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[foxdvd]

It has been said before, but it is worth repeating. Even game sites that give fair reviews are guilty of hyping up a game before they come out with a positive preview. IGN is the worst at this, making a game sound like a 9 or 10 before it comes out and then giving it a 6 or 7 after. (not trying to say IGN is fair on reviews either though lol) In the pre-order world we live in, and with more and more publishers keeping reviews from hitting until the game is out, these previews are becoming more important.

I am sure the writers of these previews tell themselves that it is just a preview and no real harm. They will get the truth out when the actual review comes out. That is not journalism, that is paid advertising.

 

[riceandpea]

I would say telling people are a part of the problem is a problem.

I'm sorry if my day one hype for smash bros upsets you.

I would say there is no problem in the first place. LET PEOPLE FEEL, damn it.

/hippy

 

[Aaron D.]

I think we're all ultimately responsible for how invested we get into games pre-release.

Most of the time I just file a game of interest in my head (or drop it into my Steam Wishlist, etc.) and then wait and see how it is received upon release. That's how it goes most of the time.

However, if I'm pining for a particular game I'll go all out in pouring over previews, interviews, media and such pre-release. It's fun to build excitement for a franchise/dev that I trust and am willing to Day One regardless. It's kind of like what they say about a big planned vacation, the weeks or months of anticipation leading up to it can be just as exciting & gratifying as the holiday itself.

I currently am giddy as a school-girl for Farming Simulator 15. It's got virtually zero coverage save a couple short reveal trailers and some off-screen demo footage from Gamescom. But I'm still lapping up every morsel of info and chatting it up on dedicated message boards with others who are just as excited for the Oct. release as I am.

In this case, I see nothing wrong with being excited and hyped about a game pre-release. It's half the fun!

 

[Dommo]

We live in an advertising culture. This site, YouTube, the vast majority of television all rely on it to even exist. Marketing is all about hype and making you believe something you haven't experienced. You can no sooner get rid of hype than you can shut down the entire internet. Should people's expectations be realistic? Of course. Is everyone smarter and better than an entire industry designed to play on your mind, emotions, and triggers? No, you aren't. Try to educate yourself and temper your expectations, but acting like we should all be immune to hype and that somehow certain media shouldn't participate in it (when they wouldn't exist if they didn't) is delusional.

There seems to be a lack of understanding in the core function of a news eco system here. Just because we live in an advertising culture doesn't mean it should be permeating every single element of our lives. On the contrary, journalism serves as the direct counterpoint to the marketing machine of the industry it's serving. The only healthy way that an industry exists is one where corporations are allowed to advertise and hype their own products as much as they'd like so long as there's media there to keep them honest if they're bullshitting. That's the sole reason for media. To serve the consumers and ensure they're not throwing their money away.

Websites like IGN and Gamespot are supposed to be telling us the reality. When a developer says that their game is going to be the best thing ever, Gamespot should come in and report on what it's actually like in a reasonable, rational manner. That way, without actually have to shell out $60, we can understand what this game is offering, and whether it's for us.

The day that journalism becomes "another source of hype and marketing that can't be expected to be responsible for deluding consumers" is the day that it's useless and the industry is beyond fucked. Sadly, we may have already reached that day.

 

[staticneuron]

What's convenient about pre-ordering a game?

I have games shipped or delivered to me. It helps me with notifications managing my funds especially if I forget the game is going to be released. I don't have to keep on top of the release dates of the games I really want to get.

The issue here is that you're still paying for content when you have no idea if it's any good or not.

Like I stated, and you quoted in the post, purchasing it for games that you enjoy. If you enjoy a particular game, what are the chances of you disliking the DLC? I have not had that happen to me..... ever. It is a really empty stance because the point is whether or not you like the core game and the content is normally giving you more of the core content.

What? Early access is one of the biggest controversies in gaming right now. What do you mean by not really a thing?

I mean not that many large corporations are using it ,are they? I mean I know some small devs trying to finish a game on steam are using it and EA's special thing on the Xbox one but I think there is a world of difference between the two and Early access for a game from a small dev is a way of showing that the game isn't vaporware while trying to keep the development going.

EDIT:
I would also like to state is that the reason people feel comfortable with preordering is trust. Trust, of the developers or pubs that push quality. Some people are swayed by hype. That is something you can never stop. I am more swayed by the personal history I have had with a dev and franchise and so far that has worked out for me pretty well. I can basically count out the games on one hand that I purchased in the past 10 years and honestly didn't like.

 

[theusedversion]

I don't really follow games media and the sort of thing he talks about is one of the reasons. There is rarely any real journalism, there is rarely anything more than simply parroting of official press information and reviews don't interest me.

I've been able to fairly easily judge whether a game will be to my liking pre-release based on a number of factors and that serves me well. The rest is just served by the talk of other gamers on forums like NeoGAF, Reddit, smaller hobbyist forums, friends, twitter, etc.

I'd like to question how actually important are the games media? How often is it that any of the actually big stories source from a games website? It seems like most of these days they come from a regular user discovering something and the community running with it - then the games media report on it. I don't really know what the games media is good for other than coverage of non-streamed live events? (For me, at least).

This. So much this. This perfectly describes me. I don't have much use of the media except for the occasional story or interview.

 

[Marcel]

I would say telling people are a part of the problem is a problem.

I'm sorry if my day one hype for smash bros upsets you.

No, it's not upsetting to me. Blind buys and buyer's remorse are potentially your problem, not mine.

 

[Nordicus]

He switched the comments off because he couldn't take being told to rub a razorblade on his forearm like a scrubbing brush and drown in his own blood every time he tried to find constructive criticism.
Too much negativity even for him.

That wasn't quite it. See below:

He doesn't 'censor' the comments on his own videos. There are no comments. He disabled them when Youtube went with the Google+ bullshit. He has a subreddit where you can talk about the videos and be critical if you want.

So yeah, the Google+ comment changes made it so that the most controversial comments would always be on top. TB can handle horrible youtube comments as long as they aren't always the first ones that you see.

 

[Lomax]

There seems to be a lack of understanding in the core function of a news eco system here. Just because we live in an advertising culture doesn't mean it should be permeating every single element of our lives. On the contrary, journalism serves as the direct counterpoint to the marketing machine of the industry it's serving. The only healthy way that an industry exists is one where corporations are allowed to advertise and hype their own products as much as they'd like so long as there's media there to keep them honest if they're bullshitting. That's the sole reason for media. To serve the consumers and ensure they're not throwing their money away.

Websites like IGN and Gamespot are supposed to be telling us the reality. When a developer says that their game is going to be the best thing ever, Gamespot should come in and report on what it's actually like in a reasonable, rational manner. That way, without actually have to shell out $60, we can understand what this game is offering, and whether it's for us.

The day that journalism becomes "another source of hype and marketing that can't be expected to be responsible for deluding consumers" is the day that it's useless and the industry is beyond fucked. Sadly, we may have already reached that day.

Enthusiast media isn't journalism and has never been journalism. It may carry aspects of journalism and even do some decent reporting, but they are fans, just like we are. Read and listen to comments and reviews made by people with similar tastes to you, who tell you what they like and they don't and why. Taste is inherently subjective and deluding ourselves into thinking it can be largely objective is why we fall victim to hype.

 

[Spacecowboy77]

He's spot on.

Exactly the reason I haven't (and will not) preordered any fall 2014 games yet.

 

[Derp]

Total Biscuit philosophy;


1) It almost brought down their entire studio to get Witcher 2 out. It took everything they had. Absolutely everything. Read the articles about how close they were.

2) The idea that Witcher 3 will be so many times bigger, while being so beautiful is audacious. No! There will have to be compromises. To make such an expansive land mass there has to be corners cut. There are not a development team with enough staff on earth to create such a streamlined storytelling focus like Witcher 2 when the world is so many times bigger.

If Assassins Creed Unity has 1000 people on its dev team, and Witcher 3 is not even half that, and ACU will be a 10-15-20 hour experience, and Witcher 3 will be a 200+ were is the balance in that?


3) Witcher 3 employs the same combat system as Witcher 2 with modification, this is going to make a lot of people angry, and reviews will put negs on it for this. I personally like it, but I know a lot of people were not to crazy with W2 combat.



4) If it's too good to be true, it's possible not true. Witcher 2 was amazing. Witcher 2 had amazing choices. Less than 2 hours into the game you are making the most significant choice I have ever seen in a video game, that basically splits the entire game into something else. Not since Chrono Trigger have I felt a game being so diverse. There is simply no freaking way that Witcher 3 could replicate that feeling when the land mass and the world is so much bigger. To fill such a large space with meaningful NPCs quests everywhere.. Its just not possible.





I want Witcher 3 to be amazing, but I don't think any game ever ads anything to itself without sacrificng quality/polish/content in some other area.
Based on what I have seen I think the exploration will be good. But pacing concerns me. Meaningful and amount of story choices concern me. And I am concerned if the game can unleash writing as sharp, with an as powerful antagonist as Witcher 2 had.


Developers don't mysteriously get more power or can fix their problems by throwing bigger budgets and more manpower after it. It rarely works that way, and companies like Ubisoft and EA and BlizzActi have a problem understanding that.

Wow, being a Witcher fan all this time i had no idea the development of Witcher 2 almost brought the studio down. I did know how small the company was and that they put a hell of a lot of effort into it, but i didn't know it was so severe. That bloody well shows how dedicated they are, especially as It's one of my all time favourite games, and that says something!

I pretty much agree with everything you've said though. I personally loved the combat in Witcher 2, and like you said, i know of many people that found it annoying, which actually put them off the game. I think they've probably done something about it though. They'd be silly to alienate those people who wanted to play it but couldn't because of how they felt about the combat.

The choices in Witcher 2 were really amazing and i understand what you mean with Witcher 3 having to try and replicate it (or even surpass it) in terms of writing, story choices, characters, etc... But these being some of the most appealing aspects of the game is what makes me believe CDPR has it covered. Yet there is the fact that sacrifices will be made and it's definitely worrying.

I'm really really really hoping the significance of the choices we make and their impact on the story will be huge. That's something that'll make me upset if it's not done brilliantly. That, and well written characters (Iorveth is one of my favourite game characters of all time, i swear).

But i have faith! Go CDPR! You wouldn't dare ruin the sequel to my favourite RPG now, would you?!

 

[Norns]

It's human nature to be get excited about things. "hype culture" is the most hilarious thing I've read all week though.

 

[Gipsy Danger]

It's human nature to be get excited about things. "hype culture" is the most hilarious thing I've read all week though.

It's more about not letting games media affect your opinion on games pre-release. Of course you can be excited as long as you are the one who is excited and you haven't been affected by the nonsense that games press have been known to spout before a game is even out.

 

[breakfuss]

He is damn right.
The hype-culture surrounding games need to die in a fire.

Because it's wrong to actually be excited about video games. Yeesh, everyone is so jaded.

 

[staticneuron]

Total Biscuit philosophy;


1) It almost brought down their entire studio to get Witcher 2 out. It took everything they had. Absolutely everything. Read the articles about how close they were.

2) The idea that Witcher 3 will be so many times bigger, while being so beautiful is audacious. No! There will have to be compromises. To make such an expansive land mass there has to be corners cut. There are not a development team with enough staff on earth to create such a streamlined storytelling focus like Witcher 2 when the world is so many times bigger.

If Assassins Creed Unity has 1000 people on its dev team, and Witcher 3 is not even half that, and ACU will be a 10-15-20 hour experience, and Witcher 3 will be a 200+ were is the balance in that?


3) Witcher 3 employs the same combat system as Witcher 2 with modification, this is going to make a lot of people angry, and reviews will put negs on it for this. I personally like it, but I know a lot of people were not to crazy with W2 combat.



4) If it's too good to be true, it's possible not true. Witcher 2 was amazing. Witcher 2 had amazing choices. Less than 2 hours into the game you are making the most significant choice I have ever seen in a video game, that basically splits the entire game into something else. Not since Chrono Trigger have I felt a game being so diverse. There is simply no freaking way that Witcher 3 could replicate that feeling when the land mass and the world is so much bigger. To fill such a large space with meaningful NPCs quests everywhere.. Its just not possible.





I want Witcher 3 to be amazing, but I don't think any game ever ads anything to itself without sacrificng quality/polish/content in some other area.
Based on what I have seen I think the exploration will be good. But pacing concerns me. Meaningful and amount of story choices concern me. And I am concerned if the game can unleash writing as sharp, with an as powerful antagonist as Witcher 2 had.


Developers don't mysteriously get more power or can fix their problems by throwing bigger budgets and more manpower after it. It rarely works that way, and companies like Ubisoft and EA and BlizzActi have a problem understanding that.

1. They released a mod for W2 so you can experience some of the fighting changes done to the system. If you still don't like the gameplay after the mod then W3 is probably not going to be for you.

2. Game size being larger doesn't mean that it is going to be filled to the brim with NPC. If you have played the first witcher, rdr, or even a game like skyrim then you should get the gist of what is going to be happening in this large world.... and chances are it is going to be comprised of mainly traveling and hunting. The Griffin sequence they released video simply shows alot of terrain being covered for hunting one creature. I really don't thing that is something you should compare to unity that is in the middle of france during the revolution. One game has the ability to have vast stretches of land where it is only you and the creatures/random village, the other is in the middle of a huge crowded city.

3. If , as a gamer, you thought witcher 2 to be better than the first witcher, why would you chose to believe that the witcher 3 wouldn't be an improvement?

 

[Marcel]

Because it's wrong to actually be excited about video games. Yeesh, everyone is so jaded.

There's a fine line between being excited and doing free advertising. Echo chamber hype threads with little to no actual discussion are a good example of free advertising.

 

[Dictator93]

TB is pretty much 100% on the point. Yep.

 

[SuperSaiyanAkuma]

I understand why hype can be "toxic" in games journalism...

but I LOVE games, me the consumer, the buyer, the guy who has been playing video games for going on 17 years now, LOVES games... I'm going to get hype.
I read the threads, I read other peoples opinions on games and I still get hype on the run up to release; it's the natural thing to do when something new comes up within something you enjoy.

Some prominent figures seem to have forgotten that at the end of the day games are meant to be enjoyed, and anticipation and hype are big parts of that.

 

[derExperte]

It's human nature to be get excited about things. "hype culture" is the most hilarious thing I've read all week though.

If you haven't noticed we're starting to talk more and more about the hype than the games itself. It's not 'my game is better than your game' anymore, it's 'my hype is real while yours is manufactured'. Very weird and off-putting.

 

[Marcel]

I understand why hype can be "toxic" in games journalism...

but I LOVE games, me the consumer, the buyer, the guy who has been playing video games for going on 17 years now, LOVES games... I'm going to get hype.
I read the threads, I read other peoples opinions on games and I still get hype on the run up to release; it's the natural thing to do when something new comes up within something you enjoy.

Some prominent figures seem to have forgotten that at the end of the day games are meant to be enjoyed, and anticipation and hype are big parts of that.

You can enjoy games without being a huge mark for game/hype culture.

 

[Enduin]

Yeah, I avoid game's journalism at all costs in most cases. Thankfully I've only been really burned once from getting really hyped up about a game, X Rebirth, which was mostly a result of my own doing and not some media outlet. Nearly every game I've preordered I really liked, or at least wasn't disappointed with my purchase.

I don't preorder often, and I read even less media material about upcoming games. The most I use to do was watch gametrailers stuff, but that's it and I barely do that anymore. When I do preorder it's for one of two reasons, both instances are because I know I'll at least enjoy the game if not really love it and so I'm either preordering out of convenience or due to there being a good deal like there often is on Steam or GMG prior to release.

I would never preorder a game I wasn't sure about. I always wait until after release to see impressions and watch some user reviews and videos. The thing that urks me the most about gaming journalism is how often they totally wrong about things they are reporting. The number of times I've read an article or seen a preview video about a game I was only even passively interested/knowledgeable in and saw these journalists get fundamental info about the game wrong is staggering. It's amazing how lax their work quality is.

 

[EmptySpace]

the media just sours my taste on games like watchdogs, titanfall and now with evolve and the division. just the way they hyped those games is just..ugh.

 

[SuperSaiyanAkuma]

You can enjoy games without being a huge mark for game/hype culture.

Hype culture? Also known as getting excited about something you're passionate about?

 

[DaciaJC]

He is certainly spot on when it comes to games media. I wish he had spent more time on how many common gamers are a key component of this cycle, consuming and perpetuating the hype. I've read a fair few threads on this forum where most posters are practically tripping over themselves to gush about a cinematic trailer or press release, and it never fails to bother me.

 

[erawsd]

Maybe its just me but does anyone actually get excited about something because IGN or Gamespot says they should? I can't even recall the last time I've read an an article on any of these sites.

 

[Turin Turambar]

Well, doh.

It's very clear what companies marketing department do and why they do it: it works. People can get incredibly excited for a game before even trying it, they even put $60 for an unproven product. Let's remember Watch Dogs or TitanFall one month before release.
If people would wait just two weeks they would have a trove of information to make an informed by decision, which is what they companies don't want. They want you to act on impulse, on feelings, not on rational thought.

It's my stance to have a more healthy scepticism for video games.

 

[Marcel]

Hype culture? Also known as getting excited about something you're passionate about?

You're passionate about million-dollar first world consumer products? Whatever floats your boat. Are you passionate about fast food or HD televisions too?

 

[ys45]

I don't think hype by itself is the problem, the problem are the games companies that found out ways to make money with gamers hype like pre-orders and exclusive DLC and other things like that
And of course those articles from website who will praise an upcoming game when they have not played or played 1h of the game is not helping, I think they should stay neutral when writing about upcoming games.

If you enjoy a hobby it is only natural to have hype for something coming out/coming soon, lot of people are hyping stuff like movies or a new release of a comic book .
Using moderation is of course advised when hyped for something (speaking from personal experience)

 

[SuperSaiyanAkuma]

You're passionate about million-dollar first world consumer products? Whatever floats your boat. Are you passionate about fast food or HD televisions too?

I'm passionate about games all together! From the multimillion triple A titles down to that indie game from the 2 man dev team. If I see some gameplay or a trailer that grabs my intention and interests me, then guess what, I'm going to get hype about it.

Want to know something else? I'll spread my hype, I'll tell friends; "yo, this game looks pretty good, you should check it out." They might not agree or they might agree and get hype too

Honestly, I don't see all that much wrong with it!
Gamers getting hyped up about games makes a hell of a lot of sense to me actually.

 

[Alec]

We are all posting on a gaming forum. I really don't believe anyone who posts here isn't passionate about and\or gets excited for new ways to experience our hobby.

You know what culture I'm sick of? The culture where the word "culture" gets added to everything.

But this really shouldn't be a conversation about people getting excited. It should be a conversation about avoiding pre-ordering shitty games.

 

[Gipsy Danger]

I'm passionate about games all together! From the multimillion triple A titles down to that indie game from the 2 man dev team. If I see some gameplay or a trailer that grabs my intention and interests me, then guess what, I'm going to get hype about it.

Want to know something else? I'll spread my hype, I'll tell friends; "yo, this game looks pretty good, you should check it out." They might not agree or they might agree and get hype too

Honestly, I don't see all that much wrong with it!
Gamers getting hyped up about games makes a hell of a lot of sense to me actually.

What if you hype them up and they buy it and are extremely disappointed that they've wasted £40/$60?

 

[Actionhank]

I agree with him 100%, this hype crap is getting out of hand.

 

[heyf00L]

I don't really follow games media and the sort of thing he talks about is one of the reasons. There is rarely any real journalism, there is rarely anything more than simply parroting of official press information and reviews don't interest me.

I've been able to fairly easily judge whether a game will be to my liking pre-release based on a number of factors and that serves me well. The rest is just served by the talk of other gamers on forums like NeoGAF, Reddit, smaller hobbyist forums, friends, twitter, etc.

I'd like to question how actually important are the games media? How often is it that any of the actually big stories source from a games website? It seems like most of these days they come from a regular user discovering something and the community running with it - then the games media report on it. I don't really know what the games media is good for other than coverage of non-streamed live events? (For me, at least).

That's exactly how the mainstream media has become, and the reason is that we have more things competing for our attention these days, so it's not profitable to have many media outlets doing original work. Instead they take press releases and spin them so that each site/outlet caters to a certain crowd.

In the MSM you also have groups like Reuters and AP doing original work which the outlets take and spin. We don't have that in games journalism.

 

[jpax]

Because it's wrong to actually be excited about video games. Yeesh, everyone is so jaded.

Have you listened to what he said? Yes it is absolutely wrong for gaming journalists to hype an unfinished game! They are here for consumer information and are not part of the publishers marketing team.

 

[Dommo]

Enthusiast media isn't journalism and has never been journalism. It may carry aspects of journalism and even do some decent reporting, but they are fans, just like we are. Read and listen to comments and reviews made by people with similar tastes to you, who tell you what they like and they don't and why. Taste is inherently subjective and deluding ourselves into thinking it can be largely objective is why we fall victim to hype.

So you're saying the gaming industry has no source of journalism? Well then we really are in trouble. Regardless of what they're defined as, you see the problem with not having a trustworthy source covering products for the consumers' benefits? I mean, we can clearly see the problems in this very industry. And of course it's partly subjective, but to say that's the entirety of it is ignoring most of TB's points. The Dungeons example is clearly skewed into something deceiving consumers. That's not subjective. Do you see the importance, or at least the worth, in a fully function journalism ecosystem for the industry? Like when a publisher says "There are over 500 different weapons in the game", instead of the journalists saying "Oh wow, 500? That is a big number. Did you hear that folks?" they ask them "500? Surely that's just crude and slight variations in colour and stats for like 10 guns, right?" And then the publisher will either back up his claims or squirm in his seat, thus ensuring they're less likely to do it in the future and we as consumers get to find out specifically what the publisher meant by that blatant hype crap they spurted. You see how that's useful and beneficial to us and better than pure subjectivity?

I think we're all ultimately responsible for how invested we get into games pre-release.

It's interesting how we all think that ultimately we as consumers can make clear cut decisions about games and that it shouldn't matter what the media says because we're Gen Y and we're not persuaded by petty marketing!

We're all susceptible to being worked upon by marketing all the time. And it's not just in the pre-release stages either. It's not even just a matter of "Well now that we've all played it, we can clearly see it's no good and they all lied!" Something like GTA4, which was hyped through the roof and back was so big that it carried its hype through into the release stage and there on another year or so. At the time it was being hailed by critics and consumers alike the greatest game ever made. We don't think that anymore, right?

The viral, gross hype machine that starts at the source with publishers, swiftly moves into the hands of those we're supposed to be trusting with real content, the media, then into our laps where we happily, consciously eat it up and declare it apart of the exciting ritual as it turns us into mindless consumers.

I understand why hype can be "toxic" in games journalism...

but I LOVE games, me the consumer, the buyer, the guy who has been playing video games for going on 17 years now, LOVES games... I'm going to get hype.
I read the threads, I read other peoples opinions on games and I still get hype on the run up to release; it's the natural thing to do when something new comes up within something you enjoy.

Some prominent figures seem to have forgotten that at the end of the day games are meant to be enjoyed, and anticipation and hype are big parts of that.

So you would rather the media just tell you this next game is amazing and help you get hyped for a game regardless of its quality? You would rather live ignorant and uniformed to the quality of a product all the way up until you've purchased it for the sake of your pre-release enjoyment? See, I wouldn't. I would prefer to be well informed of the product I'm purchasing beforehand by a trustworthy and responsible source. Go and watch as many marketing and gameplay videos as you'd like, but leave that hype bullshit out of the journalism.

Surely you can see the issue with mindlessly going along with and accepting something you're aware is a hyper-exaggeration and deceit of the actual product you'll eventually be holding, right?

 

[Village]

No, it's not upsetting to me. Blind buys and buyer's remorse are potentially your problem, not mine.

For smash bros , what in the hell are you talking about

How is smash bros going in blind

 

[Marcel]

I'm passionate about games all together! From the multimillion triple A titles down to that indie game from the 2 man dev team. If I see some gameplay or a trailer that grabs my intention and interests me, then guess what, I'm going to get hype about it.

Want to know something else? I'll spread my hype, I'll tell friends; "yo, this game looks pretty good, you should check it out." They might not agree or they might agree and get hype too

Honestly, I don't see all that much wrong with it!
Gamers getting hyped up about games makes a hell of a lot of sense to me actually.

It's like I'm talking to an AI made by an advertising firm. Like I said, if you're happy being the way you are, continue to do so. I just hope you understand you are being taken advantage of by people who are both smarter and wealthier than you that count on you being a mark for games.

For smash bros , what in the hell are you talking about

How is smash bros going in blind

I said potentially. I'm sorry if that offends your delicate Nintendo fanboy sensibilities.

 

[Village]

You're passionate about million-dollar first world consumer products? Whatever floats your boat. Are you passionate about fast food or HD televisions too?

I get hype about art yes, I went to school for it.

Whats the problem here?

 

[test_account]

He is damn right.
The hype-culture surrounding games need to die in a fire.

Why?

 

[inkls]

I've found that since I started taking a neutral stance after initial announcements I've had more fun with games purchased afterwards. The hype rarely lives up to the actual game, especially with multiplayer titles.

If you need hype to keep you playing a game its probably not a good idea to have purchased a game in the first place (ex: titanfall)

Its fine to be excited about an upcoming title, but at least make an informed decision about your purchase instead of buying it solely because of the hype otherwise you can potentially contribute to keeping bad game design alive.

 

[Messofanego]

I think we can all agree, hype fluff pieces that read like native advertising need to be gone. Enthusiast critics and journalists can still hype games, but with skepticism and discussion with the developers through interviews to get to the nitty gritty.

 

[Marcel]

I get hype about art yes, I went to school for it.

Your problem?

Okay? Good thing we're talking about games and hype culture and not whether or not games are art. You're muddying the discussion.

 

[SuperSaiyanAkuma]

What if you hype them up and they buy it and are extremely disappointed that they've wasted £40/$60?

Then that's just the way it goes, but that's kind of part of the deal right?
I mean everyone has an opinion about a game when you hear it's going to be released, opinions ranging from excitement to contempt.
Sometimes once the person has got hands on with it, those opinions change, sometimes their validated.

But then if you're talking about price people should be using their common sense and if they can't afford to blow £40/$60 on a game and risk disappointment then they shouldn't be doing it!

 

[Koriandrr]

I agree with him and I absolutely see where he's coming from, however, I can't control my emotions. I get hyped about shit, because I do. It's not something I have control over. I see something I like - I get hyped. I'm sorry for being human TB

 

[SuperSaiyanAkuma]

I agree with him and I absolutely see where he's coming from, however, I can't control my emotions. I get hyped about shit, because I do. It's not something I have control over. I see something I like - I get hyped. I'm sorry for being human TB

I suffer from the same affliction friend; Hype-manity

 

[OG Loc]

What if you hype them up and they buy it and are extremely disappointed that they've wasted £40/$60?

I suppose you live and you learn. You place less trust in that developer/publisher after that. You're more careful when preordering one of their products.

If I preorder a game from Capcom and they burn me I wouldn't let that stop me from preordering a RockStar game. I like to handle these things on a case by case basis.

 

[Grief.exe]

I understand why hype can be "toxic" in games journalism...

but I LOVE games, me the consumer, the buyer, the guy who has been playing video games for going on 17 years now, LOVES games... I'm going to get hype.
I read the threads, I read other peoples opinions on games and I still get hype on the run up to release; it's the natural thing to do when something new comes up within something you enjoy.

Some prominent figures seem to have forgotten that at the end of the day games are meant to be enjoyed, and anticipation and hype are big parts of that.

He is certainly spot on when it comes to games media. I wish he had spent more time on how many common gamers are a key component of this cycle, consuming and perpetuating the hype. I've read a fair few threads on this forum where most posters are practically tripping over themselves to gush about a cinematic trailer or press release, and it never fails to bother me.

It isn't a conflict of interest when we perpetuate the hype. Journalists are being intentionally dishonest in order to leverage higher marketing dollars, where as consumers are just genuinely excited.

 

[SuperSaiyanAkuma]

[/QUOTE] So you would rather the media just tell you this next game is amazing and help you get hyped for a game regardless of its quality? You would rather live ignorant and uniformed to the quality of a product all the way up until you've purchased it for the sake of your pre-release enjoyment? See, I wouldn't. I would prefer to be well informed of the product I'm purchasing beforehand by a trustworthy and responsible source. Go and watch as many marketing and gameplay videos as you'd like, but leave that hype bullshit out of the journalism.

Surely you can see the issue with mindlessly going along with and accepting something you're aware is a hyper-exaggeration and deceit of the actual product you'll eventually be holding, right? [/QUOTE]

Now don't get me wrong, Hype in journalism should be sentenced to death. Journalism is for the most part supposed to be unbiased and factual. I agree with TB's opinion of hype in journalism because you're right it doesn't paint a fair picture of any game.

What I'm saying is my own personal gut feeling of hype. I don't see why there is an issue with that, consumers getting hype over games off of their own opinion isn't something that should be discouraged. It's what got babby-me in to games, I can still remember playing streets of rage, donkey kong country and alex the kid and being just as hyped up (kid hype) then as I get now when i heard that their have been patents for The Last Guardian made in the US.

It's excitement folks, excitement for games and since we're all members on NeoGAF isn't that what we all ultimately want?

 

[CambriaRising]

As a critic, I'm not going to lie to myself and everyone else by saying I'm not extremely excited for The Phantom Pain.

 

[inm8num2]

The industry thrives and depends on hype. It would be great to see a bit less manufactured excitement, but I can't imagine that anytime soon. The major business models revolve around pre-orders, exclusive content, and season passes. It's all about taking a leap of faith based on the aforementioned hype.