I'm sure this topic has been covered elsewhere, but Forum search really sucks, so I couldn't find a previous thread. Following on from the Beastcast's recent discussion about No Man's Sky and how the final product did not match the 'gameplay' trailer that SONY put out in 2014.
I haven't actually played No Man's Sky (frankly, even the 2014 trailer doesn't really interest me), but I know it's the game of the moment so I thought it was a good example to use. The Beastcast rattled off a few other games with deceptive trailers - Bioshock Infinite being the one they looked at. For me, Watch_Dogs is the one that really duped me.
This phenomenon, for me, is a relatively recent one. Hype and Expectation management has always been important and I think that I'm much more cynical prior to games' releases than I used to be (that being said, I am HYPED for Civ VI). Growing up, I used to get hyped as well, but most of my information was garnered from Magazine screenshots and actual gameplay demos, most of which actually gave a rough indication of a game's appearance. The most disappointed I ever got was with the game Medievil, mainly because a friend of mine basically described it in terms that made it sound like a PS1 Skyrim and, well, it definitely wasn't that.
Companies outright lie about what their products will be now - and I understand why - Watch_Dogs had astronomical pre-order numbers and No Man's Sky had huge levels of hype around it - it's definitely sold more than it ever would have otherwise. I, like the Beast Crew, do believe that many developers and even their PR representation believe that the game can look the way it does, but they have to realistically know it won't reach those lofty heights. If they release the trailer with something like "Gameplay Concept Trailer" - this would still allow people to build hype but tempered with realism. I feel that a lot of the criticisms that these devs later receive could be mitigated by better expectation management (that said, bad expectation management = more money).
Anyway.
What games have burnt you? Where the hype actually ruined a game for you?
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