When it comes to hype n expectations...people dont expect 10/10 they expect 11/10 to impress them then get disappointed?

Asking this question after the backlash of Spider-Man 2 not living up to expectations. I don't know if it's a 10, but it seems like a fine game. But even if it was 10 people seem to have expectations through the roof.

So can those expectations ever be quelled...or are most games just disappointing.

People have outrageous expectations often when it comes to all purchases, video games aren't any more so, people are just typically way more ignorant about what goes into them. Regardless though, most of the time they just want to be mad; even your example of Spider-Man is literally history repeating itself. And almost NO ONE talks about the "backlash" and "disappointment" some people had for the "downgraded" graphics of Spider-Man 1.

If the bloat is true, it's worthy of the criticism.

I think it goes two ways. On the one hand, lot of people do seem to buy into the hype and haven't learned that they're just setting themselves up for potential disappointment. To an extent this has been going on forever.

At the same time though, it's been an increasingly trend the last decade or two for game publishers to aggressively market and hype their game in a way that sets up anyone who actually believes what is being said for disappointment too. Cyberpunk 2077 is the perfect example. CDPR marketed and hyped the game to a ridiculous level, hauling out Keanu at events and going as far as talking about it as a revolutionary game doing things that had never been seen before. When the game actually launched and it became clear that it was more or less a decent open world first person action game with RPG mechanics and wasn't this massive groundbreaking thing, all of that marketing and hype backfired (not financially of course. The game did very well sales-wise) and at least some folks were pretty disappointed with the end result.

For Spider-man 2, it seems like people got sucked a little too much into the hype. Everything they showed of the game suggested that it wasn't going to be that different from the first game and Miles Morales. Yes they had several showcase sections of the game they showed off but it's not reasonable to think that the entire game would be like that when it was also being marketed as a sequel to an open world Spider-man game that already worked a certain way. It's all about managing expectations.

@sethmode: Great point, never considered that. On paper the “bloat” is a lot less. People loved miles dlc but to be fair, if that was what came out after 4 years or so people would complain. A bit of if you do or don't.

I still think the only company able to toe the line perfectly and figure out how to manage expectations and make all their fans happy while doing whatever they want is Nintendo...with mario. I love mario and enjoy the games...but never figure out why they could make anything and i'd give it a point on game of the year just cause. Other games come out and have the same gameplay and more, and they're indie but never make it as far as mario. Might be the presentation. Anyway.

I agree with you and the other comments, great points from everyone. Nice to hear another perspective.

@ben_h: Yeah cyberpunk is now considered good after people watched the cartoon and/or calmed down and the dlc came out. I haven't played the dlc besides watching stuff it looks like cyberpunk...later levels. I think most people dont finish games and see the parts that actually innovate etc...anyway that's another topic.

Point is alot of "hype" is silly. Without hype people say what is this new thing i dont wanna get into it, with hype people say well this better be better than the thing i have nostalgia for since i was 7, and surpass it in 10 minutes...or ill say its overhyped trash...etc. I exaggerate but overall I think its fun to get hyped and dont think tempering expectations is always the right point, given you get into the mood where everything is just "OK". Hard to explain but smiling about your team winning is fine and if the start to lose its hard but more fun than coming in expecting them to lose then them losing then going ugh i expected that...Somehow our current culture flowed into the later while most games are really good right now. Very weird. Maybe console wars???