Someone should edit those Let's Plays then, so that they are shortened.

=P

Gradius, Super Mario Brothers, most arcade style shooters...

Didn't play any of those. The only computer games I ever played (as opposed to console games) were RPG's and simulators (including RTS games like the original Warcraft). I remember RPG's taking 100+ hours to beat (or so it seemed) and simulators had infinite replay value.
The only games I have gotten for a console were either super cheap (for my PS2), and party games (for the Wii). The only exceptions being Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Ultimate Spiderman - both of which took me way longer than 10 hours to beat.

If you want information, you have to spend time to acquire it. Sorry.



Compared to movies, books, etc. 30 hours is a long commitment.

Commitment by whom? The player or the producer of the game?

I think I just realized my issue here.
I play games that either take 10 hours to learn and 100 hours to play, if they were not infinitely replayable (or at lest I used to when I had time). Or, I play games that take 1 minute to learn and 10 minutes to play. I never really played anything in between - and I don't want to. I want either something to occupy me for 10 minutes (Words with Friends) or something I can devote countless hours to (Neverwinter Nights).

Prices have also been dropping.

That said, I gravitate to stuff like DROD, which costs 20 dollars per game where each game is easily 300 hours of gameplay and lasts for years, so 30 hours doesn't seem that long.

I'm a game completionist. I like to explore every nook and and cranny of a game and search for every easter egg. Game like Fallout and Dragon Age are right up my alley because of all the bits and pieces I can explore. Because of that, I only buy one or two games a year. Even if I might not have time over a week or month, the game can be savored and enjoyed over a period of half a year. Many people might have different play styles where they might get bored of a game after a month regardless of the time they put into it.

In reference to the thread title:

Dwarf Fortress has many, many ways to lose the game. Dwarf Fortress has zero win conditions. If you 'finish' the game, it means you lost.

Interesting point. I guess a bif part of it is games that people haven't completed but feel satisfied they played. I have a great deal of incompleted fallout runs, but I've enjoyed every single one of them. There is not a single Grand Theft Auto game that I've seen the ending to, but I had a great time with it.