First it was Gearbox telling us not to focus on the length of a game, and now Epic’s Mike Capps has chimed in with similar sentiments. Suggesting that there is an “arms race” happening in the industry, Capps states that development focuses too heavily on how big a game is, rather than how fun it is.
“Games do not compete in fun experiences,” claimed Capps. “They compete in the number of weapons, and unfortunately it’s easy for someone to compare this game to that game, ‘this game has 10 multiplayer levels but this one has 29. So clearly this game must be better.’
“If you can imagine if movies competed in this way, ‘Well sure Schindler’s List was good but I know this three and a half hour long movie – think of the value you’re getting for your ten dollars’. It doesn’t work that way and unfortunately we still find ourselves competing this way… we have to compete in quality not size.”
Fair and interesting point, but let’s be honest here — Schindler’s List doesn’t cost $60 brand new at retail. Never has, never will. While quality in gameplay should be the deciding factor of a game’s worth, size is always going to an important consideration, because these things aren’t cheap.
