Charley Price, lead designer of the upcoming Rise of the Argonauts, says that gamers have evolved over the last few years and can no longer afford to spend days and days on the same game - something he says he has taken into account when creating Rise of the Argonauts.
"No longer are videogames almost exclusively played by 14 year-olds over summer vacations where they have days and days on end to play through these epic journeys," said Price in a comment to Eurogamer.
"Every time someone invests 25 hours of their life into a game and then realises there's another 75 hours to go, they just can't stomach continuing and they walk away with a sour taste in their mouth - no matter how much fun they had with the game," he added.
"They need to be doing something achievable with the end in sight; people's expectations are evolving for what they want to get from the experience."
Price claims he has taken these changes into account when designing Argonauts and has done away with many of the usual RPG mechanics which he feels might slow the game down.
"Games are the only medium where it's commonplace to say, 'you've got to struggle through the first hour or two and then it starts to get fun,'"" said Price. "I think it's unacceptable for a lot of people, you know - if the game's not fun within the first half an hour to an hour then a lot of people are just going to take it back."
"So you've got to be going through and presenting the fun up front; you've got to be going through and presenting what you're game's about and what makes it compelling so that people can really get their hooks in and can really get in to what you're game's all about."
What about you though? Do you prefer shorter games, or longer more epic experiences? Personally I'm playing through Deus Ex at the moment (again) and I'm still taking it slowly and finding new and exciting content, so I think it is pretty clear what I like. Pass your thoughts on in the forums.
"No longer are videogames almost exclusively played by 14 year-olds over summer vacations where they have days and days on end to play through these epic journeys," said Price in a comment to Eurogamer.
"Every time someone invests 25 hours of their life into a game and then realises there's another 75 hours to go, they just can't stomach continuing and they walk away with a sour taste in their mouth - no matter how much fun they had with the game," he added.
"They need to be doing something achievable with the end in sight; people's expectations are evolving for what they want to get from the experience."
Price claims he has taken these changes into account when designing Argonauts and has done away with many of the usual RPG mechanics which he feels might slow the game down.
"Games are the only medium where it's commonplace to say, 'you've got to struggle through the first hour or two and then it starts to get fun,'"" said Price. "I think it's unacceptable for a lot of people, you know - if the game's not fun within the first half an hour to an hour then a lot of people are just going to take it back."
"So you've got to be going through and presenting the fun up front; you've got to be going through and presenting what you're game's about and what makes it compelling so that people can really get their hooks in and can really get in to what you're game's all about."
What about you though? Do you prefer shorter games, or longer more epic experiences? Personally I'm playing through Deus Ex at the moment (again) and I'm still taking it slowly and finding new and exciting content, so I think it is pretty clear what I like. Pass your thoughts on in the forums.
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