Re:Episodic Content a Total Failure (Score 1)

I understand there's more to it and that it's still a major undertaking, but there's no denying that some of the work isn't already finished. Many environments can be recycled, many character models can be recycled, a proven, existing engine can be used, the weapons are already designed, and many of the enemies are already done (unless there are no new ones, then they're all already done). I understand that making a game takes time. My only point is that, in the case of episodic content, especially for Half-Life 2, the turnaround time should be shorter than, say, a new game based only on the Half-Life 2 engine because there is a lot that can be recycled and I'd wager that most of teh dev team for Half-Life 2 episodes are already familiar with the resources they're working with.

In my opinion, if episodic content is going to work (which I personally hope it doesn't), shorter games, especially if those games all tell one coherent story, are going to need to be released in an extremely timely fashion. If the wait is a year between installments, why release it in small chunks at all? Hearing tiny pieces of a large story for only 5 hours a year is not my idea of a hot time. I don't even like the length of break between TV seasons, and I get a lot more than 5 hours worth of story out of a season of Stargate SG-1. If my choices are hear the story gradually over 3 years or wait 2 years and get the whole thing, I'll wait 2 years and play the whole thing at once. At least then, the narrative won't be constantly interrupted.