Enjoying games with finite hours of gameplay

Multiplayer-heavy games like Half-Life and Quake have been creating an unfortunate level of replay value expectations among a large (or at least vocal) group of gamers that seems to think it's only worth shelling out for a new game if it's going to supply them with years of entertainment. Blinded by the dream of infinite replay value in every game, you hear these spoiled gamers proclaim their dedication to only invest their (usually extremely hard-earned, for some reason) money in games with extensive multiplayer support, whether it fits the style of the game or not.

Case in point: Max Payne. Remedy have been sweating blood and tears for four years to produce what looks to be a stunning story-driven single-player experience. And all the infinite-value-fanatics can focus their energy on is questions about quantity. How many hours of gameplay is it going to offer? Why is there no multiplayer? As when these questions recieve answers like "in the area of 16-18 hours of gameplay" and "because we chose to focus on making the best single-player experience" the fanatics turn preachers in a second. "So what if it looks cool? I'm not going to pay $40 for 16 hours of entertainment. Screw that" or "Remedy sucks for not including multiplayer. Max Payne is gonna bomb!" are common variations on the theme.

Since when was movies or music ever subjected to this same level of quantity scrutiny? I don't ever recall anyone putting The Terminator down for only running 107 minutes just because The Matrix goes on for 136. Movie and music fans normally discuss the quality of the various offerings instead, which seems like the sensible thing to do.

Judging games solely on the raw number of hours they're likely to offer is a great injustice to both yourself and the game makers that are looking to further story-driven and other primarily single-player focussed genres. Once you realize that, the door will be open to an exciting world of new experiences that are likely to entertain you on another (though not necessarily better) level. But I can only show you the door. You're the one that has to walk through it.