Longevity in Video Games

As less and less people seem to be playing Paradise, I have started thinking about longevity in video games and what games have kept me coming back for more long after they were released. What is a good shelf life for a game?

Burnout is definitely without a shadow of a doubt the longest played game for me, but which one? and why?

The first 2 I will discount straight away, although I love both Burnout 1 and 2: Point of Impact, neither had online play so there is no way I put in the same hours as I did with the later games in the series.

Burnout 3: Takedown I started playing at the tail end of 2004 and kept on playing well into 2006, even after Revenge came out on the original Xbox, Burnout 3: Takedown still brought me coming back for more. The main reason for this was online Road Rage!  

After Revenge was released on the 360 I played less and less Burnout 3, and although on rare occassions I will still play it, it has for the most part been shelved for a few years now.

Revenge was then my main game from 2006 until we got Paradise in 2008. I still occassionally play, and the game isn't fully shelved yet, I don't think there is a racing game that will beat the adrenaline rush you get from Revenge... but for the purposes of this blog I would say the both Burnout 3 and Revenge lasted a good 2 years each for me.

Then there is Paradise, which never got under my skin in the same way, released in January 2008 and shelved in July 2009, Paradise gets a year and a half on the longevity scale.

Still pretty good going for a video game, as most other games I have paid good money for only get a few hours of play, and most remain unfinished.  I still haven't completed Paradise, or Burnout Revenge for that matter as I have never completed all of the signature takedowns... it didn't feel like that was the point.

Criterion Games release schedule of bringing out a new Burnout game every 2 years or so has worked out well, up until now. As in the past I wasn't finished enjoying the previous game when the new game came out. Now tho... I hope we don't have a 2 year wait for the next game from Criterion, because I wont have anything to play in the mean time! Unless I find another game to rival the longevity of Burnout 3 & Burnout Revenge...

Maybe I should start playing WoW!