Despite the suggestive title, this article over on GamePro is interesting. Davidson makes the argument that games as a whole are too big and too hard and that the majority of gamers (some 90% based on statistics that they offered) only play video games for 4-5 hours before stopping and moving on. To be honest, I think that falls on me nowadays–while compulsively completionistic (I definitely made that word up) in most things, gaming I enjoy playing a few hours at a time and coming back later and continuing forward. There are very few games I can say that I’ve “completed” in their entirety…the first ever being the Sega Genesis Game, Light Crusader.
This drives my friends who game with me crazy. Most of them are hardcore completionists while I meander from title to title, typically enjoying things for a few hours and moving on, to come back later. That’s why I have yet to finish Mass Effect. I think that means I might lose my gamer card? I’m not sure…
Overall, good read — I won’t retype the arguments here but suffice to say, I agree with most of what it says — the majority of gamers nowadays can’t dedicate 100s of hours to game playing, and it’s nice to see the designers making adjustments toward that general goal.
UPDATE: For those who care – here’s the GamSpot link for Light Crusader — http://www.gamespot.com/genesis/rpg/lightcrusader/index.html?tag=result;title;0
lvl-42.com 