Next Gen games are too short

[Jill's Boob]

What's the deal? Are all "next gen" games short? I miss the good old days of games that were really long and had you seriously engrossed for a good amount of time.

I just got COD4, to add to my whopping PS3 game collection of Heavenly Sword and RE5, and it is an awesome game, but it's like 6 hours long.

Heavenly Sword was about 5-6 hours long, and RE5 is about the same length now that I have infinite ammo, etc.

So, I am asking those of you that have many games for 360/PS3: Are all games generally this short? It seems like newer games are just graphical beauties with a typically short single-player campaign, and an emphasis on racking up hours in multiplayer.

The last game I spent a LOT of time on was Okami for the Wii. But so far, for PS3, RE5 is the lengthiest game I've played. Perhaps I should try out GTA4 - that's a really long game, right?

I miss LONG games (especially since I am not too much into online multiplayer)...

[A-J]

the worst thing is even next gen JRPG's are freaking short ....

i mean if you discount the four or five hours i spent over-leveling my party, (and yes, i severely over leveled them) i've completed the first three discs of Lost Odyssey in around 10 hours. That's way too short for a JRPG.

I mean, the second disc of the game just had 2 towns and 3 dungeons, and that's about it.

[hellrizer]

Well Mass effect was pretty long as the older games and Fallout 3 was ehhh somewhere around there. But yeah I agree with you, the older games were long and fun like Shenmue 1 and 2. When are they going to make a part 3?

[Mr_Zombie]

My second Mass Effect playthrough (with the same character = I had 49 lvl and lots of good guns for my crew) still took me about 30 hours and I still haven't finished all side quests (I know I missed few minerals for example).

Also, I don't know how long it was, but I think new Prince of Persia took me over a dozen hours to complete (though I haven't found all light orbs).

But yeah, nowadays, excluding sandbox games, most games have really short single player campaign. :/
However, I wouldn't say that it's only this gen attribute.
You can beat most of RE games, even on your first play through, in several hours too; Tomb Raider: Legend was a 6-7 hours long game, etc.

[Spera01]

The only next gen games that I own that I find to be really long are GTA4 and Fallout 3. Everything else I'd say would be around RE5's length or maybe a little longer/shorter.

I do miss the old games back in the day, that would take weeks, hell, sometimes months to beat, those games were the shit.

[Vector]

It's not 'next-gen' anymore...'current-gen' is the accepted terminology. 'Next-gen' is the Playstation 4 and Xbox 720.

[Jill's Boob]

But yeah, nowadays, excluding sandbox games, most games have really short single player campaign. :/
However, I wouldn't say that it's only this gen attribute.
You can beat most of RE games, even on your first play through, in several hours too; Tomb Raider: Legend was a 6-7 hours long game, etc.

I guess that is true...that many games are indeed short. But it just feels so much more prevalent in newer games.

And I suppose that RE games are by nature "short," I always felt that they were pretty damn long considering the challenge/exploration.

Newer games seem to try to extend playtime by having you search for miscellaneous items, or accomplish "achievements/trophies," or through multi-player.

I'd rather have some real "meat" to the game though. Just my preference.

It's not 'next-gen' anymore...'current-gen' is the accepted terminology. 'Next-gen' is the Playstation 4 and Xbox 720.

Oh no, no. It's still "next gen." Can't you see that I'm stuck in the past?

[Henry Spencer]

Personally speaking, I don't like games that are too long. It's not that I'm lazy, it's just that the game really has to grab me to get me to play twenty hours worth. If it is simply an action game with very little original elements in there, for example, I can't see myself playing through it.

Some games are pretty much designed for rentals; Mirror's Edge is a perfect game for this. Nice, sweet and short. Unless the game is amazing, I wouldn't have the patience.

Then again, I can see your point, RPGs and Adventure games are especially notably becoming shorter now. Maybe they are simply adhering to their bosses, who are rushing out the product. Maybe developers are no longer getting a long enough deadline to complete games to their fullest potential. The RE5 trailer showing night-time set stages could be an example of this? Things originally implemented in, but having to be left out since there wasn't enough time.

But yeah I agree with you, the older games were long and fun like Shenmue 1 and 2. When are they going to make a part 3?

Never. Think Legacy of Kain or Duke Nukem, and you're not far off.

And by the way, Mass Effect's main storyline is actually rather short, same goes for Fallout 3's. Great if you play the side story missions, but sometimes it's hard to tell which is which unless you are careful enough look it up on the net.

[Darkmoon]

The problem is the shiny graphics take up a lot of time. As does the physics engine, online multiplayer support and all that stuff. Content is sadly now somewhat secondary to being the most impressive on the block. Style is more vital to selling games than substance.

Look at how many people bitch at the Wii. It can do much of what the bigger systems can but isn't as impressive and so it's ignored by serious gamers...and yet it does have some good games, some really nice horror titles comming out soon. But since it's a kiddy system...

[Jill's Boob]

Look at how many people bitch at the Wii. It can do much of what the bigger systems can but isn't as impressive and so it's ignored by serious gamers...and yet it does have some good games, some really nice horror titles comming out soon. But since it's a kiddy system...

You're quite right. "Mario Galaxy" was a seriously long game, and fun as hell. Probably more fun than any game on the PS3 or 360.

And I loved Okami, though it is still technically a last gen game.


gameplay/length/fun > graphics/multiplayer

[Bertha]

I've noticed the trend...and it is sad. I'd rather have a good story with moderately decent graphics rather than pushing the graphics to the max for the sake of a game that lasts me just a few hours.

[Vector]

The games this gen are short...there's been more emphasis placed on replayability of the games rather than the length, and I'm not so sure it's such a bad thing. Games like RE5 that have nearly infinite replayability makes the fact that the story can be completed in less than 2 hours irrelevant.

[TyrackT71]

The games this gen are short...there's been more emphasis placed on replayability of the games rather than the length, and I'm not so sure it's such a bad thing. Games like RE5 that have nearly infinite replayability makes the fact that the story can be completed in less than 2 hours irrelevant.

chris29 has got a piont, but RE5 is the only one i can name.
games are shorter because of high production values

[riderkid]

i dunn o, i think that games like disgaea 3 and half life 2 are pretty long, and if you take into the fact that my friend can spend 2 weeks working on COD4s story mode is frightening.

also im still on the last mission of COD4's hardened mode

[hellrizer]

Personally speaking, I don't like games that are too long. It's not that I'm lazy, it's just that the game really has to grab me to get me to play twenty hours worth. If it is simply an action game with very little original elements in there, for example, I can't see myself playing through it.

Some games are pretty much designed for rentals; Mirror's Edge is a perfect game for this. Nice, sweet and short. Unless the game is amazing, I wouldn't have the patience.

Then again, I can see your point, RPGs and Adventure games are especially notably becoming shorter now. Maybe they are simply adhering to their bosses, who are rushing out the product. Maybe developers are no longer getting a long enough deadline to complete games to their fullest potential. The RE5 trailer showing night-time set stages could be an example of this? Things originally implemented in, but having to be left out since there wasn't enough time.



Never. Think Legacy of Kain or Duke Nukem, and you're not far off.

And by the way, Mass Effect's main storyline is actually rather short, same goes for Fallout 3's. Great if you play the side story missions, but sometimes it's hard to tell which is which unless you are careful enough look it up on the net.

well that pretty much answered my question and my response is... Whaaaaa!! You right! Whaaa