Let's Talk About III: "I C@NT W@1T FoR X!!!...Bored now.."

[OrochiLeonaUK]

-Be careful what you wish for-

So, over the last couple of years, a whole bunch of good to great games have been released.
Regular forum visitors will be aware of how crazy excited the world gets at the annoucements of these games. With new threads flying into double numbered pages within a few days of the announcement.
Often (but not always) the hype builds and builds over the passing weeks and months, videos and art appear, leaked pictures, confirmed and discomfirmed rumours. Will there be DLC? Pre-order bonuses? Will a sequel be as good, nay BETTER, than the last one?

People are now reaching the point of orgasm, FOR THE BEST GAME EVER IS RELEASED IN 2 DAYS!!!

Then the game is released, less than half the threads visitors actually bother to buy it.
Two months later, and a whole bunch of people who dedicated time everyday to hunting down new info have forgotten the game exists.

Furthermore, "HOLY Sh1T!!! X Just GOT Ann0unCEd!!!11 MEWMEW!! C@nt w@it!!"
Thus, the circle of life is complete.

So- What are your thoughts on "the chase" vs the actual release/owning of a game?

How "fire and forget" are you? Are you a victim of over-excitement? Are you a regular thread poster "OMG" then actually realise on release you can't be arsed to buy the game? Do you and friends discuss an upcoming release with great anticipation, then on release, find that only one or two of you still care enough to lay down money for it?
Have we become spoilt by rapid releases? Are you still playing the games you were looking forward to like it was the second coming?
Why do you believe people do it? Are we/they just setting targets ahead in time to cover up for the lack of real interest in their/our own personal lives?
Does internet hype ruin games? Do you think too many secrets and surprises are spoiled? Did you prefer it when games were a total surprise to you, or are we helped by the influx of demos, screens and videos? Do you feel like you know a game inside out before it even hits the shelves?

As always, this is a totally open topic, the questions above are just guideline examples.
You don't have to answer them specifically, they're just a small selection of some of this topics many factors.

The floor is open, let's here from ya...

[Don Vecta]

I still remember how hardcore MK was hyped... and then was sunk into oblivion by all the people following. But game it's still played and surprisingly enough, MK it's considered one of the most well maintained games (with patches and bug fixes) and more balanced fighting games to date... even though they announced they won't do any more patching anymore.

And yes, some other games has been the same, the hype builds up to ridiculous levels and then all fades into nothingness, in the end only the true players remain playing the game and you could still watch pro gaming matches in specialized channels in Youtube but only the people who really like the game and play it would keep watching them and following them.

Bottomline: The HYPERHYPE it's part of the fanboy's job.

Let's face it, these people who go in complete orgasms about the game and how awesome it will be and start posting ridiculous speculations about characters showing up and even putting them in cereal boxes or being plain obnoxious in each and every forum related to X game and start force feeding their ideas an all... well, in reality they don't play the game. They might actually buy it, play it once, twice in arcade mode (on easy) then dump the game away. These people don't even reach the level of casuals who still follow the game in a lower status, these people simply forget about the GAME itself, they don't know the core at all, how it's played, the mechanics, the features, nothing.

Also, part of the fault are the developers who start to "be in contact with the community to know what they want" but in the end of the day they'll do whatever they DO want and some even troll the community and mock in their faces! Not that all the community it's nice either: let's face it, most people are ungrateful sonufabitches and even if you give them what they want, they'll still bitch and complaint. The worst? These people don't even play the game either! Or are in the level of the fantards of the hype (i'd dub them fantrolls instead cuz instead of building hyperype, they build hate in the end).

Get me back to the day when devs just plain and simply release a game as it was and people will just go to the arcade/buy it/rent it and ACTUALLY PLAY THE FUCKING GAME! In those days the only way to know how the game was like was to actually play it. The magazines posted sneak peeks or previews and stuff and kept us hyped in a more quiet way. It was our choice either to purchase it or let it pass and move on to a game that fills our expectations, we were not being spoiled to ask for tiny bullshit and scream to the devs sometimes even literally in their faces BRING FUCKING MEGABLEH IN SUPERBLHEBLHEBLHEVERSUXASXASXASXASTURBOREVIVAL!! There were No Mai No Buy bullshit! The digital era makes everyone critics and connoisseurs and have the right to go overly hyped or overly hater but in the end they don't even actually play the game, they just blah blah blah and clutter the internet forums and the communities to "let the developers know what they want"... but most of them do actually nothing to please them.

[Running Wild]

If KOFXIII flops, I'm gonna rage quit 2D fighting games and focus on Tekken and Virtua Fighter. Maybe Soul Calibur.

[hybridial]

Mortal Kombat is kinda a good example of me getting massively hyped for a game but the experience with the game being underwhelming. It is good, I do enjoy it but I hardly play it now (to be fair I haven't played many fighters lately), even so, I've spent more time on Tekken 6.

On the other hand, probably the other two big hype trains I've been on this year were for Skyrim, which fucking delivered and I've been playing all week already plotting which mods I'd like to try working on for the game to make it that little bit better for me.

The other is Zelda, and Zelda rarely lets me down. Question is will Skyward Sword overtake OOT as my favourite game of all time? It might just have a shot.

On the other than the other game I've played this year that I thought was fucking awesome was a game I wasn't that hyped for specifically, inFamous 2. So yeah, I guess I fit all the moulds

[Mai~Crimsonheart]

If i were to be honest ... i would say that i can get carried away with my excitement over certain things. Sometimes they deliver and sometimes they don't, and its a huge disappointment when they don't, but i find great satisfaction when they do deliver.

A good example of Hype and returned quality was in Tekken 6, Man i was so hyped about that game, i just wanted it so bad. When i got it, i was hooked on that thing for such a long time. I genuinely felt that it was complete and done well. Another Example was MK, i was mind blown with that game ... the story mode was excellent and i was so intrigued by the tag system that i spent so many hours on practice mode just to get certain combos the way i want them and what not, i still didn't spend as much time on this game than on Tekken 6 but it was promised quality that i received for the money i paid.

I can't say the same for MVC3 ... I was so damn hyped about it but then my desire to play the game just dwindled when i saw UMVC3 ... because UMVC3 seemed like what MVC3 should have been . I liked the game so much, and i played the game so many times with friends and such but there wasn't much to do besides playing it with them. The lack of content really made it dull after i figured out what i liked about it and the game just gets used when my buddies come over for video game sessions.

I don't know why the hype gets to me, I wanna try and remain neutral but its so difficult because im a big fan of fighting games. When something i used to love and play a lot when i was younger, something that got continued as i grew older and learned how to play ... when new versions of these games are announced i just get that same feeling i used to have, i feel happy and excited. Then i get online i see people bashing and my brain goes KABOOM !!! from all the negativity.

I know that getting hyped isn't exactly the wisest thing to do, but its how i feel and im not ashamed of that.

What i wonder is, if people say that getting hyped is stupid ... then is it not stupid to be Smack down - harshly - negative on something  ?? Because the reactions of some people on the net just don't make sense, and they REALLY piss me off sometimes. ( like the reaction of some of those capcom tards regarding KOF XIII, which i feel is just insecurity because they probably didn't expect to be good )

[Don Vecta]

Well, I'm not saying getting hype it's bad, point in fact, getting the same excitement we used to have back in the day when they announced a new title coming up was great! And somehow websites like ours are supposed to keep the hype up so the games can be played. The complaint comes when the excitement goes overboard, sometimes at ridiculous levels and in the end there's no consistency in the desire of the game, the game it's not played by these people who were either orgasming themselves or hating it to death.

The biggest complaint (at least from my side) it's the overboard of both hype and criticisms towards a game and then the total abandon to it when it's out. That's it.

[Mai~Crimsonheart]

Well, I'm not saying getting hype it's bad, point in fact, getting the same excitement we used to have back in the day when they announced a new title coming up was great! And somehow websites like ours are supposed to keep the hype up so the games can be played. The complaint comes when the excitement goes overboard, sometimes at ridiculous levels and in the end there's no consistency in the desire of the game, the game it's not played by these people who were either orgasming themselves or hating it to death.

The biggest complaint (at least from my side) it's the overboard of both hype and criticisms towards a game and then the total abandon to it when it's out. That's it.

Point understood and Agreed Upon. I don't get how someone can HYPE about something and not play it xD, wtf.

[Eddie]

With this Generation I hardly get as hyped as I used to, mostly because most games are very similar to one another (take the usual Battlefield vs CoD argument) not to mention I play mostly single-player and few games have been delivering when it comes to being good enough to warrant a 2nd run. During the past few years the only game i've deftly got hyped was Deus Ex HR, which I went from skeptical to hyped, sure it had some flaws but still was a good experience I don't regret pre-ordering.

As for fighting games (Which is what this community is all about), most games are ok, but I was mostly excited about MK and KoF12 and 13. MK did a great job, friend of mine just recently borrowed his PS3 so I could play it and so far i'm having a blast with it and it's also fun to play against friends, KoF 12, well, the gameplay is ok but the rest, ugh and 13 is looking like it'll be excellent I only hope SNKP doesn't pull a Capcom with DLC.

Capcom and Namco games have to be some of the most underwhelming games i've played so far, I enjoy Tekken a lot and I finally tried Tekken 6 on the PS3 despite the fact that the game looks great and plays great it's kinda underwhelming, the adventure mode being the main part of the single-player experience just doesn't feel right only reason to go thru it is get money and itens easier, not to mention that the loading even after installing the game got quite annoying, i'm not saying it's bad, but it could have been better, Namco just seems to be experimenting with their single-player modes but it's like they don't know what to do with it. I won't even talk about Capcom because i've said enough, but it really does seem to me that they're at their worst in this generation.

[Sera]

Well, I think I said more than once that I was a big fighting game player, years ago I bought and played almost only fighting games, but now I don't play them anymore. After some time it happened the same with videogames in general. Now I don't even label myself as a videogame player anymore (I still play, but not so "relentlessly" and not with the same passion) despite loving videogames to pieces in the past and ever since I was a little child. In fact I think it's not only because I got older and probably changed a bit, but also because I'm not fond of videogame companies' policies and what videogames have become.
Connecting the talk above to the topic of this thread, my conclusion can be summarised with the help of an Italian proverb. Years ago, videogames had less hype because there weren't the Internet and other means to spread and boost it, but they were full and finished products. Now videogames and the videogame scene are "molto fumo e niente arrosto", literally translated as "much smoke, no roast".

[Don Vecta]

Now videogames and the videogame scene are "molto fumo e niente arrosto", literally translated as "much smoke, no roast".

"Too much fluff, not enough substance"


Or in Mexico, a vulgar way to say it: "Tanto pedo pa' cagar aguado" (too many farts to end up shitting diarreah or something like that... gah, how it losses the sense when you translate a proverb, lol)

[OrochiLeonaUK]

Personally, I think a lot of the problem runs deeper than games not delivering.
It's a long spiel for another time. But I think a lot of gamers, myself included sometimes, GET HYPE over a game just because they NEED a target in their calendar year, something to look forward to, to make the days pass and the daily grind of work or personal problems seem more bearable.

"Just focus on Gears 3...Gears 3...Gears 3"

Essentially, I think a lot (but not all) game hype is simply an extended form of retail therapy, and that it goes beyond "I'm REALLY looking forward to this game" to "I need a reason to get excited about something...ANYTHING"

Not saying this is in ALL cases of course, but I'm completely convinced it exists in most.
I think the "Hype till release, then total disinterest" is a psychological problem, and little to do with the videogames themselves.
I'm not exaggerating either. Who here has found themselves wishing their year away because in Feburary they were SO looking forward to a game in October. Then October comes and...oh.
Well, no worries MASS EFFECT 3 NEXT YEAR!

Hmm, hope that made sense

[Sera]

Personally, I think a lot of the problem runs deeper than games not delivering.
It's a long spiel for another time. But I think a lot of gamers, myself included sometimes, GET HYPE over a game just because they NEED a target in their calendar year, something to look forward to, to make the days pass and the daily grind of work or personal problems seem more bearable.

"Just focus on Gears 3...Gears 3...Gears 3"

Essentially, I think a lot (but not all) game hype is simply an extended form of retail therapy, and that it goes beyond "I'm REALLY looking forward to this game" to "I need a reason to get excited about something...ANYTHING"

Not saying this is in ALL cases of course, but I'm completely convinced it exists in most.
I think the "Hype till release, then total disinterest" is a psychological problem, and little to do with the videogames themselves.
I'm not exaggerating either. Who here has found themselves wishing their year away because in Feburary they were SO looking forward to a game in October. Then October comes and...oh.
Well, no worries MASS EFFECT 3 NEXT YEAR!

Hmm, hope that made sense

I think what you said is perfectly understandable, OrochiLeonaUK, and I partially agree. I, too, believe that many people constantly need to find something to feel lively, escape from boredom or drive away worries and unpleasant thoughts, and videogames (as well as films, books and other enjoyable things and activities) can be an effective way to achieve that.
However, I still think that videogames and the videogame scene have substantially changed from the past, following a big change in the current society, which requires everything to be "mordi e fuggi" (again, an Italian idiom that can't be effectively conveyed in English, literally translated as "bite and flee". It means something that you do briefly, gives a brief pleasure and then is quickly left).
Speaking specifically of the videogame scene, videogames don't need to be lasting, because even the young usually have a lot of money to spend on many superfluous, unimportant, quickly-and-easily-forgotten things. When they buy a videogame, there's already a new, "interesting" one that awaits them soon after. And they have the money to buy it. So the hype built in months over a title drops immediately.
That ^, and the fact that nowadays videogames cost a lot to videogame companies, also explain why videogames don't offer much in terms of replay value. No replay value=no enduring hype.