That is the whole fucking point man. All you have done is state the painfully obvious the first guy bringing up the statistics on the world wide population of left handed people has the same problem. That is why I brought up the fact that however you slice it you are dealing with more people than there are in the US by itself. That is why I used that as an example in the first place....in short DUH!! Welcome to the world of the captains obvious............

 

[Dark Wingstalker]

basically, they took the crosshairs out of Gears of war, to make it more realistic to play. AS i said above, Realism in a game with lizard commando's? not too integral, but its nice not being able to pop off a perfect headshot in the heat of the battle, because there just ISNT time. It increasing the use of weapons like shotguns, and how useful they are, and makes the game, as a whole, a little more tactical, as you will generally, be in a standing position to aim, much like resident evil 4, this increases your strategic thinking by forcing you into deciding between fight and flight.

Yeah, its 1am as i post this, and im tired. Flame at will.

 

[CallMeDeadly]

There are several reasons why game lengths are becoming short. Games now a days are always repetitive. Games always get boring from this, they start to lose contrast, and are soon forgotten. Back in the day, some games really weren't repetitive. Or, maybe they were but they had a strong storyline.

Games that we have now, are just plain old boring after playing for awhile. There are several reasons that I believe to be the cause of games being short. First, which I have stated above, games are repetitive. They lose contrast. Writers just want to get to the point. They do not want to expand a story because they know they would lose the player. It could at times get confusing for the player to understand. It's nice to see games just cut to the chase. I mean, you people who say, " This game is very short " and what not is pretty, well "cheesy." Because you make it sound as if that you want to play the game forever. And in fact, I doubt you would like to do that. Games only get short moments of fame, and thats it. It's time to move on. But, games who have a very touching story line and great aspects of game play still are being played.

Another reason is that writers really cannot think of ideas for a story. Most games today took all the appealing ideas and put it in their game. It's hard just to think of a story. Some people say that making story lines are easy, but when they actually come up with an idea of a storyline, it either comes out to be stupid or just unoriginal.

And Catgrr, why be so picky? People are expressing their ideas, is that a problem at all? It is not a problem with me. Forums are meant for people to relate, and sure no one is perfect. If you want to be perfect, then do so. But "PLEASE" do not be so picky with others. Sure, correct people at will, but do not be so harsh...

 

[Zera]

Wow. So many responses. Out of nowhere too. Oh Well Carry on

 

[Dark Wingstalker]

seriously, That's passive aggressive bullshit.

You can all buy Psyconauts, But the fact is, MS is still gonna sponsor its own games, and they will still have more money poured into them, and frankly, well.
Im just not even going to have this arguement.

And yes, Gears of war does have autoaim up to the hilt, but only with the assault rifle, and SMG's.

point still holds true though, you want a decent shot, you need some time to get it. Listen to the points instead of getting all "little miss attitude", i swear, that fiesty/angsty bullshit got old 5 years ago.

Edit: Not that i dont agree with alot of your points, but cut the Vitriol yeah?

Edited edit: And before you assume, i thought gears of war blew like a thai ladyboy, and my favourite game's are system shock 2 and Vandal hearts. Draw your conclusions.

 

[ix]

"e.g. Dune II. Pretty much any RTS you play today, you can go back, play that and think: "Holy crap, how fucking depressing is this market". Three sides (OMFG a whole THREE?!? Like no-one still sticks to that, right...), balanced scissor-rock-paper unit balance and so on."

Starcraft: Broodwar pushed the genre way beyond the starting point in Dune 2. It's true RTS games have common elements that first appeared in Dune 2 but without those they would be something else, not RTS. Improvement comes in refinement, not in attempting to reinvent the wheel every time.

To reply to the topic: I'm not sure games are getting shorter, as others have suggested in many cases they're getting easier. Whether due to shortness or easiness I think there's a point beyond which something becomes too brief. Half-life Episode 1 was an example of this where it's over so soon after you begin that you feel cheated. The game experience hasn't had enough time to sink in when you've set yourself up to get immersed in that gameworld only to have it end unexpectedly. When I first played HL2 Epi 1 I think decrypting it took as long as playing it. On the other hand there've been fairly recent games that just went on and on, Doom 3 and Quake 4 being games that could have had n corridors removed without a noticable loss of gameplay.

Valve especially, since they seem to be determined to cater to many players, should make sure there's some challenge available rather than a serene walk-through, I'd LIKE to grind my way through endless hordes so each area feels like it's been beaten. Give players the option if you're going to skimp on a few very pretty areas.

 

[Geoffrey42]

@Cheeze: Though I wasn't aware of the etymology, I was aware of other meanings of the word "tool", including its usage as a euphemism for "penis". I was pointing to wikipedia because it was the first thing I came across which presented an example of the meaning I intended. I would never contend that wikipedia is the be-all-end-all on this subject, or any other. Even in this case, my own personal meaning for the word goes beyond what you'll find on wikipedia or in a dictionary. That was just the closest thing I could find.

 

[CallMeDeadly]

"e.g. Dune II. Pretty much any RTS you play today, you can go back, play that and think: "Holy crap, how fucking depressing is this market". Three sides (OMFG a whole THREE?!? Like no-one still sticks to that, right...), balanced scissor-rock-paper unit balance and so on."

Starcraft: Broodwar pushed the genre way beyond the starting point in Dune 2. It's true RTS games have common elements that first appeared in Dune 2 but without those they would be something else, not RTS. Improvement comes in refinement, not in attempting to reinvent the wheel every time.

To reply to the topic: I'm not sure games are getting shorter, as others have suggested in many cases they're getting easier. Whether due to shortness or easiness I think there's a point beyond which something becomes too brief. Half-life Episode 1 was an example of this where it's over so soon after you begin that you feel cheated. The game experience hasn't had enough time to sink in when you've set yourself up to get immersed in that gameworld only to have it end unexpectedly. When I first played HL2 Epi 1 I think decrypting it took as long as playing it. On the other hand there've been fairly recent games that just went on and on, Doom 3 and Quake 4 being games that could have had n corridors removed without a noticable loss of gameplay.

Valve especially, since they seem to be determined to cater to many players, should make sure there's some challenge available rather than a serene walk-through, I'd LIKE to grind my way through endless hordes so each area feels like it's been beaten. Give players the option if you're going to skimp on a few very pretty areas.

I agree with you on how you say that games are becoming easy. Very true, even on hard mode it feels as if playing something way to easy. Look at bioshock, that game was very easy. In Gears of War, a reviewer said that " This game does not have ammopacks and weapons lying everywhere, like most games do. " And guess what? I found ammo boxes, lying in front of me, no dead body. Just lying there. But that did not make Gears of War easy.

You're wrong. Totally.

And what makes you so sure that you are right? All I read is how depressed and disgusted you are on Video Game Industries making crap. I agree with you on EA. To be honest Battlefield is just a load of crap. I hate the series, I wish it burns. It sucks and is just a remake of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory.

 

[shadow skill]

Could it also be that as we get older these games just get easier to us? Though I do believe that some games are being made a tad too easy. I am not sure it is a bad thing though because there are other elements to a game aside from (percieved) difficulty. The Soul Reaver games were not exactly hard, however the experience of the games themselves were just absolutely grand.

 

[Arbre]

@Geoffrey42: let's face it--every single word for something long or pointy or in any way phallic shaped at *some* point in history was used by *someone* as a euphemism for "penis".

To everyone: Look at the "e" in Escapist.

See that long and pointy thing?

You won't come here with the same mindset now.

 

[ix]

shadow skill: The older games are still available for comparison so try playing something like Doom on Nightmare skill. It's not easy, HL2 on 'Hard' is easy. Games companies want everyone to see the end of the game and every carefully crafted asset inbetween start and finish. They throw in a 'Hard' difficulty setting as an afterthought or perhaps one that challenges the strange, spineless creatures they use as beta testers.

 

[CallMeDeadly]

shadow skill: The older games are still available for comparison so try playing something like Doom on Nightmare skill. It's not easy, HL2 on 'Hard' is easy. Games companies want everyone to see the end of the game and every carefully crafted asset inbetween start and finish. They throw in a 'Hard' difficulty setting as an afterthought or perhaps one that challenges the strange, spineless creatures they use as beta testers.

He's right. I played quake on Hard mood and it was impossible. Gaming Companies want players to see the end, and not just say, well this game is lame and impossible.