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Gaming Hype Good or Bad?


Sentacotus
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So I read an article on ign recently that got me thinking about the concept of gaming hype. Or the buildup of games prior to release. Sure its always been around just look at old ads for NES and Genesis games. But with the growth of the industry as a whole and the explosion of the Internet we now get to see parts of games more frequently and some such as Smash get built up pretty high.

Why not do this? It is essentially pregaming and advertising for the developers and the companies involved. It builds on the emotion surrounding the game and in theory should make more people want to buy it. Well there are some out there that would debate that hype is actually a bad thing and that all it does is build people up only to get jaded and disappointed and in their eyes the game(s) just become a taint in the series they once loved.

So where do I stand? Well not going to lie I've bought into hype numerous times (how can you not at times?) and left games feeling slightly disappointed or that they were not as good as I thought they would be. But this is mostly my fault due to a lack of experience and probably reading up more on the game than I should have. That being said its not to say these games were not good games they still were. But I do notice that the less I know about a game I tend to enjoy it more because theres more suprise and discovery involved (this was my case with Awakening) and you get that sense of something new.

Hype isn't a bad thing per se especially for the producers but from a personal perspective I've just learned to be cautiously optimistic and take things as they come with a grain salt.

EDIT: Link to the aforementioned IGN article if you're interested.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/01/31/opinion-hype-isnt-always-a-bad-thing-hype-is-hope

Edited by LordTaco42
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Whenever content creators go out of their way to hype their work outside of the trailer, that's when a game is required to reach a specific expectation.

The only thing I need to get me hyped for a game is facts about the game. If people hype their games with like, 1 trailer, and some facts about the game, and maybe even a demo in their, then it's hyped in a way to where it's far less likely to be considered overhyped.

Hype is good, but only whenever it's executed well.

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As far as sales are concerned, there's never too much hype. Take a look at Sonic '06, for example.

http://www.vgchartz.com/game/70440/sonic-the-hedgehog/

It sold well despite its poor quality, thanks to the hype of being the first HD Sonic game.

As a player though, I find that less hype sets my expectations lower, and I sometimes enjoy a game more as a result.

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Hype often creates people to have unreal expectations in a product, which then leads to disappointment if and when those expectations don't get met upon the release of said product.

So yeah, I think hype is a bad thing.

Edited by NinjaMonkey
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Hype = marketing. Marketing = good. No hype = no real marketing. No real marketing = bad. Bad = no money.

Not even all that hard to figure out.

Too much hype, though, is just as bad as too little, especially before a game is even released.

It's better for consumers if a game is hyped up after it's released rather than before, since in that case people can immediately see what the hype is all about. I think it's better in the long run for game companies as well, since a game that lives up to its hype (or, if you prefer, had no hype until it proved to be worthy of it) will sell better over time than a game that promises too much and delivers too little.

"Hey, this game just came out, and it's really fun. Play it and see how fun it is!" is much better hype than "Hey, this game will be coming out in a few months, and it's going to be really fun. Watch these trailers and see how fun it will be!"

Edited by Paper Jam
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Too much hype, though, is just as bad as too little, especially before a game is even released.

It's better for consumers if a game is hyped up after it's released rather than before, since in that case people can immediately see what the hype is all about. I think it's better in the long run for game companies as well, since a game that lives up to its hype (or, if you prefer, had no hype until it proved to be worthy of it) will sell better over time than a game that promises too much and delivers too little.

"Hey, this game just came out, and it's really fun. Play it and see how fun it is!" is much better hype than "Hey, this game will be coming out in a few months, and it's going to be really fun. Watch these trailers and see how fun it will be!"

From what I saw, mindless minions will still buy the game even if it failed the hype. EA, eh I mean Ubisoft...Bungie...hold on! I mean the company will still get their money no matter what. So there is no reason to not hype. Hype on, hype more, hype forever!!!!

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