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Also, I agree with everyone who mentioned EarthBound (or Mother, whatevs). If Nintendo ever decides to put EarthBound on VC, I might start believing in God. Or at least a god of video game rereleases..."
I've never had a bad experience with eBay--once I got a game disc that didn't work, and the seller refunded the money. End of problem. I do agree that the supply-and-demand thing can be tricky at times, but games go in and out of style. If you want a game that's currently in style, just wait it out--sooner or later, it'll get cheap again. Unless it's Suikoden II."
But I don't think that short games (7-10 hours, that is) are the worst thing to happen to the games industry. I love a 50 hour RPG as much as the next compulsive gamer, but I would rather a game do what it does really well for a short period of time than needlessly draw it out. For example: The first 10 chapters of Final Fantasy XIII (nearly 30 hours) should have been condensed to half that, at the VERY most. And I was perfectly happy with the bite-size Metroid-style iPhone game Phoenix Spirit just as it was--cheap, short and sweet, and flawed--but incredibly fun.
Lots of people (me included) who have jobs/school or other non-gaming hobbies that eat up their time simply don't have enough hours in the day to dedicate over 20 hours to EVERY GAME that comes out. I generally agree with you: Aritificial pumping up of games with unnecessary multiplayer and ridiculously short single-player modes (ahem Beautiful Katamari) is an unfortunate industry trend. But length isn't everything! (ha?)"
@Michael I would really enjoy having that ability when he tells me my small katamari is pathetic."
I think the term "toy" can be used as a slur, and I think David Cage was using it that way. But I don't think it should be a slur. There's a time and place for toys just as there is for more mature content in games."
@Renato I think Shenmue does a better job, actually (even though, I confess, I only ever played a little of it when I was in middle school--I should give it another go!) because it really does let you do pretty much whatever you want, which is way more realistic than Heavy Rain. There were points in HR when I desperately wanted to do something, anything that wasn't listed as an option. Sigh."