I read an article today, pertaining to the evolution of the gaming industry. The article stated that soon, manufacturers will be attempting to target a wider audience of enthusiasts, by creating games that are focused more in the online arena, yet are shorter than the games available on the market today. This disappointed me.
It seemed to me that this had already been a fledging trend, harking back to the release of Halo 2, and continuing more recently with Gears of War. Games, my friends and I finished in one night each, and were left with a sour feeling of expectations unrequited. Consider it comparable to Tom Clancy announcing he would only write books that were half as long as the ones he had written in the past, but would attempt to retain the same amount of involvement in each story. It doesn’t work that way.
Personally, I enjoy games that are long and adventurous. Take the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, for example. A game nearly twice as long as it’s predecessors, and effortlessly maintains interest throughout its experience. The majority of Nintendo’s recent success with the Wii, and its games is simply that it’s marketed to be more innovative than traditional consoles. For all intensive purposes, Nintendo has struck gold in terms of targeting a bigger audience. This bodes well with me, as they continue to produce engaging and innovative games, using a completely revolutionary console.
As for the online arena, the objective as it were, is to trump Blizzard’s World of Warcraft. Not an easy feat. Since its launch in 2004, WoW has garnered over eight million players. But it’s important to highlight that while the game takes weeks, even months to master, it retains its popularity through innovation. WoW puts an otherwise obscure and hard to understand genre into a fun and rewarding experience, without compromising the content of the game.
So is the answer to make video games shorter to compensate for tight schedules and short attention spans? No, I don’t think so. Merely look as far as the monoliths of the industry and you’ll find they all have something in common: innovation and moderation. While it may take weeks to master a certain game, you don’t have to do it in one sitting.
