Hype really, really sucks.
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Bioshock. Didn't live up to the hype for me. Felt it was interesting, but weak. Took me over a year to beat it.
The worst is when companies produce ads that feature no gameplay whatsoever, like the ODST ads. "Hype" is a shorthand term for "expectations," and when game companies come out and tell you so much about a game without any real footage or anything for MONTHS on end they're giving you unreasonable expectations. Generally peoples' imaginations have an awful lot more power than companies do to produce a game, and generally their imaginations will frame what they're told in a positive context tailored to their own tastes in gaming. In other words, they'll be making their own version of the game up inside their head.
I'll give you an example:
Bioshock - Severe disappointment to me. I hadn't actually heard a lot--just seen the proof-of-concept fight with the Big Daddy. I'd also been told about the premise of the game and had been given a vague hint of what was going down in Rapture with the Splicers and the Plasmids.
That doesn't amount to that much hype, but my mind created a story wherein you have a choice as to how much of your humanity you're willing to trade for the power to beat the game, which is a far more compelling hook to me than the trite and contrived moral choice system; the level design inside my head was more Metroid-esque in the sense that Rapture would've been a big continuous network of passages that you could learn and adapt to as opposed to the more cleanly segregated ones that they actually used. There's more ground for me to cover here, but those two things really boil down what my expectations were.
Bioshock 2, on the other hand, is framed in a much more positive context for me. The end of Bioshock gave me low expectations for the next story, which means that if it turns out just "okay" I'll be pretty impressed. In terms of gameplay I know what to expect, having played the first game and enjoyed it in spite of the major let-downs, but this time it's fitting the player into a much less conventional role and with much less conventional weapons and tools, which actually excites me.
Bottom line: this time I actually know what the product is. I'm going into Bioshock 2 expecting Bioshock 1 rather than some kind of Metroid-like super-game that only my imagination could conjure up.
The problem really comes from developers mis-representing things or blowing their ideas and innovations out of proportion. They don't necessarily do it on purpose; they're pretty much obligated to be proud of what they do no matter how marginal it is, and in the case of major-big companies like Bungee they're generally very self-obsessed as a result of being overly successful and popular and will tend to act like everything they do is noteworthy and clever. Notice all the buzz they made about ODST being a revolutionary new direction for the Halo series when all it turned out to be was a $50 map pack. In fact, on the whole, developers are usually undeservingly full of themselves.
And now you know why I never listen to interviews any more and always wait for Youtube footage...
I'll give you an example:
Bioshock - Severe disappointment to me. I hadn't actually heard a lot--just seen the proof-of-concept fight with the Big Daddy. I'd also been told about the premise of the game and had been given a vague hint of what was going down in Rapture with the Splicers and the Plasmids.
That doesn't amount to that much hype, but my mind created a story wherein you have a choice as to how much of your humanity you're willing to trade for the power to beat the game, which is a far more compelling hook to me than the trite and contrived moral choice system; the level design inside my head was more Metroid-esque in the sense that Rapture would've been a big continuous network of passages that you could learn and adapt to as opposed to the more cleanly segregated ones that they actually used. There's more ground for me to cover here, but those two things really boil down what my expectations were.
Bioshock 2, on the other hand, is framed in a much more positive context for me. The end of Bioshock gave me low expectations for the next story, which means that if it turns out just "okay" I'll be pretty impressed. In terms of gameplay I know what to expect, having played the first game and enjoyed it in spite of the major let-downs, but this time it's fitting the player into a much less conventional role and with much less conventional weapons and tools, which actually excites me.
Bottom line: this time I actually know what the product is. I'm going into Bioshock 2 expecting Bioshock 1 rather than some kind of Metroid-like super-game that only my imagination could conjure up.
The problem really comes from developers mis-representing things or blowing their ideas and innovations out of proportion. They don't necessarily do it on purpose; they're pretty much obligated to be proud of what they do no matter how marginal it is, and in the case of major-big companies like Bungee they're generally very self-obsessed as a result of being overly successful and popular and will tend to act like everything they do is noteworthy and clever. Notice all the buzz they made about ODST being a revolutionary new direction for the Halo series when all it turned out to be was a $50 map pack. In fact, on the whole, developers are usually undeservingly full of themselves.
And now you know why I never listen to interviews any more and always wait for Youtube footage...
Really? All the comments I read everyone says they think The Saboteur looks average, and there's been pretty minimal media hype. I think it looks great though, can't wait.13752 said:
Peter Molyneux doesn't hype, he lies. I'm surprised MS hired him to lead projects considering he's never said a true word in his life.
That's right, his ENTIRE life. LIES.
I dunno, I really enjoyed Dungeon Keeper. That was over ten years ago, though. >.>Woodsey said:
Hype killed numerous games for me.
Gears of War
Halo
Zelda
Mario
Half Life 1 (dug the other games, the first one? Not so much.)
Any football game
It reached the point where they could never live up to expectations and besides some were just shite in a box in the first place!
Gears of War
Halo
Zelda
Mario
Half Life 1 (dug the other games, the first one? Not so much.)
Any football game
It reached the point where they could never live up to expectations and besides some were just shite in a box in the first place!
I guess all I was saying is that I only really get hyped for games I was psyched for in the first place. For instance, I was a fan of the Halo games, so I admit that I was hyped for Halo 3. But this wasn't because they made the game out to be good, that's because I expected it to be good: the hype factor of the game really didn't have anything to do with it, because my excitement was not based on the "hype machine," but on my previous experience with the series. So I guess I just base my hype on different things, so it doesn't really affect me. But I see what you're talking about.RyQ_TMC said:
I'm a marketers wet dream I fall for hype like I dunno, a brick thrown from a rooftop? But anyway ya I do get sucked into hype, I'm not that hard to please when it comes to games though so am generally not disapointed with them.
What is disapointing is how short they have become
What is disapointing is how short they have become
It's rare that I am disappointed by games that are hyped by the industry. Most industry hype is so transparent *cough*dantesinferno*cough* that it's easy to ignore. Usually, I do enough damage with my own expectations. I start thinking of the possibilities, sure that developers will put in the bits of game that I've conceived with no help from them. Of course, there won't be a parkour fight in a skyscraper stairwell in GTA IV; just in my head.
But I definitely fall prey to word of mouth from my friends with both positive and negative results:
BRAID - Never would have know about it if it weren't for my friends. Game is awesome.
THE CLUB - My friends swore up and down it was my kind of shooter. Game is crap. What do they think of me?
BATTLEFIELD 1942 - They insisted I come over and play a demo? Best game ever.
FORZA 2 - They told me it was the best racer. Meh.
So, hype? Whatever. Word of mouth? Occasionally unreliable but I wouldn't want to be without it.
But I definitely fall prey to word of mouth from my friends with both positive and negative results:
BRAID - Never would have know about it if it weren't for my friends. Game is awesome.
THE CLUB - My friends swore up and down it was my kind of shooter. Game is crap. What do they think of me?
BATTLEFIELD 1942 - They insisted I come over and play a demo? Best game ever.
FORZA 2 - They told me it was the best racer. Meh.
So, hype? Whatever. Word of mouth? Occasionally unreliable but I wouldn't want to be without it.
Fallout 3 hype killed it. I was expecting the Messiah of RPG gaming. What I got was still a great game, but without anything like Oblivion's customization of spells and enchantment. Not even an attempt to let you even customize anything except for skill points and the intro. So, predetermined loot, in predetermined locations.
