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[Redpyramidhead]

Speaking of shorter action adventure games...there seems to be more of them these days ex[ecially with the PS2. I remember logging in about 40+ hours or somethin like that to defeat the original Soul Reaver whereas Soul Reaver 2 only took me about 1o hours and I was purposely going slow cuz I had heard it was short. Is there some kind of a small epidemic of short games goin on? ShadowMan Second Coming is a good exception though loggin in at about 25 to 30 hours so I'd definately say it's a good buy espcially since I think it's a Greatest Hit now. Anyways, before I digress...I had a theory for these shorter games. Is it because of the processing power of the PS2 being more sophisticated developers are now having a tendency to use most of it for impresive graphics, sound, and atmospher (which is great and everything of course) but have yet to be able to balance that out so there's enough room left to create a longer game? I remember CastlevaniaOTN was a decently long game, but the N64 games were of not only less quality, but were shorter and much less involved. Are most games doomed to have this happen to them when they go "Next Gen" if the developers dont have the proper recources or time to work on them? These questions go to anyone who might have an idea of what I'm talking about. Props definately go to the developers who are able to do just as much with newer 3D type games...I know longer games with quality graphics, etc can be made for the PS2 cuz I've played them, but have other developers gotten lazy or do they not have the funds? I wonder what the release of the Hard Disk Drive will mean for this if anything.
Soul Reaver 2, btw, even though it may be short...is just plain incredible...just making it clear that I still think it's awesome.

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[Berserker]

Don't know much about it, but I fear it has something to do with the fact that developing a game is nowadays more like doing a movie(special effects-wise). It's like action movies nowadays the script is a joke it's only big flashy explosions, big fighting scenes, car crashes etc. But the storie goes nowhere( take XXX for example). I'm affraid that that mentality is rising in the gamesworld make it as flashy looking as can be and people will buy but after three days there finished and where does that leave them....in the store buying another one. This doesn't goes for the majority of games off course( on the playstation that is xbox is another story). But I'm affraid that the artistic side of writing a good story to a game is changing....
Please me tell I'm wrong...

[dan da man]

i think some are a little too short, i hope the new TR is not short because all the rest were soooo long.
i think alot of games r rushed now, so they have less content.

[kupoartist]

to the individual its almost certain, but there are certain questions that arise from this: is the development time of an action game getting longer, therefore leaving them "cut short" and more importantly, is the skill of the people playing the games the main reason for why we find them getting shorter:

action games are undeniably similar (at least in sub genres like 3rd and 1st person perspective games), so it stands to reason that you can become skilled at playing that type of game. Naturally, a newer game will last for a lesser ammount of time when you're immediatly prepared for the way it plays.

[tha16thletter]

Yea, a heightened skill level is a cause... I also think the fact that it cost so much more to make a game and a lot more people on your staff just for those 8-10 hours... but what is also occuring as an offset as that often the game is more "stacked" so to speak, meaning it has more features, gameplay elements, artistic direction, etc....sometimes you gotta go for quality over quantity, unfortunately a lot of companies these days opt for neither...
[]D

[Redpyramidhead]

Originally posted by beserker

But I'm affraid that the artistic side of writing a good story to a game is changing....
Please me tell I'm wrong...

ACtually, I disagree on that statement...I think the artistic side to the storyline of games is constantly improving as more and more people seem to demand as much deep engrossment in them as entire worlds just like books and movies. Silent Hill 2 is a wonderful example (of course you knew I was going to say that.)

The main problem here is combining this with longevity in the game and replay value...There are a lot of interesting reasons it seems that the tow are getting harder to balance and stand up to eachother to make the perfect game.

Also brought up by a couple of you is something that I find kind of scary. Since the videogaming industry has a much larger demographic audience to entertain these days is it possible they shorten them to make their games more user-friendly? IN todays world of an ADD epidemic, I wouldn't be at all suprised if developers have thought of that in terms of marketing strategies, etc...alas things end up being ruled by the ability to make money and not quantity. What if video games in general might end up going by the mainstream music mentality? If record companies, for example, want sales they publish the the catchy stuff, which often lacks substance and musical talent to the extent of more obscure bands who's minds aren't focused on the dollar but focused on constantly bettering themselves. It's hard to pretend you don't see a lot of recurring themes in videogames these days.
Fortunately I'm not too worried about all this actually happening, but it gives you another reason to wonder why games may be getting shorter.

Actually I'm not sure if what I said came out right, but it was just a theory, anyway. Basically I'm saying we as serious gamers need to let developers know we need substance in our games, especially now when we know so much can be done with the consoles out now.

Luckily, games like Hitman 2 and Splinter Cell, etc. shine through to show a lot of developers still have the right idea.
For the most part I think games are still getting better...but wouldn't it be scary if they started going the way of let's say Jet Li's "The One" instead of "The Matrix."

Ok I think I lost myself...but oh well.

My main theory still has to do with the company's resources probably having something to do with it.


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[Redpyramidhead]

I feel like that last post digressed from what I was originally starting a discussion on and asking about at first. So...umm anybody with close ties to videogame developers have any thing to add?

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[Beretta55]

well yeah action and adventure game's are getting short. it's mainly cause the game is fun like no other. like uh what's a good example...luigi's mansion *im tried right now so cut me some slack*. it's about a 8 or 9 hour game which is pretty short. but it goes by so fast because your really into the game and want to see what happen's next and so on. that's how game's end shortly alot. or i could be talking out of my ass here but oh well

[tha16thletter]

Nah I understand what you're sayin'... if you enjoy a game enough, the time just zooms past because you have completely immersed yourself... then when its over you're like damn, that was fast... I think what developers really need to concentrate on is adding in more quality extras-- endings, modes, etc etc. to extend the life of their games beyond the initial playing. I wouldnt want them to start cutting back on production just to extend the game like that, then you'd have a loooong craptastic game. Just up the replay value with things people like and there will be no problem.
[]D

[Redpyramidhead]

I wouldnt want them to start cutting back on production just to extend the game like that, then you'd have a loooong craptastic game. Just up the replay value with things people like and there will be no problem.

Well no that wasn't what I meant. I don't want games to lose quality either just to lengthen them. Also, I think that's assuming the biggest reason for shorter games is bigger quality for what is already in the game, but had we really answerd that yet? oh no cant think anymore its late.

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