Do massive marketing pushes for games ever turn you off?

I tend to not really watch many promotional videos or trailers, or even seek out information for games unless i happen to come across it which is ussaly just from giant bomb front page and it's forums.

Either way im smart enough to look past the sometimes misrepresented or overloaded marketing and just take the actual game as its representation if its good or bad.

@CL60 said:

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.

Yeah man. You are right. But keep in mind that the majority of marketing pushes are not aimed directly at you (the kind of person who actively follows video games). But rather the people who don't visit sites like Giant Bomb. We could call them the dudebro audience, but there really are a lot of gamers out there that don't really follow gaming. I do it because I find following gaming news enjoyable. But I got friends who would just rather play games.

I found the tv commercial for borderlands 2 very interesting. It's live action and I was confused at first why they would show this and not the awesome game. Well, if you show the gameplay of borderlands, then you got all those numbers and bars and menus. I think they know that will turn off a lot of 'dudebro' shooter fans because they will see it is actually more of an RPG, or they will just get confused by all those numbers. Like I said, they aren't aimed at us. We can make the choice based on the game.

@MariachiMacabre said:

@TheHumanDove

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

Would you wear your Ed Hardy shirt under or over your Affliction shirt?

I lol'd

If anything it makes me even hornier

Some marketing campaigns can be really lame and annoying (cough Bulletstorm cough. Even though I ended up enjoying that game quite a bit.) If a game looks like it's good though, a dumb marketing push isn't going to stop me from playing it (again, Bulletstorm is a good example.)

@KoolAid said:

@CL60 said:

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.

Yeah man. You are right. But keep in mind that the majority of marketing pushes are not aimed directly at you (the kind of person who actively follows video games). But rather the people who don't visit sites like Giant Bomb. We could call them the dudebro audience, but there really are a lot of gamers out there that don't really follow gaming. I do it because I find following gaming news enjoyable. But I got friends who would just rather play games.

I found the tv commercial for borderlands 2 very interesting. It's live action and I was confused at first why they would show this and not the awesome game. Well, if you show the gameplay of borderlands, then you got all those numbers and bars and menus. I think they know that will turn off a lot of 'dudebro' shooter fans because they will see it is actually more of an RPG, or they will just get confused by all those numbers. Like I said, they aren't aimed at us. We can make the choice based on the game.

Large-scale marketing pushes aren't necessarily targeted at dudebros. I haven't heard of many frat houses getting their Wii Fit on, for example. :P

Advertising on a wide scale is simply a necessity to get the message out to more people. And as important as it may be to a developer and publisher that the core audience enjoy a particular game, it's equally important to try to expand that audience by attracting people that don't habitually visit sites like Giant Bomb, GameSpot, or IGN. What's more troubling is when a game gets almost no marketing outside of these sites, the game bombs, and then the publisher shrugs and says "We don't know why it's not selling."

The gamespot-based ads are absolutely awful. They're overproduced "joke" trailers for games that destroy your perceptions of the game they're trying to advertise, and all they're there for is to promote a silly, pointless pre-order bonus. I remember when Portal 2 came out; the in-house ad was fantastic, but the Gamespot ad was just embarrassing, and I think I saw the gamespot ad on TV a lot more than the regular one.

And EA is a completely different ball-field. They're marketing goes beyond overbearing and crosses the lines of decency and respect on a regular basis.

Same boat. I'm really excited for Dishonored, but the amount of media coverage is getting to be quite annoying. I get that it's a cool game with a neat atmosphere, but I don't have a 6 second attention span. I haven't forgotten that it exists, I haven't forgotten what it looks like, and I wish the main gaming sites would quit publishing an article every time one of the developers takes a dump. It's really starting to make me think they are either going to release a crappy unfinished game to meet a rushed deadline, or they are hoping for massive one day sales because the game isn't what they wanted it to be because of a rushed timeline and they want to make as much money upfront as they can. I'm done with Dishonored until they both figure our the exclusive DLC bullshit they've got going on (it was what four different packs last count, and you can't get all of it without purchasing it four times?), and it goes on sale.

Doesn't bother me

No. Sure, it can be lame, but it is a business and they have to promote their product.

You can just ignore it, you know. Even if it's really pushed on you, there are ways to not see any of that advertising, from a simple click of the mute button on video ads to AdBlock Plus. As for Youtube videos, I'm sure there's a way to say "yo, don't suggest any Dishonored videos, dawg."

If you are that bothered by marketing, why do you put yourself in the position to receive so much of it? I haven't seen any of those Dishonored videos, because I don't really want to. It's pretty simple.

I don't watch TV so I miss most of it. I'm a paid member on GB so I don't see ads here either. If I happen to go to some other gaming site, then I remember what it's like. Haha. It has turned me off to games before (like Dead Island), but I just end up playing it later, for cheaper, when it's cooled down a little.

I've been burned by the advertising hype wagon a few times so I try to distance myself from most of it these days. Now, I just wait for the game to come out and see what kind of critical reception it receives. I'm really happy when a more obscure title comes out and surprises me though.

To make games, they need to sell games. To sell games, they must market them (you can't sell lots of copies of a game no one knows about). To market them, they buy ads. And as games have become more and more expensive, their marketing campaigns have begun to resemble those for large-budget movies. Since I love games, I want them to sell lots of copies. Therefore, I want them to market as much as they think they need.

So, in short: no. Somewhat longer: I don't judge games based on marketing, since I ignore most of the marketing myself.

The marketing for Dragon Age was horrible. EA decided to advertise what was supposed to be Bioware's return to old school RPG's by portraying it as an action game with a lot of blood and heavy metal constantly playing. I was informed enough to know what to expect from the game, but after how they tried to represent it, I'm not surprised why the sequel turned out as it did.

Nope

Skyrim was utterly destroyed for me because of all the hype. Literally EVERYONE was talking about it, so once i finished the entire campaign in about 10 hours i sold the dang thing for as much cash as i could get. I just couldn't stand to a play a game like that. I play more in-the-closet games. Like Jeff with anime.

No. If it's bad I just tune it out and focus on the game itself. Only a fool would not play a fun game because of the fools at marketing.

@WinterSnowblind said:

The marketing for Dragon Age was horrible. EA decided to advertise what was supposed to be Bioware's return to old school RPG's by portraying it as an action game with a lot of blood and heavy metal constantly playing. I was informed enough to know what to expect from the game, but after how they tried to represent it, I'm not surprised why the sequel turned out as it did.

Urgh, I forgot about that. Absolutely insulting to the people actually interested in an isometric fantasy RPG. I'm starting to believe that they do this on purpose to get people angry and talking about it.