how long before you give up on a game

[Senna]

I have stupidly let the number of games unfinished or untouched in my collection to get too big. Today I made a concerted effort to begin the mammoth task of finishing them all. I got half an hour into the game and just realised that it was plain ****e (it was Pirates: Black Kat or something).

My question is: how long do you usually give a game before giving up on it?

[Magnakai]

To be honest, I rarely get new games (although I did just go on a bit of a GBA binge in the forum)
I'll usually give them as much time as I can. The least I've ever given a game that I've paid for is probably somewhere between 3 and 4 hours.

[iangilroy]

I'm prepared to give a game about an hour to grab me and convince me that I should continue. During that hour I try to be as open minded as possible. After that, I'm still prepared to stop playing most games if they take a turn for the worse. As a result, I don't finish that many games any more but I never spend much time on games that I'm not actually enjoying.

The 10-day (or 7-day in Gamestation) return era has made giving up on games much easier and cheaper than in the past. I remember soldiering on with games that I wished I hadn't bought in the past; I don't have to do that any more.

[MarkyB]

I only stop playing a game if i dislike it, or have nothing left to prove on it...

i play games months/year+ later to improve, such as racing games with time trials, even more so if i play with/againmst other people on such games...

I never give up a game thru difficulty in any way though

[Moodmon]

Depends on whether I think the game is any good or not. In Ninja Gaiden's case I tried for around a total of 10 hours before I said that's it, and went and played something less frustrating. Stuff like Jedi Knight 2 I put down much quicker, after maybe 3 hours or so. You need to give games more time so that if it simply has a dodgy beginning, then it can be overcome.

[Gabbi]

If I thnink the game isn't fun I stop playing as soon as I realize it
If the game is too hard I'll try to improve and beat it. After a couple of evenings spent trying (a total of 4-6 hrs) if I was unable to make any progress I surrender, after all I play to have fun.

[Adam Stone]

The vast majority of games I purchase are those I?ve been anticipating for some time ? I usually pre-order my games to be honest. Obviously there are a number of times I get them second-hand from this site, but generally, they are still titles I?m pretty certain I will enjoy. Most of these games are guarantied to match my tastes and interests so I try to give them as much time as possible to ?click?. Tales of Symphonia is a good example. It was my first RPG so playing it at first seemed like an overwhelming, possibly even daunting, task. It wasn?t until about 5 or so hours that things started to click into place. I could sense there was a quality game here so it was down to me to prosper to find it. I found it, and now I?ve been playing for over 60hours and absolutely loving it?

However that doesn?t mean if I think I will enjoy a game I will force myself to play it. Prince of Persia was a title I was pretty certain I would enjoy. Initial impressions were impressive ? beautiful, solid and interactive. However as I progressed I realized I wasn?t actually enjoying it at all. Had nothing to do with difficulty or anything like that, I personally found it quite an accessible title, I just felt it wasn?t worth completing ? became boring, predictable, and not very challenging. I could see it was an extremely well developed game, excellently presented and the like, however for me personally, I didn?t enjoy it. So sold the next day.

Sometimes I will be utterly spontaneous and buy something randomly from the forum or videogameplus etc. Take Dead To Rights as an example. Not really a sort of game I would usually buy but thought I?d give it a whirl. Played for about a hour to get to grips with the controls and general mechanisms of the game but never did I actually enjoy the experience or find it fun. I stopped playing after a hour and sold it the next day.

Ultimately, im similar to Gabbi. If the game isn?t fun, or doesnt intrigue, there is little point in playing it imo. I will never not play something due to controls or difficulty though. At the very least I will try to spend the time to conform to the game?s mechanisms.

[JibberX]

I had to give up on Metroid Prime because I was overwhelmed by my own stupidity, absolutely got stuck to the point of madness, so I sold it, and now I am borrowing a copy and starting again from scratch. At some point during that game main brain clicked and went, "Damn, this is just a 2d game!" and once it was approached like that it was a halluvalot easier mentally, but too late for me to reconcile my mistakes, second time round I hope it makes more sense.

I also forced myself to played Zelda WW through to end, and I was glad. But games I give up on tend to be because as stated earlier the game mechanic is sooo predictably tedious and the level design so mundane than even loading the save game is a chore.

[Ady]

I can usually tell if I'm going to like a game or not within the first 20 minutes, but I try to keep at it for as long as I can (VFM and all that). It's almost like an endurance test.

In the N64 days, I persevered with Banjo-Kazooie for a couple of levels but I knew I wasn't really enjoying it. It felt like a chore to play, what with all the collecting. I eventually gave up.

FFVIII was similarly tedious and not fun. I got as far as disc 3 before realising the game was sucking away my will to live. I subsequently abandoned it.

You know it's going to be "one of those games" when you feel as though you have to play it, and get that sinking sensation when you do. Similar to the feeling you get when you face a pile of dirty dishes.

[Saurian]

I "played" FF8 aswell....I cant remember where I was at exactly but I just suddenly realised that this was complete bull**** and never touched it again. I must have been lean, I can even sit through late night educational programs when I'm lean but not FF8! >_<

Nowadays I know pretty much straight away if I'm going to be into something or not as I pick up game mechanics/systems quickly. When I find a game whose system I love I stick with it for ages - years mostly.

[Okami]

Most developers get lazy towards the end of a game, and as a result you never have the motivation to finish.

It's funny how a game can quickly become a featureless trudge through bland, textureless corridors after a brilliant opening.