Gaming Okay, I'm gonna keep trying this 'til I get it right.

[aj142]

Twice now my topic was locked. The question was "what's the longest amount of time you've spent on a game". It has been locked because it 'won't lead to any sort of intelligent discussion.' So, I'm going to try a different approach in the hopes that a different phrasing would be more conversational - sort of an experiment. How about this question: In considering games that you've spent the most time on, what is it about a game that you feel gives it 'staying power'? In other words, what characteristics of these games make them worth spending so much time on.. and should be in more games of the future?

[Kent]

Well, I can say that personally I dont think this is all that bad a topic, but if the mods have a hard on for you, thats that and you probably woulnt have much luck. sorry.

But I do wanna talk about this subject.

specifically pertaining to gran turismo 1 2 or 3.

I have 2 and 3, and spent an enourmous amount of time on 1 unlocking everything after several rentals.

I would say that unlockables add to staying power, but the biggest part is playability.

When you get some games they can have all the unlockables in the world but if the game sucks you just woulnt wanna play it. period.

With me on gran turismo I find that unlocking and obtaining cars is great and keeps me pursuing that 100 % complete, but thats not what really keeps me going.

I believe its the overall quality of the game. A mix of beautiful graphics, well designed phisics (in terms of driving) and a personal love of the subject of racing.

When I have a game like gt3 I can never really beat it all the way, because every race offers a new challenge.

Each opponent is going to race me in a different way every time. Every course has a perfect line that I must accomplish and master, but to do so, I must continually practice and race.

With an end goal of perfection I will only be able to come so close to my goal. But along the way, I will (if I havent already) achieve mastery.

That is part of what keeps me playing. Its the idea of perfecting the game rather than just beating it.

To me there are other games like this, but gt is the best example of this specific "staying power."

I do want to note that there are other games with a completly different style of staying power.

Games like gta. Games where your ability to freely move and control a charactor while interacting with an enviroment, create a sense of newness every time you play.

Im sorry but its time for me to go help with cooking up some lunch, but I will probably edit and explain more. that is... if this is not closed.

Which btw, I say would be foolish because this does have promise for discussion.

remember its about replay value and what creates that, as well as what games does that the best for you as an individual.

[Sniglefager]

yeah, if you keep posting this, they are gonna get pretty rough. But the longest time I've ever spent on a game had to be Mario Sunshine. When I first got that game, I played for around 26 hours straight. I can't say it was totally straight though, cause while I was playing I drank some soda and ate some chips, and had to get up to take some bathroom breaks, but otherwise, it was all Mario. A close second is Kingdom Hearts, which I played when I had nothing else to do for 23 hours. This was on a weekend, so on Monday I was pretty tired, so todays moral is: Don't play video games till your eyes turn red and you fall asleep in your chair, kiddies

[Charles]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Sniglefager [/i]
[B]yeah, if you keep posting this, they are gonna get pretty rough. [/B][/QUOTE]

Nope. This is good. I don't know if aj142 agreed with me, but I commend him for taking another go at it and showing real effort.
:cool:

The game I've spent the most time with can't be measured in hours. We'd probably have to use weeks and months to estimate the time I spent on the Tony Hawk games.

That series has really reestablished the importance and fun in setting new high scores. The brilliant level design and fluid control scheme are definitly great aspects. There aren't any glaring camera issues either; it doesn't glitch up or get stuck behind objects. Lastly, the gameplay is easy to grasp, but incredibly deep.

I think it's just those factors and the sheer variety in the game that I would like to see passed onto other games.

[SephirothNIN]

Hmm...well I know the game I've spent the most time on is FF Tactics. Heh I've played through it 5 or 6 times, w/ over 100 hours on each save. I think it's so fun to go through again and again because it's always very different, I never have the same assortment of jobs or skills, and sometimes even people. I could probably play through 50 more times and never get bored...er...if my friend wasn't borrowing it at the moment anyway. Another game I could play for hours and hours is capcom vs. snk 2 (w/ someone else anyway). Although I prefer marvel vs. capcom 2, it doesn't have as much variety. In Capcom vs. snk 2 there are....48 characters I think, each w/ 6 different modes of playing, so it takes a loooong time or a blister for that game to get old.

[aj142]

See? This is thought-provoking after all! Thanks guys for your support. Lesson learned... just make sure a topic is phrased in such a way as to be conducive to discussion depth and breadth. So, anyway, my game is Xenogears. I think I spent about half a year on that game. It just seemed to have the best of everything: graphics, music, design, scripting, theme and mostly story.. what a unique story. When a game has enough of all the elements that it makes you feel almost like an active part of a really good movie... well, that keeps me coming back every time. I simply can't wait for Xenosaga (only 1 month left!), because it will most likely be even better. I mean, graphically it will HAVE to be better simply because it's on PS2 instead of PS1. But I feel pretty confident that it will deliver in the other areas as well. Other games that didn't take as long to complete, but provide endless replay value for me are usually shooters, such as Halo, MOH, Hitman, 007 Nightfire, GTA 3/Vice City and Ghost Recon... all of those are like being a part of a really great action movie for me.

[Bing]

[size=1][color=darkblue]I think I spent about half my life on MGS and MGS Special Missions. They just seem to go on and on, especially Special Missions, becuase whenever you complete a task, antoher one pops up. It's a great, time consuming game. I also played Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4 on my Xbox, solidly, form about 8 hours. My eyes were red, and dry, and I felt very ill. But I enjoyed it.
Just to add possibly more discussion in here, what games have you been dissapointed by, beucase they were very easy to beat?
I would have to say Rescue Shot on the PSX, because it is too easy. Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1, 2, 3 I found extremely easy, and got very boring. I also managed to complete The Bouncer in about 3 hours, with my friend-turned-idiot, Dayne. Hope to here you Dissapointments![/color][/size]

[Sniglefager]

a lot of games were too easy, but the Tony Hawk games are pretty easy. I beat #3 with 5 charecters in one day. But Metroid Prime was too easy compared to some of the other Metroid games. Not that this game was easy, but compared to Super Metroid...