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[psyfi]

Over the past few years I've grown largely indifferent to the industry hype machine, and I rarely watch anything beyond a game's first gameplay trailer. Generally speaking, the more excited I am for a game, the more I avoid. I never completely avoid gaming sites or anything like that, I just don't seek out info / footage.

Not only does it make me even more surprised and excited when I finally get to dive into a game, but it usually makes the wait go by faster. Probably the longest I've gone from reveal trailer to launch was Breath of the Wild. Three years, I think? I learned bits and pieces from thread titles and headlines, but for the most part every little detail and mechanic was a total surprise. And there was so much to learn!

Here's hoping Super Mario Odyssey exceeds my non-expectations, too

 

[DecoReturns]

I was 100% media blackout for Super Smash Bros Brawl.

It was fantastic.

 

[EhoaVash]

its very hard thing to do these days

wish i was complete blackout with botw/odyssey

 

[Dabanton]

I'm on media blackout for Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Haven't watched anything on it since it's reveal at E3 and won't until it's on my X1X ready to play.

 

[Nzyme32]

Totally in the same boat and love it for many things, whether gaming, movies or music. Hype as in manufactured marketing and social nonsense on forums and alike is almost all shit. It is far more enjoyable to have surprise in a first experience and all expectations surpassed or totally wrong in a good way. All I need is a little research to know the game is for me.

Hollow Knight was my prime example. None stop surprises over my expectations.

 

[ClarkZuckerberg]

its very hard thing to do these days

wish i was complete blackout with botw/odyssey

Depends I guess. I frequent Twitter and Reddit multiple times a day but both of my apps that I use have filter options so I just filter out the latest movies, games, shows that I’m looking forward to so I don’t see anything for them. I did this for Spider-Man Homecoming and didn’t see a single trailer and loved it. Every second was a surprise because I didn’t know a single visual.

 

[black070]

I was thinking of making a thread on this myself funnily enough.

For whatever reason, my interest in watching/reading anything outside of the usual E3 press conference demos and the final review score have completely plummeted over the past year or so, hence I found myself going into the majority of games without a single clue what they entailed, and it’s been an absolutely tremendous experience each and every time. I honestly couldn’t recommend it more, if you are sold on a game do yourself a favour and avoid spoiling any more of it then you really need to.

 

[bobawesome]

I already feel like I've seen way too much of Odyssey. I wish I had ignored the Switch subreddit and all the trailers. Still, I'm sure I'll have a great time.

Sometimes I find myself getting spoiled by searching for things that aren't even directly tied to the game in question, though. Getting spoiled on the big reveal the day before Persona 5 released still hurts the most.

 

[struggler_guts]

Any game I even have remote interest in I black out because I love the mystery of not knowing anything while I play. I bought P5 physically and still havent looked at the cover cause I dont want to instantly know who my future teammates are gonnah be

 

[Smiles and Cries]

I would not know what I wanted to buy without some previews of the content to be honest

I really can't go in blind too picky and I don't have that much money to burn on poor choices

 

[Stranger Things]

I never watch gameplay or trailers. If a game has good ratings and reviews I'll play it completely blind.

 

[psyfi]

Totally in the same boat and love it for many things, whether gaming, movies or music. Hype as in manufactured marketing and social nonsense on forums and alike is almost all shit. It is far more enjoyable to have surprise in a first experience and all expectations surpassed or totally wrong in a good way. All I need is a little research to know the game is for me.

Hollow Knight was my prime example. None stop surprises over my expectations.

Totally agree, and HK tops my list of games to play next and I've only peeked at a few screenshots The word of mouth has been more than enough to sell me.

 

[iFirez]

I saw next to nothing about Shadow of War or South Park TFBW. SoW was a disappointment due to stale gameplay. South Park however is very enjoyable and I knew next to nothing about it other than the episodes that involved the super heroes on the show.

I’ve seen very little about Mario Odyssey and Assassins Creed Origins. So I’m very excited to get my hands on both of those.

I’ve been spoiled on games in the past so I try very hard not to see anything about them before release. I also go on a social media black out and out a minimum of 10 hours in at release too to avoid any early spoilers straight away.

 

[Aeana]

does this thread have sonic mania spoilers

 

[CannonFodder52]

Yea it really does amplify the excitement and enjoyment of the game.

I need to do it more often.

 

[bobawesome]

does this thread have sonic mania spoilers

u can play as tales

 

[CGiRanger]

I know that I enjoyed Breath of the Wild, the Witcher 3 and the original Xenoblade a lot more than I would have had I been spoiled by any media.

True I did consume a lot of media of Breath of the Wild, but at least with that game a lot of it was gameplay from the starting Great Plateau area and didn't know much of anything about the world beyond that.

 

[IISANDERII]

Media blackouts for movies are even more valuable because trailers spoil every fucken thing.

 

[Leafhopper]

I can kinda understand that but, considering how much BS is in some games now a days, I don't know if I could ever be 100% media blackout now a days.

Just don't watch all the gameplay videos or whatever now a days really.

 

[abstract alien]

Yep. I'll never understand why some people say it's the same if you know what to expect or not. It's fine if you don't care about spoilers, but to say it's literally the same is factually wrong.

 

[CaptainCook]

Outside of the initial reveal trailers I avoid all gameplay and future trailers. I can deduce if I want a game without watching through giant chunks of gameplay. Reviews are the only deciding factor for me these days. But I get why hype gets the best of people. When I was younger I would absorb every bit of info coming out about games I wanted. But I’m with you these days, going in mostly blind really enhances the discovery.

 

[Elfstar]

I think it's the only way to fully enjoy games nowadays.

Marketing campaigns have gone crazy, they show pretty much EVERYTHING from beginning to end (or at the very least all the best stuff), with all those monthly trailers, beta demos and early access promotional streams. If you follow all this shit you'll ruin yourself every single game.

 

[Silvergun-Blue]

It can be hard to tread the line between learning enough about a game to decide if you want it or not and having too much information.

One of the reasons I enjoyed Resident Evil 4 so much is that other than watching a brief video of the village section months before release, I essentially knew nothing about it.

 

[Mik2121]

I've been on an almost total media blackout for Mario Odyssey and AssCreed Origins. Can't wait to play both.

I was on a full media blackout for Zelda BotW and when I got to play it I was blown away.

 

[Permanently A]

I should try it someday, playing something like Danganronpa v3 with literally 0 clue of what the game is probably would have been crazy.

 

[jasminlovesyoux]

I'm totally with the op.

I hate spoilers, hate seeing whats in store. This goes for movies, books, games, any piece of media. The less I know the more enjoyable of an experience. Speaking of which, I'm actually less excited for Mario Odyssey because I feel like I've seen to much and Nintendos own trailers revealed a lot. I remember a topic pop up on gaf about two new worlds and didn;t dare click it.

 

[GiantBreadbug]

Same on BotW, largely blackout’d for Odyssey.

I believe it’s pretty objectively the best way to experience a given game. I learned the hard way with Sun and Moon. Those games having pretty much everything revealed before release set me along the path of the media blackout.

 

[SuperChoco]

I try avoid most media for games I do want to play.I definitely do think it helped with my enjoyment of Breath of the Wild and Metal Gear Solid 5. I am in a blackout for Mario Odyssey and Xenoblade 2 and shit, I still don't know anything about FF15! It's been years, but I'll finally get to find out what happens in the PC release next year.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

Media blackout is an extension of the hype machine. It’s basically just being so extremely pre-hyped for a game that you don’t care to actually see the details of what your getting into.

I like to know if I’m gonna spend $60+ and be walking into a train wreck like Andromeda.

 

[PrimeBeef]

Spoilers and information a head of time have never really ruined my experiences in movies or games. If it's something I'm really interested in I seek out as much info as I can. Now that comes with a caveat, I don't watch play throughs or anything similar. I just don't enjoy watching people play games. I'll read about the characters, gameplay systems, game locatioms, and the like. I enjoy being prepared. If I come across a story spoiler, I'll read it and anticipate when or how it happens in the game. But brimg on the info I say.

I like to know if I’m gonna spend $60+ and be walking into a train wreck like Andromeda.

But it was EA, you should expect that with everything they release.

 

[Renmyra]

I want to do this for FFXVI, but I doubt I'll ever go through with it unless the release date is within a year of the announcement.

I usually do it for Tales of games because I know they will be a hit for me regardless of what they put in them. Not knowing all the characters makes it slightly more exciting.

I was 100% media blackout for Super Smash Bros Brawl.

It was fantastic.

It was also fantastic following the Smash Dojo updates every day.

 

[fudgey_lumpkins]

You have to strike a balance. I'd like to know how the game is coming along and if it will be good. What I don't want is to know how to beat half the game before it's even released.

 

[RRockman]

does this thread have sonic mania spoilers

Shadow shows up and fuses with Sonic to become Shadic

 

[abstract alien]

Media blackout is an extension of the hype machine. It’s basically just being so extremely pre-hyped for a game that you don’t care to actually see the details of what your getting into.

I like to know if I’m gonna spend $60+ and be walking into a train wreck like Andromeda.

You could have figured that from the jump. I certainly did. I assumed Mario x Rabbids would have bugs and tech issues and I was right. Look where it came from.

 

[JelDeRebel]

I wouldn't want to buy a cat in a bag either


soo I will watch at least a gameplay trailer

 

[The Pet of the Month]

I've been doing this for years now! I used to try and learn everything about a game I was looking forward too, and when the game came out it had felt like I'd already played it.

Trailers lover to give away stuff, too. A little too much if you ask me.

Nowadays I look into the games that catch my eye and keep track of them, but I rarely ever look up more than a plot description, genre, or release date. Makes games so much more fun and surprising.

 

[MCD250]

I hear that. Like you I don't go on media blackouts, per sé (at least, not deliberately), but I generally don't 'follow' a game's coverage pre-release either, at least not very closely. Most times I usually watch a trailer or two to see if the game catches my eye, maybe read an interview with the developer, and from then on it's just a matter of waiting until the game is released, catching some impressions/reviews and making a purchasing decision. Keeping this distance isn't done out of some lack of interest or as a deliberate decision on my part or anything, I guess it's just the way my personality is wired. I know the game is coming and that it seems good enough to enter in my radar, and that's enough for me.

It's nice tbh. The few times that I've followed a game closely before release have typically led to my setting unrealistic expectations for it, or else becoming so familiar with different aspects of the game that I feel as though I know too much about it before even getting a chance to play it (at which point I start to lose interest). That sense of discovery that comes with playing a game for the first time and not fully knowing what it's like, what happens in it, how it works, etc. is a big part of the appeal of playing new games, for me. When the possibilities of what the game might offer seem huge and unexpected. It contributes a lot to the sense of fun and wonder.

 

[Altered Juice]

Pretty much. havent seen a mario odyssey video since E3 and just played it at Best Buy.

 

[Alebrije]

It works sometimes , guess that if someone went media blackout with No Man's Sky could have had a better experience

 

[Robot Pants]

Media blackouts make everything better

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

Absolutely. I give myself a trailer or two at most. After that It's blackout time. I don't even particularly care about story stuff that much... I just want the whole game world to be a surprise when I play it.

Mario Odyssey for example- I watched the initial and E3 trailers. And even then I feel like I've seen too much. It's been decades since we've gotten a 3D Mario like this, and I am ecstatic about playing it in a week having seen minimal footage.

 

[Floody]

Yep, MGS 5 and Uncharted 4 where the games that really showed that to me. Really wish I didn't follow those games pre-release so much.
I pretty much media blackout on everything now.

 

[Luminaire]

BLACKOUTS ARE THE BEST

I think they let you experience the game without all the hype, and see it for what it is. I've only been let down twice - once by No Man's Sky. I expected nothing from that game other than a space game and was still disappointed.

The other being The Division. All I new was you could close car doors. Got bored about 10 hours in.

 

[InsaneTiger]

I went into the Surge without knowing only seeing a one minute video. Bought game and had a blast. I also knew nothing about the Division except it was similar to Destiny, loot grind stuff. Bought the game and hated it, everything was a bullet sponge and it sucked.

 

[Ionic]

I was 100% media blackout for Super Smash Bros Brawl.

It was fantastic.

The months of Smash Dojo updates led to hours of school yard discussions. I wouldn't trade that away.

 

[Jencks]

I've seen the E3 trailer and nintendo direct footage of Odyssey, but that's it. Anyone know how much I haven't spoiled?

 

[Raven117]

I try not to watch too much on games I know I'm in.

 

[eKongDiddy]

I've seen the E3 trailer and nintendo direct footage of Odyssey, but that's it. Anyone know how much I haven't spoiled?

You’ve spoiled everything. Those were the only 4 kingdoms in the game, it’s an auto runner, and Mario can’t run and jump. Should cancel your preorder due to that 39/40 Famitsu score.

/obvious sarcasm/

You’re pretty clear, I think. On a blackout myself, and I’m hearing it’s going to be a huge game!

For me, it was Uncharted 1-3 and the Last of Us. Never watched a trailer about either game and was pleasantly surprised.

 

[theonerayman]

I like the theory of media blackouts on games. But there is exactly ONE developer I would even think about trusting when it comes to a game and that's Blizzard. Just can't trust them not to at least try and bend me over.

 

[True Fire]

Odyssey is my first hardcore media blackout, and I’m crazy excited. I haven’t seen anything past E3, besides spoiler tagged NeoGAF gossip and snippets of leaked reviews.