When Time Slips Away: A Request for Shorter Games

Forbes - It’s a well known fact among industry types that gamers are now getting older and older by the year. As in, new players are still starting young, but veteran players aren’t giving up gaming either as they age. It’s becoming more of a legitimate past time among adults, and few are ashamed to admit they still play video games at 25, 30, 40 or more. We’re finally starting to eliminate the “just for kids” stereotype, and that’s great for the industry.

[Forbidden_Darkness]

Most Downloadable games are relatively short in length, so I don't see why you would have to request something that has been available for years and years. Look through any store (PSN, STEAM, XBL, etc.) and you'll find lots of games that are quite short, but still very enjoyable and that have a great story.

[Scottis]

I have to disagree. Although it can be argue that what constitutes a great story will differ from person to person, I'd argue that apart from The Walking Dead there are no DLGs with story of memorable quality. Sure Journey and Limbo are great games but not for their story like Uncharted, Red Dead, Mass Effect etc. are.

[Forbidden_Darkness]

I agree with you, I guess what I ment is that with smaller games you kinda have to find/make the story, through its gameplay elements and such. Most game developers making smaller games like such cant really afford to have a full story with paid voice actors and such. So, games like The Walking Dead won't be so common.

[newmonday]

quality over quantity, would rather play a short focused game than a long watered down game for the sake of length.

[Scottis]

I here what he's saying as I'm a married gamer with a young child. Difference is I don't mind that a 10-15 hour game takes me about 2-3 weeks to finish. As he says shorter games will have to be priced accordingly, at the moment anything less then 10 hours i steer clear if until its heavily discounted. I play less games than I used to but don't enjoy them any less.

[FarCryLover182]

How about keep them the same length or longer???? Are people incapable of playing them for short periods of time over a long span of time (be it months, weeks, etc. whatever).

[AznGaara]

This. Lately I've been playing my games in short sessions rather than cramming it all in a single playthrough. Don't know why but before I use to be motivated into beating a game as quickly as possible but now I tend to take my time. For example when Uncharted 2 came out I beat that in a weekend but when Uncharted 3 released it took me 2 weeks and it didn't bother me.

[ShaunCameron]

I generally don't care for games that take forever to beat. That's pretty much anything past 15 hours or 3 days. I like to beat the game and move on to something else. I don't know why the author is requesting something that is already here and plentiful.

[Drainage]

find another hobby like movies if you want shorter games

[Statix]

Most games are trending towards super-short nowadays, yet some people want them to be even SHORTER? Sorry, but if you're going to make shorter games, then sell the game for a lower price ($30 sounds about right if the game only lasts about 5-6 hours).

Hell, even in multiplayer terms, games like Planetside and Dust 514 are FREE, and can potentially give you hundreds of hours of enjoyment. I've been playing Hard Reset: Exile and Amnesia, two great games that are refreshingly long (although not excessively long) for being linear experiences.

Whatever the case, I'll take an epic, long game like Far Cry 3, STALKER, Skyrim any day, over a short campaign that feels uninspired or tacked-together in a moneygrab rush.

[Fez]

I would love to see some games which take about 2 to 3 hours to complete that are priced at £10 on release. I think that would be really enjoyable to know that you can complete a game in one sitting.

The story and character development might be a bit shallower but I think the fun factor would be higher.

I'm currently playing ME2 and I know it's gonna take me about a month to finish. There's no way you could condense Mass Effect into 2 hours but an action game like Uncharted could be. I guess it depends on the game cos I wouldn't want MGS to go that route but some genres and games could be made better if shorter I think.

[Enigma_2099]

Lemme tell you about these ingenious concepts called "save points."