Pitchford: Feeling rates higher than game length |
|
BY Adam Sandberg August 12th, 2008 |
More on: |
I disagreed when Warren Spector said that one-hundred hour games are on the way out, but when Gearbox Software president Randy Pitchford explains his viewpoint, that belief makes more sense. When asked about the upcoming Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway, much of his answer revolved around their efforts to make a game full with feelings, rather than prolonging the experience with a lot of gaming hours.
“The campaign is not too short and not too long,” Pitchford said. “It’s longer than Call of Duty 4. It’s shorter than a Final Fantasy game. It’s different for different players. When the end starts to come, you want it to come. But when you get there, you want more. It’s really well crafted.”
What Pitchford is saying is completely true. An intense war simulator should be about feeling and quality experiences, with focus being laid on details and gameplay instead of an epic story. One isn’t going to rule out the other, but great ideas such as only hearing your heartbeat and a whistle in your ears when a grenade goes off is what made Call of Duty such a kick ass-game.
Pitchford continues, “A game I’m not interested in can be 100,000 hours long and I don’t care. Maybe if it was one hour and all the attention was put on that one hour, the game might be something I could get interested in… Meanwhile, if something is awesome, but too short, I don’t feel value for my investment. The goal is to find the sweet spot.”
Let’s just hope that sweet spot will indeed have been found when the game is released next month.
August 12th, 2008
at 4:42 pm
I’m inclined to agree. I used to be disappointed when the news that some game i was looking forward to was less than so many hours of gameplay. The idea that changed my thinking is how immersive games can be these days. While we do have genres that supply us with never ending gameplay (MMO’s) and gameplay that can stretch into weeks, depending on the audience (RPG’s), I think more and more creators of these single player one shots are figuring out a better model, the cinematic one. That’s not to say i think all games are falling into this pattern, only a select few even need to worry about it. If you go see a movie, no matter how good it is, if its too long it breaks the suspention of disbelief. When your butt starts to hurt and you realize how cold it is in the theater, and that super slushy you inhaled during the previews is catchin up with you, the mindset wanders away from the experience to the more mundane. “When is this gonna be over.” Now naturally games offer a different sort of escape and aren’t really close to creating the kind of immersion a good movie can.. yet… but hey.. baby steps.
August 13th, 2008
at 1:54 am
Right on Ottis, I agree. But game designers are really learning more and more from movies. Fahrenheit was a good example at first, but kind of got lost in the end, maybe due to inexperience. Hopefully Heavy Rain will be a better example of a true cinematic and intense experience.
I also have high hopes for Alan Wake, I hope they will keep it (rather) short and not just put in a lot of dead time.