Do massive marketing pushes for games ever turn you off?

Marketing for games has increased dramatically throughout the last generation of consoles. Now, i feel like it has gotten to the point where seeing a huge amount of promotional material for a game can make me indifferent about a game i was previously excited for. I had this problem with Mass Effect 3 and now again with Dishonored. I loved Mass Effect 2 and was stoked for ME3. But the slew of marketing that preceded it made me so non interested, I have yet to take it off my shelf and play it. When dishonored was first revealed i was sold on the concept of a steam punk, first person, assassination sandbox game. But now they are spamming my Youtube inbox with all kinds of developer making-of videos to the point where I don't care about Dishonored anymore.

I think that my disinterest could be due to the fear that they are doing so much marketing because the game is bad. Does this happen to anyone else too, or am i just easily bored by something i see too much of?

Massive marketing push? Nah, I think that shit's funny usually.

Specific types of marketing? Yeah...like Dead Island...jesus.

Stop reading and watching stuff. Problem solved right there.

I dont mind it. I like when games get directed towards dudebros. I gain the dudebro mentality and want to highfive some buds over a couple brewksies and buy ed hardy shirts

no, not really. the only thing that really turns me off are the god damn 30 second long "PREORDER AT GAMESTOP FOR EXCLUSIVE MISSION AND GUN!!!!!!!!!!!" nonsense at the end of alot ot trailers these days.

if i feel over exposed to the marketing of a game, i just stop watching the trailers, its not hard lol

the dev diary videos lots of games are doing these days are actually pretty interesting to watch. hearing the developers talk about the game they're making is cool. like those recent assassins creed 3 videos, aside from that goofy historian beard man, its pretty cool to hear the devs talking about it. they seem like they really care about the game.

Nope. People are just doing their job. Get over it!

@flupe: yes for movies too

@Phatmac said:

Nope. People are just doing their job. Get over it!

This. Marketing is what drives this industry. Sure a lot of it is pure shite, but even if one of those stupid things gets your attention, then it's been money well spent.

Just about always. Most pre-game coverage I will try to avoid. If I am on the fence or I know it is not going to ruin the experience, I will watch a quick look here, otherwise, I tend to stay away from it all. But I will admit, things like the "Mass Effect should be played by everyone including casuals" sucked. The "Your Mom Hates Dead Space 2" or whatever ad campaign sucked. The Dantes Inferno campaign sucked. I hate when they push games harder, and past the point of their audience where it actually turns their actual audience off.

I feel like this marketing push is also reflected in gameplay decisions which is why I feel like I hate when they over-push the game into the public awareness.

halo2 demos... nuff said

Naw, it's just marketing.

Now, AMC trying to get me to watch the TV show that's on after Breaking bad or Mad Men to see a bullshit "sneak preview" of next week's episode? Fuuuck that. I still love the shows though so I guess that doesn't jive with your question. I'm just sayin that's the only marketing I've ever truly flipped the bird to.

kind of, i hate when surfing the internet and i see like every page has the ad. it gets tiring seeing the same ad for like a month until the game comes out. i have adblock, no-scripted, but was pretty annoying back then.

i was kind of thinking looking at your post, you were a bot spamming with game ads.

No because I never pay attention to them.

You know, it kinda does. Well, it doesn't turn me off to the game, but it does make me fear that the game won't be as good as it's being hyped to be. That's what I'm not hoping for with Dishonored: It seems everywhere I turn, there's another video on this site about that game. Okay, I get it, I can do anything I want. I don't want to be bored of the game before it even comes out.

@Brendan said:

Now, AMC trying to get me to watch the TV show that's on after Breaking bad or Mad Men to see a bullshit "sneak preview" of next week's episode? Fuuuck that. I still love the shows though so I guess that doesn't jive with your question. I'm just sayin that's the only marketing I've ever truly flipped the bird to.

This. I also hate it when AMC puts "New Breaking Bad Sundays @ 10" in the lower corner during a new episode of Breaking Bad.

Massive marketing pushes? No, not really.

Dumb marketing pushes? Yeah, sometimes.

Some are really annoying, they don't turn me off the game but it just frustrates me. Look at the heavy metal trailer for Dragon Age: Origins or and Mass Effect 2 trailer. I mean, damn...

Nope because I love videogames.

No. People who say "I don't like when they advertise to casuals" or "I don't like when they try to get me to like something I don't" should grow up.

I know, because I said that stupid shit when I was 16. And then I grew up.

No, I'm not stupid and realize the developers have literally nothing to do with any of it, and if I think the game they made looks good, I'll buy it.

I've thought the marketing for Bioshock Infinite has been pretty bizarre, massive push around E3 last year and prior and then bam, dark for a year, what was the point? I never got studios marketing a game that's really a way off, people will have forgotten about it by the time it comes out. (they're unlikely to forget Bioshock because thats has heritage but other new IP)

Also the showing of Overstrike Fuse, don't show an art style and tone and then go back on it to look generic and grey.

Not the marketing, but kind of? I've been noticing lots of small viral things for Borderlands 2 and when I see people falling for it I want to distance myself a little. Or when hype for something just gets out of control, I try to step back. I fall for it to every once in a while, but watching other people do it feels weird. So not really the marketing, but the social effects of the marketing can put me off a little.

If anything turns me off, it's the game itself. So no.

@RazielCuts said:

I've thought the marketing for Bioshock Infinite has been pretty bizarre, massive push around E3 last year and prior and then bam, dark for a year, what was the point? I never got studios marketing a game that's really a way off, people will have forgotten about it by the time it comes out. (they're unlikely to forget Bioshock because thats has heritage but other new IP)

Also the showing of Overstrike Fuse, don't show an art style and tone and then go back on it to look generic and grey.

They didn't do that on purpose. Shit happens, things change. There is also the Gearbox Furious 4 game that disappeared. There is endless examples of this in games. The original Borderlands changed it's style late too, that turned out really bad.

Sometimes yes; I am already burned out about Assassin Creed 3 because of all the video's.

nope, they don't really affect my judgements. Its just all adds to me are sorta like a memo, and if I don't know the game then I just assume its terrible :P. Though the skyrim ads were fun!

As long as the game is good, I could care less.

Nope, I'm a grown-up.

Nope. Marketing is marketing.

The only thing marketing-wise that I ever find frustrating is when good products don't get enough.

Not really. I like the video game commercials actualy.

marketing seems like a pretty piss-poor reason to be turned off of a game. Marketing has no relation to the quality of the game.

@WickedCobra03 said:

Just about always. Most pre-game coverage I will try to avoid. If I am on the fence or I know it is not going to ruin the experience, I will watch a quick look here, otherwise, I tend to stay away from it all. But I will admit, things like the "Mass Effect should be played by everyone including casuals" sucked. The "Your Mom Hates Dead Space 2" or whatever ad campaign sucked. The Dantes Inferno campaign sucked. I hate when they push games harder, and past the point of their audience where it actually turns their actual audience off.

I feel like this marketing push is also reflected in gameplay decisions which is why I feel like I hate when they over-push the game into the public awareness.

EA has the most awful marketing team of any company, ever. All of their ads are so tasteless and, frankly, pretty offensive to anyone who considers themselves 'hardcore' gamers. It makes us out to be mouth-breathing, tit-obsessed, violent cavemen.

Sure. When a game's marketing is obviously directed at an audience that I am not a part of then I can tell that the game is not for me. There is a reason that I haven't played a Call of Duty game since CoD2. The games are well made products but it is clear that they are not for me. Or at least the marketing gives the impression that it isn't for me.

Well since I went to school for marketing/advertising in addition to it being my job, I'd have to say no.

@RazielCuts said:

I've thought the marketing for Bioshock Infinite has been pretty bizarre, massive push around E3 last year and prior and then bam, dark for a year, what was the point? I never got studios marketing a game that's really a way off, people will have forgotten about it by the time it comes out. (they're unlikely to forget Bioshock because thats has heritage but other new IP)

Also the showing of Overstrike Fuse, don't show an art style and tone and then go back on it to look generic and grey.

The point is to let investors know that the guys who made that huge financial success are working on another one of those. It makes investing in the company less risky if they show that they are growing on past successes.

Depends on the trailer. The Skyrim live action trailer got me hyped even more before it's release. I see more and more game advertisements on TV with every passing year so I think this year will be pretty game heavy, especially with Wii U advertisements and no doubt a Black Ops 2 ad.

Nope, I'm not stupid enough to follow that sort of non-sense that is obviously not mean't for me.

@flupe said:

But the slew of marketing that preceded it made me so non interested, I have yet to take it off my shelf and play it.

I think this sounds incredibly stupid. The people who make the game are not in charge of marketing, as far as I know...and if the marketing made you so non interested, why did you buy it?

If I know nothing about the game and the marketing makes it seem super dumb, then yes. But then if it turns out the game is actually awesome, then I'll change my mind. Go off all information available, but the be all and end all is the game itself.

The closest it's gotten is that I can't play FEZ and not think that Phil Fish is an asshole.

Overly aggressive marketing pushes turn me off to lots of things not just games. If they're just being upfront with what the product is and marketing it as such I'm okay with it. Unfortunately that usually isn't the case.

All the time. The latest case of this was Sleepy Dawgz, where I couldnt be on the Internet for a few minutes without seeing an ad, and that got really annoying, despite it being a solid game that could be potentially interesting.

I work in Marketing, and I can honestly say that huge marketing pushes nearly always put me off. I am 100% more likely to trust something if it was recommended by a friend, reviewer, or community I trust over an advert. Why do you think companies are pushing social media so hard?

I pretty much tune all marketing out nowadays. There's a lot in the gaming world that I mentally file under "Bullshit" and the majority of trailers fall under that for me. Occasionally there's something with a bit more artistry to it like that recent 10 minute metal gear thing, and that's cool, I'll watch those, but generally I try and search out some pure gameplay footage and make up my mind on whether I want to play the game based on that. Trailers are hype and obfuscation whereas gameplay footage is much more honest.

So no, trailers don't often manage to turn me off games. Although there has been the odd one or two. That Dead Island trailer is one of them. It made the game seem like it was going to have that sickly american sentimental cheesy feeling to it, and it didn't in the slightest, it ended up being a First Person Zombie Diablo with a fairly doomy atmosphere. So that pissed me off. But there haven't been many, I dodge most of it these days.

Not really. If it's a game in interested in, the marketing can make be more excited. That being said-I just can't get interested in Dishonored. Nothing about it seems interesting.

Yeah. How dare people try to promote a game!

I am really looking forward to AC3 but god damn they are giving too much away, this is what I have always loved about rockstar games no gameplay untill I'm actually playing it.

all i gotta say is that, having quit wow a year and a half ago, after watching mop trailer on tv a tear dropped and i'm actually thinking to come back to it.

If the marketing is turning me off, they're quite awful at the job.

I dont mind it. I like when games get directed towards dudebros. I gain the dudebro mentality and want to highfive some buds over a couple brewksies and buy ed hardy shirts

I hated the Bulletstorm marketing. That was just lame.

Pre-order bonuses are lame too, the stupid names they give the pre-order packs is just silly and seems to belittles the fact that you want to buy their game in the first place. I don't like how they call it Battlefield 3 Premium even though I already payed a 'premium' to purchase the damn game. It's all a little distasteful, the pre-order stuff is the most annoying because on the rare occasion I do pre-order I have to search multiple stores to find out who gets what. (even though most the time the bonuses are totally pointless)

But none of it will make me not want to buy a game. I just think a lot of it is dumb.