Too many trailers?
I don't remember E3 being so bad, I remember E3 having journalists give live interviews to someone in their little booth and asking them questions. The interview was candid, you could feel the mayhem around and you anxiously awaiting every little detail that the devs let out. Different websites also had different coverage, because each reporter had their own interviews, so that was cool too.
Today though, the announcement of a game is followed by a 30 second trailer that is increasingly more and more doctored and has nothing to do with the game. Also, they don't show any of the gameplay or story or anything, they just release a trailer in the great void and hope you get excited.
Having a trailer at E3 or a 5 minute gameplay demo also had a special exclusivity factor. Usually these demos weren't shown on websites and hearing the reporter talk about the different content of the video was cool. As a support, it was great if you were interested in seeing how the game was shaping up so far. But your impression of the game was anchored in interviews. Screenshots were also additional content you could salivate to.
What game announcements actually got me excited this year? For one Diablo 3. Love it or hate it, Blizzard again show why they are among the elite in the gaming industry. The announcement was perfect, a very long gameplay video, accompanied by narration, a few hours of interviews for those interested and a trailer. (and a bunch of written lore if anyone read that) And I didn't even see the trailer, knowing it would probably be a very cinematic and somber added on story that Diablo is known for.
Starcraft 2 started with a trailer, and I was excited just because it was the best graphics I've ever seen. A few days later, gameplay videos appeared as well as interviews.
Mirror's Edge had a great trailer, that was just a gameplay video with some good music attached. That first trailer has almost 800,000 views on Gametrailers, talk about free press.
Heavy Rain had a trailer that was several minutes long and had a gripping story. No 30 second crap. That attracted 250,000 views. I think I watched it because of word of mouth, again good free press.
The first Fallout 3 trailer was actually pretty bad, but was interesting for fans. But the great anticipation for the game isn't based on that alone, interviews were always coming up every few months.
And that's probably it for new IPs. Mass Effect way back in the day had great screenshots and really got me interested too, I don't know if it had a trailer too.
Spore? I first heard of it through a 40 min gameplay demo, and anyone I've shown that was just as blown away as I was.
I would like to see more gameplay or interviews if there's going to be a new game announced. Old IPs, you'll check everything anyway, but for new games, they need to actually talk about the game for me to be interested.
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Originally Posted by Thanatos
