The Evolution of Game Duration: Why are my new games so short? - Games

If your a long-time gamer, which I happen to be, you should notice that games have gotten a heck of a lot shorter over time. At first, I had just thought it was me. Back when I was a youngin', about 5 or 6, I'd play my old SNES for about 15-30 minutes every day. Now compare this to the average of 2-4 hours I play today. So it's no wonder that I'm able to finish my newer games in as little as 3 days. But does it really have to do with how much, or how often you play? [img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PM97N1Dtb10/SeC3ftQWtHI/AAAAAAAAAy0/0tvnIE1FQvY/s400/donkey-kong-country-diddy-dixie.jpg[/img] Lately, I've been playing through a lot of the games I used to play as a child on my PSP via Emulators. While these games still are fun, they seem a lot different from the newer games I play. There is little to no story development, and a hell they seem to play a hell of a lot longer. For example, the whole point of Donkey Kong Country 2, is to rescue DK. Nothing else, no betrayals, no road blocks, just a straight journey. Now, compare it to newer games, for example, Modern Warfare 2, where the story is the main priority. There are so many things that happen in this game story wise, that I probably can't name them all, but all in all, I'd say the game was really short. Now what do we get from all of this? When games have little to no story, the only real aspect to focus on is environment. When you don't have a story in the way, you can allow the player to go wherever they want. The amount of environments in the Donkey Kong Country games is enormous. They range from snowy areas, theme parks, tropical jungles, to pirate ships. There are a total of 39 levels in Donkey Kong Country, each take about 2 minutes to complete if done perfectly. Now compare this to MW2, which has 18 levels, each taking about 10 minutes if played on an easier difficulty and without dying. Now your probably thinking that MW2 should play longer because the levels last longer. And this is the area that has me stumped as well. So this leads to the discussion, what do you think is the cause of all of all of the short game these days? tl;dr:[sp] Older games have no story, so there are no restrictions, while today's games really focus on story, so there are tons of restricions. What do you think?[/sp]

It's a necessary sacrifice if we want games to progress beyond common bullshit.

It's really fucking expensive to make a level all too long, and a lot of people grow tired or lose interest if they aren't constantly being stimulated in a scene. Edit: Fixed after I realized what OP was talking about.

I agree with you. It seemed like everyone complained that old games took way too long to beat or were too difficult. Now it seems that new games are way too short quite often.

games have changed over time

we pay 60 dolla for a game we will play for a week, and beat. maybe try to get a 100% with little repeatability (some times) yet back then we had really long games with almost guaranteed no repeatability. for like, i don't even remember how much

People want cinematic action cinematic action takes long time.

As our games look better they are also more complicated to make. Look at the details back in your old games and compare them to now. Sure it's maybe 1/4th the length but look at the plot, the visuals, the experience itself.

In time developers will finally come around to making games long and satisfying while keeping to today's production value standard. Final Fantasy XIII was pretty long and it's totally linear halfway through.

I rather play an amazing short game than a shitty/mediocre long one. I rather play a replayable short game than a play once and never again long one.

I would rather play a long game with few scripted sequences such as Zelda: OoT than a two hour long roller coaster ride like MW2 anyday. Not only is beating a longer game a far more rewarding experience, it feels like you've accomplished more, but games such as MW2 also don't give you any sense of freedom and whilst more things may happen plot wise per second that doesn't exactly mean your plot is more fleshed out (ex. the GTA games. The characters in that game are some of the deeper characters in gaming). tl;dr MW2's story sucks and the game is short.

[QUOTE=Jman777;20869147]I would rather play a long game with few scripted sequences such as Zelda: OoT than a two hour long roller coaster ride like MW2 anyday. Not only is beating a longer game a far more rewarding experience, it feels like you've accomplished more, but games such as MW2 also don't give you any sense of freedom and whilst more things may happen plot wise per second that doesn't exactly mean your plot is more fleshed out (ex. the GTA games. The characters in that game are some of the deeper characters in gaming). tl;dr MW2's story sucks and the game is short.[/QUOTE] fyi. the appeal of MW2 does not lie in it's single player mode

I think its because more games are now multiplayer orientated now, and they tend to focus on that.