With the success of Portal, one of the many games in the Orange Box, the debate has begun as to whether a three hour game can actually hold it’s own against giants like Halo. What exactly are we looking for from new games? Quality content or length? While some have voted Portal as 2007 Game of the Year, others have rejected it as anything more than part of a compilation.

So many games have come out that haven’t even been worth the cost of the disc it was printed on. Most of them even offer 10-20 hours of play. These games wind up on some back shelf, never sold, and never discussed but they’re still considered in a category many are reluctant to allow Portal into.

Recently, we’ve seen games like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare provide an playing experience in just 8 hours of total game play. They’ve completely cut out all of the useless filler, providing you with only the best of what they have to offer. COD4 wasn’t overlooked because of this detail, in fact, many reviews praised them for their courage.

So what exactly is the issue with Portal? Most see it as one game out of a compilation, even though you can purchase it separately through Steam on the PC. But is the Orange Box really a compilation or is it the chance to provide the maximum amount of content for the price you pay? Either way, it’s not a game itself so it shouldn’t be judged as a package. But seperating it from the Orange Box allows people to put it up for comparison against XBLA and PSN games, as many of them can be around that length. We haven’t yet seen that category show it’s face in the GOTY debates.

What it all comes down to is how much fun you have playing the game. If it’s worth your time and money, it can be GOTY. I have played more Portal than Halo 3, even though I own both of them. I found Bioshock to be excellent, but it dragged on at the end when I felt it could have ended earlier and saved its dignity. Quality in video games has gone down hill big-time, just ask the Wii. I would much rather spend $60 on an amazing $3 hour game with replay value than spend the same on an RPG that I’ll give up on somewhere around my 3rd hour trying to cross some useless desert.

I say Portal has what it takes. What do you think?