What length is long enough for you for a game?

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I'm still want to play Ground Zeroes even if it is only two hours is long. I heard it's the best playing MGS game so the length doesn't bother me. It's the price. Maybe if it was $20 but not forty.

How long does a game have to be to be worth your money?
 
5-10 hours is usually good by me.  Short games are fine in my book, as long as they're longer than Ground Zeroes.

But I look at the dollars per hour ratio, generally.  $1 per hour of gameplay is about average (that'd be $2 per hour of gameplay if I hadn't found CAG and would still be paying retail prices ;)).  Anything more than an hour per dollar spent is what I consider a good value.

 
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Redbox has Ground Zeroes for both 360 and PS3.  $2 sounds about right for a 2 hour game.

In general, though, 8-12 hours is the perfect time for your average game.

 
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Ground Zeroes as a physical release just cheapened the product in my opinion. It should have been DLC or just release the two parts as $80. $20 for the digital release of the PS3 version is the best price point.

For a single player game, I can do with 5-6 hours at minimum for an FPS. The shortest I'd want a game to be is along the lines of Bulletstorm. I powered through that game on easy at a noob's pace and was satisfied with the length. I don't generally like long games though or atleast games that try and make themselves longer with sidequest horseshit. Borderlands and the sequel both got on my nerves with that.

 
5-10 hours is usually good by me. Short games are fine in my book, as long as they're longer than Ground Zeroes.

But I look at the dollars per hour ratio, generally. $1 per hour of gameplay is about average (that'd be $2 per hour of gameplay if I hadn't found CAG and would still be paying retail prices ;)). Anything more than an hour per dollar spent is what I consider a good value.
i think the dollar per hour ratio thing is silly. i mean people are saying $2 is what they would pay for a 2 hour game, yet they go to the movies and watch a 2 hour movie for $10 or buy a comic book for $3 they read in 10 minutes.

 
i think the dollar per hour ratio thing is silly. i mean people are saying $2 is what they would pay for a 2 hour game, yet they go to the movies and watch a 2 hour movie for $10 or buy a comic book for $3 they read in 10 minutes.
Who's "they"? Looks like I'm the only one in this thread who mentioned dollars per hour, but that description doesn't fit me...

 
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It depends on genre and price. A cheap download game that's $5-10 is fine being 3-5 hours. If I'm buying something for $60 at launch I probably want it to be 10 hours or more--with the knowledge that I'm not really paying $60 as I'll sell it after beating for $30-50 depending on how long it takes me to get around to finishing it and how the used value holds up for the title. Buying suoer cheap down the road I don't care if it's short.

I do care if games are too long though. I mostly avoid RPGs, don't play MP anymore etc. Variety in gaming is important to me and with fairly limited gaming time most weeks it takes me forever to get through long games ,so I try to stick to things in the 10-20 hour range for retail games and mix in some shorter indie and PSN titles.

As for dollar per hour expectations, I think they're fine but only work for comparisons with in hobbies. For instance, I'm wiling to pay more to go to the movies or buy a bluray as I get more enjoyment out of movies than games and they're higher in my priority list as a result. Thus you can't compare across hobbies as value judgements vary on how much someone enjoys one hobby vs. another.
 
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[quote name="8bitArtist" post="11638342" timestamp="1395718487"]i think the dollar per hour ratio thing is silly. i mean people are saying $2 is what they would pay for a 2 hour game, yet they go to the movies and watch a 2 hour movie for $10 or buy a comic book for $3 they read in 10 minutes.[/quote]
I spent $15 to see Man Of Steel at IMAX and in 3D. That movie was 2 1/2 hrs or so. That means I spent $3 per hr. I live in the midwest though. Some places charge about $25 for the same experience factoring in drinks, snacks and that's not including if you have kids.
 
A game is too long when it stops being fun ie chapters 5-8 of Bravely Default. At this point in my life, time is too precious to waste on games that are only long for the sake of length (10-15 hours is my sweet spot for most games, RPGs not included). For most SP only games I expect to get at least 8-10 hours of enjoyment out of them.  I just don't have the time to play longer games.

The dollar per hour ratio is a big deal when you are younger but it almost a non issue for most adults. What it boils down to is that an hour of my time is worth more than the price of the game.  At that point fun/enjoyment becomes the most important factor. For example, I would have easily paid $60 for Guacamelee. It was an absolute joy to play.

That said, I refuse to pay $30 for MGS:GZ because it is a DEMO.   

 
[quote name="dmaul1114" post="11639095" timestamp="1395750041"]It depends on genre and price. A cheap download game that's $5-10 is fine being 3-5 hours. If I'm buying something for $60 at launch I probably want it to be 10 hours or more--with the knowledge that I'm not really paying $60 as I'll sell it after beating for $30-50 depending on how long it takes me to get around to finishing it and how the used value holds up for the title. Buying suoer cheap down the road I don't care if it's short.

I donate if games are too long though. I mostly avoid RPGs, don't play MP anymore etc. Variety in gaming is important to me and with fairly limited gaming time most weeks it takes me forever to get through long games ,so I try to stick to things in the 10-20 hour range for retail games and mix in some shorter indie and PSN titles.

As for dollar per hour expectations, I think they're fine but only work for comparisons with in hobbies. For instance, I'm wiling to pay more to go to the movies or buy a bluray as I get more enjoyment out of movies than games and they're higher in my priority list as a result. Thus you can't com ales across hobbies as value judgements vary on how much someone enjoys one hobby vs. another.[/quote] To me videogames are the only industry that is getting better with age. Movies are making a kind of turnaround, but most still suck. Videogame are getting better because game makers are telling the stories that they have been wanting to tell forever the tech was just holding them back. They are just a little more violent though.
 
To me videogames are the only industry that is getting better with age. Movies are making a kind of turnaround, but most still suck. Videogame are getting better because game makers are telling the stories that they have been wanting to tell forever the tech was just holding them back. They are just a little more violent though.
I still love games. But I disagree about movies. Maybe Hollywood blockbusters aren't as great as in the past--but there are still plenty of awesome ones. But tons of great movies out there outside of the big summer releases, both from big studios, smaller studios, along with indies and foreign films.

Gaming is much the same, too many COD/Halo games, sports sims, racing sims etc.(the equivalents of the blockbusters) IMO, but still plenty of great games from major studios, and a ton of great stuff from smaller devs and indies.

 
kill3r7 makes a great point that the $ per hour thing is much more relevant when you're younger and/or broke.

If you don't have much money for games, and have a lot of time to play them, length/replayability is a huge factor. It doesn't make much sense to drop $60 on a 10 hour single player game if that's the only game you'll be able to afford (or get your parents to buy you) for a couple months or more.  Much better to buy a long RPG, MP game that you can play for months etc.

That flips once you get older and busier and have the problem of having plenty of money for games, but no time to play them.  Now I'm much more apt to drop $60 on a short SP game like Infamous and mostly skip the longer games.  Maybe I'll do on or two long RPGs like Skyrim, but I hesistate as they end up being most all I play for 3+ months as I chip away at them.  And that just lets a backlog of shorter single player games I'd rather play pile up in the mean time, and I end up getting them cheap and having a backlog to stress over getting through before the next "must play" day one release.

 
I am personally going to avoid buying Phantom Pain.

I'm sure it's a good game but charging $30 for a damn demo is ridiculous. It is for all intensive purposes a demo that happens to have achievements/trophies.

 
[quote name="The Questyen" post="11639469" timestamp="1395760989"]I never base a games value on how long it is.[/quote]Not being smart. But what is worth your time then?
 
[quote name="tokyostomp" post="11639755" timestamp="1395768246"]I am personally going to avoid buying Phantom Pain.

I'm sure it's a good game but charging $30 for a damn demo is ridiculous. It is for all intensive purposes a demo that happens to have achievements/trophies.[/quote]
Everything I read says that to complete it it takes 2 hrs. But everything takes about 6 hours or so.

http://www.howlongtobeat.com/game.php?id=17291

Someone beat Dark Souls in about 30 mins!
http://kotaku.com/5966725/watch-this-speed-run-take-down-dark-souls-in-32-minutes
 
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Usually between 10 and 15 hours is long enough for me. There are not many games that are 15 hours long that I finish and say wow I wish this game was a lot longer.
 
I'm a gamefly member so a game has to have some type of long lasting replay value or be very cheap for me to want to buy it over renting it.

 
Usually between 10 and 15 hours is long enough for me. There are not many games that are 15 hours long that I finish and say wow I wish this game was a lot longer.
Very true. Even with short games I'm glad they're done and ready to move on to the next one 95% of the time.

 
Not being smart. But what is worth your time then?
I typically base my value off the quality rather than the quantity as well. I rarely read previews/reviews from gaming sites/mags or watch trailers. Yet I am able to ascertain a game's value to me pretty quickly and decide if I want to invest my money and time into it. Once I do that, if i enjoyed it, awesome. If not (which doesn't happen too often), I learn from it and move on.

 
For story-based games I would at least expect four to five hours with a leisurely playstyle. Maybe less if they're inexpensive, definitely more if they cost over $20 USD. I'd obviously prefer longer games, but not at the price of artificial lengthening like grinding or excessive backtracking.

 
I'm still want to play Ground Zeroes even if it is only two hours is long. I heard it's the best playing MGS game so the length doesn't bother me. It's the price. Maybe if it was $20 but not forty. How long does a game have to be to be worth your money?
MGSVGZ is far from the best MGS, but it plays well.

I bought it on the ps4 and I regretted it the minute the first (and only) story mission was over. I expected more (I expected the 2 hour experience Kojima talked about) than a 30-45 minutes "story".

If you want to play MGSVGZ rent it and do not waste your money. The more money we give Kojima for this glorified demo the more likely over publishers will try this same stunt. Plus, imo, MGSVGZ just isn't that great. I would rather play MG1-2, or MGS1-4, or MGR instead of ever starting up MGSVGZ again.

TL DR, Rent it, do not buy it.

 
MGSVGZ is far from the best MGS, but it plays well.

I bought it on the ps4 and I regretted it the minute the first (and only) story mission was over. I expected more (I expected the 2 hour experience Kojima talked about) than a 30-45 minutes "story".

If you want to play MGSVGZ rent it and do not waste your money. The more money we give Kojima for this glorified demo the more likely over publishers will try this same stunt. Plus, imo, MGSVGZ just isn't that great. I would rather play MG1-2, or MGS1-4, or MGR instead of ever starting up MGSVGZ again.

TL DR, Rent it, do not buy it.
I had MGS preordered back on PS1. To say you would take MG1-2 over GZ is pretty crazy. MG1 at the very least did not age well at all. MG2, while basically being MGS but in bit gfx, is still not playable unless you are a diehard MGS fan. Metal Gear Rising has nothing to do with the conversation at all.

Ground Zeroes is good. Not $30 good unless you are an MGS fan with the money laying around. Nobody is forcing anyone to play the game right now. It will be very inexpensive and the trade ins will be plentiful.

Was going to buy the PS4 version to play on a friends system, but Hawaii has a used products hold so after being traded in, gamestop can't sell the game for a certain amount of time. Won't see used copies until the end of April. I played the Ps3 version extensively but unless you are a completionist you will only get a few hours out of the game. I completed the Mother Base app, and S ranked almost everything now though.

 
Under $10- $Under 10 (exception: metroid style games)

10-15 hours for $10-20

15+ for over $20

Thats always been my standard

 
I generally equate playing games to watching movies. $13 for 2 hours at the movies = ~$65 for 10 hours of game. Give or take a few hours, and that doesn't include MP games or 100% completion.

But, there are games coming out lately that go against those trends, in a good way. Call me cheap, but I expect A LOT for $65 these days. That's partially why I'm waiting for South Park to drop in price. Mostly because it's SP-only.

 
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I like shorter games as I feel like I have a sense of accompliment when I finish a game.  I always play the SP for CoD or BF since they are usually short 5-8 hours.  Then the multiplayer is where the money is.  Infamous Second Son was great though....although, it was not terribly long. 

I'm on the fence for Wolfenstein, I read it was 15-20 hours for a SP FPS.  Debating if it will just become repetitive.  However, 20% off and $20 Reward Zone at Best Buy make it worth it.....trade in should be $30+ regardless

However, MLB 14 will consume my time.....I generally don't put time limits on sports games as I love franchise.

 
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With $60 RPGS I better get a good 35+ hours but if they cost less depends of the overall quality. With Indie games usually even if it's just an hour, if it was an hour well spend for like 10 bucks, I don't mind.

It really really depends on the genre and the overall quality of the game (from mechanics to story to graphics). I expect more from AAA games than Indies because they have the money to invest more into the game (and usually cost more).

I rather buy games for quality I like than buy a bunch of crap for a dollar.

 
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