Soapbox features enable our individual writers to voice their own opinions on hot topics, opinions that may not necessarily be the voice of the site. In this piece, Mitch talks about the problem with video game hype...
Look up any news about the upcoming Bayonetta 3 and you’re sure to notice a fascinating trend. Even though the developers have time and again reassured fans that development is going well – and they’ve even alluded to their inability to share any updates on progress – there’s still all kinds of negative reaction. People call it ‘vaporware’. They act as if it’s been quietly cancelled, or will somehow just not materialize after all this time. Why? Because there’s no hype.
By hype, I’m talking about all the shiny, headline-grabbing bits of content that developers are keen to toss to the community every now and then to keep interest high. A new trailer showcasing all too thin slices of the whole picture. Blurry magazine scans from next month’s issue with a fleeting glimpse of a new boss enemy or region. A lead developer dropping cryptic hints in an interview that maybe confirm the return of a beloved game mechanic or character. Stuff like this is what many players positively feed on in the months or years leading up to a game’s release. And once the game they’ve so hotly anticipated finally comes out? Well, it’s time to immediately start the cycle all over again with another game.
Once the game they’ve so hotly anticipated finally comes out? Well, it’s time to immediately start the cycle all over again with another game
As the director of Ori and the Will of the Wisps so passionately pointed out earlier this month (despite walking back some of those statements), the modern game industry has a hype problem. Countless people happily throw their money at products that don’t yet exist, solely based on the promise of what it probably will be when it launches. Sometimes the games live up to that promise. Most often, they don’t. And while, yes, the developers and marketers who take advantage of that early excitement certainly bear some of the blame in perpetuating the problem, I would argue that it’s the people buying into the hype that are the bigger problem. The issue at hand is that it’s becoming all too easy and common to conflate the anticipation itself with the real game being anticipated.
Let’s go back to Bayonetta 3 for a moment. In a very brief teaser shown at The Game Awards 2017, the game’s existence was confirmed. We weren’t shown footage of it, nor were there any screenshots. Since then, there still hasn’t been anything further shown. It’s become almost a meme at this point that when Bayonetta 3 is mentioned in an interview, that its development is perpetually in a state of “going well”.
And yet, that’s somehow not enough for a lot of people. There’s a perceived need for a flashy trailer to theorycraft around and watch over and over. A need for an interview where Kamiya says something to the effect of it being Platinum’s ‘biggest’ or ‘most ambitious’ title yet. It’s not enough to simply enjoy the game when (not if!) it arrives, or to spend time enjoying the veritable mountain of incredible games that are already released. There’s a dependency on the marketing cycle, on all the noise which will be quickly forgotten when launch day finally comes. The issue as I see it is that many people are becoming more enamoured with the idea of a video game than they are to the game itself. And that’s a problem.
I’m guilty of falling into this trap myself. For example, I’m a massive fan of the Yoshi’s Island games. I somehow even thought Yoshi’s New Island and Yoshi’s Island DS were pretty good. So, when Yoshi’s Crafted World was announced, I immediately put some money aside for it and went full-on into hype mode. Woolly World blew me away with its quality, and I wholeheartedly believed that its follow-up would deliver that same experience on an even grander and more refined scale. With this in mind, I spent the following months eating up every last bit of information I could. Treehouse footage, new screenshots, new interviews, I was there for it all. All of this seemed to fit my narrative, that this was really going to be the end-all Yoshi game I’ve dreamed of.
Then I actually played it.
Suffice to say, my disappointment was immeasurable. The difficulty level was nonexistent. The level designs were boring. The constant fetch quests added senseless padding. Aside from its adorable visuals, I found very few redeemable qualities in Yoshi’s Crafted World and would rank it among the worst in the series. This would be bad enough for a longtime fan, yet I was also strangely bothered by this; I felt like I’d been robbed somehow. What happened to the game I was so excited to finally play? This couldn’t be it. Could it?
The truth is, the game I was so excited to play never existed. It was a delusion I wanted to believe in. A lofty idea that was never real. I got so excited tracking down pre-release news and discussion that I began to enjoy that more than I ever could the actual product. I used that drip of information to rationalize building up an impossible image of what I hoped the game would eventually be. Of course it was disappointing for me when I had to face the reality. Nothing could’ve matched that expectation.
It can be easy to blame marketers or developers for getting our hopes up, but I’d say the main problem is that we too often become more interested in the chase itself than what we’re actually chasing
Even if it had more closely delivered on my hopes, I would still say this process of getting caught up in hype is bad for long-term enjoyment in games. It conditions us not to take games as they are, but to continually scrutinize and judge them. It takes the magic out of the raw experience, encourages us to weigh the final product against what we expected it to be, regardless of how reasonable that expectation is. More importantly, it teaches us that we should always be turning our attention to the next game on the horizon, rather than focusing on fully enjoying the ones we have now.
For a good window into this, take a look at Trophy lists for PS4 games you’ve played (should you own a PS4, of course), and look at the percentages of players that get the trophy for ‘beating’ that game. I’ve been playing through Jedi: Fallen Order lately – a game that takes about twenty hours to beat – and only 49 percent of players have seen the end. At one point, this game, too, was the source of all kinds of excitement at the prospect of a new big-budget single-player focused Star Wars game, and yet barely half of the player base actually saw it through.
That’s the real problem with hype in the industry. It can be easy to blame marketers or developers for getting our hopes up, and to some extent, those criticisms are warranted. But I’d say the main problem is that we too often become more interested in the chase itself than what we’re actually chasing. Once we have something, we suddenly want it a whole lot less. To be clear, I’m not saying that it’s wrong to enjoy the anticipation of a new release or to be excited about an upcoming project, I’m simply contending that we should be cautious to not let that hype replace or supersede our enjoyment of playing games right now. Let new games come out when they come out and don’t worry about them now. Play the games you have, and if you must get hyped over something, focus that on games that are already out which you just haven’t picked up yet. I’d wager this would be better for everyone’s mental health in the long run, too.
Comments 245
Yep, this absolutely. It only sets people up for disappointment.
I agree with this.
I hate people who are like this. Awaiting for a game and getting angry at developers. They insult and post death threats on Twitter.
Hey, developers are real people too.
In a lot of cases I'd love for games to actually be announced within like months ahead of their release
FFVII Remake sort of did this. They announced the game would be happening about 5 years ago but then went completely quiet until like a few months ahead of release when they had the extra time to polish it into a presentable state, and it worked out great for them
Also if we could just stop using "in-engine footage" or "cinematic gameplay" that totally doesn't resemble the final game and gives players an actual impression of what to expect from the final product that would be great. I'm looking right at you Avengers
@Beatrice They inform people about new releases and whatnot about the gaming industry.
They don't tell people to hate developers because they don't release updates about a game development.
"After a time, you will find that 'having' is not so pleasing a thing after all as 'wanting'. It is not logical... but it is often true."
Spock, Star Trek, Amok Time
Does that mean Nintendo Life will stop running "where to pre-order..." articles?
No game should ever be announced unless it is certain that it will be released 6 months to a year from that date. I don't want to wait 4 years for a game only to be disappointed. Make sure your game is close to being completed before you announce it. Simple as. Why does the gaming industry not understand this?
The hype problem only gets worse because of the internet and the availability of information we expect out of it.
Back in the day, there was an awareness and acceptance of all we didn't know. We could scavenge bits and pieces of information from magazines and whatnot, but for the most part we were in the dark about developers' plans. Also, videogames didn't take so long to make. Both of these facts conspired to tame the hype machine.
Now videogames, especially AAA titles, take half a decade or more to create, and we expect a steady stream of information from social media and news sites and forums and leaks and so on and so forth. So the hype machine is at full power.
Has someone actually praised Yoshi’s New Island as pretty good?! ;p
@Beatrice There is irony, but I prefer a site to recognize the problem rather than pretend it doesn’t exist.
Pot calling kettle black, news at 11.
EVERYTHING is marketing hype. Every industry that has review sites, advertisements, pre-order incentives, pre-release footage, etc adds to that hype.
They aren't generating hype, they are generating money. If people aren't talking about your game, the game is dead, and they don't make money. I'm surprised such an article is coming from a games review site.
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None of this would be a problem if anyone used their natural critical thinking skills.
I remember when Yooka Laylee was in production, literal thousands of pieces of fanart were created for a game these people hadn't even played yet. I made a comment on that and people chewed me the hell out-- how can you be a fan of something you haven't played?
Same goes with Cyberpunk. Got friends cosplaying the characters from a game they haven't even played yet.
That's blind hype.
It's the preorder, FOMO, being-part-of-the-new-hotness zeitgeist. That is the video game industry in a nutshell. Most casual gamers prefer to be excited about the next new thing rather than appreciating what we already have.
I don't know how much of a problem this really is. It's largely self-correcting. If people get burnt by a company for over-selling something, they'll tend to be much slower to buy from that company in the future.
I loathe the current hype trend. We get info way too early and games are rushed but devs have no choice because gamers force their hand. The way so many gamers act, they either have no backlog or play one game a year. While those people exist, I doubt that the majority are in this boat. Personally my backlog will out live me at this rate. I want new shiny games, but I’m focused on playing them. Games come out and people are already looking to the next hit. That’s borderline addictive behavior. Not only that so many gems get crushed under the hype train.
People need to step back. This near obsession with the next big thing is not healthy. Also can gamers stop attacking devs? If a game doesn’t go the way you want, that is not your pass to threaten, harass or belittle.
Of course none of this will change. It will likely get worse in fact.
One big problem is games that get announced so early in development that it is still a few years away from ever being a finished and as the months and years go by with nothing to see people start to speculate or constantly get their hopes up about hearing information at a big press conference or things like Direct's and then get disappointed over and over again. I usually only take interest in most games as they get close to release although I think age has meant I am not overly excited about game hype and wait to actually see a game in action now. With longer and longer development times for really large games announcing them years in advance seems pointless.
Getting hyped for a game you really want to play is a big part of being a proper gamer
Totally agree with this.
It can be expanded to broader parts of our culture as well. The never ending need for the new. A game gets announced...Twitter, sites, podcasts all dissect every detail and give "takes" and opinions before it is even released.
Hype and announcement culture's social elements have almost overtaken the actual playing of the games, which you hear little about after they're released (on to the next dopamine hit).
The problem is also a lot of the time influencers, i'm not going to say any names but I saw youtube videos for example hyping up the first partner showcase promising that breath of the wild 2 and mario were going to be there. Another problem is people not reading descriptions
Excellent piece here; the last paragraph in particular. As much as I want to play games like SMT V, Bayo3 and BotW2, I'm also confident in these games turning out to be great-excellent games, so Nintendo(Atlus in SMT's case) will give a release date when they feel they're good and ready.
@UltimateOtaku91 while that is true getting unrealalistic expectations just makes you dissapointment, the last nintendo direct was never going to be 50 min of hit after hit 1st party nintendo titles but people tricked themselves into thinking it would be
Not the point of the article, but I actually liked Crafted World, though will forever be disappointed that they bypassed the opportunity to call it Crafty Country.
And having 100%d it, I can say that the difficulty is buried in the fetch quests and demands for perfect runs of the levels. I can see how they’re repetitive and off putting though. And yea, Woolly World was better.
@AndrewR Yeah. Because those articles are really "Which developer to harass now" articles in disguise.
/s
I'm glad i'm not waiting for AAA games like most of those peoples did.
Currently i'm looking for BEMANI PS2 games to build my Arcade at Home.
That is because Nintendo did not have a huge lineup of AAA games (not including remasters) and they wanted to entice folks to buy Switch (not including diehard Nintendo fans who will buy anything from Nintendo) and to show longevity of Switch.
I agree with what others have said they need to hold off announcing games until they're further into development. I would say they shouldn't announce till they're at least a third of the way done or even half way through. I think part of the problem like with games like Bayonetta and Metroid 4 is we've seen game and other forms of media get caught up in development limbo and the be lackluster or just terrible despite all the time. Influencers are a problem as well though I'm not sure how much of one.
I don’t like this article.
I think you’re onto something about people thinking that they’re going to eventually get all that they wanted in the past 10 years from 1 Nintendo Direct or their Nintendo Switch Online subscription, but I think you’re discrediting the idea that games are allowed to be disappointing.
The problem with Cyberpunk isn’t that it was overhyped. A lot of people who are able to play Cyberpunk love it. They put tonnes of hours into the game. Most of the issue with Cyberpunk revolves it being **literally** unplayable. It deserves the criticism, in that they tried to con people out of owning an incredibly buggy PS4/Xbox One version and tried their damnest hide it from the public until release. CDPR is more at fault for convincing millions that they were actually going to be able to play the game. It’s not like they were telling the truth and we took it beyond our wildest imaginations on what to expect. They just didn’t deliver. Same can be said about Fallout 76. They couldn’t deliver on those promises. No misinterpretations there, just lies.
Bayonetta 3 is vapourware. I don’t know exactly what you think the definition of vapourware is, but it’s pretty often described as any game that gets announced and fades to existence for a long time. It doesn’t necessarily have to be cancelled, but there typically is a lot of silence about it for at least a year or so. So the idea of calling Bayo 3 vapourware isn’t an injustice, it’s just the truth.
Also, a 49% playthrough is pretty good for a AAA game like Jedi Fallen Order. Keep in mind, Jedi is an EA Play title, so it’s not just the people who were excited for a year and a half that got to play it, but also the mildly curious that just want to make the most out of their subscription. Those guys who bounce onto a game and leave it after seeing it’s not their thing also count in the trophy ratio.
It not so much hype, more delay tactics.
What new Nintendo AAA games were announced for this year in Wednesday's Direct? None? Ok maybe Mario Golf.
There is a new Nintendo console waiting in the wings. It didn't make it into this Direct, but it will make it in time for Christmas. That's when we will see the big titles which are complete and ready for release, but for some reason, not just yet.
It's not really a big deal as long as you keep things in perspective. I've been disappointed in games I've waited a long time for, but, at the end of the day, life goes on. Learning to deal with feelings of disappointment is just part of becoming an adult.
I do like the anticipation of looking forward to big new releases, though. Even if it doesn't always turn out well, it's part of my enjoyment of the medium.
Putting aside the behavior of unstable individuals, the only real problem I see is that it's difficult to walk a line between announcing things way too far ahead of time, as with Cyberpunk, FFVII Remake, Metroid Prime 4, SMT V, and so on, and waiting so long to announce new projects that it feels like there's nothing for people to look forward to. Nintendo really needs to find that balance, IMO. It feels like everything is either announced 5 years before release, or within a few months of release.
There has always been hype. This isn’t an issue from the gamers perspective. I think developers should stop trying to hype there own games that won’t potentially live up to what they stated it would. Stop using the graphics buzz words to market and promote their games. A great game should speak for itself. Take a look at BOTW. Nintendo released that amazing prelaunch trailer. We saw a bit of the game at the E3 prior to its release. But overall the gameplay spoke for itself. Playing the game is what matters. Hype in itself isn’t a bad thing. It’s not bad for me as a consumer and gamer to be excited for a game. Developers just need to focus on making the game as great as they can within the constraints of the console and the engine they are using.
I agree hype leads to disappoint, no matter how good a game really is. I've pretty consistently had a better time with games I didn't know much of anything about before purchase than hype machine titles. Most of them I get from Limited Run Games because I'm buying ALL of the numbered Switch releases. It's expensive, but it's a great way to stumble upon some gems if you can afford it.
The companies should be more transparent and give us the consumers that are going to be purchasing their products news and updates in a timely fashion. We got news last year that SMT 5 was going to have a worldwide simultaneous release this year and 3 was coming west in the spring. We just had a direct and no release dates for either title. Bayo 3 has been in development long enough we should at least see a teaser or character designs or something, lack of news and updates is concerning and just saying it’s proceeding smoothly doesn’t exactly boost our confidence since we’ve been shown nothing.
Yoshi's Crafted World was well-received by virtually everyone. The folks who made Epic Yarn and Wooly World have a pretty well established design philosophy. If the author of this piece let "hype" prevent the understanding of a game's ethos... that's on him, not the game.
I don't like this article. If developers have nothing to show then they should show and say nothing. Devs should not lie about their products (Cyberpunk, No Man's Sky). Consumers should not have unrealistic expectations. This is all just common sense and really not worth writing an article about, especially when your website literally makes $$ off of game hype.
@Olmectron That's precisely the point - the articles fuel the hype. If they are advocating a system where we judge the finished product, rather than an idealised/hyped version, how do you justify promoting pre-orders?
I think a parallel of a game thats been announced yet years away from release would be movies that are "green lit" but take years to produce (or get cancelled or languish in developmental hell). The difference is gaming culture fixates on that initial announcement, as there's usually few to no updates afterwords. If Nintendo (for instance) had quietly announced Bayonetta 3 is being made, then followed it up with progress updates, then dropped a big juicy trailer when it was close to being released I think the response would be different. The game still might be crap, but that's just how it goes when you consume media.
But instead game companies need you to be excited because when they announce the game they want you to drop whatever it is your doing and make a preorder or buy a console (or both). Maybe the fact that they stand to benefit financially from early announcements is part of the issue.
Play the games you want to play when you want to play them. You don't have to get a game the second it comes out, and you don't have to buy a game because everyone is looking forward to it. Animal Crossing is HUGE, and people love it. I don't have any interest in it at all. Am I missing out? Who knows, maybe? Whatever, life goes on. Same with Cyberpunk 2077. More money was spent on marketing for this game than on the actual game itself. It was a bloated, broken, overrated mess, and will go down as the most overhyped, under delivered game maybe of all time.
It's not an "overhype" problem at all. Constant delays, cut features, misleading trailers with no actual gameplay... and we're the ones to blame for setting expectations too high?
I think a lot of people are missing the point:
It's NOT about developers/publishers not being allowed to advertise/hype up a game, it's about dumb-ass gamers building up expectations to such a stupendous level, that the actual reality of it will, in most cases, never live up to their utterly unrealistic expectations.
And there's definitely a considerably sizeable part of these kinds of delusionals out there, who far as I'm concerned, are a massive detriment to the community as a whole, because they are predominantly negative, and they will more than likely have the same short-sighted views and unrealistic expectations about other things and people in their lives as well, so they're pretty much useless, non-contributing individuals.
So, yeah... I completely agree with this soapbox article, so well written, mr @SwitchVogel.
Hollywood cinema is all about "hype" anymore. All it is these days is remakes/reboots/sequels/superhero movies. Nothing original, nothing pushing the envelope, besides a handful of indie flicks that still get made. Same with music, and slowly that's also happening with video games sadly.
My wife and I absolutely love Crafted World , have about 60 hours in that one.
For me, it’s not so much about hearing about a particular game and keeping the hype going - it’s more that this latest direct set out what Nintendo has planned for the next 6 months and it isn’t very exciting . I expected more, as their competitors have just released new consoles and 2020 was by and large a bit more quiet as well in terms of new releases.
This article mentions that per PS4 trophies, only 49% completed Fallen Jedi. That is actually a high completion percentage. But it makes me wonder if this is why Nintendo doesn’t want trophies, maybe they don’t want folks to know how many people actually complete a particular game.
This article is very much spot-on. I mean, back in the days of Nintendo Power, they would release info on game and stuff, but I believe those games were MUCH further along in their cycle, like nearly released, and it was more of a "preview" than a hype machine. But today, we have the 24-hr news-feed mentality that wasn't an issue back in the 90's in the gaming world, and so people are addicted to something new and exciting. But I definitely feel you, people move on WAY too fast and don't actually enjoy the good content that's out there. And honestly, I have to detach from news sites to even feel good about enjoying old games. News sites make me feel like I'm missing out on something better constantly, so I try to read some things here and there, but for the most part I don't take part in the hype.
cough Mighty No 9 cough
@Beatrice I was thinking the same thing 😂
@OnlyItsMeReid I agree with what you said about influencers. The title fits them perfectly, they are able to influence thousands of minds into jumping into a certain bandwagon. And those very same minds will now spread their own watered-down understanding of what the influencer said, spreading misinformation.
Look at any Nintendo Direct live chat, honestly at times it makes me not want to associate myself with those fanbases at all.
Hype is good, delusional fantasies and expectations over any game is not.
Hype is never a bad thing. You want people to be interested in your products after all. No news is good news is not the way to go. Throw consumers who are interested in your products a few bones here and there. Check this out a new enemy design! Here is a cinematic trailer to tide you over! Main characters design in game! Name this baddie contest! We are experiencing delays but hope to keep you updated as we go forward! Why is none of this happening?!
@OnlyItsMeReid I admit there's been quite a few games that I've been hyped for and ending up being rubbish such as fallout 76, cyberpunk and no man's sky. But it doesn't happen very often, I just think it wouldn't be much fun being a gamer who never got hyped for any game at all. Plus if you only play Nintendo then the hype doesn't usually lead to dissapointment in terms of games, but I bet this article was made with the latest direct in mind
This definitely hits home for a lot of us. Hype causes that dopamine release and we keep feeding the machine as we daydream about what we're expecting and/or want. Throughout my gaming life I've experienced both sides of the coin.
Here's some examples. Aliens vs Predator 1 PC (1999) in that era was my first real AvP game and being such a diehard fan of those franchises everything about it blew my mind. I followed everything about it like paparazzi to a celebrity. When AvP 2 PC (2001) was announced/revealed it started the whole process again although this time it was different. Now that there was a outline to follow from the first game my wishes/wants/needs/etc for that game were insanely out of control. Game releases and to be honest it pretty much was all that I wanted and I couldn't be happier. I was fulfilled. Fast forward to AvP (2010) and same thing the hype train was steamrolling at full speed and I was out of control. Game releases...and it was meh. That come down was outrageously hard. It's my fault though I should have kept it check. The final straw was Aliens Colonial Marines. I was getting so high on the hype....let's just say from that experience I no longer allow any hype to trigger too big of a dopamine release that I can't keep in check. Given now what the industry has become with hype I'm in a way better position to keep myself in control. Nothing wrong with some daydreaming of a coming game but keeping it in check goes a long way in saving your sanity.
For me, I got grumps when Shin Megamall Tensei 5 was announced before the switch came out, then spent years silently being developed.
I should just let the game be made, but promising me something that long ago, and then going silent drove me nuts.
Maybe a game should only be announced within a reasonable window to its release.
Otherwise, we expect something from the time spent waiting.
While I see this a loooot happening on the internet, I myself don't really have the problem.
I expect every game in a series to be worse than the one before it. So I'm basically always content with what I'm given.
This happens because the more succesfull a series becomes the more the developers are going to make it more casual-friendly and streamlined to get even more sales. Those include things that will make said series less to my liking every single time, but I'm glad either way because more sales mean a series surviving longer and I being able play more games in said series no matter that it's a bit less to my liking. And if eventually said series outgrows me because of this then I still look at the bright side: the older games won't dissappear, even if said series is not for me anymore there are still enough other games/series I like and at least there are enough people enjoying the games because the increased sales do come from somewhere.
On another, I like all the Yoshi games you talked about. Yeah, they're very casual but I aleays saw it as a casual series.
I also partially blame the rise of YouTube. There are hundreds of video game channels, many devoted to Switch, and the people that run these channels live and breath off hype. Most of them have zero connections to Nintendo or anyone in the industry, and yet they run with rumors and speculation like they have sources. Channels like RGT 85, Beatemups, Spawnwave, Dreamcastguy, Angry Joe, none of then professional journalists or insiders to gaming, yet thousands of followers because they hype up news that might or might not happen. That's why I usually stick with Scott the Woz or Jim Sterling, who don't play that game.
Keep your expectations realistic....
This is why I'm okay with waiting for games like Breath of the Wild 2 or Metroid Prime 4 - I'd like to play sequels that actually meet or exceed the high expectations and hype set by their predecessors and contemporaries rather than feel completely underwhelmed upon release.
@ThanosReXXX "And there's definitely a considerably sizeable part of these kinds of delusionals out there, who far as I'm concerned, are a massive detriment to the community as a whole, because they are predominantly negative, and they will more than likely have the same short-sighted views and unrealistic expectations about other things and people in their lives as well, so they're pretty much useless, non-contributing individuals."
Interesting, you seem to judge and automatically assume the worse of people and how they treat people in their lives and the weight of their contributions if this comment is any indication.
How very negative of you. =P
Anyway, regarding the article. I think there is a certainly a case where all sides have been perhaps guilty of overhyping. But lets be real, if a developer promises a working game like in the case of Cyberpunk, and it doesn't work, that isn't a case of overhype, that is a case of marketing/developer/execs at these companies making false promises. You certainly wouldn't expect to buy an electric kettle, only to find out it doesn't work when you plug it in. Perhaps the problem does exist, but I am not so sure it is as large or pronounced as mentioned.
To be fair, I only really have my own experiences to draw on, so I am biased. Normally, if a game disappoints me despite me being interested and having, I shrug and move on. It also helps that I only preorder some titles which I am confident I will enjoy, rather than every major release. Especially on other platforms, why preorder when you can wait a year, and suddenly the game is £20.
Umm... no offence but... you were hyped about Yoshi's Crafted World? Like... it had a demo! It clearly wasn't on the same level as Woolly World. Anyway, I think... yeah, people are kind of the problem. They get hyped for the wrong reasons. "Keanu Reeves endorses it!", "They're fixing Justice League!" etc.
Like, it's okay to get hyped for Breath of the Wild 2, it's okay to get hyped for Bayonetta 3. But if when the gameplay trailer comes out and you think "something seems off..." that is when that hype should die. Or say you read about problems with development and Bayonetta 3 for example is being developed without Platinum. That's when you hold off and say "okay, maybe it won't be like the previous games". And that's okay, but don't buy it just because. I refused to buy Super Meat Boy Forever after Edmund wanted nothing to do with it.
Like, I see the hype building for Zack Snyder's Justice League and I'm sitting here like "what?! They think a recut of Justice League is going to be on the same level as Avengers Endgame? They think Zack Snyder is suddenly going to become a good film director?". Like... I don't understand people, at all
Smash is literally just a car running on empty subbing fumes for hype and speculation. It’s pretty frustrating. To get off topic, Marvel movies also fall into the trap. 90% of the direction and writing is “omg did you SEE that it’s A rEFEREncE/ Easter egg!”
@Beatrice Well they don't report "hype" they report on news whenever they get them and people get hyped up
Pre-order culture is part of the problem. Gamers and games media need to discourage pre-orders, not encourage them.
Things are backwards in the game industry. Instead of them trying to sell to customers, customers are begging to give away their money.
I think your being too sensitive on this subject. Bayonetta 3 announced in 2017. We are now in 2021. Where is it. Its not a massive project. Same as Metroid Prime 4. Both games have run into trouble and they dont want to admit it. What you have started to do is use the morons on the internet as credible sources.
Hype really doesn't affect me personally. I don't play games as they are released so I am rarely disappointed with my purchases.
My backlog says that you're correct.
And also that I should buy another game.
@GTHOLLAND Yes, Metroid Prime 4 has run into 'trouble'.
Did you miss this development update from 2019?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLIv_UXI_So
@Beaucine
Thats the problem. The internet is a hive of nonsense and we have started to listen to it too much.
@AugustusOxy You got chewed out because you were probably making disparaging remarks about something that people were excited for. There’s literally nothing wrong with dreaming, being hopeful, or getting excited for something.
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@Friendly
Oh your special aint ya. Yes they had to start Metroid 4 again from scratch. Whats ya point
@GTHOLLAND That you're incorrect in saying that they don't want to admit it.
@Beatrice Yes I’m shocked. Hypocrites.
@kingbk
We shouldnt be listening to these idiot Youtubers for a start
@Medic_Alert Exactly this, and I’m surprised more people aren’t pointing it out.
NINJA APPROVED
My pet peeve is a gaming being hyped when all they’ve done is advertise for staff. I think it’s more social media and sites like this tbh that start that - than the company itself - although that does also happen - all the leaks and nonsense too. Rumours. Even the Nintendo direct. Games coming in 2022 - I don’t wanna know. They is next to nothing to be excited about this year and games announced in previous directs have gone MIA.
Nintendo dropped the ball this week. Stealth direct pretty much and then it was more style over content.
I’m just salty at lack of games im hyped for seeming imminent
@Friendly
My bad. I am wrong but that was still two years ago dude. Where is it
@Medic_Alert I commented first before reading comments - but yeah this. Nintendo life hyped games coming coz staff were advertised. Meaning 4 plus years away. I don’t wanna know.
@Muddy_4_Ever He literally admits to that in the article.
I'm still thinking about the moment I glided off the Great Plateau.
... the moment I first saw Blackreach.
... the moment Joel and Ellie escaped Pittsburgh with two brothers, and the horrific morning after.
... the moment I saw the dimly lit bodies of unmoving Rusalki in Axiom Verge.
... the terrible note that plays each time a timeline dies, when I go Into the Breach.
I still crave the fun of guiding DK's leaping silhouette uphill through an avalanche.
... the fun of hoping, and failing, and hoping again in Ikaruga.
... the fun of dancing and countering through curtains of bullets when I Enter the Gungeon.
... the fun of improving my speedrun times in Sonic Mania.
I often wonder what many of you are thinking and feeling when you post here; but I suspect your minds aren't on the games you've played this generation.
Well said Mitch. I think in terms of Nintendo IP’s or exclusives it doesn’t help that BOTW did so well. For those of us anticipating it on the WiiU and watching it get pushed back... twice? And then end up being this amazing launch game for the Switch/dual release for the WiiU really did make the wait worth it. Especially since we got snippets along the way. Then we have cases like Bayonetta 3 or Prime 4 and all we have is a title or a logo. Even BOTW2 they’ve only given us a rough trailer. And we still haven’t heard a peep on whatever new IP Retro was working on for Nintendo before taking over Prime 4. And outside of the games, we ever getting that Mario Movie 😂? As a Smash fan I have always enjoyed the slow reveals of who was going to be in the next one. And Smash Ultimate blew everyone away haha. But I like your article and I agree with it.
@COVIDberry Most of the time, my mind is on the topic of the article I’m commenting on, or making sure what I’m saying is relevant to a person I’m commenting back and forth with. Kinda helps to talk about things mentioned in the article to stay on topic.
That being said, uh, what are you talking about?? LOL
NINJA APPROVED
@BAN It's an author problem, not an industry hype problem was my point. And the "not challenging enough!" critique suggest someone unaware of what he signed up for... curious considering how the game is an extension of Wooly World (which he claimed to love).
@SwitchVogel @Slowdive @Beaucine @Mallow
There is a practical step we can take in games media in order to "live in the moment", and avoid the "dopamine hit" cycle.
WRITE MORE ABOUT THE GAMES WE'VE ALREADY PLAYED.
Can we stop being crass and commercial just enough, just temporarily, to post more articles like that one KateGray just wrote about Skyward Sword? Or maybe institute a feature where we talk about games on the first, or even second, anniversary of release?
I think the problem is clearly the internet and social media. Games were a lot more fun when people couldn't broadcast every single negative thought they ever have to the entire world. Now that people can hype up/sh*t on/fight endlessly over every game that gets announced, the innocence of just getting a new game and not worrying about other people's opinions of it will forever be shattered. UNLESS we avoid social media like the plague and get more selective in the articles we click on, which I largely do.
@gaga64 I really enjoyed crafted world too and 100%ed the main game. I gave up with the boss in the bonus levels.
@BloodNinja I'm talking about moments that have stayed with me, moments that I still think about, or gameplay activities I have greatly enjoyed, from games I first played in this generation. Like (respectively) Breath of the Wild, Skyrim, The Last of Us, Axiom Verge, Into the Breach, Tropical Freeze, Ikaruga, Enter the Gungeon, Sonic Mania.
Without those moments, video games are nothing but fast food.
@AndrewR You can preorder without hype. Those things aren't inclusive.
Yeah. I get excited for a game. But not to the point of getting depressed or attacking people because of that.
I don't enjoy waiting as much as I enjoy playing the game. But I don't crave for it like I do for food when I'm hungry.
I can WAIT patiently after preordering, because it's a game I like. That's it. Not like I think about it every single day or that I get angry and crazy if it gets delayed.
@Muddy_4_Ever Yeah I know, that's what I'm saying. He says it's a HIM/US problem. But I don't think Crafted World is an extension of Woolly World. They play quite differently. I liked the game but I agree with Mitch, the game is kind of bland compared to Woolly World. The levels and music feel like a pretty significant step down.
@COVIDberry Right, but what’s with the scolding at the end? Just share your moments and be happy.
NINJA APPROVED
@MS7000 I agree with you that there are instances of over-hype on the side of developers as well, Cyberpunk obviously being the most recent prime example of that, but those are instances, and not the norm.
Within the video gaming crowd, there is ALWAYS a considerable percentage that gets over-hyped whenever they see the a mention of some kind of upcoming event of presentation, and immediately they start searching for and blindly listening to YouTubers and social media nutcases who spout all kinds of theories and unfounded rumors, resulting in these unrealistic expectations, and ultimately, massive disappointment and even anger, the latter of which is obviously completely unjustified.
Just take this last Direct for example: no official mention was made beforehand of Bayonetta 3, Metroid Prime 4, Breath of the Wild 2 or ANY other kind of highly coveted title, being featured in this presentation, and seeing as it was clearly stated what actually WOULD be shown (which were titles to be released in the first half of 2021), there should have been no misunderstanding about that at ALL, much less any disappointment or "righteous" anger about stuff that Nintendo "didn't show".
There WAS no stuff they didn't show, they showed all they intended to show, and all other views and ideas are only the opinions of the general audience/the fans, and their views are their own, but have nothing to do with the reality of it. So, basically, it's them disappointing themselves, because their expectations were based on nothing, or at least not on any actual fact.
But instead of recognizing and acknowledging that fact, something that this article also points to, they turn their anger towards the developers/manufacturers instead, which is of course utterly wrong and weird, and then they use the "wonderful world" of social media to express their grievances.
As for me making assumptions and/or judging people: what I said was that if they act this way about games and developers, that it is no more than reasonable to assume that they may be equally quick to judge or be judgmental in the other parts of their daily lives as well. Nothing weird or negative about that, just a reasonable observation I'm making.
And not to beat my own drum, but I'm a pretty good judge of character. I also had better be, seeing as being a sales & marketing professional, it is my job to get to know people and get to know what triggers them and what moves them. I've already done this for well over 15 years, so even over the phone, I'm relatively easily able to label people and their behavior.
@BAN Couldn't agree more. Social media is the bane of our existence. It has created an unrealistic, virtual world where people create a fake image of themselves, and there's this constant battle for attention, winning and being the most important or liked. At some point, it's about to implode.
Well, hopefully, anyway...
This is a first world problem, really. But alright.
@BAN I have never signed up for a Twitter account, and my Facebook has been permanently deactivated for a decade. I had to have it for employment purposes at the time, but boy I’ve never been happier since leaving that mess.
NINJA APPROVED
Just share your moments and be happy.
@BloodNinja I don't think I'm the one you need to direct that advice to. Aside maybe from paying for cloud saves and stick drift, I'm plenty enthused about my time with the Switch. What did you think of all the comments after the last Direct? They didn't seem happy to me...
@COVIDberry Stop avoiding your own mire.
Your initial post had all these nice memories of games.
Then you ended by scolding the forum for not thinking about such moments, assuming (wrongly) that their minds are elsewhere.
NO APPROVAL
@BAN
Agree. The internet is like sitting in a pub having a drink and a laugh with ya friends and having some idiot start to interupt you as you talk.
@AndrewR money money money. I think someone was paid to write this bs of an article.
Hype is a problem, I totally agree. However publishers know that hype sells, people are buying games before they even release, guaranteeing sales. It's part of marketing and it's not going to end anytime soon.
All these media platforms ( be it social media, Nintendo Life, Youtube, etc) care about is traffic and getting eyeballs for advertisers in a sea of competition.
Generating controversial articles, takes, "analysis," etc. are in their interests, which then get parroted in echo-chambers across the web and by self-appointed "experts" (i.e. random dudes) on Youtube, and then suddenly a "narrative" takes hold about a game or situation until it spirals out of control.
developers should anounce it games, when is 6 months /one year of it release not 5 years to release, please don't anounce a game like Bayonetta 3/Metroid Prime 4 and make us wait until the Switch sucessor to play it, next time please anounce it 6 months/1 year close to release.
You wanna know how you solve the hype problem? Stop overhyping yourself to every rumor and trailer. I remember when Mass Effect 2 came out and I was brutally disappointed with the game. Since then while I check the news for games I rarely allow myself to get hyped for a game unless I've already played the game in the past and know it is good.
That and the reason games get announced so early is because fans tend to pester the publisher for every little detail that they feel they have to announce a game as soon as it is in development. Which is fine if the game comes out in 2-3 years... but when the game has a rocky initial development like Metroid Prime 4 had they have to disappoint fans that they restarted development so that way they don't assume the game is cancelled because they do not get a trailer for the game every E3. This also applies in the other direction as well... but to solve the "hype problem" the solution is at the consumers feet rather than the developers and publishers.
developers need to be careful with the hype, they do with they games, try not to market your game as a very ambitious game, when you are not sure if you can do this.
I gave into hype about buying a 120hz monitor for my pc because apparently it’s amazing 🤦🏼 Well let me tell you something. It’s nawt special. As long as the frame rate is smooth it don’t matter one single bit what frame rate it is! While I’m on the topic of frame rates I think that’s way out of hand and guess who’s the biggest frame rate culprit oh yeah digital foundry the old sister site! Hypocrites
@Giancarlothomaz Same with consumers. If you don't get yourself overhyped for every game then you are less likely to be disappointed and enjoy the game on its own merits rather than the massive expectations you have about the game. So it is a cyclical issue that goes beyond the devs and publisher end.
That and if publishers don't feel pressured to release a game within a specific window to maximize hype they will probably be more likely to allow devs more time to develop the game. I feel that is why Nintendo is more likely to delay a game is because they know their games don't have to conform to traditional hype cycle.
@thethreatisreal I always found that Digital Foundry gave me the most honest information possible, almost like a science class or something. I wouldn’t put them in the hype train. They are brutally honest, and have had some VERY negative things to say about games when they don’t perform well. They sing their praises when they are due.
Only reason I would avoid a 120Hz monitor, by the way, is because most things I play don’t support it. It’s very cutting edge, so if a developer doesn’t do the extra work for it you won’t see the difference, unfortunately.
NINJA APPROVED
@GTHOLLAND first person shooters take ages to make if you have to start from scratch. We’ll get it in 2 to 3 years.
@BloodNinja yes but people are waiting for their every word instead of just buying a game and having fun. It’s like pc gaming you get caught up in all the technical details like frame rate and resolution and care about that more than playing the game.
@Juga that’s actually a really interesting point, and likely a peak into my own psychology as I buy “decent” games to bide my time until the next proper release.
And on that note Nintendo, I ain’t buying Skyward Sword again!
The companies should be more transparent and give us the consumers that are going to be purchasing their products news and updates in a timely fashion. We got news last year that SMT 5 was going to have a worldwide simultaneous release this year and 3 was coming west in the spring. ...
We just had a direct and no release dates for either title.
@GameOtaku I have a question for you: in not doing these things, will Atlus have harmed your enjoyment of the actual game once you finally have it loaded up on your Switch?
@thethreatisreal I get where you are coming from, you value gameplay over graphics. There’s nothing wrong with that. For some people, part of the fun is seeing their games in the highest fidelity possible. Not my cup of tea, but I don’t yuck their yum, so to speak.
I think Digital Foundry offers a great “service” for lack of a better term. For people that are into technical specs, there really is no finer source of information.
NINJA APPROVED
@COVIDberry Companies owe us no information about the progress of development outside of what it is, if it is in development still and when it comes out. Outside of that we are owed nothing but the final product. Us getting trailers and interviews are just part of the media hype machine to sell us the product. No other industry outside of Film and Gaming does this. You don't hear from music artists every step of recording a new album outside of them doing it and maybe a sample if they want to share.
But, I would not mind a trailer every now and again, but I'm not owed one until the developers and publishers feel they have something to show.
I'd say this is a general problem of the times. To me it appears that many people are looking forward to something which happened yet. Or for something going back to the way it was. And the longer the wait, the less agreement on what that actually is or should be. Hype, expectations, call it what you will, we're all living in different realities 🙂
@InAnotherCastle I think you just defined something considered part of the human condition, rather than something exclusive to gaming.
Wishing for what used to be, yearning for what could be, forgetting exactly where we are in the moment.
I like what you wrote. I also think there is room for all of it, in our minds.
NINJA APPROVED
@COVIDberry
I agree with this and believe it would be a good practice.
However, I would appreciate if such articles stepped away from the paradigms of "nostalgia" and "datedness," which a lot of retro coverage often adheres to. If the only way a classic game can be good is if it resembles games made today, then we're not going in the right direction.
On top of everything that is wrong with this mindset, it also presupposes that games made today are not dated — which they most assuredly are if you're paying attention to current design trends. We just happen to be living in the game's context, so it's harder to see. But it's there.
That's the value of playing classics regularly. You stop holding the present in such high regard. It's just another time period.
This is an interesting way to frame the hype phenomenon...
@COVIDberry
I should hope not. I enjoy the SMT and Persona games so I know what to expect going in. I may not like some new mechanics but if you can find any game that is perfect you let me know.
@BloodNinja
Digital Foundry get a lot of hate, but I think it's misdirected. I know they've helped popularize the current fixation with frame rate and resolution, but they do solid work. I also really enjoy their DF Retro channel on YouTube, which I've praised elsewhere on here. They look at the technology but with a real fascination for it and understanding of the hardware, the limitations faced by the developers, etc. They're not simply giving games a rating based on how many frames per second they manage before crashing.
@Tandy255 I feel the real irony is the two examples used in the article (yoshi crafted world and jedi fallen order) are two of the extremely rare games that love up to the hype. Yoshis crafted world was sported as the chill fun to look at version of yoshi while jedi fallen order was to me looking like a return to the old days of jedi order. Both felt like they lived up to it. The funniest thing is almost any other games would have been better examples lol. Even persona 5 a pretty good game didn't get near the hype and expectations it set up for itself. I would argue breath of the wild didn't live up to the hype with not enought main dungeons and I think it's the best zelda game.
Great soapbox! I experienced this with Smash Bros. Brawl back on the Wii.
Anyone else remember Smash dojo? The hype for that game was through the roof, and now it’s revoked as the worst in the series by competitive players.
@COVIDberry I just want nintendo to get people hyped for smt so atlus realized there games work better on a portable console considering their length and difficulty. Also that ports can make money. I haven't heard anything about nocturne or smt v even though nocturne had nothing to hide it's a port with a couple bonuses that's it
Just become a Vinnie Vincent fan. People are still hyped and excited for their preordered boxed sets from the mid 90’s, and currently pay $500 to meet him and to see if he can really still shred guitar or not. They pay even more for autographs and photos after admission price. Still waiting on Guitarmageddon. The hype is real.
And. I’ve done it to myself over the years with games. Sword of Mana, Castlevania Mirror of Fate to name a few... was pumped on nostalgia and was left ultimately bored. Other times my excitement was rewarded! Like Monster Hunter World.
How do you sell a game without hype? This article should be purged.
@Beaucine Exactly. I love their honesty, because the numbers don’t lie. They’ve saved me hundreds of dollars due to their transparent, detailed analysis of frame data. I especially enjoy when they test new GPUs.
NINJA APPROVED
This is only going to get worse with "AAAA" becoming a new thing. They have to milk advertising these games that cost hundreds of millions somehow...
Just thought of something, for the people asking that we talk about games a year or two after release:
There are already hundreds of websites and YouTube videos that do this. I get at least three “retrospective” style YouTube recommendations a week.
If you want this site to do it, it would be nice but it may not be their nitch. Time will tell, but in the meantime try looking up retro sanctuary or “Zelda retrospective” type things.
NINJA APPROVED
Then there is also the other side of hype: nostalgia.
Oh yes, good ol' nostalgia, where everything from the past was perfect, because we remember the good things in life and a lot of times block out the bad.
There was always a lot of crap that was released, even in the past. The difference is that the good stuff is what people remember and the bad stuff with time fades away, so we are left with the best older movies, older music, older video games. It's why you can revisit and still love a game like Pac-Man or Super Mario Bros, but don't have that same feeling for Tac-Scan or some other older games.
There is a definite hype problem in the industry. Announcing years before they are even able to show anything is ridiculous. Sometimes it feels like they made the decision to make a game, then announce it that day, before work even started. It's too much time for people to build up some unrealistic expectation that will never get met. At the very least, I personally feel that they should keep tight-lipped about it until they are able to show something realistic. We wouldn't have this vapourware problem nearly as much if they would stop announcing things way too damn early. They must feel regret for doing it, the constant harassment from people asking must be awful.
Sites like this definitely feed into that, though. Constantly posting any rumour or 'leak' despite them not being verified that only leads to fuel this hype. The direct is an example of that. "Leaks" get posted, people start to expect them all to be true for whatever reason and built this Direct up to be something it didn't end up being and some people were actually outraged it didn't meet what they personally felt it should have been.
There is no hype problem when you don’t allow yourself to be easily hyped.
@ThanosReXXX @BloodNinja Yep, I have a twitter account where I follow a handful of gaming companies and reporters for games news and that's it. Yet I'm still somehow getting peeks into the warmongering side of twitter and I'm constantly hearing from people in my life about the fights and miseries on the likes of facebook and I just can't help but think that social media is literally going to be the thing that ends the world.
My whole life has been one big disappointment.
The issue isn’t that you’re over-engaged in hype, you’re over-engaged in the medium itself. I’m no expert, but I do know games are designed to appeal to a sense of positive reinforcement and accumulation. In short, maybe you’re eating too many doggie treats if your life has become like a video game, and you’re accumulating lots of games and expecting a lot of positive reinforcement for doing so. Time to have some perspective about an over-rewarded brain, which is also how the games industry makes it’s money
@BAN Do yourself a favor and get off twitter. It is very toxic over there. I did and it was the best move for me. You'll feel better.
@GTHOLLAND Yeah and that's on a GOOD day. It seems to regularly get much worse than that. Like some idiot comes up and punches you in the nuts because they overheard you say something they don't agree with and then drags you into the street and starts yelling at passersby about the thing you said and imploring them to beat the crap out of you.
@MetalMan Honestly you summed up my big issues with "end of the line technology and graphics" AAA at the end of the day. Stuff costs so much to produces anything short of 8 millions sales, the population of some countries, actually become seen as a "failure" for many game.
You can sell 1-2 million copies of a game and it's "barely enough" in some cases.
It's just utterly insanes.
And you see the results of that industry mindset in all the game development studios horror stories years after years.
I forgot who it is who said that quote, but I'm reaching the point of "These days I'd rather somewhat smaller game with less good graphics, but better paid developpers working less overtime".
Do what retro studios does release a game then go silent for 6 yrs where everyone is thinking what are they working on?
I mean I know they now have Metroid but what were they doing since tropical freeze wrapped up end of 2013 and 2019?
@BAN In my experience, social media FREEZES people in place. I’m not suggesting this about you, by the way, this is just an overall observation I have noticed from years of teaching martial arts and fitness. Sometimes if I work with a client and help them examine their life, they notice how much time they spend sitting on social media. So I work with them to “unfreeze” them from that trap. They are almost always happier, as a result.
I’m spending more time even on this website than I normally do, but I have been sick for 6-7 weeks now. COVID froze my life, unfortunately. It’s never been a better time to learn C++ though, so I can still function!
BUT I MISS LIFTING SO MUCH 😭
NINJA APPROVED
@jello64 Believe me, fellow cat, I've been seriously thinking about it lately.
@BAN Facebook itself is run by an egotistical, antisocial psychopath. I mean just look at how the guy talks and behaves. He doesn't care about people at ALL. Even just looking at a picture of him makes me think that people who wouldn't know who he is, could easily label him as a potential serial killer...
@ThanosReXXX Don't forget he started FB in college as a way to rate women. So what's that tell you about him.
@jello64 True enough.
@BloodNinja I think I said as much in the Direct chat the other day but super sorry to hear about your covid experience. I think on the whole, covid has exacerbated a lot of the problems with social media because people A: have a lot more time on their hands, and B: are bored and depressed and have pent-up anger and the most convenient outlet for that is to pull out their phone and turn someone online into their proxy punching bag, and then you see almost every fight snowball and it becomes a virtual Looney Toons fight-cloud where it rolls along and drags more and more people into it and eventually the reason for the initial conflict becomes secondary to the act of fighting and winning itself. It's simultaneously peak stupidity and a rock-bottom low point for humanity.
@Tandy255 oh yeah he was a total pain. Took ages to beat him, then it’s like “now beat him without taking damage” 😳
@ThanosReXXX lol, agreed. He's a creep who got super lucky that his completely unoriginal idea came along at just the right time.
@BAN Thank you!
And you’re right, it’s sad that people are using this medium as a way to “fight” everyone and cause conflict.
Out of all the millions of choices we have available, daily, some people just want to leave a mean tweet while they poop. LOL
NINJA APPROVED
@ThanosReXXX He is a person I would without hesitation punch in the face upon first meeting. And I punch HARD LMFAO
NINJA APPROVED
@UltimateOtaku91 B r e a t h o f t h e w i l d 2
@BloodNinja Honestly, I think humans just aren't as evolved as we think we are and our lizard brains render us unready for/unworthy of a tool like the internet, which could help us accomplish much good but seems more likely to lead to the dissemination of toxic information that will actually one day lead us to a large real-world conflict. The only thing that might prevent this is the natural human trait of laziness. And I'm only being like 10% sarcastic about all of this.
Bayonetta 3 was announced over 3 years ago and there has been radio silence since. I don't care how many times a dev says 'development is going well' when nothing is being talked about. A hype problem? Maybe, but if development is going so well there's no reason we shouldn't have seen something by now. Deep Down and Scalebound were 'going well' once too, how did those games turn out in the end? Oh right, never made it to the market.
100% agree.
I think people should stop pre-ordering games if we want to actually be heard by companies, otherwise it's pointless to complain that they make money using shady practices that we as consumers legitimize with our hard-earned cash.
The same goes for MTX and everything else.
I would like to think the industry will finally get the hint from the Cyberpunk fiasco but I doubt it,no matter what there will always be premature announcements, mass hype, and more mighty number nines,cyberpunks,and no mans sky. At least with first party Nintendo games while there can be disappointments...the games are always playable and decent at best.
How about studio's not announcing games when they're barely an idea, Bayonetta 3 should never have been announced at such an early stage in development nor Metroid Prime 4 for that matter and there are many examples on other systems. But us gamers need to take some responsibility as we're always looking for the next game despite having more games available then we'll ever have time to play
@BloodNinja Well, you definitely have my blessing, so go for it.
Used to be a martial artist myself as well: judo, kickboxing, freestyle, but I'm 50+ now, so I've retired from active training, and like you, with the whole COVID situation, it has become even less than it already was. And I've had an office job for the last 18 or so years, which is also not very conducive to maintaining a healthy body and mind, so yeah...
Personally, I've now sworn off, or try to swear off in most cases, any form of physical violence. I rather like and/or prefer the brutal subtlety of my avatar (I just LOVE that contradiction):
P.S.
Just out of curiosity: what's up with the ever returning "NINJA APPROVED" signature? No offense meant, but for someone who doesn't know you or know it's intent/purpose, it seems kind of childish and irksome, to be honest.
@BAN Some people were never meant to have a voice in the first place, but unfortunately, the anonymity of the internet has most definitely given them one. And it's annoyingly loud too...
SW FO is padded, too. The backtracking in that game sucks, and the map is tedious. They could have fixed a number of these issues with QoL improvements, but never did.
If you’re mad or upset or disappointed by the lack of news on Bayonetta 3 or Metroid Prime 4 that is a YOU problem.
Word up son word is bond
@ThanosReXXX Definitely. I'm 36. I feel like I've lived long enough to say that the world felt healthier when most people kept the bulk of their thoughts in their heads. I believe in the freedom to say whatever you want AND in the practice of discretion, something society has a complete dearth of these days. Information and communication should be treated like a resource that we exploit responsibly. Mine it all up and burn it all at once and it'll destroy us.
What a great article, its true we as gamers are always chasing the next big thing. I keep buying games or preordering future releases when I have a huge back catalogue of stuff ready to play now. I'm really trying to focus on finishing what I have. Gamers moan but to be honest we are spoilt for choice really.
@idrawrobots A Wii "YOU" problem or what?
@ThanosReXXX It’s meant to be playful, nothing more. There’s history behind it but that’s for me 😀 Sometimes ninjas have to approve things.
I’m going on 40, and I feel like I’m just getting started, well until COVID hit me. It will be good to be a “white belt,” again LOL
But, anything to keep my spirits up, I will do so, sorry if it sounds immature or irksome, the intention is to keep a smile on my face to help myself heal.
NINJA APPROVED
@BAN Well, the way things are going and how the whole current culture/society has us constantly walking on egg shells, lest we insult or offend someone, that might happen sooner rather than later. I'm SO tired of all of these ridiculously annoying things sometimes, that it's VERY difficult to muster any kind of understanding for these opposing views, even if I want to try and do so.
@BloodNinja Fair enough. I'll try to not focus on it so much. Kinda envision it like an invisible ninja signature...
@ThanosReXXX Sometimes it’s good to tap into what little childishness we have left. Or in my case, a lot, heh.
NINJA APPROVED
@BloodNinja Well... childishness no, child-like enthusiasm and fantasy/imagination, absolutely. It's already too bad that grown ups have to be so serious and gloomy all the time. I guess that's why I still play games at my age: to try and maintain some modicum of that childlike wonder and amazement.
@SuperCharr Not to worry: I fear nothing and no one. Been through too much in my lifetime already to care enough about that. I'm basically just annoyed by this woke, vocal minority, and like every other normal human being, you're sometimes better able to stomach things, and sometimes, you have a bad day and then it irritates you to no end...
wow, you wrote a great article about alot of people on this site as well. get ready to be torn apart. I know people in this site cry: " goo goo gaa gaa WWWWHHHAAAAA. there are only 500 Pokemon instead of 1000 in sword and shield. bowsers fury is not 30 hours long. wwwaaaa. and so on. and when they are called out? they say." if I want to be critical of a game I will. goo goo." .
see how that goes. so it will never end. GAME DEVELOPERS OWE YOU NOTHING. they are called lazy if over privileged gamers do not get every single thing they want. Thank God I do not do this. when Metroid Prime 4 comes out. whiners will cry. " What Samus does not have a billion weapons and no mother brain? Retro is so lazy. this is not worth 60 bucks.WWaaaa"
watch and see. so this article was a waste. over privileged gamers WILL NEVER LEARN. so the cycle will continue.
@ThanosReXXX Indeed. I live in Portland, Oregon. Our city was ransacked by rioters for like eight straight months over that kind of boundless rage, and social media was the apparatus that facilitated the whole thing and really drove the escalation of it, so I take this all kind of personally. But who knows, maybe the pendulum will swing back the other way and we'll all say enough is enough.
@ThanosReXXX Yep! That’s exactly what I mean.
NINJA APPROVED
@michellelynn0976 You write the next article LMAO
NINJA APPROVED
@BAN Ah, sorry to hear about that. I'm originally from California, but I live in Amsterdam in the Netherlands nowadays, but even over here, we have rioters ransacking shops, setting fire to other people's cars, destroying 5G antennas because they think they're part of a governmental mind control program etc. etc. so it's not too different from your side of the pond.
@thethreatisreal well you see your problem is you bought a 120hz monitor. Now if you had bought a 240hz monitor you'd be singing a different tune!
@Glassneedles ha yeah that’s what they want you to think 😆
The modern games industry has an issue in which they do not show us footage of games that are in development. I remember the N64 days, and even Gamecube, and we were shown footage of games years in advance in big flashy shows like E3 and Spaceworld. We would then be given updates via games magazines throughout the development, and even got to see how games changed and evolved during the process. Examples I can give are Conkers Bad Fur Day, which started as Twelve Tales, and Resident Evil 4 which went through a complete transformation. Even early Zelda 64 footage was far different to what was released. Metroid Prime was originally a 3rd person game, and we saw that journey too.
Couldn’t agree more
I agree because I fall into this trap as well. I love the act of obsessing over future titles, and have often had more fun doing so than actually playing the damn games. And so yes there’s beauty in the hype and anticipation, but allowing that to supersede the actual playing of said games is so sad. It really speaks to the human condition of always looking ahead (or behind) and not appreciating what we have! Thanks for the read.
I think that you pretty much have to give MP4 a Pass... Nintendo admitted that they hit the reset button on this project years ago. It was announced way too early, this was addressed, and apologies were made 💯
BOTW2... I was disappointed, but again, you have to give them a Pass: we've seen some footage of the actual game (not a lot, but something), Aonuma stated that there was nothing new to show (it was last minute AF lol, but still... He acknowledged it wasn't Ready to be shown), and we were given SS as a peace offering. I don't intend to buy SS, but it's here for others to enjoy 💯
Bayonetta 3... Wow... Where the hell is this game? We're beyond a "hype problem" with this one. Obviously, this game was announced way too soon but the follow-up has been terrible. We have literally spent years going from: Title reveal... The game is progressing well/as expected x3, to "just forget about the game, until we have something to show". No offense, but I just can't believe that a Bayonetta game is taking this long to show. Unless this is just some MASSIVE upgrade to the series that will be an immediate GOTY contender, there is no way Nintendo is forcing Kamiya to be this tight lipped.
Bayonetta 3 is the Perfect example of how these things spiral out of control. After all of this time, they won't be able to present a regular game. Anything other than a masterpiece will be doomed to disappointment.
@Beatrice and they just don't report hype, they profit from making hype!
@BloodNinja I will. Lol
@Muddy_4_Ever I wasn't hyped. I bought it on the virtue of the series and was disappointed by the level design, the music, and the lack of a core feature shown in an early trailer. I never played Wolly World, but its not hard to imagine from friends' reactions that it was a superior title. Now, with Kingdom Hearts 3 I was super-hyped, and have never been so disappointed. Except by Last Jedi. The trailer for that movie was a million dollar empty promise.
Pretty sure this is an entertainment issue problem, not just video games. Probably one of the reason the big N is so hush hush about a lot of their major projects.
I am confused, are you new to internet culture? Positivity is virtually nonexistent.
For me I lose interest really fast if there's a lot of time between the initial hype and the release.
Often I'm done with a game already before it's even launched.
A good example is Monster Hunter Rise, I was really excited when the demo dropped, played it a bunch and watched a ton of content on youtube. Now they released a new trailer and it's still a few months away and I really don't care anymore.
I don't think companies should be hyping up their games this much untill a month before release, people just don't have that big of a concentration span.
But I guess hype directly correlates to stock values and shareholders only care about money.
I largely agree. Gamers can try to deflect responsibility but the fact is that we are at least partially responsible for over-hyping games for ourselves. People get mad for what THEY decided would be there. We de-construct trailers to the frame, look for hidden messages in tweets, and start to create fan theories that we assume will become reality. Sometimes it mostly lies on the publishers with blatant lies, such as Cyberpunk 2077 and No Man's Sky, but even in those cases there were people straight up threatening anyone that reported anything that was slightly foreboding and not claiming the titles were the second coming of Christ. Critical review for Cyberpunk? Off with their head!
It's kind of like Directs. One thing I've noticed is that people end up being disappointed mainly on what they decided would be shown ahead of time. Were there any impressions of MP4 or BOTW2 being shown at the Feb. Direct? No. Expecting them is completely due to assumption. Not a completely unreasonable assumption, but an assumption nonetheless.
@the4seer Your Bayonetta 3 mention is actually a good point of what I'm talking about. Perhaps the game was indeed announced way too soon. However, those that will be disappointed if it's not a 10/10 masterpiece have only themselves to blame. We literally know nothing about the game. There's been no marketing, no trailers, no sneap peaks, no even leaks. Any expectations are purely in the imaginations of the customer at this point, and that is solely their own fault. I am not expecting a 10/10 game. I'm just expecting a good action game with that Platinum style behind it.
@dBackLash This is largely because in today's Social Media-driven world our attention spans have gone down the toilet. We're always getting bombarded with new materials and stories to the point that what is a big deal one today is completely forgotten tomorrow for the new headline.
Well, maybe developers shouldn’t announce something then say nothing about it for the better half of a decade.
I think Nintendo aren't happy with the direction Bayonetta 3 had taken personally. It could be too risky, violent or sexualised and they're trying to decide if they want to release it is not.
The fact that Astral Chain was started and released since Bayo 3 was announced shows that it should not have taken this long to finish. Something is up and I wonder if Nintendo have decided they don't want to release it and hope that people will forget about it eventually.
For me it depends on the game. Something like monster hunter where the devs are so excited and passionate about showing you what they've loving worked on for the past 4 years is something I can understand there being a hype train for because they really want you to play and invest time into their amazing world. However they don't announce anything until a few months before release so they can slowly build the excitement up and I feel that's rather ok in my opinion.
But something as cool as cyberpunk announcing like...WAY TOO EARLY by like a few years away before they can even show you any in game footage... that's when I really errr on the side of caution...especially after several games I really wanted fell into this trap before it.
However, for some games like No More Heroes and Splatoon just knowing something is coming is enough especially if they only mention it once and then drop more closer to release... I mean Splatoon was showing off a bit of the starting character creator (something very unexpected ) and No More Heroes did an entire mini game style compliation to see if the interest in continuing the franchies was still there.
As for stuff like metroid, despite knowing it's coming eventually, having them be honest last year that they were going to redo what they made so far because it wasn't to a standard they wanted I can get behind. They acknowledged people have waited a very very long time and they want to give their fans the very best. I can respect and be very patient with a dev team that is entirely open and honest with us.
I honesty sound like a broken record saying this, however I'm glad Nintendo finally has more 3rd party and indie support than they have ever had. Since the N64 they struggled, meaning there was long periods of nothing on the system while they worked on huge games and it was more understandable to be disappointed there wasn't alot to play. Now? There's zero excuse for that mindset unless you ONLY get Nintendo for their properties (which guys...your missing out on the other cool stuff...branch out a bit you know?) We have console selling 3rd party developers and indies showing just how amazing the system is, giving Nintendo what they've always needed: the time to really concentrate on delivering on good games when they're actually ready.
@ThanosReXXX Utter insanity. I think people just want to feel important and they think destroying people’s livelihoods is the way to do it.
@tkdboy1889 I agree that we share blame for determining if a game is a masterpiece, but not for the hype. I especially belief this in the case of Bayo 3.
Bayo 2 launched in 2014. It's fair to assume that nobody would be expecting any announcements for Bayo 3, if it was not announced by Nintendo in late 2017. Truthfully, I thought that the series was done for after Bayo 2.
I enjoy the excitement of future releases as much as next guy, but that's been over 3 years ago. We have had absolutely no updates since (only responses). I hate to be "this person" but from a marketing standpoint that borderlines on being completely irresponsible and unprofessional. What was the point even announcing this game, knowing that you would have absolutely nothing else to say for 3 years?
Either something went terribly wrong in development or this is just World Class Hype at it's finest 💯
Not nearly as much as it did a few years ago
@BAN Well, it's either that, or the COVID restrictions are getting to them. Or they're using that as an excuse...
@Magician actually, it's not the casuals on the hype train most of the time, as they usually don't care about a game enough until they've bought it on a whim in a store, usually going in more blind than long time fans of a series do. There's alot more fans who nit pick, speculate and what if so much to the point if a game was never going to live up to the hype created it will burn. Yes, there are some casuals who jump in with the fans on the hype, but it's usually because of something being seen as cool or just awesome to be into rather than the game itself. Cyberpunk had fans from the TTRPG community highly invested in it as well, some of which were expecting way more than a videogame could realistically deliver. Also, Cyberpunk as a theme...yeah everyone and thier dog is going to jump in on that because that entire genre is cool and not deeply saturated in media as something like medieval fantasy is.
I mean I'm a Monster Hunter fan. I know the hype train is real when I had everyone I knew playing and enjoying World when I struggled to get my pc to get it playing solo (don't get me started on how bad my multiplayer on it functioned with wifi in the mix) . I didn't get too upset over it though. Yes, it soured MHW for me, but others were having fun so that what mattered. I could play the older ones I own (which I did) instead and still feel partbof the community, especially since there's still active communities playing 4U and Tri U (WiiU version) if you look around enough. However it's also not a franchise or a theme of game that appeals to everyone like Cyberpunk (at least until World. Atm there's so much negative stuff coming from a few loudly obnoxious 5th fleeters who don't know the MH has always done console and portable games in a sort of one released while the other is in developing sort of thing it's terrible...especially when we've always had one of the nicest communities online ever...it's disgraceful. ) not everyone is into Cave punk/steel age fantasy (or with Rise it's currently Edo period fantasy) which is fair enough, it's a pretty niche aesthetic in comparison...but the hype from within the fandom itself is just as crazy as it is for something that's going to be Cyberpunk setting themed.
It's also sometimes people doing it themselves. People are gumping that we didn't get Zelda news and uh...we were never actually told to expect any yet people still hyped themselves up with practically nothing to base it on. With how late we got anniversary stuff for Mario, I'd suspect they'll do the same with Zelda as it makes sense to do so closer to the biggest holiday season of the year, but not everyone thinks this rationally. With pokemon as well they're going to slot them in first to give them more time as even though Pokemon is a nintendo property, they sort of aren't and always do there own crazy thing so letting them freely do so is better than trying to compete with it.
Like right now Capcoms biggest selling portable IP in Japan is taking the spotlight as they know it will sell consoles. They're not going to send Zelda into that and compete with it. Better to wait and when they need the sales unleash it along side other collectors stuff people will go crazy on because they've spread thier spending out over the year.
A lot of people are saying publishers should wait longer to announce games and release screenshots or footage. I would agree, except it probably wouldn't huge difference. There will always be some Robin Hood that see it as his duty to **** over his employer and coworkers, and leak the game to the internet.
"Once we have something, we suddenly want it a whole lot less."
Welcome to the wide world of dating
@Dman10 but there is a AAA game in that direct. It's the Nintendo made exclusives that are what's getting everyone upset. MHRise is one of capcoms 1st party titles and is very big in Japan to the point it sells consoles. Just because they're a 3rd party developer doesn't mean they don't have 1st party franchises.
I have said many times, This is the first time Nintendo can use the leverage of 3rd party and indie games to help fill empty patches in release from themselves. They've never really had that, even back in the days of the N64 where they had the most 3rd party support and even then it's incomparable to what the Switch has now. This allows them to still sell systems, still have games available while they take more care and time on thier bigger more time consuming IPs. If you ONLY bought a switch for Nintendo made stuff however you're shooting yourself in the foot (and are crazy, as your missing out on many other good games) They now have the ablity to take their time and they won't hesitate to use it, something they didn't always have the luxury of before the Switch.
@the4seer You're not wrong. Bayo 3 was definitely announced too early. My personal opinion is that both Bayo 3 and SMT 5 were announced pretty much as soon as they entered development because Nintendo was looking for early adopters. Definitely not a good tactic- it actually feels a bit dishonest, and I myself prefer to get short turnaround from announcement to release.
However, regardless of Bayo 3's development status or length, I still don't expect a masterpiece that flips the genre on it's head. That was my main point. We can definitely critique a company for dragging their feet or making a premature announcement to bait and switch people (Bethesda did this with Elder Scrolls 6 just to avoid the backlash of FO76) but we should also always keep our own expectations in check. Hype is a double-edged sword.
For this to be fixed, it has to be an Ying Yang situation. Show teasers and trailers, and start the hype train, when it's time. Not when you have a whole bunch of nothing.
Industry shows a random group of Demon models, with a generic idle animation, in a generic empty and bland room cof SMT V cof.
Studios should stop showing these early nothings, just because they need to see their stocks rise, to get more investment, based on some stupid metric of engagement. @the4seer
And also customers should start seeing through these monkey business practices. They are becoming way too common, and just setting everyone up for a disappointment (insert cyberpunk reference here).
Sat through an entire Nintendo Direct yesterday waiting for Bayonetta 3 news that never came.
Upside: OMG Splatoon 3!!!!
Downside: 2022....maybe.
Don't worry I will always be hyped for Bayonetta 3! Take your time, me and my family can wait.
@swedetrap I think it's a bit early for Bayonetta 3 trailer. Maybe in a couple of months later or next year is most likely.
@Giancarlothomaz unfortunately some games don't get to. MHRise was leaked out by hackers long before they were ready to start properly promoting it. Though unless you're someone who started with World, you wouldn't be that suprised if you knew how the two teams working on the series work and that there's always been a console and a portable title of every generation in 4 year cycles with 4th gen being the 3ds only black sheep.
However because of these leaks and because of many new players who weren't aware of this way of operation within the MH division of Capcom, we've got people getting nasty over Rise, even if they were never going to play it anyway.
Just want to say this - the switch can render 4 to 5 monsters on a screen in handheld while world can only do 3. The game is pushing well above it's weight and from the demo, with little to no frame rate issues. It's texture heavy and wow...it's really amazing what the switch can really do with something specifically crafted for it. And yet...there's still jerks out there despite all this.
This is why I'm happy to wait for things like BOTW2 and Bayonetta...and Metroid which I know will be a texture heavy game too. They were probably waiting to see how well Rise runs before adding late tweeks and textures they weren't sure they could have the switch render before. Sure, The Witcher 3 port and Doom Eternal are awesome and done by wizards however they were forced to tone down textures and all sorts to get that magic to happen - Rise is practically being made entirely with unknown sorcery, textures, AI and all.
@dBackLash it's out in less than a month. Honestly if you loose interest that quick that's your own issue. There's actually a ton of new stuff going up on thier twitter and website, as well as a few gameplay show cases on the coming weeks. Unlike something like Cyberpunk, the Portable MH team is happy to show everything and lay it out for everyone to see that there is actually a game coming and not just promises unforfilled. Sure we are not going to get info on the end game elder dragon - they've said long time ago that that's for players to share themselves if they ever want to reach it. But they're definitely giving all the people who are dunking on it and the switch a run for their money, especially now we know it can render 4 to 5 large monsters in a given area (never been done before), something the console team might eventually do with the next gen which we all know they've been working on since Iceborne ended. (Same as the portable team once GU finished on the 3ds - theirgames reliably have a rough 4 -5 year dev cycle.)
@ThanosReXXX the covid thing I understand. Team Cherry would have had huge problems last year with our lockdowns all over the place in Australia and even some of the ones we've had at the start of the year. With a small indie studio not being able to work on your project in the office with the rest of your team can be a massive delay in everything to had planned out in your development.
Kingdom Hearts 3 hit a lot of the right notes in terms of its gameplay, but its story left me feeling hollow, unsatisfied, and it's all because I assumed that it would answer every question that the series had left open. Instead it answered some questions, while leaving others untouched, and introducing new ones as well for people who didn't play a fan translation of the mobile game, because Squenix hates their western audience! I'll stop myself there before I go on a rant of my own, but suffice it to say I did fall for this hype trap myself, where I built up my own expectations so that they could be broken.
Part of this is definitely Nintendo fans overhyping themselves up too much and believing every fake leaker about zelda collections or switch pros... you're a clown bro.
However, part of this is also just peoples ignorance. Go look at the comments of Miitopia, people think it's a port when it's not. They did the same thing with new pokemon snap. They just assume everything is a port on switch and ignore facts.
I can see both points.
On one hand, I think it is silly to go around crying about "by the time the game comes, I will have lost all interest, etc etc" I for one can pride myself on being patient with most videogame products, if it comes, it will come.
And yet...I can't deny I just love some good hype. A good hype machine can embiggen even the most niche of releases. Just from the top of my mind, I can remember Rune Factory Frontier, Arc Rise Fantasia, Trauma Team back on the Wii days, had me revisiting their webpages daily (the first two in complete japanese) just to see a new character, a new pic, a new music sample. And all three of them delivered completely at least to my expectations, some bad localization gaffes aside. Now on the other hand, I did the same with a liitle known stinkbomb called Ohgon no Kizuna...I was hyped, I was mad the game was japanese exclusive, and I was also utterly dissapointed when the game was such a catastrophic dud...and still, I still remember those golden hype days with fondness and nostalgia.
If a game can bring me hype and quality, that is perfect, but even if it ends being the biggest pile of failure in videogame form, if it gave me a good month or more, of pure hype, that is still a source of enjoyment by itself.
I would say this translates over to Nintendo Direct's as well. The latest one was met with such hype partly because it had been so long, and people expected BIG announcements that just weren't going to happen. This lead to the usual "that was one of the worst directs ever" ...no, it was fine. Not spectacular, just fine. And that's ok, it doesn't mean it was bad or one of the worst. People set themselves up for disappointment massively.
This trend also goes for TV shows where people expect the ending to deliver something it was never actually going to, and then they throw their toys out the pram when it doesn't. Lost is a prime example of that.
@Rika_Yoshitake i watched a live stream reaction where someone called MHrise 'Filler'. It's ok not to be into it, but its a 1st party capcom title that sells consoles especially in Japan.... Of course they're going to hype it when it's giving them some leverage over the lack of care Sony is giving their Japanese fans right now. But yeah definitely not a filler title.
Agreed, completely. People need to understand that games are bigger than ever. You can’t reasonably expect a game to take less than a couple years to make anymore, and you can’t expect perfection when you want your product rushed to your console so quickly.
Capital-G Gamers demand and demand and demand for games to come out faster, faster, faster. When they get angry that it’s not coming fast enough, higher corporate heads rush the developers, put them through maddening crunches, and you get a bad product. Then Gamers complain about it being imperfect. It’s absurd and asinine. Let the developers work as they need to. It’s not like there aren’t thousands upon thousands of other games to play in the meantime.
On the flip side, developers and the higher corporate entities in charge need to learn this too, and while it’s not unreasonable to give out updates, transparency is key. Even if that transparency is ‘development is going well’. Don’t announce release dates without being fairly certain, and, to be honest, I think release dates are outdated anyways. Give windows and stick to windows, until the game goes gold, and over time, shrink the windows. Say, ‘available in 2022’, then ‘Q3 2022’, etc, until a date is certain.
At the end of the day, we need to chill. The inherent harassment and badgering only makes things worse - it makes corporate entities rush developers for imperfect products. Stop complaining. Let developers do their work. Be patient. Play something else until then.
Ok, so I sort of agree with this, and I sort of don't.
I agree that people need to keep expectations in check, and use their critical thinking skills for once.
But... people have every right to be hyped, I don't see why not. They enjoy it, so they get hyped, I don't know what else to say. They have every right to be happy, sad, disappointed, mad...whatever.
But the problem I see is the constant circle jerk people have when it comes to this. People disregard everyone but themselves, then label it as the general opinion. Splatoon 3 for example
A crap ton of people were hyped beyond **** for that announcement. A lot of people didn't like it. A lot of people don't like splatoon, yada yada vice versa. But the people who don't like splatoon decide their subjective opinion is the one and only determination of quality for the direct. Splatoon 3's announcement wasn't a waste of a "one more thing", it was just something you didn't like. I still fail to understand how some people think this way.
In my opinion, the problem isn't over hyping, it's cynicism.
Love seeing all the comments here, I was hoping this would inspire some interesting discussion!
And yeah, the irony isn't lost on me that this shows up on a Nintendo news site; an earlier draft of this addressed that at greater length, but I took it out to keep the focus narrower. The way I see it, the onus is still on the individual to decide the level of emotional involvement they have in future releases. Sites like this report on all the news, yes, but I'd argue they primarily act as places for the broader community to rally around and connect with.
I actually submitted this article a few days before the Direct was announced, but it's been fascinating seeing how the Direct only further proved my point. Seems to me lots of people are upset nothing 'major' was announced, and I find it amusing that now it's not even about obsessing over what has been announced, but what hasn't.
@UltimateOtaku91
"Getting hyped for a game you really want to play is a big part of being a proper gamer"
There's a proper way to be a gamer?
I mean, I see where this article is coming from and I agree it's very easy to fall for the promise of a game before it exists, but like, that's the consumer's choice. I was a victim of getting too excited for Cyberpunk, because it was the marriage of Deus Ex by way of The Witcher in my head. Honestly though, I don't feel that burned. What I've played I've still enjoyed, it's just not the open world Deus Ex I had wrongly assumed it would be.
I think what you're really angling at is a problem with fanboy culture and knee-jerk reactions to news and the lack of news. Unfortunately that is part of any fandom. And really, we shouldn't bemoan people for being as passionate or dispassionate about something as they desire, so long as it doesn't impede our ability to enjoy it too.
I think your bit about players not finishing games kind of weakens your argument too. Games that don't have tons of hype remain largely unfinished too. It's easy to single out games for this since we have handy lists to track players' completions, but I could list at least half a dozen novels on my bookshelf I've read part of and never finished. I just don't log that info on GoodReads. Game completion is a function of so many things beyond whether a game lives up to its hype or not - I mean I thought Fallen Order looked like trash and ended up loving it and getting the Platinum. And Sekiro, another game I love, and actually bought on release, I never finished because the final boss is a POS. And I definitely dumped more hours into Sekiro, but I may never have the game beaten trophy, so that's a hugely misleading measure.
I'm sorry to say that this is how I felt about Breath of the Wild.
@SwitchVogel Game publishers could choose not to put out dumb shallow teasers, games that are just concepts (project blob. coming sometime!), or concept art and trailers. I can only conclude they announce stuff because they like the free advertising. Also, game journalists could not just amplify company PR by putting less credible announcements in context or not running it above the fold. But they do because they like the clicky clicks. So yes, of course, the onus is on every individual — because no company or organization is motivated to change —each game must protect themselves from manipulation by both gaming companies and media outlets.
@koffing each game must protect themselves from manipulation by both gaming companies and media outlets.
....and other gamers who can't control themselves. Gamers who can't wait to 'pre-order'.
I can honestly say that AAA games get the most hype. Bayonetta 2 lived up to expectations so I would be surprised if Bayonetta 3 is underwhelming.
This doesnt only apply to videogames. This is a major thing with allthings consumer electronics and even many other things. Its a staple of modern day capitalism. Get used to it, until there is a massive sea-change in the system in which we live this will only get worse and all of us are guilty of conforming to it unless you live completely off the grid and without internet or money or tv or anything but the absolute necessities.
@Meikahidenori No offense, but I think you misread my comment. It was meant to indicate that rioters in the streets sometimes use COVID restrictions as an excuse for their pent up anger issues.
The answer is very simple actually. Wait, check reviewers or watch a 30 min game play just to make sure it's worth spending your money and time.
@SwitchVogel "Seems to me lots of people are upset nothing 'major' was announced, and I find it amusing that now it's not even about obsessing over what has been announced, but what hasn't."
This, exactly this. And it is also so weird and stupid since we knew before going into the Direct, what would be announced, and there were definitely no signs of the big 1st party hitters being present, so the mention of Splatoon 3 alone is already a big bonus, and no major gaming web site has alluded to any major reveals either.
But I guess that quite a few people would rather go with wishful thinking or rumormonging, and in their heads take that for a fact, subsequently feeling massively disappointed, angered and what not, instead of actually looking at the upside (and the actual reality of it), which is the announcement of almost 30 new games, so for all intent and purposes, there should have been something there for everyone, even if not all of it interests you...
Nintendo announced various games to help sell people on the switch, then keep people waiting for 1070 days with no Bayonetta news. Just share a couple of pieces of concept art to shut people up for a few months.
Also I beat fallen order and wooly world, had enough fun with them, both had some great platforming.
@ThanosReXXX i probably did. 😆 three 33°c heat days in a row is getting to me. (Sometimes summer in Australia sucks)
Ehm isn’t the news the business you work in? This makes no sense. I had not much for yoshis crafted world. It still was a bad experience compared to wooly world. It had nothing to do about hype. I had almost read or watched anything on crafted world.
Bayonetta is just rediculous. It’s not hype I’m after. It’s anything. It’s something that shows that the game is coming soon. If they didn’t want to talk about it. They shouldn’t have snnounced it 4 years ago. It’s stupid and cruel to announce a game so early and show nothing and say nothing.
Hey, Yoshi Island DS was brilliant.
I get your point. I was once a slave to the hype industry, then I turned 30. Sorry to say, hype is the bedrock of human society. The only solution is learning, often the hard way. We see it with film and TV too. Let's not forget politics either, where hype and its evil twin, fear, are used to push narratives. Lesson is: don't be so easily seduced.
PS: I'm a huge Yoshi and Yoshi Island fan, and I never bought Yoshi Crafted World.
PPS: You're never too old to be hooked by hype. I'm hyped for Metroid Prime 4. Of course, this is a rare exception for me.
Is it a problem though or is it just something we get wise to and start filtering as we get older/more mature? I remember the same feelings for Perfect Dark and Zelda MM on N64 back in the day. Waited in line for hours to get both. The latter I never really got into and the cart collected a lot of dust. I feel like people getting annoyed about industry hype just love to sit on a high horse tbh.
It’s the human condition, we get a buzz with any form of anticipation be it for a new game or waiting for a parcel to be delivered. The anticipation being often better than the event when it happens. Like the run up to Christmas being better than the actual day itself.
It’s our programming, it’s built in. Companies have taken advantage of this for decades and will continue to do so to sell things that, once received, don’t meet our expectation in any way. Take PS5 and Series X, ultimate hype before release leading to scalping and silly prices on auction sites. I’d bet those lucky enough to get either or both on release or since don’t really see much difference from the standard existing PS4 or Xbone given that they are both at the very beginning of their life cycle and lack the maturity of their older brethren.
We’re being primed in the same way for a Switch Pro, it’s no accident, it’s planned that way to take advantage of that buzz of anticipation we lap up like nectar of the gods.
People don’t get rich by just having a product, if anticipation is not created in the masses for that product then it’s dead in the water. Doesn’t matter if it’s the best thing since sliced bread or a piece of hot garbage.
When you hear that a game that interests you is in development, you get hyped. And when there's a trailer, you get hyped even more. And then there is the media, social media, etc. You always should get yourself not to hyped, as hard as that sometimes seems to be.
Well, its very hard if developers announce a game or show a trailer FAR TO SOON!! Take Splatoon 3 as a perfect example: it will get hyped through the roof, but gets released in 2022?! Why the blazes did they show it/announce it this soon?!
What personally annoys me to no end is a kickstart campagne where the game looks already totally finished. Or a game that looks finished, but is still very far away. A good example is the messenger semi-sequel. They announced it with a very polished trailer and then slapped 2022 on it. That really makes no sense at all.
Yoshi's crafted world is the only remotely fun Yoshi game. The others are all incredibly boring. Also late game difficulty is pretty good.
Sadly not just the games industry going through this. The constant hype train makes everything harder to enjoy if you buy into it too much, and definitely sets you up for a let down sometimes (films / TV shows definitely have this too). I wasn't too fussed about the Nintendo Direct as it feels like it was missing a killer game, but there was some great stuff to look forward to for this year (Fall Guys, Star Wars, Project Triangle and Knockout City seem fun, and Mario Golf will hopefully exceed exptectations!), and I'm hoping for Zelda announcements as the year progresses....2020 did have Animal Crossing, Paper Mario, Sakuna, Hades, All Stars, Hyrule Warriors, Pokémon DLC and loads more in there, and we've already got 3D World, Monster Hunter Rise, Bravely Default 2 and a bunch more on the way for Switch in its "mid cycle" year. IMO it's definitely worth not spoiling games for yourself by getting too invested and knowing everything before it comes along, but maybe that's just me.
@kingbk and that lying super metal Dave 64 bs guy
I think excitement and hype are both normal feeling to experience for things we enjoy. I become very excitable at the though of going on holiday, or when a new movies is coming out or When visiting an old friend, I have not seen for a while. Actually anything that I enjoy can causes me excitement.
Is this article confusing hype with excitement on the back end of the ori devs comments. He made a point this just seems, well over hyped.
Or I wonder if its actually alluding to mental health issues, i.e mentioning the feeling of delusion, to the suggestion that being excited for things we enjoy is a problem.
Personally I think anyone who agrees with this article should maybe consider looking into gaming disorder, because i think all these feeling are normal and if thats causing you issues then gaming is becoming a problem. Hype for a new game shouldn't be different than hype for a new movie. ( unless you have a problem) is everyone falling apart over the last of us movie for example?
https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/addictive-behaviours-gaming-disorder
@SwitchVogel Seems to me lots of people are upset nothing 'major' was announced, and I find it amusing that now it's not even about obsessing over what has been announced, but what hasn't. How long have you been gaming? It’s been this way forever! it’s just the way the world is.
Doesn't this website benefit from hype?
Won't more people click on articles of previews of games they're hyped about this generating more revenue for you?
Weird to diss hype when it obviously makes you money.
@Juga Nintendo have shadow announced a few games such as paper mario which got announced a couple months before its release. So if Nintendo don't announce fzero by a certain date then that doesn't mean its not coming, they announce skyward sword HD and that's coming in 5 months, they could announce any title anyone has hype for and it could drop a couple of months after they announce it. This could be considered a good or a bad thing as tbh I would atleast like to know what games Nintendo are planning to put on the switch even if its two years before release, atleast I a have that reassurance it's coming instead of spending two years hoping
And all these surprise Nintendo directs are making some people happy whilst the rest walk away dissapointed
It's an absolutely valid observation but the problem is society-wide not just the video games industry.
The rise of social media in particular has propagated the issue and also means there is possibly no going back.
My solution is to be very selective about what and when I consume these things and even then with a healthy dose of skepticism. Many can't or don't want to though.
Of course the people actually creating the hype are making a living from it so trying to ask them nicely to rein it in is completely futile!
Sounds more like the fans have an (over)hype problem.
I'm with Beatrice up top here. Nintendolife is an active contributor to said problem, so it's pretty hilarious that this article exists. That, coupled with the CP2077 picture seeming like the article defends that sad sad product stops me from taking it too seriously.
Is there a hype problem? Yes. Is it mostly on news websites and marketing/developers with big mouths? Yes.
CP2077 is actually a good example of the "chasers" being completely in the right. Both marketing AND developers promised something they knew they couldn't deliver in any way, shape or form, and also proceeded to rush development, leaving the final product even worse off.
Maybe gaming websites could try to tackle this by pushing back on wild developer claims or coming up with a rating system? I am tempted to use Cyberpunk as an example, but I will go way back to a hugely terrible game from 1998: Trespasser Jurassic Park. In hindsight it was obvious they could never deliver, but the media just amplified the company’s PR department. They shared the fake screenshots some of which were just 3d Studio Max renders, they shared the fake music that never made it to the game, the fake descriptions of the physics and simulation systems that no computer in 1998 could pull off, they participated in interviews where the game was described in glowing detail. No one questioned whether it was possible, realistic, or tried to find evidence that the company’s claims were truthful. And the game came out and it was a disaster. It was obvious people were misled. Deliberately. There was too much missing or wrong. That was 23 years ago and we have not evolved much! Will game media ever own any responsibility for the hype? I think they are just too afraid they will lose access (to those companies) and ad revenue. NintendoLife could write things like “Splatoon 3 concept video shows possible new gameplay. Visuals probably will match what was shown, but it was a very early mockup that wasn’t running on the Switch per the disclaimer at the trailer start. We think it’s likely set for a mid to late 2022 release given the early state of the trailer and the ongoing pandemic which has greatly disrupted Nintendo’s software development approach. A delay would not be shocking. It’s likely many things shown in this trailer will change as they try to balance the various character sets and weapons. None of that testing has likely started yet. Hype Factor: 4 Warios. Take with a huge grain of salt”
@Meikahidenori Well, better that than being stuck in frozen Texas...
@Giancarlothomaz let's be honest here. If Bayonetta 3 and Metroid Prime 4 were still not announced for switch let's not pretend there wouldn't be outrage. People would be complaining constantly that these titles are not in development. The theory of not announcing games till 6 months in advance simply doesn't work.
@Henmii Well, here's a thought: perhaps they share stuff for 2022, because otherwise, people start complaining and worrying again, seeing as they're already concerned about there being enough software this year, let alone the next, so in their minds, the Nintendoomed meme is already in need of being dusted off...
All kidding aside, it's basic supply and demand. People WANT to know what game developers are working on, and they simply aren't patient enough to wait for a whole year, getting no news whatsoever, to suddenly be pleasantly blindsided by a new game being released.
I know that sounds really good on paper, but in real life, all that potential waiting time and getting no news would only creating more whining, complaining and negativity, so companies simply can't afford to NOT share stuff anymore, even if it's well over a year in advance of an actual release...
I also think the anti hype machine is a thing. People don’t seem to talk about games they enjoy for very long but they will wail endlessly about ones they hate and instantly try to kill enthusiasm for any new entry (usually after said entry is already out).
It’s fine to hate a game or feel the series went downhill. Even if the franchise is popular, but the need to remind everyone every time said franchise is brought up, that it is an abomination and everyone is an idiot for disagreeing is overkill. And it can’t be hand-waved away with “it’s my opinion”.
What happened to enjoying games? Like, not hyping yourself up over something that isn’t out yet so that you crash when your expectations aren’t met or leading the charge to tear down a game at every opportunity; what happened to playing a game, liking it and sharing that experience with others? Did I miss something and that is rare and I just never noticed?
Great article. I was definitely guilty of impatiently hyping up and even getting mad over a game not having any trailers or footage or updates. Pressing my face up against and constantly tapping on platinumgames' window asking "are you done yet? Are you done yet?? ARE YOU DONE YET", isnt going to make the game come out any sooner. At the end of the day they don't owe us anything. They don't HAVE to show us anything. There's plenty to enjoy in the meantime. No bayo 3 yet? Cool. Guess I'll just play W101. Nothing on Lost soul aside yet. Oh well. Maybe I'll try out ninja gaiden 2 while I wait for that. The games will show up when they're ready. That's all there is to it really 🤷
@Meikahidenori my first Monster Hunter game was Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, and i aware that Capcom have two development divisions for Monster Hunter, i trying to wait patiently for the release of Metroid Prime 4, Bayonetta 3 and Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2, i know these games is gonna be awesome when they release, but also i don't to wait too much to play they in a potencial Switch sucessor.
@ThanosReXXX you know as someone who lives somewhere it barely ever snows, I'd love to trade for a bit just to see real snow insted of just mud. Stay warm and safe.
@Giancarlothomaz I'm interested to know how much longer they're going with the switch myself. They have said they want it to have a longer life than their other consoles did a few times now...and yes, I'd like to play all those games too but given that it takes longer than before to make bigger more expensive experiences sometimes you have to bite the bullet and find something to fill your time with while you wait (I'm really wanting to sink teeth into another Metriid game, but I'm also ok with the wait as There's other stuff I know I'll play in the meantime)
And that's cool you're a long time hunter! Sometimes it's hard to know who is and isn't unless you mention it so apologies repeating stuff you already knew. Maybe we might run into each other on a Rampage quest? I'm already planning to do a sweet HH and SA build as soon as I get my paws on my copy🤣
Happy hunting and hopefully the wait for the rest isn't going to be until a new system drops, especially when it would be smarter to give us a chance to play on this current console.
@Meikahidenori I'd better clarify: I'm not living in Texas. But I am originally from the US, and I know that some people on here that I got to know, live in Texas. Hence the comment. I myself live in Europe nowadays. There has been some snow and ice over here, but not even remotely close to what's been happening in Texas.
I totally agree with some elements of this however in regards to B3, there could have at least been a couple of screenshots or something to suggest it really is still in development.
Remember we have experienced versus 13 which disappeared despite claims (although from what I am led to believe that is really 15), an that there in lies the problem for me.
It isn't difficult to at least drip feed some information as oppose to none of it for something that is meant to be one of the biggest releases on the system, it doesn't even have to be much.
Also there is no harm in hype, while yes it can be detrimental, but at the same point it means you are on a potentially exciting ride up to the game and also when playing it. An there is no harm in enjoying that, it as some resemblance to the collector mentality however.
You also state how only 49% of ps4 players finished Star Wars, believing that the remainder weren't happy with it or excited for it, which, is an incredibly wrong assumption, you can never judge that on whether a game is competed, there are many different players with some being more than satisfied for half of the game or even less.
An my final point, a game can live up to and exceed your wildest dreams, it just may not have done yet, I have been lucky enough to have FF7R do that for me
@ThanosReXXX,
Well, you might have a point there. It doesn't work for me that way though. I only find it annoying when they show/announce a game far to soon.
@Henmii I would partially agree, because somewhere, in the back of my mind, I was kinda hoping for some new Bayonetta 3, Metroid Prime 4 and Breath of the Wild 2 teasers in this latest Direct as well, but I only kept that as a wish, not as a demand, as so many have apparently done.
And imagine being a video game company: damned if you do, damned if you don't. Show news too early and the wait until the actual release is too long, show nothing at all and people start getting angry and shouting "vaporware" or are demanding that the company shows them what the heck they've been up to for all these months/years since the previous releases.
They just can't seem to win, sometimes...
@ThanosReXXX,
Well, that's true. The gaming community can be very fierce. Luckily there are also a lot of sensible people still. I didn't demand, but I hoped (and was dissapointed). Now I just look forward to the day that botw2, bayonetta and Metroid will be shown.
@Henmii Well, that makes two of us. Although I assume I can safely add a fair amount of zeros after that 2, to indicate the rest of the numerous fans who are anxiously awaiting news about these titles...
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