> -----Original Message-----
> From: Invisible [mailto:voi### [at] devnull]
> I'm still sad that Valve has decided to stop making those and go with
> this whole "episodic" format. It basically means you have to wait 6
> months, pay quite a large amount of money, and then get to play a
> little
> bit of a small game that is so tiny it's hardly worth ever playing
> again. It's a bit like having a TV series where each 20 minute episode
> comes out 6 months after the last one...

The industry as a whole has been moving to shorter games.  Most action
games can now be completed in 10-15 hours (some as little as 6).  I
finished my speed run of GTA IV in 14 hours, and the main quest in
Fallout 3 can be done in ~10.

Things were just getting ridiculous with main storylines taking 40+
hours in every single game, and developers started noticing when 90% of
the people who bought their game never finished it.

Now, things are shorter, games have more branching and are more fun to
replay, and more people finish the games they start.

...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com

I said "share," not "scare!"

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