The issue is the difference between "we refuse to comment on rumors" and "that person is a liar". I don't like the latter.I don't see any issue with that. What is inherently "wrong" about a company not committing to a leak? I would honestly rather see the reveal of the game from the company as opposed to reading about it in a leak.
Mario + Rabbids made me do a complete 180 but I can only imagine how I would have felt seeing Miyamoto and Yves on the Ubisoft stage presenting me a Mario + Rabbids collaboration that I'd never heard of. I think I would have been blown away with that presentation moreso than I was.
No, but there is harm in Laura Kate Dale's reputation when Beyond Good and Evil turns out to not be a Switch exclusive. For some reason, that's the hill both Laura and (with this video) Jim want to die on, despite the vast majority of Laura's Switch software rumours proving incorrect.Is there any inherent 'harm' to the consumer at play by this issue?
Again, saying "we have not announced this at this time" or "we don't want to comment on rumors" is very different than "that person is wrong. There are no plans"Not really sure how it could ever be wrong. Customers don't have a right to a press release just because rumours are doing the rounds, and a company doesn't have an obligation to undermine a marketing campaign and various NDAs just because customers suspect something.
It's just as morally reprehensible as vehemently denying that you are preparing a surprise party for anyone when you are, in fact, doing so. People that do that should go to jail. So horrible. Disgusting.
Are you permanently hurting someone's career reputation if people say they're lying about a party, though?
This analogy doesn't really work for me because the fallout of a journalist being accused of lying can be a really big deal for that person. People will come out of the woodwork to harass that person because they're being accused of being a liar.
Very true. The movie industry lets you know every stage of the process from pitch>script>production>done. Same with music and basically any other creative industry. I think with games though, what they look like is more important than what they sound like or just the thought of them. Unless it's a really known IP like Spider-Man or God of War, people won't know what to get hyped about. So, the devs decide to wait until they have something proper to show.The game industry's inane secrecy makes no sense to me. no other entertainment industry does this. I don't know why they can't simply say "yeah we're working on this game".
Then again we've seen how gamers react when companies don't do exactly what they want.
Fair enough. Saying 'that person is wrong' is a statement that could be proven incorrect later, I think companys should avoid saying that, that's why most of them go with 'nothing to announce at this time' etc.Again, saying "we have not announced this at this time" or "we don't want to comment on rumors" is very different than "that person is wrong. There are no plans"
Neither ruins any marketing or NDAs
Sorry I have to step in. After an interview with Mike Colter, where he said he's the main character of Halo 5 and you stepped in that Chief is still the main character and hero. 3/15 missions is not really the main character I guess.I like this analogy.
BTW I often get accused of denying games exist or claiming falsehoods but outside of actual mistakes I can't lie about a public company's business. So I deflect or change the subject but I have never knowingly lied about something despite what my pms and Twitter responses claim. I've certainly fudge answers but I'd never say "game x is not coming out" if I knew it actually was.
"A" primary character,
Chief is the main character and hero.
And why hasn't Stinkles been in here to deny it yet? Oh wait, here he is, denying it.
I have no idea what the project he is tweeting about is, but CA works on more than just Halo stuff for companies other than just 343, but it is absolutely NOT H2A and nobody is currently working on any such thing
This on the other hand is and has always been a cool idea and you never know, it could happen one day. The code still works (albeit crazy buggy).
Again, just say "no comment" or "we don't comment on rumors or speculaiton" or whatever. It's that easy.
OP, you wouldn't happen to be acting under the pretense of "wrong" being synonymous with "stupid" would you?
Sorry I have to step in. After an interview with Mike Colter, where he said he's the main character of Halo 5 and you stepped in that Chief is still the main character and hero. 3/15 missions is not really the main character I guess.
Also you denied that CA or anybody else is working on H2A, even though they build the H2A MP.
I actually think many do that or say "we have nothing to announce at this time." It still gets treated the same as a flat "no" by a lot of people who would accuse them of lying."We don't comment on rumors and speculation." Congrats no lying required.
Yes because THEY WANT IT NOW1!1 /sIs there any inherent 'harm' to the consumer at play by this issue?
It's just as morally reprehensible as vehemently denying that you are preparing a surprise party for anyone when you are, in fact, doing so. People that do that should go to jail. So horrible. Disgusting.
As mentioned in the Jimquisition ep you reference, companies acting in this way can have unforeseen negative consequences for innocent people, as shown with what happened to Laura Kate Dale after she reported on an Until Dawn: Rush of Blood leak which Supermassive then denied the existence of, leading to people accusing LKD of being a liar and lowering her reputation, before the game was then confirmed to be real about 6 days later. Is it really worth potentially ruining a journalists reputation just so you can reveal your game a few days later??
Are you permanently hurting someone's career reputation if people say they're lying about a party, though?
The game industry's inane secrecy makes no sense to me. no other entertainment industry does this. I don't know why they can't simply say "yeah we're working on this game".
Then again we've seen how gamers react when companies don't do exactly what they want.
This is a great point actually that I didn't thought of, agreed on the rest too.It's real shitty when there's going to be a PC version (or any unannounced platform, really) that they don't reveal until much later so that consumers can't make a fully informed choice about which version they'd like to buy. That is perhaps slightly immoral on the grounds that it's deceptive and deliberately interferes with consumer autonomy for the benefit of the publisher.
Denying a game's existence, period, isn't immoral and doesn't fall anywhere in the moral domain. No one is being hurt or having their autonomy infringed upon. It's not unfair to anyone. Sharing information about in-development consumer products isn't a moral issue.
Is it really worth potentially ruining a journalists reputation just so you can reveal your game a few days later??
It's not wrong, it's just really dumb.
A games first reveal is a very big deal and often the thing people remember most about a games marketing.
It really sucks when details leak early. No I dont think its wrong to flat out lie about a games existence for any reason. We are not entitled to that info. We arent investors.
Even though it may seem like the secret is all out of the bag, a large majority of people who dont follow games like we do are still out of the loop and will get the full experience planned from the reveal.
Is it really worth a journalists reputation to leak a game six days early? Game devs owe journalists nothing.
Is it really? Leaks usually offer very little actual information, it's mostly about the headline. If you can't say something substantial about it, why say anything at all. To fuel the hype culture?A journalist's job is to report these kinds of things. In no other medium would a company just come out and deny the existence of an unannounced product that exists and insinuate the journalist reporting the story is a liar
Is it really? Leaks usually offer very little actual information, it's mostly about the headline. If you can't say something substantial about it, why say anything at all. To fuel the hype culture?
The fact that something exists that no one knew about previously is substantial news. What is more substantial than that, from a gaming news perspective? Don't say reviews, reviews are not news.Is it really? Leaks usually offer very little actual information, it's mostly about the headline. If you can't say something substantial about it, why say anything at all. To fuel the hype culture?
This is a weird thing to try to have a moral discussion about
who's hurt by this
who
Publishers publish new video games is something that tends to happen. No I don't think it in itself is newsworthy. If there's substantial information about the game, then sure. But if the article is "this is a thing" or can be covered in a Tweet, then I think it's pretty pointless. And the information ofcourse needs to be correct too, rumours have very little value.The job of a journalist is to find and report on newsworthy happenings. In the video game industry, are you saying that the existence of a new, unannounced video game from a major publisher isn't newsworthy? I'm pretty sure it is.