Tuesday, May 18, 2010

WHA?!?

This is from Kotaku's just posted, very positive preview of the 14.99 download only TOMB RAIDER hitting this summer:

My only concern is that The Guardian of Light may be over too soon after you start, with just eight or so hours of gameplay. But there are a couple of things that lead me to believe that won't be a big issue.


Wha?!?! 8 hours of fun for 15 bucks. That's a BAD DEAL?!?! 


Kotaku, you know I love you- and MOST of your writers :) - but come the hell on. Really? 8 hours for 15 bucks is not ok in your book? And your preview is so positive as well that I'm now dying for this game! But I think our views on the value of a dollar are way outta whack.


David 


ps. When is Kotaku gonna do their own PAX kind of convention. I bet it would be a big success. 

32 comments:

Unknown said...

I couldn't agree with you more, 15 bucks for 8 hours is one hell of a deal. I think that journalists just like to complain.

SonyJunkie said...

What!!! They are upset that they get 8 hours of goodness for only $15. God of War 3 was only about 8 hours and that was $60. That game was epicness though, but still 4x as much money.

Shit, for $15 I would not mind 4 hours of gameplay.

Unknown said...

Dave I read your tweet about Red Dead. In my honest opinion, your shelf should be organized by game experience type. Open world/sandbox type, action cinematic movie type, horror thriller type etc...

Just like movies, whatever I'm in the mood for I play and make sure I have all the categories/genres that I want on my shelf so I'm ready.

Red Dead is a game you dont play more than 1-2 hours, because its exploration, its brain curiosity, it's as close to the future of gaming as we'll get today.(i.e. virtual reality time machine games that take you to "The Thirteenth Floor" like simulations)

To digress, check out a trailer I made using your last video, let me know if its worthy of your time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCCmmhIrDog

Anonymous said...

Yeah, wow... Games like Killzone 2 are like 6 to 7 hours and you have to pay $60 for them. $15 for 8 hours, I'd buy a lot more games (and I already buy a ton).

Mike G said...

Kotaku doesn't seem to think many things through, which is partially why I hope they never see your p.s. about a PAX-like convention. They already have a great panel presence at PAX (PAX-East had an amazing Totilo & N'Gai one you should check out any vids/recaps of), but mostly I don't like many of their editors.

P.S. Dave do you usually/are you going to PAX prime (in Seattle)?

Dave Wellington said...

No one's mentioned it but another example of this is PixelJunk Shooter. The game lasts 3-4 hours and is excellent all the way through, but some many people complained about the length despite the price point. I love that game and was very happy with what I got for what I paid, I guess some people can't see past AAA+ title expectations and just sit down and have fun, love something for what it is.

Gio said...

I read that article and didn't come away with them complaining about the length vs. price. It just sounded to me like they really enjoyed it and so wanted as much of it as possible.

Davidian777 said...

Agreed with Gio. The guy never said the amount of play time isn't worth the money, merely saying he was concerned about it. Judging by the full review it seems he simply enjoyed the game so much that he really wished to play through more content for it, and probably would be more than willing to pay extra money for more content. But its true he probably should have mentioned that the amount of play time is deffinitely worth the money to avoid any confusion, and because it's just a good point to make.

David Jaffe said...

But he IS complaining about length. And my point is: how much length do you really expect to get for 15 dollars?

David Jaffe said...

But he IS complaining about length. And my point is: how much length do you really expect to get for 15 dollars?

Davidian777 said...

Can't say I speak for him of course, but it seems he thought the game had really good gameplay that could possibly justify more content to make it seem more complete/fulfilling, and just doesn't view the price as much of a limiting factor, as in they should just increase the price for more conten. So basically seems like an opinion/personal concern of his I guess where price is irrelevant because it can just be changed. It'd be pretty stupid if he really thinks it should remain 15$ and have more content, and perhaps he does think that, because oddly he doesn't make any mention of price, as if he considers it irrelevant (i.e. not a limiting factor), or perhaps he just forgot to consider it.

Firestorm said...

People seem to be really whimsical on the issue of game length. Uncharted 1 comes out and everyone complains that at 8-10 hours it's too short. Same apparently here with the new Tomb Raider. But Alan Wake or Splinter Cell Conviction or Modern Warfare comes out which are as short if not shorter and then there's no issue. Seen this quite a bit lately.

Raminas said...

I think it would be rad if they did a PAXish thing, I would totally go. Denver certainly needs a good convention of any variety, and since Crescente lives here, a man can hope.

DeeJay said...

Things are even more drastically absurd in Australia. Until recently, our dollar was worth over 90 American cents, yet new-release videogames still retail for $100-120 AUD.

The next time you catch yourself complaining about the price/playtime disparity, spare a thought for those of us unlucky enough to live on a different continant who are paying twice as much.

GMLscripts said...

Kotaku is pretty even handed but they do have a history of telling their readers how much they should value their time and money. Reviewers should certainly mention the price and length of a game, but they shouldn't be making purchasing recommendations based on that, or even suggesting that SOME people might not find it a good value (which is of course true of ANY game). I suspect that those kinds of comments, even when they appear in an otherwise positive review, can be very damaging to sales, especially for smaller, independently funded games. Leave the purchasing decisions to the readers, don't coach them on how to spend their money.

Benjamin Owens said...

Red Dead Redemption costs $60 plus tax off the shelf [if you can find it] right now. I'm 8 hours 17 minutes and 18 seconds in and 21.1% of the way through the game... doing the math, 8 hours is roughly 1/5th of a game... by comparison, this $15 game is perhaps a bit over priced [15 x 5 = $75 vs $60] in the single player respect. As well, this isn't to discount that there is a multiplayer feature to Red Dead, which, I've been thoroughly enjoying. So... how can I account for that? If I count multiplayer as the second half of the game [which is probably a drastic understatement given the type of support needed for multiplayer features], I get 8 hours of gameplay counting as roughly 1/10th of the experience I get from RDR @ $60 + tax.

Granted, this is all under the context of playing to 100%... does the avid gamer play to 100%? Not even close by my count. Most of the people I know don't have the time and effort to be concerned about the time length of a game because they hardly have the time to play. The game is either good, or it isn't, they either enjoy the entertainment, or they don't. So I don't think the people making games need to be so concerned with the time length as the quality of entertainment.

Point being, when we compare games, we do them a disservice. I believe that video games are art, as such, I believe that they are to be considered by the individual for the unique experience they are provided with each encounter.

DestyNova5 said...

You won't get any ideas. Just know that you are an utter sack of horseshit and you should be dropped into an active volcano.

M0710N said...

lol wtf halo is like 10 hours of singleplayer... and 8 hours for a 15,- game is not ok?

gaming journalists are all confused man wtf

rocky said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rocky said...

hi David, just recently discovered Ur blog and would like to ask u that what should i do when a dlc of any of my fav games gets released since my country doesnt have a psn store?(ps im an indian)

Archminion said...

hey rocky,

did you know you can make accounts for different regios?

twist3drick said...

Hey Jafster,
Just received my E3 pass today.( super stoked!!!) Are you still not sure if your going to make it any of the days? I hope you at least make it to one, so I can shake the hand of a legend.

Take care Dave
-Twist3drick

rocky said...

of course i know that archminion but i don't think we can do monetary transactions through them,just download demos etc.

Anonymous said...

I don't know, im just upset by the title itself. I knew from the second Eidos become a subsidary of SquareEnix that they would have significant influence but Lara with a side kick? Yeah the second movie and previous iterations proved it wouldn't work. Im really dissapointed in this new title and I don't like the chnages made by Crystal Dynamics. Tomb Raider Underworld was an awesome game and graphically it was beautiful across all platforms but still this title really isn't for me... then again Tomb Raider hasn't felt the same since Nathan McRee hasn't done the score, though Colin O'Malley has done a fine job with Underworld.

Archminion said...

rocky.

it is possible to pay for downloads in different regions.

I have a US/JP/and HK account as well as my UK account.

I buy things all the time. Though you would need the region PSN cards/tickets.

Do you know this?
just tryin to help...

Unknown said...

As I've read the article,I just couldn't agree with you more.
designs for health

G Money said...

Late to the party on this one, but I thought I might as well comment. Calling an 8 hour XBLA game short is crazy. Unless its an RPG these days 8 hours is about average and its pretty much been like that since the PS2, 12 hours can be considered a long game.

This article seems to have been written by Brian Crescente, who doesn't really seem to have a realistic grasp of the current gaming landscape which is ironic since he is the editor of the biggest gaming blog. I started listening to his podcast since the guests he manages to get are amazing, like Sid Meier or the Read Dead Redemption producers, but the worst part of that show is when he tries to stumble through a question or attempts to follow a controversial lead with all the subtly of a screeching owl. He gets all his games for free and seems appalled at the prospect of buying one himself so it doesn't surprise me he would make a comment like that because he doesn't really have the context to think otherwise.

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