I recently flicked through an article on IGN about the "2 hour game", in short this is a very to the point narrative driven game (Although not always) which can be completed in one play through. Two examples at the moment is Journey on the PS3 and Dear Esther on the PC, both are very story driven, and may be considered more art pieces than a fully fledged game.
Looking at other entertainment mediums there are plenty of examples of similar ideas. For example when you go to the cinema you pay around £7 for a 2 to 3 hour film, in this 2 hours (If the film is good this is!) you learn all about the characters and generally have a good time! A better example to relate to this new style of gaming would be books, say you buy a series of books you spend a few weeks or a few months reading the story, learning the lore, and having this big overarching story. However you may only want a quick burst, hence there are also plenty of short stories out in the market, which generally can be read within a couple of hours. So video games seem to be heading in a similar direction.
With a video game like this you are probably less likely to go back to it time and time again, after you have played the initial play through you will probably leave it in the back of your collection, than one day dig it out to have another play through just like you would with a DVD. So is this new craze just an interactive film? Some people would argue that this does not count as a game.
Sometimes I look back at a game and think to myself "Did I really spend 20 hours on this?" And perhaps when my life and work picks up I won't have time to indulge in games as much as I do now. Maybe in this busy lifestyle many people have, having this quick burst of video games is a welcome break without moving into the casual games.
