The Mythical 40-Hour Gamer

Iria · Sep 25, 2006, 05:21 PM

Source: Wired News
______
I call it "the myth of the 40-hour gamer." Whenever you pick up a narrative adventure game these days, it always comes with this guarantee: This game offers about 40 hours of play.

This is precisely what I was told by Eidos -- and countless game reviewers -- when I picked up Tomb Raider: Legend earlier this year. As I gushed at the time, Legend was the first genuinely superb Lara Croft game in years, with a reinvigorated control system, elegant puzzles, and an epic storyline involving one of Lara's long-vanished colleagues. I was hooked -- and eager to finish the game and solve the mystery. So I shoved it into my PS2, dual-wielded the pistols and began playing ...

LeanWolf · Sep 25, 2006, 09:27 PM

this guy's complaining that he couldn't get through tomb raider legends in under 40 hours?

YAYitsAndrew · Sep 25, 2006, 09:59 PM

He has a point in that as you get older and take on more responsibilities you have less huge chunks of time to play games. As a result, you spend a larger percentage of your play time "warming up" instead of playing at full capacity.

He seems to have gone about it the wrong way though, because in the first few paragraphs he's going to put a lot of people off with his "tomb raider gave me too much play time!" complaint.

Judas · Sep 26, 2006, 07:22 PM

wtf.

i'm more pissed off that it took me 1/8th of the time to complete a game that they said would take such and such a time to play through. This guy should be shot.

Sandok · Sep 26, 2006, 07:38 PM

What an ass... Tomb Raider was one of the SHORTEST adventure games I have played in years.

SFOSOK · Sep 26, 2006, 10:39 PM

Dude, even if I had only 15 min a day to play a game I would finish it in at least two weeks, the total time played wouldn't have changed. There are a few exceptions where a game has "spanked me royally". That would be Morrowind and Oblivion. It took me an entire summer to find every single item, quest, place, glitch, character, and then kill every person in the game. Oblivion I was like level 30 something then the main story cut out, just plain disappeared, I haven't played the game since (except for testing purposes). Truthfully I'm still pissed off. I put 80hrs into the game in like the first week it was released... and I couldn't finish because I was doin side quests and the main quest disappeared.

Anyways enough of my ranting, there are some games that never end but only 2 that I have found and I ended morrowind after about 2 months of hardcore playing.

This guy is truelly an idiot, it doesn't matter how little time you have or how many distractions are around you either you can beat games like its a competition or you can't. It took me a little less than 2 weeks to beat Halo on every difficulty and find (like actually find them then post them online) all the glitches that have been posted online and be able to fit ever single vehicle into the blue base on blood gulch. In that two weeks I was actually distracted and did quite a bit like re-do my entire hill.

With max payne I beat the game on every difficulty and unlockable mode in about 6 hrs. I bought it at 4, ate lunch halfway through and beat everything before 10, did my homework then went to sleep.

Some people just don't have the capacity to do things but its definately not because of distractions and its easy for me so I can't even fathom how this guy can take over 40 hr's to beat a game like tomb raider. Someone give him Oblivion.

**dj_stick** · Sep 26, 2006, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SFOSOK

…Someone give him Oblivion.

we'll see him in another 5 years

Razgriz · Sep 27, 2006, 12:34 AM

stop reading books?

Sep 25, 2006, 05:21 PM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	The Mythical 40-Hour Gamer Source: Wired News ______ I call it "the myth of the 40-hour gamer." Whenever you pick up a narrative adventure game these days, it always comes with this guarantee: This game offers about 40 hours of play. This is precisely what I was told by Eidos -- and countless game reviewers -- when I picked up Tomb Raider: Legend earlier this year. As I gushed at the time, Legend was the first genuinely superb Lara Croft game in years, with a reinvigorated control system, elegant puzzles, and an epic storyline involving one of Lara's long-vanished colleagues. I was hooked -- and eager to finish the game and solve the mystery. So I shoved it into my PS2, dual-wielded the pistols and began playing ...

Sep 25, 2006, 09:27 PM	#2
LeanWolf alpha male Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Skyrim Posts: 5,713 Rep Power: 84 System Specs	this guy's complaining that he couldn't get through tomb raider legends in under 40 hours? __________________

Sep 25, 2006, 09:59 PM	#3
YAYitsAndrew Anti-Piracy Poster Boy Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: NJ Posts: 2,605 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	He has a point in that as you get older and take on more responsibilities you have less huge chunks of time to play games. As a result, you spend a larger percentage of your play time "warming up" instead of playing at full capacity. He seems to have gone about it the wrong way though, because in the first few paragraphs he's going to put a lot of people off with his "tomb raider gave me too much play time!" complaint. __________________ "It is because the resistance to paying for copyrighted material, although often characterized as arising from a supposed technical burden or principled concern for the public interest, arises rather from exactly the same segment of the brain that is dominant in shoplifters." - Mark Helprin, Digital Barbarism In other words, it's never okay to steal even if you think you have a good reason! www.yayitsandrew.com

Sep 26, 2006, 10:39 PM	#6
SFOSOK 939 Goin Strong Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Ontario Posts: 7,033 Rep Power: 90 System Specs	Dude, even if I had only 15 min a day to play a game I would finish it in at least two weeks, the total time played wouldn't have changed. There are a few exceptions where a game has "spanked me royally". That would be Morrowind and Oblivion. It took me an entire summer to find every single item, quest, place, glitch, character, and then kill every person in the game. Oblivion I was like level 30 something then the main story cut out, just plain disappeared, I haven't played the game since (except for testing purposes). Truthfully I'm still pissed off. I put 80hrs into the game in like the first week it was released... and I couldn't finish because I was doin side quests and the main quest disappeared. Anyways enough of my ranting, there are some games that never end but only 2 that I have found and I ended morrowind after about 2 months of hardcore playing. This guy is truelly an idiot, it doesn't matter how little time you have or how many distractions are around you either you can beat games like its a competition or you can't. It took me a little less than 2 weeks to beat Halo on every difficulty and find (like actually find them then post them online) all the glitches that have been posted online and be able to fit ever single vehicle into the blue base on blood gulch. In that two weeks I was actually distracted and did quite a bit like re-do my entire hill. With max payne I beat the game on every difficulty and unlockable mode in about 6 hrs. I bought it at 4, ate lunch halfway through and beat everything before 10, did my homework then went to sleep. Some people just don't have the capacity to do things but its definately not because of distractions and its easy for me so I can't even fathom how this guy can take over 40 hr's to beat a game like tomb raider. Someone give him Oblivion. __________________ Warning - Explicit Content Preceeding METAL!!

Sep 26, 2006, 07:38 PM	#5
Sandok DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 9,472 Rep Power: 0	What an ass... Tomb Raider was one of the SHORTEST adventure games I have played in years.

Sep 27, 2006, 12:34 AM	#8
Razgriz Intelligence? Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: On the edge of insanity Posts: 1,183 Rep Power: 55	stop reading books?