In the run up to a release we're looking forward to, we have basically two options. We ignore the press altogether, either because we don't want stuff to be spoiled or because we're not interested enough to waste time looking for every little tidbit scattered throughout a hundred different gaming sites (I wonder if it's really a hundred. Never easy to tell); OR, we try to soak up the gravy with our crust of bread, eager to learn every little thing about the games coming up.
The games industry, especially for the heavily promoted titles, often goes all-out for those of us who do the latter. When I was a kid there were shock ads in gaming magazines designed to make an impression more than actually advertise for the game (with the result that I stopped taking gaming magazines seriously and did my best to just ignore ads altogether. I thought they were ugly and boring; I wanted game screens and information, not some model's sweaty, backlit head or piles of intestines). Now fmv ads are pretty much the standard, since you don't need to go anywhere or buy anything to get them (except a computer with a fast connection and the processing power and hardware to crunch those HD movie files, of course).
Being a confessed Skyrim aficionado, not afraid of minor spoilers in a game like that precisely because the game is a lot more of a personalized experience than something expressly linear (that, and I still love listening to the main theme, although I don't feel like charging into the mountains anymore to climb to a peak and scream into the howling wind-- which is a sign of progress, I think), I've been hitting the information trickles pretty hard trying to learn more about the game. It's a bit exhausting, though.
It's especially frustrating when the trickle of information doesn't match your particular hunger. I can go weeks without bothering to read anything about any of the big-budget games I'm following, like Deus Ex, Rage, Prey 2, or Bioshock Infinite, but the mood will strike me and I'll watch all the footage I can. Then... well, it's not like you can just force them to tell you more. There's only so much you can look up before you run out. Why do I care so much, though?
It's pretty much because we get these driblets (made it up) in time-release capsules, largely dictated by the ad folks. By creating information scarcity, the theory goes, you increase demand. Yet often I find myself ceasing to care if I don't hear from someone in a while (or if I hear too much); with so many projects to keep track of, not to mention the retro, small company, and independent games I like to keep up on, my attention span can only hold so many things at once. It's almost like I hit information withdrawal for a time, reading old articles trying to pick up new information.
After a period of drought lasts long enough, though, I calm down. I look at the games I already have and realize I've been neglecting quite a few of them. I go through the arduous task of installing on these older machines, fix what's wrong, and start playing. If the game's great, or good enough, all these information packets about upcoming games feel rather empty. Like those dreams I was talking about, they're better in the head than they often are to play, and an imperfect game in my hands is worth a backpack full of promises.
Finally played Gemini Rue, beat it, then played it again with the commentary track. Tried to review it two days ago, reviewed it yesterday, and didn't pay much attention to game media in the interim. Now I'm curious again, and so the cycle goes, but it was a nice vacation from game fandom... you know, actually playing games instead.
Gemini Rue
Game » consists of 3 releases. Released Feb 24, 2011
An intense indie adventure for the PC and iOS, set in a bleak future dominated by a corrupt crime syndicate. The game was the 2010 winner of the Independent Game Festival Student Showcase.
Scrounging for Crumbs
In the run up to a release we're looking forward to, we have basically two options. We ignore the press altogether, either because we don't want stuff to be spoiled or because we're not interested enough to waste time looking for every little tidbit scattered throughout a hundred different gaming sites (I wonder if it's really a hundred. Never easy to tell); OR, we try to soak up the gravy with our crust of bread, eager to learn every little thing about the games coming up.
The games industry, especially for the heavily promoted titles, often goes all-out for those of us who do the latter. When I was a kid there were shock ads in gaming magazines designed to make an impression more than actually advertise for the game (with the result that I stopped taking gaming magazines seriously and did my best to just ignore ads altogether. I thought they were ugly and boring; I wanted game screens and information, not some model's sweaty, backlit head or piles of intestines). Now fmv ads are pretty much the standard, since you don't need to go anywhere or buy anything to get them (except a computer with a fast connection and the processing power and hardware to crunch those HD movie files, of course).
Being a confessed Skyrim aficionado, not afraid of minor spoilers in a game like that precisely because the game is a lot more of a personalized experience than something expressly linear (that, and I still love listening to the main theme, although I don't feel like charging into the mountains anymore to climb to a peak and scream into the howling wind-- which is a sign of progress, I think), I've been hitting the information trickles pretty hard trying to learn more about the game. It's a bit exhausting, though.
It's especially frustrating when the trickle of information doesn't match your particular hunger. I can go weeks without bothering to read anything about any of the big-budget games I'm following, like Deus Ex, Rage, Prey 2, or Bioshock Infinite, but the mood will strike me and I'll watch all the footage I can. Then... well, it's not like you can just force them to tell you more. There's only so much you can look up before you run out. Why do I care so much, though?
It's pretty much because we get these driblets (made it up) in time-release capsules, largely dictated by the ad folks. By creating information scarcity, the theory goes, you increase demand. Yet often I find myself ceasing to care if I don't hear from someone in a while (or if I hear too much); with so many projects to keep track of, not to mention the retro, small company, and independent games I like to keep up on, my attention span can only hold so many things at once. It's almost like I hit information withdrawal for a time, reading old articles trying to pick up new information.
After a period of drought lasts long enough, though, I calm down. I look at the games I already have and realize I've been neglecting quite a few of them. I go through the arduous task of installing on these older machines, fix what's wrong, and start playing. If the game's great, or good enough, all these information packets about upcoming games feel rather empty. Like those dreams I was talking about, they're better in the head than they often are to play, and an imperfect game in my hands is worth a backpack full of promises.
Finally played Gemini Rue, beat it, then played it again with the commentary track. Tried to review it two days ago, reviewed it yesterday, and didn't pay much attention to game media in the interim. Now I'm curious again, and so the cycle goes, but it was a nice vacation from game fandom... you know, actually playing games instead.
I've actually gone full-on media blackout for Might and Magic: Heroes VI (Curse you Ubisoft and your stupid attempts at rebranding. It's not like you're ever going to make a true Might and Magic RPG ever again anyways, so there's no room for confusion anyways.) Maybe it's out of fear that they'll screw it up in some spectacular manner, or maybe it's because I've gotten really, really, really tired of the Might and Magic community's bitter, self-defeating attitude and don't feel like trafficking their websites and dealing with the small cadre of hardcore fans who are too busy heaping their dreams on north-eastern European instigated fan projects (They only just restarted that fan Might and Magic X from scratch. Again) and complaining about "Those console kids watering down our games" to really think about anything else.
*ahem* Either way, it should be interesting to see how this (almost) blank slate impacts my reception of the game when it comes out in september. I feel like a Heroes V apologist with all the flak it gets from the fan community, despite it reviewing and selling well, so I figure I might as well take expectations out of the equation entirely. This is, of course, not par for the course with me, as someone who similarly has obsessive-compulsive tendencies to know everything about a new game. I've gotten better, not stopping to watch every video, but it's clearly still something I do. With only a month left before I have to go back to school though, I'll probably try to spend my time playing games instead of inhabiting the internet reading and discussing them.
I've never really looked at the HOMM forums, really. Just the maps, and that was a long time ago. Since I liked the exploration/narrative style of some of the core maps I was a bit annoyed that the emphasis has been more about multiplayer or balance. I guess part of me wanted a strategy version of the old RPGs, something that no one has really made in a while (either they go full strategy with minimal context and a lack of logistical considerations, or it's an RPG that goes small-scale (lately, that means one dude/ette against the world).
I own V but still haven't played it; not sure if it'll work on the stuff we have, although I also haven't finished IV or III's expansions.
The whole consolification complaint thing doesn't... I guess it's more annoying that constructive, so I tend to distance myself from those discussions. I USED to care about that shit back when I was I teenager trying to differentiate my tastes from others'. Sega ruled, as far as I was concerned, but that didn't stop me from playing games on other systems. I was happy for the variety. The PC isn't dead as far as I'm concerned; it's one of the most flexible platforms out there, even if its naturally egalitarian nature is hamstrung by the constant hardware creep. But like some of the fringe griping about Skyrim makes no sense to me, because as someone who hopped over Oblivion, what I see is a refinement of the general engine they already have been tinkering with since they abandoned the more traditional stuff after Arena.
Yeah, your mission is clear: stop assembling data and enjoy yourself.
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