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So we are back into the season when the gaming world bounces into its busiest time. The run up to Christmas. Arguably, this is the time when more non-gamers by games than gamers do. So in the end, that means that there are people out they’re that in all honesty, don’t have a clue what they’re buying.
Oh yeah, of course, they 'know' what there buying. The games titles and so on give that one away. But they don’t know if the game that they are about to purchase is any good at all. It’s all too common. How many of us have received a game for Christmas or even our Birthdays that’s been pretty darn poor before? I have. And why? Well because it said something like "The Simpson’s" or "Star Wars" on it. We all know the type of games; it’s the ones with the licenses that are used to sell the games. It happens every Christmas, and this year is no different.
Licences are always bitterly fought for with all the money involved. Chances are if you willing to pay for a games title that’s big and popular, your going to get your money back 10 fold. And that’s whats in the developer’s minds all along when we see the likes of the Potter games released, and then Scooby Doo ect. These games were well below par to any gamer that knows their stuff, but still, they sold and will sell. Why? Because the inexperienced buyer sees the titles, judges the game on its film success or popularity and thinks that it’s got to be good. Far from the truth.
Already it’s started. Just the other day Mr H. Potter appeared on my TV advertising his game. Boy did it look good. The graphics looks awesome, action packed, and generally looked like a smashin' game. Shame that none of what i had seen was in the game, as the smallest white writing at the bottom indicated "not game footage". Just another ploy to sell the game? Yes. All the little Kids (which you have to admit the game is more than aimed at) will see the advert and think what I thought at the time, that this is going to be some game, and then pester there parents, or even dip into there pockets to go buy the game, and then more than likely be disappointed in the end.
If you look at the games coming out in the following week, you see many examples of this too. 007 hits the shelves again. Now, these are the games that have some potential to be good, there have been some good Bond games, but then there have been the really poor ones. With this, there’s a Lord of the Rings game to come, an X-men game, and even a Minority Report game.
Now im not saying that all these games arent any good. I haven’t played them. But that’s the point, all there titles are big films and well known franchises, and if I hadn’t any real knowledge of how the gaming world works, and was looking for the perfect Christmas gift, the likes of these may seem perfect, when in all honesty, they may be far from it.
More often than not, big licenses are just a shoddy excuse for developers to shovel out any old rubbish and know it’s going to sell because it has Mr X in the title. And then they use all the tricks they can to get the game known as much as possible. It’s even the same with the likes of the Fifa Updates, or even the Tony Hawk series. Maybe it’s a good game, but how different is it from the last? Just another excuse to bring some more money in? More than likely.
So where does the blame lie? Solely with the developer? Or the buyer? No, it has to be both.
You have to think that the developers do need to make there money, so maybe they do have the right to put whatever games they want out on the market, and that they will do. But then is it right to ‘trick’ these people into buying there games through false pretences on TV, in the papers and so on? In my opinion that’s not right at all.
But still, the buyers have got to take some responsibility for there poor choice in buying the game. Isn’t it about time that they did some research into the game they are about to buy? Everyone would do the same for everything else. You don’t just go out there to buy a car and hope for the best because it looks good. From my experience, people who aren’t gamers don’t see games as being any different from each other, they see them as if games are all on equal terms, and there cant be a better or worse type of game. Hence, we receive the not so good games on those special days.
So where’s the solution? Probably isn’t one. Developers aren’t going to stop making these games when they sell, and the people who buy games because of the way they view them aren’t going to stop buying them because clearly half the time they have no clue.
The only real thing that can be done, is that us gamers, all of us no matter what age have to tell the people who are buying these games for us what we want to save any disappointment.
Otherwise this is just going to be a trend that goes on and on.
Oh yeah, of course, they 'know' what there buying. The games titles and so on give that one away. But they don’t know if the game that they are about to purchase is any good at all. It’s all too common. How many of us have received a game for Christmas or even our Birthdays that’s been pretty darn poor before? I have. And why? Well because it said something like "The Simpson’s" or "Star Wars" on it. We all know the type of games; it’s the ones with the licenses that are used to sell the games. It happens every Christmas, and this year is no different.
Licences are always bitterly fought for with all the money involved. Chances are if you willing to pay for a games title that’s big and popular, your going to get your money back 10 fold. And that’s whats in the developer’s minds all along when we see the likes of the Potter games released, and then Scooby Doo ect. These games were well below par to any gamer that knows their stuff, but still, they sold and will sell. Why? Because the inexperienced buyer sees the titles, judges the game on its film success or popularity and thinks that it’s got to be good. Far from the truth.
Already it’s started. Just the other day Mr H. Potter appeared on my TV advertising his game. Boy did it look good. The graphics looks awesome, action packed, and generally looked like a smashin' game. Shame that none of what i had seen was in the game, as the smallest white writing at the bottom indicated "not game footage". Just another ploy to sell the game? Yes. All the little Kids (which you have to admit the game is more than aimed at) will see the advert and think what I thought at the time, that this is going to be some game, and then pester there parents, or even dip into there pockets to go buy the game, and then more than likely be disappointed in the end.
If you look at the games coming out in the following week, you see many examples of this too. 007 hits the shelves again. Now, these are the games that have some potential to be good, there have been some good Bond games, but then there have been the really poor ones. With this, there’s a Lord of the Rings game to come, an X-men game, and even a Minority Report game.
Now im not saying that all these games arent any good. I haven’t played them. But that’s the point, all there titles are big films and well known franchises, and if I hadn’t any real knowledge of how the gaming world works, and was looking for the perfect Christmas gift, the likes of these may seem perfect, when in all honesty, they may be far from it.
More often than not, big licenses are just a shoddy excuse for developers to shovel out any old rubbish and know it’s going to sell because it has Mr X in the title. And then they use all the tricks they can to get the game known as much as possible. It’s even the same with the likes of the Fifa Updates, or even the Tony Hawk series. Maybe it’s a good game, but how different is it from the last? Just another excuse to bring some more money in? More than likely.
So where does the blame lie? Solely with the developer? Or the buyer? No, it has to be both.
You have to think that the developers do need to make there money, so maybe they do have the right to put whatever games they want out on the market, and that they will do. But then is it right to ‘trick’ these people into buying there games through false pretences on TV, in the papers and so on? In my opinion that’s not right at all.
But still, the buyers have got to take some responsibility for there poor choice in buying the game. Isn’t it about time that they did some research into the game they are about to buy? Everyone would do the same for everything else. You don’t just go out there to buy a car and hope for the best because it looks good. From my experience, people who aren’t gamers don’t see games as being any different from each other, they see them as if games are all on equal terms, and there cant be a better or worse type of game. Hence, we receive the not so good games on those special days.
So where’s the solution? Probably isn’t one. Developers aren’t going to stop making these games when they sell, and the people who buy games because of the way they view them aren’t going to stop buying them because clearly half the time they have no clue.
The only real thing that can be done, is that us gamers, all of us no matter what age have to tell the people who are buying these games for us what we want to save any disappointment.
Otherwise this is just going to be a trend that goes on and on.
Darwock wrote:
>
> Games magazines are never going to be bought by anyone except games
> fans. I hardly buy them and I am a gamer!
Well, thats not all that different from me, i dont buy many mags at all either, only time i do is if there is a decent demo or DVD disc out there with a game on that i really want.
But surely, if your someone who is out to buy a game for a relative ect and someone who has a little common sense you are going to think that it might be worth actually seeing whats out there worth buying. Im not too sure i agree with what you said about the mags being useless to non gamers because of the format of the mag. I think anyone who can read is quite capable of reaching the reviews section arent they? And alot of mags actually use the same format with all the news at the start and then going into the reviews.
Its so easy to get the information on games that you could ever want to pre-judge a game on. Theres the mags, the access to the internet which by now many many people have. Theres really no excuse not to be able to research into it.
And if some people are too lazy to do so, who looses out?
Obviously not the developers.
>
> Games magazines are never going to be bought by anyone except games
> fans. I hardly buy them and I am a gamer!
Well, thats not all that different from me, i dont buy many mags at all either, only time i do is if there is a decent demo or DVD disc out there with a game on that i really want.
But surely, if your someone who is out to buy a game for a relative ect and someone who has a little common sense you are going to think that it might be worth actually seeing whats out there worth buying. Im not too sure i agree with what you said about the mags being useless to non gamers because of the format of the mag. I think anyone who can read is quite capable of reaching the reviews section arent they? And alot of mags actually use the same format with all the news at the start and then going into the reviews.
Its so easy to get the information on games that you could ever want to pre-judge a game on. Theres the mags, the access to the internet which by now many many people have. Theres really no excuse not to be able to research into it.
And if some people are too lazy to do so, who looses out?
Obviously not the developers.
> Then there are the games that just appear on the shelfs with no
> reviews anywhere, you just simply see a new Star Wars game on the
> shelf, un heard of. Always sets the warning signs going that one.
I know I'm on a bit of a crusade with this at the moment, but that's exactly what happened with Grand Prix Challenge. And it's not because the game is poor, it's because the publishers (Infogrames) are up the creek financially.
Games magazines are never going to be bought by anyone except games fans. I hardly buy them and I am a gamer! For a start they'd be useless to someone uninformed seeking opinions on games to buy, because the format of every magazine is so crazy. It's not like 'What DVD' or anything, where the reviews section is clear and concise. You've got previews, rumours blah blah, big features on games that won't be out for another year and so on.
> reviews anywhere, you just simply see a new Star Wars game on the
> shelf, un heard of. Always sets the warning signs going that one.
I know I'm on a bit of a crusade with this at the moment, but that's exactly what happened with Grand Prix Challenge. And it's not because the game is poor, it's because the publishers (Infogrames) are up the creek financially.
Games magazines are never going to be bought by anyone except games fans. I hardly buy them and I am a gamer! For a start they'd be useless to someone uninformed seeking opinions on games to buy, because the format of every magazine is so crazy. It's not like 'What DVD' or anything, where the reviews section is clear and concise. You've got previews, rumours blah blah, big features on games that won't be out for another year and so on.
True, but if you listen to the people talking on the adverts they more than make up for the lack of quotes by them hyping up the game so that it sounds like the best thing since slice bread.
Children or Adults are going to be influenced by this just as much as seeing a quote in the end.
Children or Adults are going to be influenced by this just as much as seeing a quote in the end.
At least they haven`t gone as far as quoting "A fantastic game" when magazines originally said "if you want a fantastic game, look elsewhere" etc... They do use old quotes as you say, but they aren`t total lies. Its just that early previews don`t know all the facts, they just state the potential of the game.
Yeah, its a shame that people are very disappointed with a game because of things such as false advertising or just throwing out the same game ever year, also film frachise games also tend to get a lot of sales but end up being very poor games, so do not believe what you see, because sometimes looks can be deceiving.
If more people came onto the forums then they'd be able to get advice at least, even if they don't have to listen to it, to which games we feel are good and which games are not worth the CD the are on.
Adverts in mags make out some games to be very good, one thing that angers me is how companies use quotes from very old previews to make the game sound good, when infact its poor, they will obviously never show "OPSM2 4/10" on the case, because on one will buy it, false advetising exists i'm afraid and there isnt much we can do about it really!
Also taking your point about who's to blame, i agree about the developers, its in their hands as to how much effort and time they put into the game, so its their own fault if the game gets poor reviews and no one buys it, it should hopefully teach them a lesson next time around, manage the time carefully but don't make the public wait too long.
Although the buyer may be to blame a little, its hardly their fault if they are advised wrong on a product, when asking in store for their son or daughter for instance, most game shops are fine when asking for advice, but others will give you an old rubbish just to sell you the game.
Hype also plays a part, in fact a pretty big one, hype for a game (good or bad) tends to increase sales massively, i can gurentee you that a lot of children this year will get the harry potter game, because of the hype surrounding the film, it can be good (GTA:VC) and it can be bad.
And like you said, there is no solution!
If more people came onto the forums then they'd be able to get advice at least, even if they don't have to listen to it, to which games we feel are good and which games are not worth the CD the are on.
Adverts in mags make out some games to be very good, one thing that angers me is how companies use quotes from very old previews to make the game sound good, when infact its poor, they will obviously never show "OPSM2 4/10" on the case, because on one will buy it, false advetising exists i'm afraid and there isnt much we can do about it really!
Also taking your point about who's to blame, i agree about the developers, its in their hands as to how much effort and time they put into the game, so its their own fault if the game gets poor reviews and no one buys it, it should hopefully teach them a lesson next time around, manage the time carefully but don't make the public wait too long.
Although the buyer may be to blame a little, its hardly their fault if they are advised wrong on a product, when asking in store for their son or daughter for instance, most game shops are fine when asking for advice, but others will give you an old rubbish just to sell you the game.
Hype also plays a part, in fact a pretty big one, hype for a game (good or bad) tends to increase sales massively, i can gurentee you that a lot of children this year will get the harry potter game, because of the hype surrounding the film, it can be good (GTA:VC) and it can be bad.
And like you said, there is no solution!
Very nice...
ssxpro wrote:
> Another problem is late reviews. Is it the fault of the reviewers? Not
> really, they try their best to get all the reviews done in time, but
> quite often, developers who know their game will sell on reputation or
> licence deliberately delay their review code so that the game is in
> the shops before the reviews are on the shelves, causing even the more
> knowledgeable gamers to fall in to traps on occasion.
Then there are the games that just appear on the shelfs with no reviews anywhere, you just simply see a new Star Wars game on the shelf, un heard of. Always sets the warning signs going that one.
> Another problem is late reviews. Is it the fault of the reviewers? Not
> really, they try their best to get all the reviews done in time, but
> quite often, developers who know their game will sell on reputation or
> licence deliberately delay their review code so that the game is in
> the shops before the reviews are on the shelves, causing even the more
> knowledgeable gamers to fall in to traps on occasion.
Then there are the games that just appear on the shelfs with no reviews anywhere, you just simply see a new Star Wars game on the shelf, un heard of. Always sets the warning signs going that one.
They`re just going to have to make magazines more noticeable, and possibly even cheaper. If enough people read the reviews, then they`ll know in advance that what they are about to buy is trash. With the internet as well there should be plenty of warning... but still there are those who can`t have access to either of these, and I guess the label buying will continue.
Another problem is late reviews. Is it the fault of the reviewers? Not really, they try their best to get all the reviews done in time, but quite often, developers who know their game will sell on reputation or licence deliberately delay their review code so that the game is in the shops before the reviews are on the shelves, causing even the more knowledgeable gamers to fall in to traps on occasion.
Another problem is late reviews. Is it the fault of the reviewers? Not really, they try their best to get all the reviews done in time, but quite often, developers who know their game will sell on reputation or licence deliberately delay their review code so that the game is in the shops before the reviews are on the shelves, causing even the more knowledgeable gamers to fall in to traps on occasion.
i agree... good post...:)
So we are back into the season when the gaming world bounces into its busiest time. The run up to Christmas. Arguably, this is the time when more non-gamers by games than gamers do. So in the end, that means that there are people out they’re that in all honesty, don’t have a clue what they’re buying.
Oh yeah, of course, they 'know' what there buying. The games titles and so on give that one away. But they don’t know if the game that they are about to purchase is any good at all. It’s all too common. How many of us have received a game for Christmas or even our Birthdays that’s been pretty darn poor before? I have. And why? Well because it said something like "The Simpson’s" or "Star Wars" on it. We all know the type of games; it’s the ones with the licenses that are used to sell the games. It happens every Christmas, and this year is no different.
Licences are always bitterly fought for with all the money involved. Chances are if you willing to pay for a games title that’s big and popular, your going to get your money back 10 fold. And that’s whats in the developer’s minds all along when we see the likes of the Potter games released, and then Scooby Doo ect. These games were well below par to any gamer that knows their stuff, but still, they sold and will sell. Why? Because the inexperienced buyer sees the titles, judges the game on its film success or popularity and thinks that it’s got to be good. Far from the truth.
Already it’s started. Just the other day Mr H. Potter appeared on my TV advertising his game. Boy did it look good. The graphics looks awesome, action packed, and generally looked like a smashin' game. Shame that none of what i had seen was in the game, as the smallest white writing at the bottom indicated "not game footage". Just another ploy to sell the game? Yes. All the little Kids (which you have to admit the game is more than aimed at) will see the advert and think what I thought at the time, that this is going to be some game, and then pester there parents, or even dip into there pockets to go buy the game, and then more than likely be disappointed in the end.
If you look at the games coming out in the following week, you see many examples of this too. 007 hits the shelves again. Now, these are the games that have some potential to be good, there have been some good Bond games, but then there have been the really poor ones. With this, there’s a Lord of the Rings game to come, an X-men game, and even a Minority Report game.
Now im not saying that all these games arent any good. I haven’t played them. But that’s the point, all there titles are big films and well known franchises, and if I hadn’t any real knowledge of how the gaming world works, and was looking for the perfect Christmas gift, the likes of these may seem perfect, when in all honesty, they may be far from it.
More often than not, big licenses are just a shoddy excuse for developers to shovel out any old rubbish and know it’s going to sell because it has Mr X in the title. And then they use all the tricks they can to get the game known as much as possible. It’s even the same with the likes of the Fifa Updates, or even the Tony Hawk series. Maybe it’s a good game, but how different is it from the last? Just another excuse to bring some more money in? More than likely.
So where does the blame lie? Solely with the developer? Or the buyer? No, it has to be both.
You have to think that the developers do need to make there money, so maybe they do have the right to put whatever games they want out on the market, and that they will do. But then is it right to ‘trick’ these people into buying there games through false pretences on TV, in the papers and so on? In my opinion that’s not right at all.
But still, the buyers have got to take some responsibility for there poor choice in buying the game. Isn’t it about time that they did some research into the game they are about to buy? Everyone would do the same for everything else. You don’t just go out there to buy a car and hope for the best because it looks good. From my experience, people who aren’t gamers don’t see games as being any different from each other, they see them as if games are all on equal terms, and there cant be a better or worse type of game. Hence, we receive the not so good games on those special days.
So where’s the solution? Probably isn’t one. Developers aren’t going to stop making these games when they sell, and the people who buy games because of the way they view them aren’t going to stop buying them because clearly half the time they have no clue.
The only real thing that can be done, is that us gamers, all of us no matter what age have to tell the people who are buying these games for us what we want to save any disappointment.
Otherwise this is just going to be a trend that goes on and on.
Oh yeah, of course, they 'know' what there buying. The games titles and so on give that one away. But they don’t know if the game that they are about to purchase is any good at all. It’s all too common. How many of us have received a game for Christmas or even our Birthdays that’s been pretty darn poor before? I have. And why? Well because it said something like "The Simpson’s" or "Star Wars" on it. We all know the type of games; it’s the ones with the licenses that are used to sell the games. It happens every Christmas, and this year is no different.
Licences are always bitterly fought for with all the money involved. Chances are if you willing to pay for a games title that’s big and popular, your going to get your money back 10 fold. And that’s whats in the developer’s minds all along when we see the likes of the Potter games released, and then Scooby Doo ect. These games were well below par to any gamer that knows their stuff, but still, they sold and will sell. Why? Because the inexperienced buyer sees the titles, judges the game on its film success or popularity and thinks that it’s got to be good. Far from the truth.
Already it’s started. Just the other day Mr H. Potter appeared on my TV advertising his game. Boy did it look good. The graphics looks awesome, action packed, and generally looked like a smashin' game. Shame that none of what i had seen was in the game, as the smallest white writing at the bottom indicated "not game footage". Just another ploy to sell the game? Yes. All the little Kids (which you have to admit the game is more than aimed at) will see the advert and think what I thought at the time, that this is going to be some game, and then pester there parents, or even dip into there pockets to go buy the game, and then more than likely be disappointed in the end.
If you look at the games coming out in the following week, you see many examples of this too. 007 hits the shelves again. Now, these are the games that have some potential to be good, there have been some good Bond games, but then there have been the really poor ones. With this, there’s a Lord of the Rings game to come, an X-men game, and even a Minority Report game.
Now im not saying that all these games arent any good. I haven’t played them. But that’s the point, all there titles are big films and well known franchises, and if I hadn’t any real knowledge of how the gaming world works, and was looking for the perfect Christmas gift, the likes of these may seem perfect, when in all honesty, they may be far from it.
More often than not, big licenses are just a shoddy excuse for developers to shovel out any old rubbish and know it’s going to sell because it has Mr X in the title. And then they use all the tricks they can to get the game known as much as possible. It’s even the same with the likes of the Fifa Updates, or even the Tony Hawk series. Maybe it’s a good game, but how different is it from the last? Just another excuse to bring some more money in? More than likely.
So where does the blame lie? Solely with the developer? Or the buyer? No, it has to be both.
You have to think that the developers do need to make there money, so maybe they do have the right to put whatever games they want out on the market, and that they will do. But then is it right to ‘trick’ these people into buying there games through false pretences on TV, in the papers and so on? In my opinion that’s not right at all.
But still, the buyers have got to take some responsibility for there poor choice in buying the game. Isn’t it about time that they did some research into the game they are about to buy? Everyone would do the same for everything else. You don’t just go out there to buy a car and hope for the best because it looks good. From my experience, people who aren’t gamers don’t see games as being any different from each other, they see them as if games are all on equal terms, and there cant be a better or worse type of game. Hence, we receive the not so good games on those special days.
So where’s the solution? Probably isn’t one. Developers aren’t going to stop making these games when they sell, and the people who buy games because of the way they view them aren’t going to stop buying them because clearly half the time they have no clue.
The only real thing that can be done, is that us gamers, all of us no matter what age have to tell the people who are buying these games for us what we want to save any disappointment.
Otherwise this is just going to be a trend that goes on and on.