Hype is here for one reason: it works.
The website of Edge released an article about the common phenomenon in game industry nowadays: Hype, by picking up ten of the most nefarious ways of hyping a game.
The details are as below:
1. *Not Actual Footage
Performed By: Publishers, Platform Holders, Advertising Agencies
Notable Works: MotorStorm, Final Fantasy games, Killzone 2
Why bother hyping your game with real footage when pre-rendered misdirection can make a far better impression? This question is often entertained when it's time for a new console to show its muscle. Tech demos - if 'tech' and 'demo' are indeed the right words here - from Sony's E3 2005 press conference featured some of the biggest and brightest fabrications in video form with both the MotorStorm and Killzone 2 pre-release videos, of which GameTrailers and Wikipedia have since exposed with sharp clarity. TV spots are also renowned for favouring GC over real-time footage.
"I don't understand how we continue to get away with it. It frustrates me so much," says Byron. "We seem to be saying 'buy this game! We can't show you what it actually looks like, because that way you won't go out and buy it.' You don't see movies using clips of other films with a 'not actual footage' disclaimer, so I've no idea why companies are still allowed to do this for games."
2. Going Nasty
Performed by: Developers, Publishers
Notable Works: Hooligans: Storm Over Europe, "Bully", Postal 2
Careful and expensive measures can be taken to amplify the popularity of a game, but overexposure doesn't have to cost anything aside from a few sacks of dignity and class. Even the most inadequate videogames such as Hooligans can reach a wider audience (as the BBC shows) than even the annual blockbusters.
Despite all the hype that Resistance: Fall of Man conjured before its release, a simple shootout in the Manchester Cathedral was enough to get that product mentioned in the national press, the UK clergy and even the Houses of Parliament. "I guess the fact we're still talking about games like Postal proves that sort of exposure works," says Byron, who believes that one-trick controversies are becoming a thing of the past.
"Controversy can still be positive for PR agencies and publishers," says our source, "it really depends on the extent of controversy though. Obviously, Rockstar are known for trying as hard as possible to get their games fussed over, but that may have changed after the Manhunt 2 screw-up. There have been games that have been totally withdrawn because of the controversy surrounding it, but most of the time the developer and publisher haven't lost out in the long run and the fuss has raised the profile of the game. I'm seeing Madworld taking this route right now."
Read More Ten Ways to Overhype a Game
Resource: Edge
