Save your soul, where's the love gone?

[Concept]

Absolutely. One of the things I loved about Killer7 was that many of its trailers were a deception... a large amount of the content shown wasn't in the final product (and that play with fiction was mirrored in the game).

With ICO, I'd barely seen anything of it until the PAL release. It was like running full speed into a brickwall out of the blue.

That's part of the reason I'm so anticipated by Colossus. I haven't seen any of the trailers apart from a brief few seconds worth last year (of a horse running over the landscape without any Colossai), and the only locations/colossai I've seen have already been shown in the Edge preview.

It's sometimes hard to stay away from games you're hungry for on a communication system as easily accessible as the net, but in the end, with the game's that matter... their effects can be so much more potent when they're given the opportunity to surprise.

[thebuddahman]

Case in point: the Gamecube. I've seen posts on GameFAQs saying stuff to the effect of "OMG thats a GCN game! why dont you play something on XBOX? cuz thats better! Mario sucks, etc."

I completely agree. If any of you pay attention to the eBay item descriptions on Gamecubes for sale sometimes, they seem to just be a great place to bash the Gamecube even more, and further the stereotype that Nintendo IZZZ 4 DA KIDZZZZ!!!11!1! One listing I read recently:

Gamecube for sale because my son now wants an XBox because he has out-grown this"

I mean, how can you have 'out-grown' a console and then want another from the same generation? It's simply a playground image thing these days. Maybe if they actually looked around the GC releases, they could find some games which appeal to his new-found maturity! Get's me mad.

[fiendicus_prime]

Yeah the Killer7 trailers didn't give the game away to me at all.

I have to admit to looking into Colossus a bit... maybe too much :/ If I go cold turkey now until the PAL release (RAGE!) then I think I will be OK. Damn the internet!!!!

[Wools]

I hope I dident come accross as a grumpy bastard

I think a huge part is the nostalgia aspect of it. Waiting a month for the next issue of C&VG, Mean Machines or Arcade and seeing the next batch of games to come out.

Me and friends were excited over the games we were intrested in and once we got them we played them together, shared them and scrapped enough money together to buy one, ?2 a month pocket money meant a ?20 game was a huge investment!

And because of that games like GoldenEye, Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2, Tekken 2, Sonic Adventure, Mario Kart and lots of others were not criticised for being simple, boring, too short, not as fast as the NTSC version, buggy, plain and so other many critacisms that they dont deserve.

Working in the industry dosent help matters where your asked to be critical about game design but it feels like the players are now so harsh about their passtime.

I'm not condoning any kind of linientcy towards bad games, not at all. Just to give good games a chance. Dont be so quick to have a go at something you don't agree with or jump over a trailer to shout it down. Above all chill out and just play!

I really wish I knew where I want too take this...

[Ostrog]

Ah yes, the magazines - I remember going down the shops to get my Amiga mags each month, looking forward to whatever demos were on the disks. It was great! And pouring over those reviews, studying each screenshot, the excitement and anticipation building... T'was even better when you knew you were getting a particular game, and you had the mag's review to tide you over 'til you finally got it.
Amiga games were about ?25 back then, and with my pocket money, it took a while to get the funds together to buy a game. I used to get my games through the post as they were cheaper buying them from the various mail order crowds than getting them in the shops.(16 to 17 quid vs. ?25)
Regarding a game's various teasers, screenies and various pre-release info and the resolve to keep away from it all, I have to say I get sucked in each time - and yet it doesn't spoil my fun at all. For those of you that can withstand the hype-laden onslaught, you're better men than I. In the weeks leading up to getting my first import ps2, I remember absorbing any and all info about the games I knew I was getting. Every detail I uncovered only hightened my excitement and anticipation, just like reading those magazines all those years ago.
For me, this year has been one of the best for gaming. So much great stuff has come and gone - and there's more on the way. I have to say it's been a grand send-off for the current generation. Better than the last days of the psx and such, IMO.