Average game run time

[PGchris]

sometimes, just out of curiosity I try and find a like a basic estimation of how long it takes to beat a game but more often than not I don't find a decent answer. I was thinking maybe we could make like a big master list and people can post their game time for games they recently beat and we can keep it up for others to reference. Or if this exists somewhere else maybe someone could just point me in the right direction.

[MrPopo]

It's kind of a hard thing to figure out, especially with the modern games that have so much extra stuff you can do while playing. Generally I've only looked at playtime for RPGs, as they generally will take a fixed amount of time to beat. Skill-based games, on the other hand, are more constrained by player skill. While from the perspective of in-game clock it might take one hour to beat Castlevania that doesn't take into account that it took someone ten hours of time when you added together the time for every session that ended in game over.

[fastbilly1]

Ive thought about something like this for awhile now. I wanted to make a Videogame Genome Project (much like the Music Genome Project). Where each game will be divided up by a hundred or so qualifiers, average length was going to be one of them. However my lack of programming knowledge and my inability to get anyone onboard stopped that in its tracks.

[Dylan]

This is actually a really interesting idea. One thing I've noticed is that different genres will have different play times, RPGs will often last longer than other games, and most modern FPSs tend to be on the short side. Also, games from different generations will have different play times (NES games don't last particularly long after you beat them a couple times). Like Popo said, there are things to consider like achievements, but I think I'd leave those out because that's more of completing a game than just simply beating it.

[Luke]

This is something that would be better answered by the developer than a gamer. You'll here programmers say things like "This title should take a regular gamer about 6 hours to finish, but there is at least 9 hours of content to explore".

I forget my time on FFX the second time I completed it, but I remember my friends saying it was impossible to beat the game in such little time. I need to find that memory card...

[PGchris]

well for each game you could list an approximate time that a first run would take and a completion time like for, so for FFX you could say...

FFX:
To beat: 45-50(thats what it took me at least)
Completed: 85-90(I don't even know actually thats just a guess)

[PGchris]

This is something that would be better answered by the developer than a gamer. You'll here programmers say things like "This title should take a regular gamer about 6 hours to finish, but there is at least 9 hours of content to explore".

Yeah, thats true but personally I would just like to have an approximate time, be able check and see how long it took other gamers to beat you know

[MrPopo]

I forget my time on FFX the second time I completed it, but I remember my friends saying it was impossible to beat the game in such little time. I need to find that memory card...

I know to get the Excalibur II you have to get to the final dungeon in something like 12 hours or less. Guides tend to suggest using a method wherein you open and close the disc cover during cutscenes to skip them.