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Game Pacing Pitfalls Discussed
Thanks to GameSpot for their editorial discussing the problems in pacing a videogame correctly, as the author theorizes: "It's almost always the same sorts of things that make us get sick of them in a hurry", and goes on to pinpoint game facets that affect pacing adversely. He suggests: "Loading times are quite possibly the single worst thing about today's games", and also points out "...providing the player with easy access to often-used features" as a pacing-killer, referencing Vagrant Story's "unwieldy menu system." Finally, he argues that "the ideal game should never require pausing or fast-forwarding", mentioning that Star Wars: KOTOR had "...combat [that] was paced seemingly just right so that I'd be able to react to what was happening as it happened, not in between desperately toggling the pause button."
How about cutsequences you cannot escape.
It is easy to say a game has 40+ hours of gameplay when they KNOW that you have to watch all cutsequences at least twice and you cannot skip them.
Latest example: The Jedi Academy demo - why some developers don't get that they will face eternal damnation for a thing like this is beyond me.
""the ideal game should never require pausing or fast-forwarding","
You mean the game is so addictive that you never pause play until you are through? How long before the Sony "PotStation" toilet-equiped recliner is sold as a popular game accessory.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.