Do Gamers Want Simpler Games?

A recent GamePro article sums up a lesson that developers and publishers have been slowly learning over the last few years: gamers don't want as much from games as they say they do. Quoting: "Conventional gaming wisdom thus far has been 'bigger, better, MORE!' It's something affirmed by the vocal minority on forums, and by the vast majority of critics that praise games for ambition and scale. The problem is, in reality its almost completely wrong. ... How do we know this? Because an increasing number of games incorporate telemetry systems that track our every action. They measure the time we play, they watch where we get stuck, and they broadcast our behavior back to the people that make the games so they can tune the experience accordingly. Every studio I've spoken to that does this, to a fault, says that many of the games they've released are far too big and far too hard for most players' behavior. As a general rule, less than five percent of a game's audience plays a title through to completion. I've had several studios tell me that their general observation is that 'more than 90 percent' of a game's audience will play it for 'just four or five hours.'"

Wait, what?

[Anonymous Coward]

They measure the time we play, they watch where we get stuck, and they broadcast our behavior back to the people that make the games

Whew. At least it's not the government doing this.

Re:They are crap

[Anonymous Coward]

Show me someone who hasn't finished mass effect 1.

Finish it? I never even started it... :)

Re:Lovely.

[dangitman]

Seriously? You took my comment as a sincere opinion on the price of software, rather than a joke about the devaluation of the US dollar?

Re:As if quantity of content is its only measure..

[timster]

Word. When I try to play a game like Oblivion, it's like one of those conversations: "...so, what should we do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?" "I was hoping you would have something in mind..."

Yahtzee on Portal

[twoallbeefpatties]

I don't have access to The Escapist's website at the moment to get the exact quote, but in his review of Portal, Yahtzee said something to the tune of - The only bad thing I can say about this game is that it's short, which actually isn't so bad since that means I can finish it and move on to all of the other games that I want to play.

Re:As if quantity of content is its only measure..

[shadowrat]

wait! This implies that not everybody wants the same kind of game! boggle!

That won't work.

[BancBoy]

I am sorry, but DX:IW is the very definition of a bad game. It is quite literary the "Highlander 2" of video games.

It can't be the Highlander 2 of video games, there can be only one Highlander 2!
And I think you meant literally. I've never heard Highlander 2 referred to as literary...even amongst fans.

I can do that

[Moraelin]

Mostly I agree with you, but just to play silly:

Name one great game that you didn't try to win.

That's easy. Elite. I don't even think it can be "won" as such.

Now name one crappy game that you did try to win.

Daikatana. Hey, was curious, you know?

Re:Simple answer: No.

[Jedi Alec]

That toll booth is going to stop me from ever buying another GTA game.

Steal a cop car and hit the sirens just before the toll booth ;-)

Then find out you accidentally hit the key to get out of the car, at full speed, and watch the pretty splosions as you get run over by the guy behind you...

Re:As if quantity of content is its only measure..

[ultranova]

What a coincidence. I want a browser that doesn't freeze when I open the Frozen Bubble website - or any website, for that matter - in another tab.