When this next generation of gaming consoles came out, and both Sony and Microsoft were marketing their consoles, I had been exclusively an Xbox guy. I didn’t have anything against the Playstation, it just wasn’t my thing. Microsoft, though, completely alienated me when they were asked about the negative feedback they got with regard to their always online policy and they responded by saying, basically, if you don’t like it, so what – there’s a console for you and it’s called the Xbox 360. To me, that was the absolute wrong answer to all of the feedback. As a result of that, I had decided on switching to Sony’s PS4. Not once have I regretted that decision.
Recently, though, I got the bug to reconsider buying an Xbox to expand my gaming options. They are still subpar to the Playstation, as far as videogame output and customer service is concerned, but they have made a lot of improvements. They’ve been able to see how Sony does business, and they’ve adopted some of the policies and options that their customer base is enjoying from Sony. They got rid of always online. They un-bundled the Kinect. They added/improved their live streaming capabilities. With their upcoming update in November, they will be improving even more (and bringing back avatars in an actually meaningful way, supposedly). So, with that, I decided to pre-order the Limited Edition, Halo 5: Guardians Xbox One bundle (check it out here). It comes with a 1TB hard drive, and all of that updated goodness. I am, by no means, abandoning my PS4. I still expect that my PS4 will be my primary gaming console, but I do look forward to some of the Xbox exclusives such as Halo, and Gears of War.
One game that is coming out this November for both consoles is Fallout 4. Because of my decision to buy an Xbox One, I
OXM Cover: November 2015
decided to bone up on all things Xbox by purchasing this November’s volume of the Official Xbox Magazine (@OXM). One of the articles, of course, was about Fallout 4. It was a really good article that gave a bunch of really good info, but one of the things I saw was that they are saying that Fallout 4 is going to be a 400-hour video game. They are calling it the biggest RPG ever. So, that’s cool for bragging rights and it says something about how technology has advanced. Those are good things; but, who has 400 hours to spend on playing just one single game?
Don’t get me wrong, I have pre-ordered this game and I am looking forward to experiencing it. When I did the math, though, it would take what would seem like forever to play through all 400 of those hours. Knowing me, it would take longer to experience all of the content. For the sake of conversation, however, let’s assume that I can afford to play 5 hours every time I sit down to play (I can’t – sometimes, I can only play for 1 hour, sometimes, I can dedicate 8 or 10 hours to gaming, but usually, it’s more towards the 1-5 hour timeframe). At 5 hours per session, it would take 80 game sessions to get through this game. So, let’s assume I can only play video games twice per week. It would take me 40 weeks to get through that game. 40 weeks!
Honestly, that’s just too much. After Dragon Age: Inquisition, I am tempted to give up one these super huge, impossible to actually complete video games, but Fallout 4 just looks too good to pass up. If it does give me that same feeling of hopelessness with regard to completing all of the tasks that I got from DAI (I still haven’t beaten the story line because I gave up on it), then, I think that this is going to be the last massive-story RPG I play. I love RPGs. The Mass Effect trilogy are my all-time favorite games. 30-ish hours, though. One playthrough would last about 30 hours in Mass Effect. It was perfect. It didn’t drag out, but it lasted long enough for the gamer to establish relationships with the characters. I want that. I don’t want a game that is trying to break some record – I want a game that was designed simply to tell an interesting, entertaining, and impactful story in a compelling and interactive way.
What do you guys think? Should games take you 4/5ths of a year (or about 10 months) to complete? Leave me some thoughts. I’d love to discuss it.
Fearless 