Poll: What does it take to get you hyped for a game?

[Aerosteam]

Here's some examples of the choices I've given in the poll:

Concept art / Dev pitches - Done quite often in Kickstarter projects. Understandable for games which have barely started development. (Example)

Screenshots / Previews - This is when a journalist (or whatever you want to call them) tells you about their experience with playing the game. Entirely text based and includes screenshots. Or you may just get hyped by the screenshots. (Example)

CGI Trailer - Common practice in showing off your game at E3 without actually showing your game at E3. Pretty though. (Example)

Unfinished game footage - Includes all trailers that have the "pre-alpha footage" or "in-engine footage" text at the bottom of a trailer. Also includes when games like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Destiny and Star Wars: Battlefront EA were showcased where the devs talk while you see them working on the game. (Example)

Conference demo / "Vertical slice" - Ubisoft is the king at this. Last year they showed Rainbow Six: Seige, The Division and Assassin's Creed: Unity this way. This is when someone (or people) you don't see are playing the game while you watch. Heavily scripted most of the time. (Example)

Gameplay trailer - Just a simple trailer which shows footage of the game that looks exactly like what we see when we play it for real. Difference from previous choice is that it's edited in the way of a trailer (can include graphics, spliced with other things and accompanied by music), unlike 15 minutes of uncut gameplay. (Example)

Playable demo or build - A demo for a game coming in a week or so, or is already available is released to be downloaded by the public. Includes when made available on a show floor as well. Done sometimes by Kickstarter projects where they give a playable build for potential backers to play.

Just release the damn game - Basically choose this if you don't or choose not to get hyped by any unreleased game unless it's going to be made by a trusted developer or it's a sequel/reboot of an existing game franchise. Or you're just going to reserve all judgements until the reviews popup or word of mouth gets around.

So! That's the choices I've given, I hope I explained them well.

 

[kris40k]

Gameplay trailer.

Dev pitching their game will catch my interest, but until I see gameplay, its all just wishful thinking.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Playable demo. All the options above it can certainly pique my interest in a game, but until I can get hands-on with something myself, I'm always wary, to varying degrees.

 

[Aetrion]

Biggest thing for me is: Don't let the time between the big announcement and the release be longer than maybe a year. The likelyhood of me buying a game on release day if the wait for it is much longer than that drops significantly, since I just hit the point where I don't care anymore if I get it right away or buy it for 10 bucks in a steam sale if it's already old news by the time it drops.

 

[BarryMcCociner]

Honestly? The biggest contender to get me to purchase a game is word of mouth. I was fully content to let Demon's Souls pass clean under my fucking radar until I saw some people in a forum talking about how fucking good it was. So I bought it, loved it, never looked back.

I was content to let Crusader Kings II pass under my radar, until my friend told me just how the game operated and I thought to myself "Well god damn that's pretty fucking cool." Now I can't imagine my podcasts without it.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

I almost wanted to vote "CGI trailer", because that Total Warhammer (THAT'S HOW YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO SPELL IT DAMMIT!) trailer was pretty freaking awesome for someone who's into the tabletop game. But otherwise my cynicism is so impenetrable that nothing but good reviews and word of mouth post-release can actually get me legitimately hyped unless it's from a very trusted developer. I was hyped for Dante's Inferno all those years ago, but I was 17 and didn't know any better, so it doesn't count. The only three games after that which I've been legitimately massively hyped for were Borderlands 2, God of War III and Bloodborne. The first I was going to buy regardless, the second I borrowed from a friend (including the console, so no money was going to be lost), and the third I haven't played nor even own a console that can run it. There's a chance I won't play it for quite some time, since I'm hitting a dry spell again.

 

[Maximum Bert]

A solid idea with a concept or cast that I like a lot coupled with a team I believe has the chops to get it done. Admittedly this last point is hard because I dont really know those people so I just go off past examples of games they have produced like most people would which may or may not be an accurate reflection of their current ability.

Really though I dont get excited by games or much anymore I just enjoy it if its good when it comes out. I am excited by the prospect of the new Dissidia arcade game because its something I wanted as soon as Duodecim was released. If it has Tifa in i.e my favourite video game character ever then consider me hyped if it doesnt then consider me extremely deflated but still interested in the game.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Nothing spells HYPE like a good old-fashioned gameplay trailer.

 

[Lufia Erim]

Just releaae the game. I don't really get hyped for things. Being old and cynical like i am. That doesn't mean i don't look foward to things, but actual excitement? Nah, few things excite me anymore, i blame porn the internet.

 

[Ryallen]

I thought that I would like a lot of games until I actually played them. I didn't know that I would like a lot of games until I actually played them. The point is, I reserve all judgement until I've placed the controller in my hand, the game on the screen, and some lethal instrument into someone's eyesocket.

 

[kris40k]

I thought that I would like a lot of games until I actually played them. I didn't know that I would like a lot of games until I actually played them. The point is, I reserve all judgement until I've placed the controller in my hand, the game on the screen, and some lethal instrument into someone's eyesocket.

Hype, not judgement. If you are getting hyped up about a game that you are in the progress of playing, its too late.

 

[Ryallen]

I thought that I would like a lot of games until I actually played them. I didn't know that I would like a lot of games until I actually played them. The point is, I reserve all judgement until I've placed the controller in my hand, the game on the screen, and some lethal instrument into someone's eyesocket.

Hype, not judgement. If you are getting hyped up about a game that you are in the progress of playing, its too late.

That's the point, though. I can't get hyped about something because I know that what a game can be and what a game actually is are two different things. I thought that Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel was going to be awesome. I was wrong. I thought that Wolfenstein: The New Order was going to be awful. I was wrong. I've been wrong about games more often than not, so I've lost the ability to get hyped about any game that I play.

 

[kris40k]

I see, you've lost your ability to get hyped. That is so sad

Now we just need Sarah McLachlan to do a commercial supporting efforts for gamers getting their hype back.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

Character creaton and/or a female playable option. Hype diminishes as the play time depending on how the female player character is limited in terms of play.
I.E. Witcher 3 limiting Ciri to a linear campaign. Arkham Knight no doubt giving Batgirl a short DLC story.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

I went with Concept Art/Dev pitches because what hypes me on a game wasn't on the list. Like the mythical unicorn, diversity is what hypes me on a game.

I feel I should explain. What I mean is diversity of ideas. Seeing something I haven't seen before, or at least haven't seen in awhile.

Hyrule Warriors, for example. I was probably going to buy it. Dynasty Warriors + Zelda, etc. But what really sold it to me, what got me hyped, was the Impa/Giant Sword trailer. Female character, dressed somewhat reasonably*, being fast and brutal and tearing shit up? Female characters generally have ribbons/rings and gimmicky combat styles, not tear-the-enemy-a-new-asshole combat styles.

*by Warriors standards.

 

[Mutant1988]

I'm always hyped for games.

But my interest goes away the instant the companies making or publishing it act in a way that's hostile to consumers.

Pre-orders, DRM, locked disc content, company owned servers, online access required for basic functionality, lack of LAN support, exploitive micro-transactions, false marketing, etc.

I love games. But what kills my interest in most of them isn't that the game isn't good, but because the way the company making/publishing them isn't good.

 

[Elfgore]

Dev pitches is what will get me interested, but not hyped. A good idea doesn't always make a good game. So a that game will go onto my radar, but I won't be frothing at the mouth... yet. Once a gameplay pops video pops out is when I'll get hyped.

Now, some games get an exception. For example, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 and Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord. I just needed to hear the games were coming out for me to get hyped. Because I love those series and have a decent amount of faith in the developers to deliver a game I enjoy.

 

[LaoJim]

I'm alone at the moment in plumping for screenshots.

I've chosen to interpret hyped as being a more relaxed "This is definitely worth keeping an eye-on - probable purchase" rather than foaming at the mouth excitement, because it takes a lot to those stages these days. When I see 5-6 good quality well chosen screenshots is when the game becomes real in my mind. (Yes the company will obviously chose the best looking ones, but that's true of the gameplay trailer as well).

 

[Sleepy Sol]

A particularly well-done regular old trailer can get the hype initially flowing, but I like to wait until an actual gameplay trailer to get more excited for anything these days.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Gameplay trailer, or (as ashamed I am to admit it) a purty CGI trailer with epic music.