"xplay: Tonight 6:30PM ET on Xplay: EA drops EXCLUSIVE gameplay of masseffect 3 armor in action from ReckoningGame."

What you see above is a tweet from xplay. I can't help but ask myself why in-game armor warrants an EXCLUSIVE look. Shit like this is what puts me off of most game related entertainment.

First of all, and let's make sure we're on the same page, this is in reference to in-game armor for Mass Effect 3. The game is going to be massive, and they are teasing this? Why not show something that is, you know, worthwhile? How about more information on the multiplayer, or a tease about where Shepard's story goes?

That isn't even the worst part about this. No, the worst part is knowing people are going to tune in to see the armor in action, indicating to EA and xplay that they were right to show it off. This is not acceptable, it is on the same level as offering exclusive in-game content to various retailers. It's trashy and kind of offensive. Do they think we as gamers are so starved for information that they can release shitty exclusives and we'll lap it up like good little dogs?

I'm sure someone is going to say "Just don't watch it if it isn't for you" or some such. But isn't that letting them win? Shouldn't we fight them on this and let them know that we won't accept their cruddy exclusives any longer? They're turning us on each other, things are getting out of control.

Occupy EA!

Actually, don't do that.

Don't devote your eyeballs to this sort of thing, that's probably the best way to send a message to those producing this drivel.

this is the final straw. im never going to buy a game again in protest. this is just massive

@jetsetwillie: I knew you would see it my way. Thanks for the support.

well that's pretty stupid. i haven't watched xplay in a while but i kind of feel like the show and other shows turned into a buy this, buy that.

I don't think it's trashy or offensive, just beyond silly.

They're not journalists. Calm down

24-hour news cycle filler?

I actually can't even figure out what that tweet is saying. Sounds like fucking Newspeak. Mass Effect 3 doubleplus good.

Shrug, I cancelled my ME3 preorder. I debated it for a long time, then decided that yes, valve and ea have essentially the same service, that yes, both scan your complete computer and are basically spyware, however, l cannot see valve at any point in the future selling the information gleaned to a third party for advertising purposes, whereas I can see ea doing so at the drop of a hat. So essentially fuck ea and fuck origin.

Pretty much standard for gaming media. That's why I come here, and maybe one or two other places. Most gaming news is just advertising disguised as proper content.

@leebmx: I am definitely spoiled by Giantbomb. I expect everyone to know what they're talking about and to present it in such a way that is both entertaining and funny. Then again, not everyone has a @Vinny_Says so they're already at a disadvantage.

You can't do anything about it because people don't have the heart or passion to fight against idiocy like this. That's why good movies are one in a million. People don't care enough to just stop going. They're content just going about their daily lives, paying 10 dollars for a film and shrugging it off because "nobody else will stop going." I mean the sooner you realize that most human beings are just selfish, ignorant children the happier you'll be. The entertainment industry is only going to get worse. Trailers, teasers, previews and such are only going to get more idiotic as our generations are babied and coddled even more with hour and a half mindless action flicks and yearly franchise releases and DLC.

Are you really surprised game companies continue to baby us and talk down to us with idiotic teaser trailers? Everybody thinks it's small, but small things add up. Rome didn't fall in a day, it was a bunch of little things over the centuries that caused its downfall. Video gaming, marketing, movies, television- all of it is just a small snapshot of the bigger picture of the human race. Expecting anybody to recognize that so soon in our demise is being way too optimistic.

Luckily we have places like GiantBomb that give us hope in the industry and provide us with quality entertainment. I can watch most quicklooks here and never have to play the video game because it was just as entertaining as if I had played it myself. Besides, teasers are only there to entice the simple minded to dish out more money. If you want a good Mass Effect 3 preview wait until it's released and watch the quicklook. That's the best way you can tell EA to stop talking down to you and put out some quality material.

Edit: Also wanted to add that sometimes, we look too much into things and at the very core of these silly teasers and dumb prerendered trailers for games (I'm looking at you, TOR) that don't show us anything and only trick stupid people into buying the game, is just pure entertainment. Not everything has subliminal messages or ulterior motives. It's just fun, and we should enjoy it.

Why not just, ya know, ignore it?

@AlexW00d: Because in my own weird way I feel like calling them out on it will help to stop it. Deep down I know the odds of that happening are slim, but making my feelings known about it satisfies me.

@Coreymw said:

@AlexW00d: Because in my own weird way I feel like calling them out on it will help to stop it. Deep down I know the odds of that happening are slim, but making my feelings known about it satisfies me.

The odds of that happening are actually non existent. You can never stop the hype machine put out by a well paid PR department.

I think it is utterly boring and uninteresting, rather than offensive. Although, the very fact they think we would find a useless piece of armour (that will most likely cover up your face in conversations like all Mass Effect DLC armours) exciting or interesting at all, is pretty offensive.

Okay, you're right. BURN EA

All this hating on EA and Bioware lately is getting kind of out of hand imo.

I mean, they haven't really done anything all that offensive, other than acting like a typical mass market company..

@Twinsun: Which is offensive.

@Coreymw: I guess I just think that it might be better to save your anger for actual real world transgressions, not silly stuff like this.

@Twinsun: Probably, but stuff like this is pretty emblematic of how an industry that used to be goofy, fun and creative is being ruined by ridiculous business shit.

@Twinsun: In a way it relates to real world issues in the way people are marketed to. This particular instance bugs me because I'm also a gamer.

Who am I kidding, maybe I care way too much about this stuff. Then again, games are my life and when I'm offended by something I should speak out. Holding it in will only lead to bad things.

I liked mass effect, I loved mass effect 2 and I still have hope that mass effect 3 will be a satisfying conclusion to this series.

I agree with you. I hate when this sort of shit happens...just makes the industry as a whole feel dirty and cheap. Then I feel dirty and cheap for supporting it. Any other medium of entertainment you wouldn't be able to get away with something this blatantly obvious, but what are you going to do. The very notion of video games seems to scream exploitable to a lot of big business shiest-er types; hell, it seems to attract marketing executives like flies to an all you can eat shit buffet. I just don't know why ALL the decisions get to be made by them as apposed to the members of companies who, you know, actually care about games and know what they're doing. You would think after the hundredth fuck up by marketing EA would finally get the message, but, hey ho.

In summation:

@Coreymw: @artgarcrunkle:

I see where you guys are coming from. It's just good to keep things in perspective I feel.

@Coreymw: I didn't knew about this whole reveal thing until your thread. So, this means that you're part of the PR machine?

@AlexanderSheen: This is what I get for being informed, even when that means being informed of things I don't like.

To answer your question, yes. Somehow I am now a part of their marketing machine.

This is the same station that introduced the new co host of Attack of the Show by sending her to a bondage club.
So yeah...

I'll continue to avoid G4. I'll support Adam Sessler, though!

Also, EA is starting to look okay again based on their super-approachable RISK: Factions Facebook port. Hopefully that doesn't take a turn for the worse anytime soon. At the same time, I'll still not be buying their products until they stop being jerks.

@artgarcrunkle said:

@Twinsun: Probably, but stuff like this is pretty emblematic of how an industry that used to be goofy, fun and creative is being ruined by ridiculous business shit.

You are kidding me, right? Back in the NES days, Nintendo had way worse "business shit" then practically anything going today. They had to approve every third party game, they limited each developer to only five games a year, they retained exclusivity of those titles for at least two years, and they were the only ones making the NES carts. That's about as close to a monopoly as you can get, and it really doesn't fit the mold you are describing.

I agree that shit like this is garbage, but I'm not sure where this idyllic paradise of a "ridiculous business shit" free industry is coming from. It certainly didn't exist in my lifetime.

@Twinsun said:

All this hating on EA and Bioware lately is getting kind of out of hand imo.

I mean, they haven't really done anything all that offensive, other than acting like a typical mass market company..

The court of public opinion ebbs and flows like the tides. Soon it will no longer be trendy to get irrationally angry at a publisher of consumer software. And then these same people will go "EA's not that bad, guys, they're just doing what companies do".

@Coreymw said:

@AlexanderSheen: This is what I get for being informed, even when that means being informed of things I don't like.

To answer your question, yes. Somehow I am now a part of their marketing machine.

WHAT A TWIST!

-cut to Coreymw sitting next to a table, looking at his revolver, contemplating suicide over his newfound revelation about who he is. As he puts the barrel in his mouth, the audience hears his inner monologue saying "Gaming has changed..."

-cut to black, cue gunshot noise

-leave ending ambiguous

@artgarcrunkle said:

@Twinsun: Probably, but stuff like this is pretty emblematic of how an industry that used to be goofy, fun and creative is being ruined by ridiculous business shit.

Read your history. This industry was always this industry. You only thought it was goofy, fun and creative because there was no journalism.

Hell, the Japanese revived this industry. Do you think Japanese businessmen in the 80s were in it for the fun? They were in it for cocaine and mah jong.

what you don't know is that the armor was Shepard's great great great great great great great great great great great great granfather's armor and it's the only thing that can stop the repears.

@Vinny_Says: If at some point Shepard has an encounter with a family heirloom and sees visions of his father explaining the location and powers of an old suite of armor he used to wear, I will never forgive you.

@Mirado: Thanks for An Example. Forgot how ridiculous Nintendo is because I never think about Nintendo. Really I was thinking about games from like 1993-2005 or so, what I liked about them, and how a lot of what made those games enjoyable for me would never survive the first round of focus groups.

@Brodehouse: The other guy I replied to said the same thing you said only less dumb, maybe you should emulate his posting duder.

@artgarcrunkle: I'll certainly give you the fact that games feel a lot more focus tested anymore, but you only need to look towards indie developers to see that the same kind of spark still exists. I know that the major companies make a lot of very fun games, but it certainly feels like the more tools, computer power and money they got access to, the narrower the vision became. I guess they feel the same types of games that sold well are just safer investments.

On the other hand, indie devs have the kind of limited resources that seem to push a "do more (or different) with less" kind of attitude, like what you saw in the 90s. I find myself spending more and more time with games like Terraria, Sanctum, and Bastion and less with the annual round of major games.

Yeah, starting to think about cancelling my ME3 pre-order if the bonus is shit.

Shrug, I cancelled my ME3 preorder. I debated it for a long time, then decided that yes, valve and ea have essentially the same service, that yes, both scan your complete computer and are basically spyware, however, l cannot see valve at any point in the future selling the information gleaned to a third party for advertising purposes, whereas I can see ea doing so at the drop of a hat. So essentially fuck ea and fuck origin.

@ninjakiller said:

Shrug, I cancelled my ME3 preorder. I debated it for a long time, then decided that yes, valve and ea have essentially the same service, that yes, both scan your complete computer and are basically spyware, however, l cannot see valve at any point in the future selling the information gleaned to a third party for advertising purposes, whereas I can see ea doing so at the drop of a hat. So essentially fuck ea and fuck origin.

I avoided this potential problem by preordering the 360 version. But yeah, this stuff doesn't really offend me since I could care less what xplay wants to cover.

@Brodehouse said:

@artgarcrunkle said:

@Twinsun: Probably, but stuff like this is pretty emblematic of how an industry that used to be goofy, fun and creative is being ruined by ridiculous business shit.

Read your history. This industry was always this industry. You only thought it was goofy, fun and creative because there was no journalism.

Hell, the Japanese revived this industry. Do you think Japanese businessmen in the 80s were in it for the fun? They were in it for cocaine and mah jong.

mah jong isn't...nevermind.