The age old question, right? And it has to be answered. I have noticed a lot of articles and reviews recently where the major upside or downside of a game is the longevity of play, but is that really a factor we should be paying that much attention to when picking our next gaming purchase?

Obviously, as the dedicated RPG fan that I am I can’t say that there’s not a level of satisfaction to finishing a game after playing it constantly for weeks on end, madly clocking up the hours and basically having to live the game to get it finished before the next big release comes out. However, since the dawn of the new age consoles we have been seeing an increase in gorgeous, playable games that just don’t last.

Personally I feel that with gaming becoming increasingly popular in recent years, I would rather have a new game every week that was short to complete but breathtaking and innovative. However, I am aware that those who don’t have quite as much time to dedicate to their gaming hobby may end up with stacks and stacks of half completed games with not enough time to finish, and too much choice to dedicate themselves to just one game at a time.

As someone who flies through games at the speed of light I live off the trade-in system at my local games shop, constantly changing what I’m currently playing, but this really isn’t for everyone. So, let’s think about the fabulously playable yet devastatingly short games that have appeared in the last year or so. Well, obviously if you have some sort of allergy to being online then Call of Duty 4 is incredibly short, yet still praised as one of the best games in it’s genre. The couple of people I know without Live who have played this game offline still praise it as amazing.

Another obvious but now quite old one that has to be mentioned is Tomb Raider Legend. By far the shortest of the Tomb Raider games, I had completed everything on every difficulty and in time trial mode within 5 days, but it remains in my games drawer to this day (one of only two games I haven’t traded in because I found it soooo playable!). Although it won’t keep you occupied for long in the first run through, the puzzles are fun to work out, the gameplay feels so natural it’s untrue and you’ll find yourself loving every second of it (unless you get stuck on a puzzle and end up yelling at the TV!).

I would also like to take this time to mention other gems such as Bourne Conspiracy, Beautiful Katamari, CSI, Bioshock, and the many other games I simply whizzed through but thoroughly enjoyed.

And then there’s the epic long games. RPGs aside, (let’s face it, if they were short there’d be an uproar), there have been many titles which mean you lose a significant chunk of your life, and get left thinking, “Was it really worth it?” Certainly first up on my list of these is Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom. I managed to clock up an obscene amount of hours playing this whilst not really enjoying myself. Anyone who read my reader review in 360 Gamer will know I gave the game a 6 - I was thoroughly unimpressed and horrified to find it makes my top ten games played list on 360voice.

The next one to mention is a bit of a strange one but I know Kate will agree with me on this one - DOA Xtreme 2. Possibly one of the most ridiculous and pointless games ever, but myself and several people I know found ourselves hopelessly addicted to this volleyball game that meant you spent 20ish hours to get a 20 point achievement.  The problem with this game was not the lack of enjoyment, but the fact that everything took so much time. Once I realised how much time I’d already spent on the game with so far to go, I marched myself into town and traded it in in order to regain my life, or at least time for other games!

So which is preferable to you? Long or short? Does it really make a difference? I’ve played a lot of amazing short games and not regretted trading them in the next week, and I’ve also played some awful or just ridiculous long games, and honestly I can say that to me size really doesn’t matter - it IS what you do with it that counts!

I’m torn.  My dilemma is that for once, the stars have aligned and there are so many new games coming out that I have an interest in that I don’t know where to start.  Oh, and I have ’strained finances’.  Typical.  For once there is release after release clamouring for my pre-order and my wallet is barren enough for moths to turn their noses up at. I could be reckless and venture further into an overdraft and maybe order Viva Pinata…  but then, Spore is out too… but I can’t get the normal one…it’s too…well, normal.  I want the Galactic Edition and that will set me back forty five notes or so.  Then at the end of the month is Lego Batman and joy of happy days, Colonization, a game I played to death on the Amiga and still have on my laptop.  So I want that too.  Then the month after we have Fable 2 and later on Fallout 3, Tomb Raider: Underworld, Ghostbusters, Dead Space, Hydrophobia, Mirror’s Edge, Resi 5, Prototype, Street Fighter 4…oh what’s the point in torturing myself?  How can I choose?

But wait… my tiny voice of reason battles to the front.  My birthday is in October and Crimbo/New year are round the corner (depressingly), so FFS, what’s the problem?  I could just wait.  The ‘W’ word, however, is not something I am good at.  At all. My problem is that I don’t want to wait.  I want them now.  I don’t want to be pressed against the gaming glass watching everyone play the games I want.  Though the sarky part of me wonders what the chance is that I’ll actually play them as soon as I get them and not leave them in a pile with the other ‘to play’ games.  But I’d have them at least and the want would be satiated.  Until the next time.

I want them today,
No, not tomorrow…
I want to play ‘em, to score whore and slay ‘em,
And I don’t want to share em’
Give them to me!

The suspense has me hating, I don’t plan on waiting, ignore the score ratings
I’m going to scream…because I want them noooooow!

“Daddy, I want another XBOX.”

As Lorna had spoken before on the issue, Maxis truly know how to keep us wrapped around their fingers. Their massive success in the Sims series claimed many victims into a life of irony. The expansions kept coming and we all bought into it. Sims 2 hit the scene and even though that meant restarting the whole damn thing, we did it anyway! Wave after wave of Sims 2 expansions continue taking our pocket money and now there’s the new danger of Sims 3. Why do we do this to ourselves?! Who knows… I’m afraid I’m just as guilty as the rest. However Maxis have come back to steal our lives sooner than Sims 3, come 5th September and we meet the magnificent Spore!

Finally the endless hours of our pitiful lives spent on the creature creator will bear fruit. Let us continue our god-like roles and see our species rise to glory from tiny specs to the masses of the galaxy! Time to revive our creations, Live!… Live!… LIIIVE! *Mwah ha ha ha!*

Alongside the release of Spore, Ready Up are having a little giveaway. Two lucky readers shall be chosen at random to win a Spore promo t-shirt! All you have to do is send us an e-mail to entries@ready-up.net. Closing date is 14th September when two winners will be drawn at random from all the entries. Good luck!