Most players don't finish games

We like games – and since you’re reading this site, it seems safe to assume that you like games, too. But according to a recent CNN report, most players don’t finish the games they start.

“What I’ve been told as a blanket expectation is that 90% of players who start your game will never see the end of it unless they watch a clip on YouTube,” says Activision production contractor Keith Fuller.

The rate of completion doesn’t seem to get much better with critically acclaimed titles. According to social networking and achievement tracking service Raptr, only 10 percent of players completed the final mission in Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption.

Above: According to Raptr, only 10 percent of players actually finished the last mission in Red Dead Redemption. This is why we can’t have nice things

The lower rate of completion can be attributed to the rising age of the average gamer, which the Electronic Software Association says is 37. With more responsibilities, it all adds up to less time for gaming. “We're at a stage now that we're trying to find ways to keep mindshare," Konami's Jeremy Airey tells CNN: "When the consumer is not playing our game, their friends aren't either.” Airey says this is why designers tend nowadays to trim out the filler, making games shorter and leaner – and why publishers make sure to keep up a steady stream of DLC from launch day for players who've reached the somewhat arbitrary mark of “finishing the story.”

With the rising costs of producing AAA titles and fewer players willing to sink in the time required to complete epic 40-hour journeys, it seems that the trend for shorter games and more DLC will continue.

Have you found yourself finishing fewer games over the years? Or do you continue to see the titles you’ve bought all the way through till the end?

Aug 23, 2011

Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PC, PSP, DS, 3DS, Dreamcast, Game Boy, GBA, Genesis, N64, NES, PS1, SNES, Saturn, Xbox, GameCube, iPhone, iPad, Android, Arcade, Sega CD, Windows Phone 7, Turbografx, PS Vita, Wii U

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Gin Rummy for Three Players

This is a variation of Gin Rummy for three players. Other popular variations include Oklahoma Gin and Hollywood Gin.

Players

3 players

Deck

Use a standard 52-card deck. King is high; Ace is low.

NOTE: An Ace is always low card in Gin Rummy; it cannot be used as high card. Also, face cards are worth 10 points each; number cards are worth their face value; an Ace is worth one point.

Goal

Collect sets (three or four of a kind, or three or more consecutive cards of the same suit) to earn points. The game is played over several rounds.

Setup and Player Roles

Players each choose a card at random to determine their roles for the first hand.

The player drawing the highest card is "in the box" and will face the other two, who work together.

The player drawing the middle card is captain of the two-player team. He may get advice from the third player (who is said to be sitting out), but the captain has the final say on all decisions.

If the player in the box wins the hand, he retains his position and the other two switch. If the player in the box loses, he sits out the next hand, the captain goes into the box, and the player who was sitting out becomes the captain.

Deal

The player in the box deals each hand.

Shuffle the deck and deal 10 cards to each player. Players should look at and sort their cards.

The next card is turned face up in the middle of the table to start the discard pile. The remaining cards are placed face down next to the discard pile to form a draw pile.

Gameplay

Each normal turn consists of two parts.

First, you must take a card -- either the top card from the draw pile or the top card from the discard pile.

Second, you must discard a card (face up) onto the top of the discard pile.

NOTE: On the very first turn of each round, the non-dealer decides whether or not to take the first face up card. If that player declines, the dealer may take the card. If one of the players takes the card, that player completes his turn by discarding and then the other player takes a turn. If both players decline to take the card, the non-dealer starts the game by drawing the top card from the draw pile.

Knocking

The round ends when a player "knocks." This may be done on any turn (including the first turn) after drawing but before discarding. A player may knock when he has the ability to form sets, discard one card, and have 10 points or fewer remaining in his hand.

NOTE: A single card cannot belong to two sets.

After knocking and discarding, the player who knocked organizes and spreads all of his cards face up on the table.

The player who did not knock does the same. If the knocker did not go gin (see "Going Gin" below), the opponent is also allowed to lay off any unmatched cards by adding to the knocker's sets (e.g. adding a fourth card to a group of three of a kind, or adding further consecutive cards of the same suit to a sequence).

NOTE: You're never required to knock. You may continue playing in an effort to develop a better hand.

Scoring

Each player calculates the value of their unmatched cards. If the knocker's count is lower, he scores the difference between the two counts.

If the knocker did not go gin, and the values are equal -- or the knocker's value is greater than his opponent's -- then the knocker has been undercut. The knocker's opponent scores 10 points plus the difference between the values.

NOTE: The player who is sitting out does not score points under any circumstances.

Going Gin

If the knocker has no unmatched cards, it's known as "going gin" and he scores 25 bonus points (some sources say the bonus should be 20 points). Additionally, his opponent cannot score any points, even if his opponent also had no unmatched cards.

Draws

If only two cards remain in the draw pile after a player discards and neither player has knocked, the round ends in a draw. The same player deals again.

Winning

Additional rounds are played until one player's cumulative score reaches 100 points or more. That player is the winner.

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Battlefield 3 Co-op Has 10 Maps, Supports 2 Players? News

We already knew that Battlefield 3 will have a dedicated co-op mode alongside the standard multiplayer and single-player offerings, but until now gamers hadn't got as much as a sniff of details for this co-op offering.

It's certainly rumour and speculation at this stage, but That VideoGame Blog is reporting on a PSM3 article which alleges that the co-op mode will provide support for 2 players and is set to ship with 10 dedicated maps.

In all likelihood, the mode has been developed by DICE and EA to rival the Zombies mode in Treyarch's Call of Duty games and the very similar Survival mode in this year's Modern Warfare 3. This news of 2 player support also indicates that DICE may have something akin to Modern Warfare 2's Spec Ops mode in mind.

DICE's experiment with co-op in Battlefield: Bad Company 2's Onslaught mode (which was released as DLC in June of last year) had a squad of up to 4 players attempting to capture control points while under siege from AI controlled opponents.

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