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How many game play hours equals $50 for you?


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How many game play hours must a game offer for it to be worth $50, in your opinion?  

  1. 1. How many game play hours must a game offer for it to be worth $50, in your opinion?

    • 5 or less is enough if it's really good
    • 5 - 10
    • 10 - 20
    • 20 - 30
    • 30 - 40
      0
    • 40 - 50
    • 50 - 60
      0
    • 70 - 80
      0
    • 80 and up is all I'll ever buy
      0


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If I can get 50 hours of play out of a game, I feel I have made a great investment. Where else can you claim a $1/hr on an entertainment dollar?

 

That's the slot I voted for.

 

That's what I like to get, but 30 ain't too bad either :)

 

The others I save for rentals, or just avoid.

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Not to try to get too scientific (or too non-sequitur) about something as subjective as entertainment, but here goes:

 

I totally get my money's worth at the movies, provided the movie isn't terrible. $8 / 2 hours = $4 per hour of enjoyment. So I guess that means I'm willing to pay about $4 an hour.

 

So, if a game is to follow that model, I would need only 13.5 (with tax) hours worth of gaming fun to make it worth while. Everything after that is pure bonus.

 

Carlos.

 

P.S. I did the math after I voted for 20-30, so now I would change to 10-20.

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Originally posted by Carlucci@May 31 2004, 05:42 PM

Not to try to get too scientific (or too non-sequitur) about something as subjective as entertainment, but here goes:

 

I totally get my money's worth at the movies, provided the movie isn't terrible. $8 / 2 hours = $4 per hour of enjoyment. So I guess that means I'm willing to pay about $4 an hour.

 

So, if a game is to follow that model, I would need only 13.5 (with tax) hours worth of gaming fun to make it worth while. Everything after that is pure bonus.

 

Carlos.

 

P.S. I did the math after I voted for 20-30, so now I would change to 10-20.

I guess, if you don't buy any concessions, your formula is accurate. ;)

 

I never feel I get my money's worth at a movie though, no matter how good it is. :) That's just about $30 ( family of 3) I could have spent on gaming. Same with shoes. I just can't bring myself to buy shoes....I'm a cheap bastard. I evaluate everything on the premise that I could have spent x amount on gaming for y amount of dollars I spent on z.

 

I'm cheap and sick..

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Edited to add in the 40 - 50 option, so Scobeto's vote is in the wrong category.

 

I voted for 5 or less. The game would have to be damn good, but many shooters and music games offer less than five hours of total gameplay (obviously not counting repeated play thorughs here) and I have no problem ponying up 50 dollars (or more, samba de amigo comes to mind) in those cases.

 

OTOH, I love my 80 plus hour RPG's as well, I guess play time for me is really dependant on genre and quality.

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I voted 10-20. Less, and I feel cheated. More, and I start to wonder when it will end. However, it's rare for me to pay $50 for a game. Even with a new release, I'm trading something in to ease the bite.

 

Calvin, you are so correct about XIII. I've never been more pissed to finish a game. That last boss was a killer, and then the coda was so cheap. I won't get the sequel.

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I like to have at least 15 hours or so, otherwise I might as well just give the game a 5 day/$5 rent, and save myself $45. Increasingly, I'm just waiting for games to drop in price anyways, as many of them are doing so after just a few months anyway.

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I guess 10-20 would be OK for a non-RPG title. I dig RPGs, so I'm used to playing a game for 40-50+ hours...

 

That's why I like these forums, you all present your thoughts so clearly and convincingly, I'm constantly changing my opinions on a lot of things...or at least giving them more thought. :)

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There should also be a "1 hour if it's REALLY, REALLY good" option. Of course, no game is worth $50 to me unless I'm just feeling impulsive. I usually opt to try for the best deals and the average price I pay for a new release is around $35-$40.

 

With that in mind,

 

length plays no role whatsoever in my purchasing decisions

 

 

I only look at the enjoyment I'm going to get out of the game, so I'm more than happy to support short but awesome games like Panzer Dragoon, Zone of the Enders 2, Time Crisis 2 and 3, Rez, etc. However, if it's short, it better have some replay value built in (ie: Project Ikaruga) or it better be such an amazing experience that it demands to be played multiple times (other aforementioned games). If people say things like "well, I can beat Panzer Dragoon in 3 hours, I'll just rent it instead of buying", sequels tend not to get made. If anything, I base my purchases on time. If I know a game has a lot of tedious parts to slog through, I'm not likely to buy it. I need a game to be enjoyable the whole way through.

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10-20 is about right for me, and good replay value helps too.

 

Metroid Prime was a great game that held my interest the whole way and I clocked somewhere between 20-25 hours to finish first go, which I would set as my ideal for time and enjoyment.

 

10-20 is fine though, though I have gone less. I mean, technically, Super Smash Bros: Melee has around 8 hours of play-through content or something in that range, but I've played it for well over 40 because of the multiplayer. That's the same way I look at rhythm games too.

 

I'll actively avoid games I think are way, way too long for me to finish as well. I specifically did not get into the first Final Fantasy Tactics because of that. Now that I'm actually in a job market my time is gonna get even worse and it requires budgeting.

 

That being said, I'll be buying RE4 supposing it lasts an hour ;).

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