Poll: Does a games Pre-release Hype spoil it?

[XT inc]

I have often wondered if all the hype being thrown around for games is a good or bad thing. The more I think about it the more I feel that all of the special bits and pieces of a game get spoiled by the hours of content the hype machine pumps out before a game is even released. I mean sure it is a good idea to advertise your game, but at what point does it stop? Is it when the consumer can piece together the fractured parts from magazine articles, ads, interviews, trailers and demos, and pretty much know a good chunk of the titles surprises?

What would you have said the first time you saw a Spitter in L4D-2 if they didn't tell you about it? or a wandering witch? Or what if on the day you got modern warfare 2 and you worked your way up to found out about customizable kill streak packages or sticking explosives on people?

what do you think these games would be like if everyone kept their mouth shut until release? advertising bonuses aside, how would your experiences change? would games be more epic or would it just not matter?

please try and quell the urge to say if you don't like the hype don't watch it. The temptation is a bit hard to do when companies announce games years in advance of release dates.

 

[12345cyclone]

We'll a LOT less people would probably buy the game. Also, knowing all the special things in the games such as how if you flashbang somebody using a riot shield, they lower the shield(MW2). Imagine if the game came out and it because a huge riot shield fest 'cause nobody know how to stop them.

 

[Kajt]

Hype is good to a certain level, go over that level, and you'll begin ruining the game.

 

[bob-2000]

yea, it sort of does. With every bit of hype tossed out to us my skepticism grows a tad larger until my opinion of the actual game is alienated by it.

 

[XT inc]

We'll a LOT less people would probably buy the game. Also, knowing all the special things in the games such as how if you flashbang somebody using a riot shield, they lower the shield(MW2). Imagine if the game came out and it because a huge riot shield fest 'cause nobody know how to stop them.

Ironically that is more or less what I mean, I had no idea there were going to be riot shields In MW2. Which would have been a trail and error of figuring out how to get past them. Which detracts from the experience more or less if everyone has a solid idea of of the game mechanics are laid out before they've ever even played it.

 

[messy]

I just got the orange box about two weeks ago. Let's face it with portal and episode two on that and team fortress 2 there's a hell of a lotta hype and I absolutely loved it.

Basically I just ignore hype when I actually start playing and try to play with the most un-bias position possible

 

[Casual Shinji]

It can become highly irritating, but if I want a game then I want a game. And no amount of salivating hype is gonna stop me.

 

[Sky Captanio]

For some games it does. (Cough Fable 2 Cough)

 

[Magnatek]

Hype is good to a certain level, go over that level, and you'll begin ruining the game.

I agree. Luckily, I only go through a light part of the "Sea of Hype" whenever I make a decision to buy a game (Like Chrono Trigger DS or The World Ends With You. I almost had no idea that either of these were coming out until a few weeks before they were released, and I enjoy them both.).

 

[Dumbfish1]

It's good for game developers, as people who have been watching all the viral videos and articles are going to be frothing at the mouth from hype by the time the game is released. Regardless as to wether a game is actually any good, it'll never live up to how the developers make it out to be. In fact it can ruin games, like spore. An alright game, but nothing at all like what was promised by maxis.

 

[Katana314]

I think you're mixing up causation.
Hype doesn't CAUSE me to not like a game. Enough hype is an indication of where they've moved their budget (marketting over development) and that this is caused by the game being bad.

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

They hype rarely does justice to the game. More than often it can turn a good or average game into crap because you expect it to be so much more than it is (ie fable series, halo 2 and 3).

 

[BaldursBananaSoap]

After lots of extremely disapointing, completely overhyped games I don't listen to hype much anymore. Reviewers just tend to go with it and overblow the score. I bought The Godfather 2 recently and I enjoyed it quite a bit more than the supposed "Best games ever" coughHalo3COD4CODWaWModernWarfare2cough.

I bought into the hype of COD4 and I hated it. The multiplayer was piss easy, it was full of kids, it was extremely unbalanced and was more in favour of luck and cheap perks than skill. The single player was completely boring and repetitive except from the the stealth missions. It had no ai and the only way they made it difficult was by making the ai spam grenades at you. And since MW2 looks the exact same I'm glad I wont be buying it.

 

[KingPiccolOwned]

I think you're mixing up causation.
Hype doesn't CAUSE me to not like a game. Enough hype is an indication of where they've moved their budget (marketting over development) and that this is caused by the game being bad.

Actually you just mixed up the causation yourself. They don't move money from development to marketing because the game is bad, but bad games are made because they put money into marketing as opposed to development.

OT: Generally I take hype in a different way than most in that I use it to tell what aspects of the they wanted the game to focus around and judge the game based on how well it pulls those aspects off. Like with Assassins Creed the major things I focused on were how they implemented the free running aspect and a couple of other things I can't remember, the free running thing was the only part of the hype I remember. I thought that the game was great because it pulled the free running off incredibly well.

 

[AbuFace]

Like other people have said, I don't think hype spoils a game as much as it jacks the expectations through the roof to unrealistic levels and ruins any chance for a unbiased judgment of the game. Titles like KOTOR2, Deus Ex 2, and even the Star Wars prequels fell victim to this.

Those games (and movies) had flaws, there's no argument there, but even if they were flawless, they still would not have lived up to the hype. Especially in regards to the Star Wars prequels. Star Wars fans had 16 years to romanticize and worship the original trilogy, there was no way any movie could have lived up to the expectations and hype that episode 1 had.

The combination of genuine flaws in the product (which is often forgivable) and out of this world hype marred any chances these games or movies had of being widely accepted as "good."

 

[pompom8volt]

I normally buy game about 6 months after a game comes out so it doesn't really bother me, and when i see things like the spitter i go "damn, i want to fight that"

 

[XT inc]

By building hype, raising the expectations to a fevered pitch kills the game because you know everything on release. There are no surprises, all the cool parts have already been leaked to you via hype and there's nothing left. the only things you haven't seen are the flaws in the game. You see all the good stuff for free and all the bad when you've paid for it.

 

[Xyphon]

Hype doesn't ruin the game. It's the dumbass people that hype up the fucking hype that ruin it.
(If that makes sense)

 

[MR T3D]

We'll a LOT less people would probably buy the game. Also, knowing all the special things in the games such as how if you flashbang somebody using a riot shield, they lower the shield(MW2). Imagine if the game came out and it because a huge riot shield fest 'cause nobody know how to stop them.

okay, that's bullcrap, if i am blinded, i'd be dam sure to keep my sheild up.
i really hope this does not become some R6 ripoff, with average graphics
and its not really hype that ruins a game as it is long time from announcement to release, espicially in sequels...

 

[XT inc]

Just for fun take a look at an average game trailer or video and see just how many of the gameplay moments have been let out of the bag. So many Oh Shit moments get completely nullified with these types of ads.