IMHO most games are too long. It's probably because it takes time to make a good story, create all the graphics, sound etc. It would seem a shame to just entertain the gamer for a few hours and would be a waste of money.
I think there's a solution on the way already - episodes & DLC. If you create all of the above but only release a small piece of it the game price could drop making more people try out the game and if you do play it through you'd probably want more. I prefer to play the game and wanting to play more instead of buying a game a never completing it.
It probably depends if the gaming industry wants to take the chance that people won't buy more content because they tried it and didn't like it. Though I think it would balance out fine since you only need to make less content if you're unsure and you'd probably sell more games if it's initial costs is cheap because people can afford to give it a try. But who knows ?:)
Slashdot Mirror
IMHO most games are too long. It's probably because it takes time to make a good story, create all the graphics, sound etc. It would seem a shame to just entertain the gamer for a few hours and would be a waste of money. I think there's a solution on the way already - episodes & DLC. If you create all of the above but only release a small piece of it the game price could drop making more people try out the game and if you do play it through you'd probably want more. I prefer to play the game and wanting to play more instead of buying a game a never completing it. It probably depends if the gaming industry wants to take the chance that people won't buy more content because they tried it and didn't like it. Though I think it would balance out fine since you only need to make less content if you're unsure and you'd probably sell more games if it's initial costs is cheap because people can afford to give it a try. But who knows ? :)