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Rare: People don't get on well with long games

Thursday, 15 May 2008 09:07
Banjo Kazooie won't challenge the Elder Scrolls series for longevity, that's for certain
Gregg Mayles, head of design at Rare, has said he does not believe modern gamers are concerned with game length and don't get on well with really long titles.

"I guess people are now less tolerant of really, really long games," Mr Mayles said.

"Or if you're going to have a really long game it has to be structured in such a way that the majority of the players play the game up to a certain point and are happy with it, but that section is shorter and then make sure the tail-end of the game suits the people that want to carry on.

"The trick is not forcing everybody to play it for a colossal amount of time. So if people want to try and complete it in like 20 to 30 hours that's fine. If people want to then carry on, that's fine."

Rare is currently putting the finishing touches to Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, which is one of Microsoft's big name titles for the Xbox 360 this year.

Editor's comment: I can see where he is coming from here, but I don't think Mr Mayles is correct, at least not substantially. One of the main criticisms of Call of Duty 4, especially from players who like it, was that there just wasn't enough of it. Five hours or so, the single player game lasted.

Look at something like Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. That isn't exactly short, although admittedly it was vastly cut down from its predecessor, Morrowind. Despite this length, it was very successful and popular, on console and the traditionally more patient PC player.

Games like Banjo Kazooie might not work well with lengthy gameplay times, but it is a falsehood to say long games don't have a place in the market.



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