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P&P games are easily understood. They are usually simple enough for the casual gamer to jump right in. Some examples would be SSBM, Donkey Konga, or Bomberman. What they usually lack however, is depth. In summary, these are the games that people usually play at demo kiosks at stores.

A game with depth does not usually have the P&P feature that other games do. They require patience and thinking, rather than mindless fun. Some games that fit this area are Metroids, Zeldas, or pretty much any RPG. These are usually single player games that need to be given, much more time, than say a P&P game to be enjoyed. However, the feeling of accomplisment pivots above a P&P game. These would be the games that people never play on demo kiosks.

I used to believe P&P was the most important since I didn't spend a lot of time playing any game period. However, I guess I found out the more you put into a game, the more rewarding it is.

Resident Evil 4 is a mix of P&P and depth. On one hand, the game isn't too complex by all means. Sure, the controls may take a while, but the overall gameplay is quite simple. As for the depth section, RE4 has many weapons to upgrade, buy or sell. On top of that, the game has a good length of 20 hours.

Metroid Prime is a depth game. I gave this a rent a year or so ago because all the rave reviews it had gotten. However, I was turned off and I never even got passed the first boss! It seemed as though I had lost my interest.

However, I bought this game a few weeks ago and now, I'm finally giving it a chance, and I am impressed. I imagined it would be overwhelming and complex, but as it turned out, it was perfect. A little patience goes a long way.

Then my friend came over and I told him to try Metroid. He agreed and played it a bit and then quit. I asked him what was wrong and he replied that the controls were odd, the environment was too confusing (when he even had the map), and overall the gameplay was boring.

It just saddens me that he will probably never get to experience the true joy of this game, by putting some time into it.

With all the games today, I expect a fast game, that's simple, and fun. However, Metroid Prime is one of those games that tells you to slow it down and enjoy what you have.

It's a shame that this beautiful game will never be played by a larger audience than it should. I think this is a sophisticated game that should be enjoyed by the young adults. However, these people are the ones enjoying Halo and Grand Theft Auto. If anything, I think Metroid is a much more mature game.

Anyway, my point is, what do you think is the most important? P&P garners to those who are hasty, new or want a quick game. Depth gives those who seek it, greater satisfaction and pleasure. My opinion used to be P&P, but now I realize that depth is worth the wait.

Sorry if I use too many Nintendo games as my examples, but since depth games require lots of play and I don't have a PS2 or Xbox... it figures.

I like depth games. Ones that have depth--hugeness. Like Morrowind. It gives you a LOT to do.

Pick up and play games are better if you have a short amount of time to play, while depth is when you have a lot of spare time. GTA is an example of both. You can just mindlessly kill people, or you can continue the rich storyline of the character. Another one is Destroy All Humans, same reason above. But in my opinion, I'm more of the pick up and play because I don't want to just sit around. I want to play instead of having to wait an amount of time.

Pick up and play fo sho'
that way its more like instant fun

But it doesn't have the epicness that other games have.

Anyway, this topic can also be related to Single vs. Multiplayer. Singleplayer games are almost always in-depth, meaing it takes many times to fully play the entirety of the game. Multiplayer games are usually more shallow, but some can be deep.

Deep games include:
Metroid Prime
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
Final Fantasy X

Light games include:
Mario Kart
Halo
DDR

And finally, another topic can spawn from this: Casual vs. Hardcore. Casual gamers play games they can learn instantly. Hardcore gamers like complex games that have a higher learning curve. Therefore, singleplayer gamers are usually hardcore and multiplayer gamers tend to be casual. There are games that also fit into both categories such as fighting games as well.

I don't really care what type of game it is as long as it's fun. Pick up and play, indepth, multiplayer, singleplayer, casual, or hardcore, I don't think it matters because there is probably a GREAT game for each category that is just as fun as the others. And also the fact, as you said, many games fit into more than one category, and have lots of options/modes to play with.

Its really good if you can have a game that has a little bit of everything...

Zelda games do quite well with that... You can easily pick it up and go right into a dungeon and has fun play with different wepons and stratagys required to defeat different enemis... However it has depth because it requires time to beat the game.