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[Paul Eres]

one further thought i just had: high scores typically only matter in games that you replay many times. this sounds obvious, but most games that i (and probably the same is true for most of you) play, we only play through them once or at the most twice, and then never again. but if you play through a game 5, 10, 25, etc. times, high score begins to matter a lot more. so high scores would matter more for shorter games than for longer ones.

[Geti]

I think it's more a matter of level length than game length, and if the levels are immediately replayable and reward the user for replaying with more than just "YOU GOT MORE POINTS THIS TIME".
Case and point: Metanet's N. The highscoring community are still doing cool things, it's latest version is from what, 2005?

[Taiko]

I think depending on the game they certainly can matter.  It's a way to let a single player game still allow competition between players. 

These days the idea of a high score is sort of being subsumed by collecting achievements, though.

[JoeManaco]

High-Score can add a lot of replay-value to a game. Especially if you know the people who participate. I'm the type of gamer who don't care much for highscores, but I know a lot of people who really enjoy the competition and they really like it to play the game a hundred times only to be on top of this list.

At the company I'm working we have a puzzle bubble arcade cabinet and the people are crazy about reaching the highest score.

[C.A. Sinner]

If it's an arcade-style and/or competitive game it's essential IMO. Otherwise I don't care.

Also, as AshfordPride implied in his post, interesting scoring mechanics can add a lot of enjoyment and depth. Hell, for me it's the main reason why Cave shooters are so good.

[FishyBoy]

I think what really makes a game replayable, and thusly to the need for high scores and competitive elements like that, is not so much the length of the game so much as the depth of the game mechanics. Games like Super Metroid and say, Quake, get replayed just as much as any arcade style game, because of how deep the game mechanics go. If there's a system that's well designed and keeps players interested, than the length of the game won't be a factor in determining how competitively it'll be played.