i was thinking about this today as a friend of mine said he would not buy a game if the trailer was rubbish. i found this strange as i have always judged a game on reviews and the game its self, so how do you pass judgement? trailer? gameplay? or even box art?
When do you pass judgement on a game?
- Thread starter liveslowdiefast
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Usually I'll give judgement by it's prequels or similar games by the developer, supported by articles about the game and probably trailers a little bit as well. Alternatively if I've played the game long enough to formulate an opinion. (Which for me is about 6 hours)
I try not to follow games too closely during developement, it's too easy to get over-hyped and to set unreasonable expectations for a game. I often do watch trailers for games I'm interested in but I won't right something off for a bad trailer, I'm happy to wait until I've read a few reviews.
I pass judgment on a game as soon as I pick up the controller. I judge it by controls, atmosphere, graphics (to as lesser extent), etc before I even start to actually get into the game. If dislike the controls it won't be long until I say "fuck this shit" and move on with my life. I do give gameplay about an hour to win me over to see how everything ties together before I pass more judgment.
I tend to judge it based on Reviews and seeing game play or a demo
if its cheep game that the box-art looks cool il give it a try if the back off the box has things i like in a game i don't mind blowing 10 bucks on a game if the only thing that is good about it is the marketing blurb
if its cheep game that the box-art looks cool il give it a try if the back off the box has things i like in a game i don't mind blowing 10 bucks on a game if the only thing that is good about it is the marketing blurb
By renting.
That's the only way to know if a game is for you.
I do look at reviews if only to get an idea of what the content is but not to read some fruitcake's opinion on it. Most critics have terrible taste.
My favorite reviews are the Zero Punctuation reviews, not because I value Yahtzee's opinion (I'm actually more picky than he is) but because he's hilarious.
That's the only way to know if a game is for you.
I do look at reviews if only to get an idea of what the content is but not to read some fruitcake's opinion on it. Most critics have terrible taste.
My favorite reviews are the Zero Punctuation reviews, not because I value Yahtzee's opinion (I'm actually more picky than he is) but because he's hilarious.
I tend to base my judgments on reviews, demos, and how much fun I can get in about an hour of game play.
I go through a series of filters. I start by checking out reviews. If I'm still interested, I'll see if there's a demo or something.
Once I'm actually playing it, if I dislike the controls, I don't usually go much further. There are exceptions, but they are rare. I gave up on Red Dead Redemption after only an hour, because the controls were so unintuitive.
After that, I go by gameplay. If I don't have fun whilst playing the game, I usually stop playing soon after.
Once I'm actually playing it, if I dislike the controls, I don't usually go much further. There are exceptions, but they are rare. I gave up on Red Dead Redemption after only an hour, because the controls were so unintuitive.
After that, I go by gameplay. If I don't have fun whilst playing the game, I usually stop playing soon after.
When I actually played it.
Otherwise, it's hard for me to make the definitive judgement from just knowing what other people think of the game.
Otherwise, it's hard for me to make the definitive judgement from just knowing what other people think of the game.
Before I have the game in my hands:
Escapist previews, Reviews on the Run, X-play, Gamestop summary info, game website, company history. The thing I pay the most attention to is gameplay videos, I'm at the point where I can evaluate the game mechanics as well as separate it from the skill of the player.
At that point if after I have all the information I want and I am still interested I hope for a demo to get some hands on time.
If I still like it after the demo, or there was no demo chances are I'll rate it in my buying system(by factoring in all given information), which essentially filters it as a pre-order must have, early release buy or a price drop buy.
Once a game has made it through all of that I generally have something I do really like or I am at least happy with the amount of money spent on it.
I have really only been let down once and that was for Alpha Protocol, through all the hype I was thinking Mass Effect+James Bond but the AI really crapped out on me so I returned it for full price after having purchased it at the pre-order price
My list of current "safe" must pre-order games now consists of Portal 2, Mass Effect 3, Gears of War 3, this is due to previous company history, previous series history and media releases by the companies.
I am taking a gamble (gamble to me meaning there have been no previous titles in the series by the same company and only going by other info gathered) by pre-ordering Hunted: The Demon's Forge just because all of the info I have gotten so far looks good including the hands on gameplay videos.
Successful new IP pre-order "gambles" included Assassin's Creed, Borderlands and a few others.
TLDR: I judge a game through a long series of checks from news hype, reviews, game play videos, demos. And once I get it in my hand I generally have a good to awesome game.
Escapist previews, Reviews on the Run, X-play, Gamestop summary info, game website, company history. The thing I pay the most attention to is gameplay videos, I'm at the point where I can evaluate the game mechanics as well as separate it from the skill of the player.
At that point if after I have all the information I want and I am still interested I hope for a demo to get some hands on time.
If I still like it after the demo, or there was no demo chances are I'll rate it in my buying system(by factoring in all given information), which essentially filters it as a pre-order must have, early release buy or a price drop buy.
Once a game has made it through all of that I generally have something I do really like or I am at least happy with the amount of money spent on it.
I have really only been let down once and that was for Alpha Protocol, through all the hype I was thinking Mass Effect+James Bond but the AI really crapped out on me so I returned it for full price after having purchased it at the pre-order price
My list of current "safe" must pre-order games now consists of Portal 2, Mass Effect 3, Gears of War 3, this is due to previous company history, previous series history and media releases by the companies.
I am taking a gamble (gamble to me meaning there have been no previous titles in the series by the same company and only going by other info gathered) by pre-ordering Hunted: The Demon's Forge just because all of the info I have gotten so far looks good including the hands on gameplay videos.
Successful new IP pre-order "gambles" included Assassin's Creed, Borderlands and a few others.
TLDR: I judge a game through a long series of checks from news hype, reviews, game play videos, demos. And once I get it in my hand I generally have a good to awesome game.