lol when I look @ this article from the Homepage I Laugh.. I was like WTF are you talking about...but yea we already have 2 to 4 hour game's...

go make a 2 hour game but it must fill a whole 50 gig bluray!

id love to see them try do that, its like they would have no choice but to make the graphics and sound INSANE

I think there´s too many games today that are only like 5 hours long, like most of the fps´s. I usually only like the single player side of the fps these days which give me like 5 hour of game play for 60 dollar.
Battlefield bad company is the only fps that I like too play the multiplayer part in. This is because that game has variation in the multiplayer, something most other fps lack.

This little article was aimed more at RPG-type games that emphasize storytelling.

2-hours wouldn't necessarily be the total length of the game, just the amount of story content. Ideally, it's the kind of game you could derive 60 hour from, like a normal RPG, only there would be actual story paths and branches. So that each time you play the game, you're getting something different.

It's something like the epitome of the RPG genre that all these developers are sort of half-assedly reaching for, but is impossible due to budget constraints. A better title would have been, "Where are the 2-hour RPGs?"

On the PC, especially among the modding communities, you can find a whole heap of indie games that are cheap/free and easily fit into the timescale.
I think in terms of high production values + short game times, they need to recoup their investment, and pricing would probably be more than people would want to pay for such a short game to meet.

psn and xbl games any one

Episodic and Downloadable titles are cool and I for one wouldn't mind some shorter RPGs(not necessarily 2 Hours) because I don't have anywhere near enough time to finish them all.

It's another reason why I liked Echoes of Time, it only took a week of casual playing when I had some free time to finish the story but there's a whole lot of other stuff to do as well.

City Interactive makes them.

Look harder

I remember paying $60 for the original Smash Brothers on the N64, and beating the single player in under 15 minutes :P

But then again, that game had crazy replay value.

"Imagine a game with a truly branching storyline, where you control every action the protagonist takes. He or She could be a hero, or a villain–even a victim. The story could play out dozens, or hundreds of ways. Imagine watching a movie where you could decide exactly what the protagonist does (or says) at every opportunity? "

END QUOTE

Heavy Rain much?

So you can't win if you do, so devs don't worry about it for the most part; they just dump 'em on XBL/PSN.

If there is a game that is only 2 hours long I will expect to see it in the $5.50 bin at walmart. In my opinion, if it is a game I like, it ends too quickly, if it is a game I think is a slogfest, then I DO want it over in 2 hours so I can try to sell it on ebay or something. But 2 hour games is what XBLA were made for. And apparantly he didn't play the watchmen game.

'Freeware'