Are long games dead?

Good read on the fate of long games over at Sexy Videogameland.

My thoughts:

I find it sad that I live in a world where the term "JRPG" is now a dirty word. I let out a slow sigh when reviewers use the fact that an RPG is "old school" as a knock against it. I think it is a trait to be praised nowadays when everything has to have fancy "next-gen" battle systems that are just a giant mess.

I think RPG companies (especially Squeenix...) need to get back to basics and strip out all the fancy graphics and cut scenes and just focus on making the gameplay solid again. Persona 3 didn't have fancy graphics or overly long/abundant cutscenes. Just solid gameplay that keeps me coming back for more (hour 82 and counting...). Then once they have relearned how to make a solid "game", then they can add all the bells and whistles back in slowly, without sacrificing the game.