With production costs increasing and risk taking becoming a thing of the past (try pitching BioSHock to a forty year old mother who makes up the majority or casual gamers) episodic content will save the industry. I don't think there are too many people out there over the age of twenty who have a job(s) and/or go to school and have friends and can find time to play through a forty hour game. That age seems to be gone and when it comes down to it I say good reddens
With episodic content, developers can focus more on the story and gameplay that surrounds it. Compare "Far Cry" to "Half-Life 2: Episode 1" and tell me what game gets old allot faster playing through it. And tell me which one are you likely to play through again. I remember I played through Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Baldur's Gate: Throne of Bhall twice and can tell you with two jobs now college and friends, that will never happen again and I will probably never buy anything like that again since it will end up gathering dust on my shelf with me intending to "play it someday" such as my copy of, "Dragon Quest VIII," "Zelda: The Wind Waker," "Sly Cooper 2 and 3," "Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3," "Breath of Fire III," "Final Fantasy V," "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," "Quake IV" "Chrono Cross," and "Mark Ecko's Getting UP" while shorter but meaningful titles grab my attention and playing time allot better, "Uplink, Darwinian, Half-Life 2, Beyond Good and Evil, Dreamfall, and Longest Journey" for good measure.
Now I'm off to do my homework and hope to find some time to get something done in "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" which I have had since it first came out for the PC.