CNN: Smoke, Mirrors, and the Next Generation

[l_lamb]

I found this article on CNN and it makes good points about the level and quality of the hype put out before new systems launch, and how much of it actually ends up being true:

http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/26/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm

Some of these points have been brought up in recent threads, but it was nice to see someone summarize the last generation's promise vs. reality.

[Griking]

I thought it was a good article and made some very valid points. It's all about the hype baby and how much of it they get you to buy into.

[SoulBlazer]

That's why I don't buy systems at launch. ;)

Good article, though.

[Jagasian]

I have bought 4 systems at launch:
1. 3DO
2. N64
3. GBC
4. GBASP

I greatly enjoyed each of those systems, but it would have been best to wait on buying the 3DO, N64, and GBC. The reason why the GBA was a good system to buy on launch is because buying a GBASP was really version 2.0 of the GBA. The GBASP had all of the kinks worked out of it, and it had a huge library of great inexpensive games.

This years hype was pretty bad, especially Sony's. You can bet Sony was showing tons of pre-rendered CGI videos, just like they did when they were hyping up the Playstation 2. Remember when the PS2 was hyped to be able to render Toy Story-like graphics in real-time? What ever happened to that? Hahaha! Microsoft's hype wasn't nearly as sickening, and Nintendo didn't really hype anything at all, which might actually hurt them.

However, it is nice to see them keeping the Gameboy line going. It just works. No other gaming portable will be as portable as the Micro, and it has tons of great games for a good price. Lets just hope they keep Gameboy Color compatibility in the Micro.

[Ed Oscuro]

Interesting article, but where do you see claims (aside from Sony's, which I don't really expect to come true this generation) such as those made in the article? AOL, downloading pictures and persistent worlds on the Xbox.

I also believe some of the Sony "demos" seen were programmed by affiliate companies, correct? I haven't seen the Killzone one, which many swear up and down is just CGI. They do look like games, as opposed to the face demo for the PS2. At the very least, Sony's getting better at tricking us ;)

[lendelin]

Great article which brings some realism iinto the hype machines.

When posters talked about the quality of the 'games' they saw at E3 (praising them or trashing them), I pointed out a couple of times that the demos, semi-real play footage or real-play footage looked much better than what we actually played later.

Remember the 64 Marios walking around in order to convince us how great the graphics of the N64 will be, and what the machine is capable of? ...and the 7th Guest ...and...and...and many little features which were mostly forgotten, sometimes came true, much, much, much later.

Wait and see to judge until you can read reviews and play praised games for yourself. There will be gameplay innovative ideas possible by the new hardware, the garphics will look much better, it will be a step up and we'll be impressed and will enjoy it. But nothing revolutionary.

Not everything is smoke and mirrors, though. You have to come to the beef of the marketing hype.

The promised PS2s hardware specs were kept within the marketing hype to counter the existing DC despite Saddam Husseins shopping spree, and it was certainly a big step when we could play Mario walking around a tree in true 3D.

If you sit in front of your TV and play, THEN you know what the next generation is all about. 6 months or a year before the launches we get a nice little glimpse worthwhile talking about if we add reality to the ads.

Worthwhile analyzing are the marketing strategies and their possible effects taken as such -- as marketing strategies.

[Ed Oscuro]

Yeah, I for one had to think twice about the Xbox 360 store function...damn, he's right. Really, a lot of claims there are mentioned that I wouldn't have heard otherwise - it's not as if I'm actively hunting them down. Heh, e3 is full of madness.