Anyone else tired of the hype machine?

[swlovinist]

I don't know about you, but the modern video game hype for upcoming games has gotten way out of hand. Please forgive this late night post, but just hear me out. Games have gotten WAAAY more expensive to make, so the gamble on the game making its money back it a bigger risk. With that being said, games now take a long time to complete, millions of dollars to make, and are talked about for years. Usually when the game comes out, the game just does not even have a chance to live up to expectations. Recently, I guess I have just about given up on reading a review from a mag, or gotten impressed by a future game and an article about how its going to be great. In the end, I usually just search out the game that was overlooked and in the sale bin to check it out. Either I am getting old enough to figure out that few games are worth the new sticker price, or I have realized that when it comes to a great game....it takes more than bells and whistles to make it a good game. I guess that after playing some current games that have been advertised for a decent amount of time...(Too Human and Star Wars FU), they both leave me with a feeling that games just have not evolved into something better...they have just changed on the visual level and have left me wondering "meh"

While I am a pretty big all arounder gamer, I just feel that more games need to focus on being well...better games than eye candy.

Anyone else feel this way?

[Iron Draggon]

I'm pretty damn tired of all the years of "coming soon!" while releases keep getting pushed back by months at a time, but I appreciate the advance warning of future releases, so I can try to set aside money for them all.

There is way too much hype for some games though... they announce with release dates just a few months away, when they KNOW it's gonna be many months away... oh BTW, this new game we just announced is coming SOON!

meh, indeed...

Worse yet is when it gets released in Europe or Asia MONTHS before it even gets announced for the US, and for some reason it takes YEARS to localize! (as in simply print different artwork on the exact same ROM, then distribute)

That's what pisses me off most... when they use a certain region as a test market to determine if they'll ever bother to release it anywhere else or not... to hell with what they said about it "coming soon"... SURE, if you import it!

[RJ]

Well, just go back to the classics/retro gaming. You wont hear ANY overhyping & get better gameplay too!

BTW- some of my favorite games (from the PS2 era) have been found in the bargain bins.

[s1lence]

I've been sick of it for years, especially any talk of future systems.

[calthaer]

Books are sort of an interesting medium. Sometimes there are these big-hype books like Harry Potter, but in general it takes a few years for a really good book to be recognized as such. Many of the greats of literature - the stuff that's regularly taught in schools - were never recognized as "great" immediately when they came out. Some were, but by no means all.

I think games are becoming more like books in this regard - but the thing is they are being marketed like movies...as if there's this window of eight weeks or whatever where this thing can make its money back, and if it doesn't, it just goes away. Warren Spector had a lot of good things to say about this here:

http://www.wonderlandblog.com/wonderland/2005/03/burn_the_house_.html

Nowadays, the only time I will go out and pick up a game while it's still full price is if I foresee it becoming rare (Atlus games = case in point). Anything else - I don't care. I'll pick it up later. If it is a really good game that sells out and the prices on eBay start to go up - who cares? I would actually rather pay 50% MORE for the game at a later point in time, after everyone has already come on a place like Digital Press and has raved about it, than pick it up early for full price and stand the very big risk of being disappointed.

I no longer believe that game "journalists" - even the ones on a place like Joystiq.com - are far enough removed from the hype machine to be able to find the really good games. I believe it takes a few years for a game to "age" and for people to be able to look back and say "hey - that was a really great game" - before we can make a real judgment about whether it was great or not.

Deus Ex? Great game. System Shock 2? Awesome. Ocarina of Time? Priceless. Symphony of the Night? Worth playing. Neverwinter Nights? Very cool. Pokemon RBYGSCRSE whatever? Excellent games. But with the exception of Deus Ex and SS2, I didn't play any of those games even within 3-5 years of their release.

At some point about five or six years ago, there was a general consensus of which PS1 games were really good and worth playing. So I went out and got a PS2 specifically to play PS1 games. Then I spent more than what the games originally cost in some circumstances (i.e., Valkyrie Profile), and really enjoyed those games. The rest of them I don't care about, and never will.

This is, I believe, why emulation is so important. Things like DosBox (wish they had a similar project for Windows95 games so that things like Thief and System Shock can run), or any other console emulator. I believe it becomes so much easier a few years down the line to figure out which games are worth my time. And I would rather pay $60-80 for a game that I'm very sure is worth my time than $20-30 for a game where there's a high risk that it will suck. Those games I think will suck - $10-15, max. If that.

[Steve W]

I think I stopped believing in game company hype around the time of the Dreamcast onward. I got burnt out on buying full price games and finding out that they weren't living up to my expectations. I now wait until long after the game has launched to pick it up, usually when it's dropped down in price to something reasonable. I could pick up Prey when it debuted on the 360 for $59, or I can wait a year and a half and snatch it up for $9. I just can't justify paying full price anymore, since you never know if a game will suit your particular gaming tastes. All you ever read about the games are from reviewers you probably wouldn't actually like if you met them in real life who are cutting and pasting half of the game's press release. $60 is too much to blow on what their opinions are, so it's far easier to wait until the inevitable disappointment in the game is revealed by genuine people on message boards and blogs who aren't being sponsored by game companies like Electronic Arts. Then you know whether the game is worth buying or not.

[mezrabad]

GameStop no longer sells new-in-box GBA games. My understanding of what happened was that they just didn't have the shelf space for them anymore. So, they took all the new GBA carts and tossed the boxes and manuals for them. Now they sell them as used, displayed in a small case where you can find titles like Pokemon Leaf Green, loose, for $34.95 while you can find the same title at Fry's in box and with manual for $19.95 (at least we could in July of 2008. Your mileage may vary...)

How does this relate to hype?

Well, GameSlop didn't have the shelf space to sell GBA new anymore but they have the shelf space to fill five or six shelves with "coming soon" titles. Titles not coming out for months and months which fill the shelves with their empty, bigger than they really need to be, cases. Of course, they're there to remind the employees to remind the customers that they can preorder a "coming soon' title. They're also there to help customers envision a coming day when all those empty cases will have actual game disks in them. Well, maybe not in them, but at the very least, stored back behind the counter where they can be touched in bad ways by the register biscuits before being sold to the customers.

This bugs me to no end.

Of course, I can't really talk, since I want, no, I need the Fallout 3 lunchbox...

[Graham Mitchell]

Hearing about a game a full year in advance of its release kind of bums me out, really. My interest is piqued when I first see the thing. After waiting for it for a year, I'm usually not that amazed when it arrives, or I'm just not interested anymore, and I feel like I have to put other games or financial goals aside because I feel obligated to buy the new release. It really takes the steam out of some of my purchases.

[Ed Oscuro]

What about retro-hype?

Just tossing that out there - not looking for an argument or to insult anybody's sensibilities today :P

[calthaer]

What is Retro-Hype? You mean like, the way people fawn incessantly over Final Fantasy VII or something?

I think I can safely say, Ed, that in some cases - THE MANY SINGS TO US!

Glory to the Many! I am a voice in their chorus.

[theChad]

Retro-hype is especially annoying, and I know there are more than a few examples of games that are no more than R3, yet can sell at upwards of $100. Get that shit outta here.

[Clownzilla]

Retro-hype is especially annoying, and I know there are more than a few examples of games that are no more than R3, yet can sell at upwards of $100. Get that shit outta here.

It depends on how GOOD the game is. It could be an R3 but if most people buy it and decide to keep it then it raises the price. Retro gaming hype is more about the gaming experience and not the gaming "potential" that all of these "coming soon" titles bring.

[swlovinist]

I think that games on discs cant be compared to the games of two decades ago. While I think that it is crazy to think that a game like FFVII this sold millions is worth a mint right now, there are a couple factors on why that is

1. Used disc games are harder to find operaple than used carts. They get scratched, cracked, and missing. Also there are three discs to make this game playable. That means that there are alot of used games out there that are unplayable

2. There is a growing group of gamers that grew up on FFVII and for many, it was THE game that got a whole generation of gamers started with. Like Pac Man being an icon for the 80's, Final Fantasy VII is the icon for Playstation and the late 90's gaming

3. The dang thing has not been remade, and it has not been in cirulation for a long time. Popular games of yesteryear have had time to be on compliations, greatest hits, multiple system releases. Final Fantasy VII has not. With millions of people remembering it as one of their all time favorites, this can will increase price and demand.


With all that being said, I think that I enjoyed FFVII because I missed all the hype about it. I just bought it and came up with my own opinions. I did not really read alot about it until I had played it. Unlike today with the internet, game trailers, and a corporate game store on every block shoving a new release at you. I think that games try hard to make themeselves stand out with ads and advertisment. This backfires when the game itself is just mediocre. I think that it is harder to make an origianal game these days, something that has not been done before. I think that part of my problem is that I have played so many different types of games, it is hard for me to not compare it to something I have previously played.

[Ed Oscuro]

What is Retro-Hype? You mean like, the way people fawn incessantly over Final Fantasy VII or something?

I think I can safely say, Ed, that in some cases - THE MANY SINGS TO US!

Glory to the Many! I am a voice in their chorus.
That's not "retro-hype," that's AWESOME SAUC.

+e


Retro-hype is especially annoying, and I know there are more than a few examples of games that are no more than R3, yet can sell at upwards of $100. Get that shit outta here.
That's part of what I mean.

Well, supply & demand but whatever. Aw, hell. I can't really criticize it because I'd rather people wanted to pay good money for GOOD games rather than bad...right? I'm rather confused right now, excuse me.

[Rob2600]

the only time I will go out and pick up a game while it's still full price is if I foresee it becoming rare (Atlus games = case in point). ... I would actually rather pay 50% MORE for the game at a later point in time, after everyone has already come on a place like Digital Press and has raved about it, than pick it up early for full price and stand the very big risk of being disappointed.

I know what you mean, but part of me thinks that if I want the industry to grow and thrive, I need to show my support of great unique games when they're released. That's when it matters. I use my money as a tool.


I no longer believe that game "journalists" - even the ones on a place like Joystiq.com - are far enough removed from the hype machine

I agree. I've been burned by hyped reviews before. For example, when Shadow Man was released on the Nintendo 64, it received 8s and 9s from some reviewers, so I went to Funco Land and bought it. When I got home and played it, I thought the intro was pretty cool, the graphics engine was great, but the actual game itself stunk. Why was this game receiving 8s and 9s? Hype.



2. There is a growing group of gamers that grew up on FFVII and for many, it was THE game that got a whole generation of gamers started with. Like Pac Man being an icon for the 80's, Final Fantasy VII is the icon for Playstation and the late 90's gaming

So I guess we have Final Fantasy VII to blame for the increase in "casual" gamers? :)

Technically though, I'd consider Super Mario 64 the icon for late 1990s gaming. It revolutionized the industry. Look at how many imitators there are, even today.

[swlovinist]

I agree with Super Mario 64 as another example of great 90s icon gaming. I wanted to throw this super over hyped game out there BRUTE FORCE for the xbox. Every gamestop was pushing that turd on the public, calling it the next HALO killer. When it came out, it was quietly moved to the clearance bin. Gosh that game was rough around the edges, and is a pinnacle for me on when I stopped reserving games and listening to gamestop employees rant about an uncoming game.

[Jorpho]

I find video game hype exceptionally easy to ignore, considering many games will require the purchase of a console at several hundred dollars before I can play them. And to pay full price for a game is nearly unthinkable in my mind when I still have so many other perfectly games that I have not yet played.

Any game that is worth playing now will very likely still be worth playing a few years from now, and will be much more affordable as well.

[Oobgarm]

I've been tired of it for a while, and I've learned to ignore it fairly well.

I know what I like and what I don't. My limited gaming budget goes towards things I know I'll get enjoyment out of one way or another.

[Nature Boy]

I don't know about you, but the modern video game hype for upcoming games has gotten way out of hand.

I don't know when it happened truly but it's been out of hand for a *long* time.

One of my pet peeves with the VG Press is that they spend *months* writing articles about upcoming releases, mentioning how cool this sounds or how interesting that will turn out to be, and then they fail to understand why those game still sell upon release when they've finally 'rated' the final product.

It's utter hogwash.

Having said that I like hearing about upcoming games. I like planning my game playing schedule around them. If I beat a game and I'm looking for something new and I don't know what's coming, I'm much more likely to 'settle' for something I wouldn't ordinarily buy. When I get to plan ahead I make much more enjoyable purchasing decisions :)

[lanemeyer]

I think it got out of hand (or atleast to the point that it annoyed me) when prerendered cutscenes in commercials and demos really started taking off in the 90s. Nothing is more annoying to me than to see non-gameplay video footage of a game.

10 minutes of actual gameplay footage is enough for me to see if I'm interested in a game. The prerendered stuff does NOTHING for me...

[PentiumMMX]

Hype is like a double-edged sword; while it gets the company the sales they want, there's always that chance it gets overhyped and fails to live up to expectations, and better games could get overshadowed in the process.

I'm quite tired of it; they build up the hype so much, it's impossible for anything to live up to these people's expectations, which once word gets out that the game is a letdown, they start to lose money. Plus, there is a risk of people not buying any more games by that company based on the letdown the hyped up game was.

The last time I was hyped over a game was Diddy Kong Racing DS; the total shit-bomb of a remake of my favorite N64 game. It wasn't even half as good as Mickey's Speedway USA, let alone the original N64 version of DKR. I learned my lesson after that, which is why I'm probably one of only a handful of people who enjoyed Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

[Rob2600]

I'm probably one of only a handful of people who enjoyed Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Really? :)

[Nophix]

I find it funny that games like Too Human and Madden get the rave previews, yet you see games like Eternal Sonata get slammed. "Oh, I'm sorry, you don't have a redeemerlaunchernukegrenadepropulsionflamethrower? You fail... "

It's happening again with Infinite Undiscovery. Here you have what looks to be the most promising RPG in a long time, and they are slamming it for being exactly that. I'm sorry, but I LIKE the fact that it is a true japanese RPG. That's why I WANT THE DAMN GAME!!!

As for the retro-craze, the only thing really irritating to me are all the uncoordinated balls of ghey that collect the things, not even knowing what they are!

"Check it out, I have a 1 in 3 video game cart of Blah"

"Sweet, where's the Atari(orwhatever), we'll throw it in"

"Whats an atari?!"

*smacks hand to forehead*

[TheRedEye]

As for the retro-craze, the only thing really irritating to me are all the uncoordinated balls of ghey that collect the things, not even knowing what they are!

"Check it out, I have a 1 in 3 video game cart of Blah"

"Sweet, where's the Atari(orwhatever), we'll throw it in"

"Whats an atari?!"

*smacks hand to forehead*

Do you actually know people who collect video games without knowing how to use them?

[Nophix]

Unfortunately, yes.

[skaar]

It's happening again with Infinite Undiscovery. Here you have what looks to be the most promising RPG in a long time, and they are slamming it for being exactly that. I'm sorry, but I LIKE the fact that it is a true japanese RPG. That's why I WANT THE DAMN GAME!!!


That's what happens with any smaller market title. I did used to enjoy magazines way back when you'd have the different reviewers who'd focus on different titles within a niche.

I enjoyed the hell out of Eternal Sonata. Picking up Tales of Vesperia today.

I won't wait in line for a game, will pre-order once in awhile just so that I remember that something is coming out - the "your game is here" phone call is nice.

The fact that I have 24 hours to pick up something I've paid for or they'll give it away.... that not so much.

[sebastiankirchoff]

I haven't believed in hype since I was at least 12. I remember waiting for Halo 2, and while I enjoyed it for a while, I was pretty dissapointed by it because it got hyped up the ass.

I also remember back in 2006 when they had trailers for Metal Gear Solid 4 and Resident Evil 5. I am a huge fan of both series, but they both didn't get released until 2008 and 2009 and in my opinion it was stupid to show trailers for games years before its released and get the fans all hyped up. Seriously, most movie trailers feature movies that are to be released in the next year or so, but I guess with games its different.