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"Hype Culture" is a scourge on video game discussion

I actually very well agree with the OP and I can't stress enough on the agreement at hand on the subject of over-hype. (after this week I'm sick of the goddamn word 'hype' )


I think the biggest example of this I've seen recently has been The Evil Within's 'hype' threads and folks. Same with the Wolfenstein: TNO threads.

Maybe it's been getting weirder very recently, but I thought the response to Wolfenstein TNO was fine. There were reasonable complaints about it and some people may have quibbled over scores, but generally my impression is of a moderately well liked game with a few really passionate yet well behaved superfans.
 
Maybe it's been getting weirder very recently, but I thought the response to Wolfenstein TNO was fine. There were reasonable complaints about it and some people may have quibbled over scores, but generally my impression is of a moderately well liked game with a few really passionate yet well behaved superfans.

I don't know why I threw Wolf TNO in there, but it was pretty semi-mild compared to TEW threads.
 
I lost all my hype when MGS2 came out and Snake wasn't the main character. So you don't have to worry about me, OP.

As for hype threads, they are annoying, so I avoid them.
 
Thanks for the thoughtful post, but I am afraid this discussion will change nothing. People will still get hyped for things, it's inevitable in a medium full of people as passionate as those who play games.

I think it's perfectly find if realistic expectations are kept in check regardless of hype. I love to get hyped about Directs, or future announcements, but always have my realistic expectations in check. The two can coexist.
 
Except you haven't seen NMS in real time, you have only seen what the marketing department thought would be a good snippet to build up the feed the masses and let their own imagination do the marketing.

With crazy pop-in at that, at least in the footage I watched.
 
Between June 11, 2013 and the launch of Super Smash Bros, there were 18 official prerelease threads for the latest upcoming game. 18! 20,000 posts per thread! For a game that wasn't anywhere near launch!

What did they talk about for that long? The game has been out for for a few months now on 3DS, and it's still on OT2.

Sakurai did a picture of the day on Miiverse that kept hype and lots of talk around the game because sometimes he would reveal new and old mechanics, trivia about franchises and where some characters/trophies/items came from, new characters, stages and so on. There was a lot to talk about and lots of analysis made from videos.
 
I had never heard the word outside a couple people who were eager with anticipation. Typically I'd hear something on the lines of, "I can't wait for" or "_____ should be good". Those I got. I even said them myself. I feel that the marketing in the last couple years has turned games into their own subculture, so there is hype no matter what. It's how you relate yourself as being a fan of a select type of game. Halo 2 brought in quite a few people who were just getting into FPS or they wanted to play more of Halo. I think this brought in the "Hype" that makes people made from time to time. It probably brought more hype then than it does now in a way. I don't get to be around that many gamers now which is why I'm bringing this up. I think our "hype culture" will be around as long as games entice the player. Sooner or later the "hype" drained my wallet and I had to pick and choose what I enjoyed the most. I still feel that "hype" should be around, but it does put everything in check at times. Sometimes "hype" makes me feel like I've lost touch with the game I once loved or it segregates me from a community. I do feel its all on a personal level at times. If you're excited, be excited for the right reason because it doesn't last long. I know games I've enjoyed for years have a totally different community than I expected once I got online or at times there's nothing more to say about a subject. I'd rather be a little mature about things than spoil everything and be disappointed. The cost kills hype for me at least. A lot of Destiny hype had me spending $100 and I felt like I should of payed half. I think a lot of us could blame each other for it, but its really about maturity. I use to buy every game that came out and to a point I still do. I own a lot of things on various services because I've taken recommendations from "hype", so I know the negative aspect of it all.

I remember when the Xbox 360 was coming out and every title launched was watched by people who may or may not of just gotten into gaming. They'd get their gamerscore ready and "hype" was everywhere and anywhere. I think some of that has brought on the "Hype Culture". I probably spent more than I should of last gen, but I had a lot of fun. I did the same thing with the PS2, but the difference was the progress they had already done with graphics. It's more or less graphics = hype = overkill, but not all the time. Now a 45 on Metacritic looks like Skyrim and Crysis, so I do think some of it is going away. Lots of people spending money on games that may not be the best out there. I felt a different side of this industry 15+ years ago, so I think history could possibly repeat itself. I just won't cash in on every good idea. I feel like eye candy and cheap game play gimmicks affect players far too often.

I think people like Maximilian use the term for the right reasons. I think he knows the difference between being this 2 to 7 month fan of something and actually liking a game for what it is. I feel that a lot of us do, but he uses the term "hype". I thought I'd bring it up to showcase the good and the bad.
 
This, the extreme information disgorging spoiling my discovery of a game, and my dislike of incessant opinion tidbits keep me out of hype threads, and just get my inital "WANTWANTWANT.gif" legit elation post or thereabouts when the news hits.

I understand that hype can be extremely fun for some people, but it also disproportionately benefits the huge publishers.

This is true for a pretty specific reason: building hype takes money and connections. You need to be "in" with places like Game Informer or IGN. You need to be able to do promotions with Gamestop. And of course, most of all, you need to advertise.

Obviously, small studios are incapable of doing this, because they don't have much money. This doesn't make the "hype cycle" evil, or people who enjoy it bad; I'm only pointing out that the hype cycle is heavily encouraged, fueled and driven by the biggest corporations in gaming because they directly benefit from its existence at the expense of smaller developers. Whether that bothers you or not is a different discussion.

And of course, much of that work would not exist for long if those like myself didn't, well, shill. It's a partnership and a positive one, and not the manipulative carpet bombing mess that most AAA PR/ad campaigns are.

DS2 is also a great example of the "anti-hype" train. Immediately after launch you couldn't write two words around here without people telling you that the game is shit, throwing that credits picture and the matthewmatosis video around.

It goes both ways.

Nnnnnnnnnnnno, that's the exact opposite of what we're talking about here. Post release, not metasticizingly positive, and based upon critical analysis from the finished product squaring off in debate.
 
I agree with the OP, there are some areas I just won't delve into, like there are a few specific concerns I have with Bloodborne going by the videos we have seen but I fear that if I voiced them in any of the Bloodborne threads I will be shouted down with the oh so witty lol go and play Call of Duty responses that turned that Demon's Souls thread into such a shitpit.

I also dislike the amount of emotional investment people seem to put into their chosen flag. The Uncharted 3 review thread was awful, people claiming they were having panic attacks because some outlet didn't give it a 45 out of ten
 
Kids shouldn't hype up christmas since all they're getting are sweaters >:)

On a serious note, I got worn out from last year and learned to be excited but not to ride the train. I don't want to do another watchdogs -_- even got suckered into buying the season pass which shortly after finishing the game I returned it for $50.
 
Kids shouldn't hype up christmas since all they're getting are sweaters >:)

On a serious note, I got worn out from last year and learned to be excited but not to ride the train. I don't want to do another watchdogs -_- even got suckered into buying the season pass which shortly after finishing the game I returned it for $50.

Know the feeling, except I went digital and could only stomach a couple of.hours.
 
I think a JPSlasher thread may have been guilty of one of your "sins" I suppose. Honestly though I was a bit upset about the negative previews TEW was getting, and seeing someone who actually played it and could explain why the gameplay worked was fantastic. Certainly brightened my outlook on the game, which certainly delivered. Sometimes I think the mainstream journo people really miss the boat on previews, hell look what happened to W101
 
Hype, like everything else, is something good at the right time and bad at the wrong time. Echoing what some have said, one of the big problems with hype gone wrong is it creates the preconditions for a hostile backlash that may in itself go completely overboard.

My personal example of the last few years is Dark Souls. This is a game of which invoking its very name has become something of a cliche. So much enthusiasm for Dark Souls as the best game of a generation has at times crossed over into aggressively asserting Dark Souls is a masterpiece at every possible opportunity. This has lead to a noticeable backlash against Dark Souls. It's now a meme that people only like Dark Souls in order to act as elitist hipsters and that it is in fact a terrible game which many people are trying to trick everyone into believing is amazing.

The problem of course is that a lot of stuff done in the name of hype remains harmless fun and it's no good throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The internet medium's tendency to draw out sociopathic displays of hostile negativity doesn't help the situation. It sometimes feels as if there's just enough people who are addicted to shitting on people who are happy about something they think it stupid, to maintain a cycle of escalation.

"Yay Thing!"

"Fuck you disgusting fanboys, Thing is stupid, you have an anime avatar!"

"Why do you hate Thing? It's so good!"

"I bet you live in your parents basement and are a virgin and I just doxxed j00, I'm not going to stop until Game Company stops making Thing for gross people like you!"

"Fuck you! Thing is the best ever and you're a moron, anyone who doesn't celebrate Thing is a fraud! I'm going to go make a thread on ten forums about how anyone who doesn't like thing is WRONG, kappa!!"
 
Know the feeling, except I went digital and could only stomach a couple of.hours.

That's the main reason I will only buy physical on media hyped titles. They tend to just be misses with me.
Except with my Destiny Ghost Edition, Gamestop be all like "We'll give ya $30" which at that point I may as well keep it.
 
To be honest, you're a fool for eating up the PR and Marketing anyway. So meh. I agree, it's sad but people need to evaluate what they're being fed before making up their minds years(yes years) before a game is even released.












That being said, how fucking hype does Omen look for Killer Instcint Season 2!?
 
I agree. I think "HYPErbole" fits the bill better. A lot of publishers like to latch on to this phenomenon to "manufacture" hype, like dropping a stone into a pond and watching the ripples echo off the walls. And we're to blame.
 
I'm sorry I'm not going to curb my hype. If I'm excited about something in my hobby of choice I'm going to let the excitement build.

I would like to cast my vote to the overly negative hyperbole as the scourge of video game culture. Love reading how stuff is shit or garbage on a regular basis.
 
I... have no idea what you're talking about.

I swear.

This.

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

On a more serious note, yeah, I pretty much post the kind of ''HOLY SHIT!'' little, pointless posts when I'm overwhelmed by excitement for a new announcement.

Though I'm fully assumed, I'm a hype guy I guess! I can be very expressive with my downs, also, like when I missed that Majora Mask LE by seconds earlier today! :lol

I'm really passionate and am legit over-happy for these kind of things, gaming is my main hobby and will probably be until my last days.

A lot of people on GAF are hype though, it's pretty much why I like posting/reading here since I can, it drained an awful amount of my free time but it ain't for nothing, it's fun to discuss and be excited about gaming news with people here!
 
I like to think being appropriately hyped comes with age and putting things in perspective.
Meaning a potentially good looking video game is just that. A potentially good looking video game. I might even look forward to playing it. But it is just a video game. Hell, the truth is I might even be too tired to play it.
So I keep things in perspective.

.
 
Hype culture also has a very nasty side effect when a game doesn't live up to impossible expectations.

Classic examples being the review threads/reactions for Uncharted 3 and Twilight Princess.
 
I think the publishers are very good at manufacturing hype for their games and gamers, being at heart enthusiasts, tend to buy in, a little too strongly at times.

I do think 'hype culture' is a problem as it tends to promote games that big on presentation as these are easier to promote.

But then again I think Destiny is GOTY :-)
 
I see no problem in a bunch of people gathering to discuss something they are super looking forward too.

The run up to a new Smash game is super fun...

I do agree however when the group then shits on anyone who isn't hype...that's not cool.

But generally hype threads exist as a place to talk about games you are hype about...and with how negative GAF can get..i think that's great.
 
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