Hype vs common sense (and our wallets)

[JSR]

Right now I have a pile of games that I have not yet completed, or maybe even started. Among them are praised ones like Skyward Sword, Dark Souls, Rune Factory 3, Final Fantasy Xii-2 (which actually is a good game, honest), Chrono Trigger, Battlefield 3 and Bowsers Inside Story. And that's just counting the ones I have played within the last 3 months. Yet here I am, trying to make room in my budget for a PSVita and some games for it, not to mention the rest of the great games coming in the next few weeks (Mass Effect 3, SSX to name two). Right now there are no games on the Vita that I think will give me more joy than any in the bunch I'm currently playing. So why do I feel this need to have it? Because I'm a victim of the hype.

This is how it's been for as long back as I can remember. I continue to push great games out of the way to instead spend money on games or products I more or less KNOW I don't really need right now. I have a good feeling they won't make me any happier now than what I currently have, or happier than they can make me in a few weeks/months when I actually have time for them - not to mention having dropped in price/been patched to a playable state. So what I'm admitting to is being irrational. Is it so important for us to have products just because they are new or in the "wind"?

[teddymeow]

I'm a gamer. I like new shiny things. That is why I keep buying new stuff. Like my missus buys shoes, I buy games.

[importaku]

Hype can be a double edged sword, it can generate excitement about a upcoming game but also it can wear you out from constant saturation on the internet where something gets so overhyped to the point that when it does come out it fails to live upto the unrealistic expectations thus ruining the exerience.

What i hate most is publisher generating fake hype to sell a game that they damn well know is a turd & rushed out but they are hoping that they can buy a few good reviews to get loads sold before people realise it's ****. I wish that you could do them under the trade description act when they advertise something as 10/10 best ever & it's actually total ****, i think you should be able to ask for your money back when your shelling out ?30+ for rubbish games. It's blatant deception & it's been going on for several generations.

[speedlolita]

I've bought 2 games this year so far. UMvC3 and Mushihimesama Futari. Both getting played lots.

Buying games on release you have no intention to play is entirely stupid.

You can only blame yourself.

Currently waiting for Soul Calibur V and Catherine to drop below ?20ish. Really want Shadows of the Damned too. :hm:

I've no desire for a Vita either because I never feel a console is worth purchasing at launch. Really don't see the point of handhelds anymore either, I don't commute though.

2 years ago I was buying stuff left right and center, last year I was cutting down hugely. I think I've tamed the beast now.

[Mayhem]

Buying games on release you have no intention to play is entirely stupid.

That is pretty much what I've stopped doing now heh... has saved some money.

[monel]

Hype is a horrible thing, especially when a lot of people can often be very vocal about how good something supposedly is because: a) they're easily pleased. b) they really don't like admitting or realising they've paid for crap. The web has become a hype machine and often when someone posts a dissenting view, they're called 'haters' which affects all popular culture, really. What I hate the most is companies announcing an announcement, sites buying into it to get hits, then being drip fed little useless nuggets of information like the silhoette of a character in a game, or something similar. Importaku's post reminded me of 8bit computing in this country, when games firms used to put screen shots of a game running on another format entirely on a game's box, that was blatant deception. Also, games mags which had obviously been paid off to give high marks to a crap game, there were certain well known examples but I can't remember right now.

[importaku]

LOL i remember that with spectrum games & how they used to put the amiga screenshots on the box not all publishers were guilty but a lot did that.

[rmoxon]

I know Im gonna sound like a bit of a twat here but being a proper gamer and listening to hype dont mix.

Games like the latest GTA are sure to have poor gameplay, becuase every game in the series has, but if you were to follow the hype, as many of us do, then you would buy it anyway.

Hype is generated by public opinion, and public opinion is about being cool not being good, it always has been, and no doubt always will be.

I really do belive that Hype is the enemy of gamers though.

[shaffy_oppa]

I completely get where you're coming from, I was once like that and sometimes still am (Vita pre-ordered) but I've definitely cut down but I'm still somewhat drowned in old games.

I find that since I started buying less games, as soon as they pop out, I'm playing a hell of a lot less too... I don't honestly think there was a single game I completed in 2011 and so many releases go by without me noticing and I think thats because I kinda avoid the hype and in doing so I miss out on a lot of games because I honestly don't know what the hell it is...

[Neon Ignition]

The last couple of years I've been quite bad for picking up practically every new release as new. It's partially hype but not entirely, more habit than anything else. I certainly never picked anything without the intention of playing it, but time sometimes meant things went unplayed for a long time. It's a complete waste of money I'd agree but it's subjective. I don't subscribe to the notion that hype is bad though, in most cases a game is hyped because it's popular but it's usually popular because its a game in which previous entries have been considered good. This year the most hyped games will be things like Mass Effect 3, Bioshock Infinite, Black Ops 2, FIFA 13 etc which non-fans and trolls aside are generally considered to be roughly best in field so it's only fair they are hype. There's some amazing games as well that without the hype I'd have missed out on too. That's not to say everything hyped is good though or worth buying on release, it's subjective title to title though rather than a blanket rule one way or the other.

['Press Start']

I only have 2 games on the go at the most (one multi player and one single) but most times it is one game at a time.

Constantly having new games arriving is a negative thing IMO. The fact Alex has Chrono Trigger unfinished says it all! get on and finish it man!

Hype means nothing to me, only buying one or two games a month at the most makes me very careful about my purchases. It's almost like a filter to ensure I only buy games I want, instead of games hype has lead me towards. Don't get me wrong I used to buy lots of games and often had 5 unplayed, but I soon realised I don't need all these games sat doing nothing, loosing money on the shelf. When I finish one I'll buy another, like a book. That's just me though.

[Johnny]

This is my main downfall in terms of gaming - buying multiple games at the same time just to have them and knowing full well I'll only give my attention to one at a time. Still, told myself that this year would be different, although it's proving tough! 9th March will be my real test - Snake Eater 3D, Mass Effect 3, Street Fighter X Tekken and Asura's Wrath all out that day. Normally I'd but 2 or 3, but my goal is one, then when I have time for the others, they should be cheaper.

[Skull Commander]

I have more or less given up on buying games on release now due to having enough to play already, the inevitable price reduction a couple of months in, and the fact that over the last couple of years my financial priories have changed.

Last year the only game I bought in the first week of release was Call of Duty, as I do like to be on it early to give myself a fighting chance against other online gamers. I was contemplating buying Soul Calibur and Street Fighter X Tekken early, but to be honest I am playing Dead Island, and have many other games (including Dark Souls which isn't exactly a short game) on the backburner and knowing the people on my friends list they will all migrate onto the next big thing asap leaving my fighters single player only affairs.

I rarely get sucked in by hype, but even on here in the first play threads you still get people declaring game X "Game of the Year" after something silly like 6 hours play, only for them to be saying the exact same about another game a few weeks later. I'd rather sit back and read the first play thread once it's existed for a month or 2 to see some more balanced views, as I think a games true worth quite often becomes apparent with the passage of time. Even if something seems fantastic in the first few hours, it can quite often become a chore in the long run.

[MrKirov]

knowing the people on my friends list they will all migrate onto the next big thing asap leaving my fighters single player only affairs.

Thats not true! You know i'll always play fighters with you as we're so evenly matched!! I was waiting for you to appear on Soul Calibur V and you never did

[Charlie]

I'm in the opposite camp to many. I don't believe enough hype or buy enough games anymore to keep my love for the hobby burning as brightly as it once did. Haven't bought a game since November last year and, it's been a long time coming, am now at the point where if a game isn't either the best example of it's genre or significantly different then I ain't interested in playing it.