I think that DLC, Multiplayer, MMO's and the F2P format have all proven they can keep / regain interest in games. However, I think that games like Minecraft or Little Big Planet should have been mentioned. For me I think these games have by far the most interesting and creative ways to keep players interested. Minecraft is brilliant and gives you utter freedom. Weather you want to express yourself in creative mode or do it all in survival mode, you are given a whole lot of choice and there are always ways to improve your skills and learn new things. Same goes for LBP. This whole play, create, share trend is for me one of the most promising thing in games today and I am in love with it as it gives us such immense replay value.

DLC is one of the causes (of many, but not all) games being shortened (ironically). YES, they DO extend the games, but in essence the games are shorter when u 1st innitially pay $60 at retail. When we buy a $60 game that's been stripped down due to the company withholding content in hopes of reselling it to us again later, then that's why games are like 6 hours. $10 an hour? Hells no!

Games like Elder Scrolls, Borderlands, Persona, Batman, Mgs Peace Walker, Sandbox genre games, etc that offer 60-100+ hour experiences are all I buy....

If the campaign is short, it's multiplayer better be good, not tacked on as an afterthought, and have a supported community to keep from getting stale (like Mgs4 and Uncharted 3 which had campaigns too short and un-replayable for $60, but had strong multiplayer).

But in the end, I want my campaign to be worth the $60, the multiplayer is just the icing.

Boredom usually happens to me when there's a lack of games that are in the realm of my interest, and i keep holding onto gaming as a hobby in the hopes that a game will come along suiting my tastes and provide me with a great experience. Sadly this doesn't happen too often, but i still get the occasional game about once a year or so that really brings me back to my younger days of gaming in terms of enjoyment and it really reminds me why i fell in love with gaming in the first place. Those few games is why i keep gaming

Strangely enough, with all the backlog of games that I need to start playing, I'm currently stuck on playing Odin Sphere.
The game is amazing!
I'm so addicted to mixing stuff & grinding, etc. I'm currently @ the final chapters where you fight all the big demons with the 5 characters. & I've clocked in 72hours currently. I think I paid maybe $15-$20 on PSN, but I've ranked in a ton of fun playing this game.

For me, it's a little difficult to rate the funfactor based off the cost to fun ratio. I had enjoyed certain games, like Uncharted & other AAA games, but once I'm done, I'm done. & very few games have me running back for its addictive & enjoyable gameplay.

When you meet someone in Hollywood, you get the urge to look behind their backs and see if they extend all the way round, Wodehouse said. In games I get the urge to swing the camera round in front of the main character to see whether it has a face.

Call me 100% correct but I think making the protagonist fallible and capable of feeling emotions might benefit the story.

...Of course, at the cost of alienating players with no self-respect whatsoever, but do all game developers and publishers hold their audience in such ill regard as apparently Square-Enix does the West?

My gaming spark got extinguished dis gen, ps2 era of gaming was weyyy more fun 4 me everything jus felt same old to me dis gen wit d exception of titles like MGS4, demon /dark souls, dead space 1 & 2 & RDR...games i had high hopes 4 were ruined like ff, RE, socom, recent R&C titles SC5 & NGS3 as well, i can't judge gms like halos, gears, forza & fable since im nt a 360 owner bt i loved d 1st halo bac on original xbox.