Episodic content has become very popular in the gaming industry lately. Some of the more popular names that use it are of course Half Life 2 and Sam & Max. Episodic content sounds like a great idea when its on paper: Same old games in smaller chunks, cheaper to make, its like a tv show, and its supposed to be virtually the same game. But none of this happens. Episodic content is plainly put, annoying and is not effective in video games. It may cut down on costs for developers, but half the time it ends up taking way too long to make and gets delayed about a thousand times.

Think of this shining example of episodic content gone wrong: Half Life 2. Now I love Half Life and its one of the best games I'll ever play, but episodic content makes it feel so cut down. The original Half Life 2 was a full game and it felt very good. But Episode One? It feels like just a very short connector from Half Life 2 to Episode Two. Also, remember when Episode One was going to be called Half Life 2 Aftermath? I do. It just shows that episodic content does almost nothing to cut development time or costs. Episode One took so long to get to us that it should've just been a full sequel, not episodic content.

Another issue I want to address is confusing Expansion Packs with Episodic Content. I don't consider things like Shivering Isles to be episodic. Its a complete expansion and its not going to get any more stuff in it. It's done and its not going to have a Shivering Isles Part Two. I am actually intreged to see episodic content on real world games and see how it does. Microsoft has claimed that GTA IV will have some episodic content, and I think that if any game could use episodic content well, its GTA.

I alsodon't understand games being uncomplete just so the company can put out episodic or downloadable content to get more profit. That's just plain robbery. Maybe if the title would be a budget title I can understand, but if you have to pay 50-60 dollars for a game thats not finished, then thats ridiculous. All in all, Episodic Content was a good idea that just didn't work. The Sam & Max episodes would be much better in a full game and the same goes for HL2. I like to get a game that isn't going to make me wait for months and months to play it some more. That is not good gaming, and maybe developers will realize this.