Do you let insider hints and teasers affect your hype or excitement?

Gaming
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I should stress that this thread isn’t about bashing or hating on insiders and those in the “know”! But last week I did find it interesting how despite Xbox announcing the latest batch of fps boosted games, which a lot of folks had been wondering when they were due, there was a bit of an air of disappointment that that was it from Microsoft in terms of major news beats last week and a lot of that probably stemmed from hints there was going to be a lot of news that week (in fairness not all specifically said xbox related).

Also with things like FH5’s location being casually revealed, has that made you think “ooh awesome I’m more excited about the unveiling!” Or would you in some ways have preferred to have waited for Playground to show it off when they were ready? Even with some of these unannounced Global publishing games I’ve seen comments writing them off/hyping them up despite the fact they’ve not even been announced officially

Personally the only times I’ve let myself get caught up in hype is when Microsoft E3 conferences in the past have had comments such as “if what I’m hearing gets shown…then their conference will be amazing!” And I’ve ended up disappointed and left thinking “it was good but where was that pre hyped mega announcement”. The other time was probably prior to July’s show last year and there was hints and talk about how they’d heard that Halo Infinite was shaping up and looking amazing and we kinda know how that turned out…

So in general do you find yourself getting caught up in hype after insiders hint some news or an announcement is due? Or do you take a more controlled approach and think “I’ll keep an eye out” as opposed to constantly refreshing the page at the top of every hour? :joy:

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Not really, I find that it’s great to hear from them what Xbox has in the works, but it just makes me want to hear it from Microsoft more. Because nothing is official or happening until Microsoft finally announces it, as plans can change even after something is announced.

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Lol yes.

I’m a sucker for hype, excitement and speculation, but realistically don’t expect to see teases or leaks ever come to fruition. I’ve been hurt before.

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It can be good and bad, I feel like stuff getting leaked/spoken about before E3 event is pretty shit. Insiders speaking about stuff in vauge terms is ok like Jez with the dragon game, but people do get sick of hearing all these rumoured games and just want games to be out now so it’s a double edge sword. I feel like sometimes when it’s rumoured or leaked it puts a damper on things like the whole Fable thing, people just expected it. Some people were still shocked about it and excited but most knew it was happening because all the leaks and rumours.

I get hyped and but don’t unrealistically hyped like some people.

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In the case of FH5 my heart was set on Japan because of all the speculation combined with how it made sense to feature the home of some of the most storied car makers.

So I would have actually been disappointed during E3 when all the footage started to look nothing like Japan and having to figure out what this place actually is while the trailer was playing. So I would’ve been confused and then a bit disappointed to not see what I was expecting. But ultimately excited for what Mexico offers.

Now that I know before hand I’m actually intrigued to see how they will take advantage of Mexico’s biodiversity and road types. As I watch the trailer I can focus on seeing how they interpret Mexico and the visual fidelity and all of that stuff.

This whole thing about setting expectations and delivering is pretty fascinating. The possible disappointment I mentioned above was not rooted in the fact that it was in Mexico but rather that my expectations were completely different.

It’s part of the reason why Xbox’s “next gen games reveal” last year was so incredibly disappointing because I was expecting visuals that impressed me and instead I got games that looked like they were mid-budget current gen games.

So really the only thing that will “disappoint” me from any insider hints or teasers are if they’re completely off or incorrect. If someone said that Microsoft is going to reveal the purchase of a publisher, for example, and it was just say a developer (which is still good news for them and for Xbox gamers) that disparity between expectation and reality creates that disappointment.

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I think it does. Watching a press conference expecting certain things to happen is less fun than going in blind. I’m jealous of people in some of these reaction videos who didn’t expect Fable to happen.

On the other hand I like following the news, so can’t really solve this problem for myself. :stuck_out_tongue:

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I don’t like when things are spoiled publicly that are cool announcements. I don’t really let news put me down, but I also don’t take every word as gospel from people in the know cuz… Things change.

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100%

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Nope. Never. Insiders and the hype cycle is something I love hearing about but I don’t allow it to effect what I am seeing or my ever optimistic outlook on games.

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No, alot of time they are either wrong or on the sony side they have a clear agenda to damage control. Think some of us learned after 2013 most insiders are bunk

Notable exceptions are Special Ed, Jeff Grubb and Jez Corden, those are the only 3 insiders I pay attention to, not only are they fairly accurate they go in depth explaining any rumors and give context to them.

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I wouldn’t say I “dislike” hints and teasers, since I will occasionally join in with a conversation about “would I be excited about x” but in general I find it rather tiresome all the nods and winks and Emoji. (I would say that I am old so Emoji annoy me anyway) :slight_smile:

Its not even a case of wanting new games now it’s just boring hearing “such and such” studio is planning on revealing a new “such and such” game this year. Sure, I assume most developers are developing something, what benefit is there to anyone that a vague tease was made about it by someone 6 months previous which is now only fully understood after the proper reveal.

Plus, as @zedox says, it could spoil a fun reveal, and always things change.

oldwomanshoutsatcloud.gif

If you don’t mind @TheScarecrow101 I’ll edit your succinct reply to cover me :smiley:

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I honestly don’t really pay much attention to “insiders” with their vague hints & teases. I think that most of the time, it’s a waste of time.

To be clear, I don’t have any bone to pick with the few people out there who simply have contacts, hear some information from time to time & just come out & say “I heard this”. It’s the ones who, in my opinion, are looking for attention & deliberately string you along that I can’t be bothered with. Which is the vast majority of them, sadly.

I’m also getting older though & maybe that changes your outlook on these things. I mean, I know what I like at this point & I know if something looks or sounds good. Doesn’t mean a game will definitely be good, but if it’s made by a studio who never let me down or is a sequel in a franchise that I love, then I’m going to look forward to playing it no matter what “insiders” may say. So, as I said, I don’t really pay attention to them.

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Insider hints and teases don’t hype me or anything but it does sometimes make me hope or not hope that the hint/tease is real. If it’s something that sounds good and im interested in, then I would hope that it’s real. If it ends up being real and gets revealed then I could get hyped and excited but otherwise, nah, I just like reading all of it because it’s interesting and gives you something to discuss if nothing major is happening at the time.

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I’m pretty ambivalent about insiders, and the whole recent kerfuffle over Jeff Grubb and The Coalition working on the Star Wars IP was a perfect illustration of why. Jeff Grubb says that he heard that The Coalition might be working on Star Wars; then The Coalition came out and said that they’re not working on Star Wars. But Jeff Grubb wasn’t technically wrong because he was careful to say “maybe” they were working on Star Wars. Well OF COURSE he used vague language and gave himself an out, which is what insiders always do, so even when they’re wrong they can claim they weren’t wrong. What was the point of this whole episode?

I am not saying that Grubb is full of crap; clearly he has connections and he has leaked information that turned out to be unambiguously correct. But 90% of “insider leaks” are (1) incredibly vague and (2) couched in so much weasel language that they can’t ever be proven wrong or right. It’s just a waste of everybody’s time.

IO’s “dragon” project is another case in point. Like literally the entire rumor is the word “dragon.” If IO’s next new IP is a fantasy IP, then wow, the insider knew everything!! And if it’s not, then maybe dragon referred to something else, or just the always reliable “plans changed.” Again… what’s the point of any of this?

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I keep an ear out but don’t base any hopes on it. It does kind of depend, too.

If it’s something like “so and so are working on a game that will involve such and such” the mutability of game development and the length of time it takes to make a game means it’s basically useless to get excited about. We might end up with a completely different game five years from now, why get hyped now?

If it’s something like “Microsoft are in talks to acquire whozit” same deal. Anything can happen, and the timeframe is unclear. At most, I would keep it in mind if I were interested in buying one of whozit’s games because they might end up on game pass.

If it’s something like “this game will come to game pass” then it’s pretty harmless to hope for it to happen, I think.

The key part in all of this is keeping things in perspective: it’s one big game of telephone with a bunch of liars in the mix sometimes, and genuine misunderstandings can happen even with the best of intentions. It’s important to qualify anything you hear from a non-official source, and it’s critical to not become entitled.

Here’s a fake example: You’re on the Xbox team. You’ve been working on a deal with Square Enix to get some of their games on Game Pass, and things are going well. You’ve reached an accord to bring DQ XI S, DQB2, and Dragon Quest Heroes 2 to the platform and into game pass on day 1! As a totally normal part of this deal, the people on the SE team have drawn up proposals for some of their other games in the series, but you had to pass on them because they’re not feasible.

Then someone in the office sees the stack of papers on your desk, sees the name of a rejected proposal (say “Dragon Quest X western launch, Xbox platform” or "Dragon Quest XII Xbox Exclusive) and anonymously tells a friend. Suddenly the hype train is about a game you can’t bring over, and all of your work bringing over the less hype games gets overlooked.

(For those not in the know, DQX is an MMO, and the only mainline game in the series not to come to the west, and DQXII isn’t out yet)

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I used to. Now I’m tired of the constant vagueness and overhype.

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It doesn’t affect me. Most leaks seem to be partial or incredible, so while I may have an expectation, I can still get excited for the official announcement.

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If it makes sense I’ll be hyped.

If it’s something like “this week has some good stuff” I expect nothing.

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Great distinction. My tastes aren’t especially mainstream, so I temper my expectations in general. A huge news blowout for Call of Duty or Fifa or whatever means nothing to me, so it’s important to keep a level head :sweat_smile:

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I hate vague statement to something that might not even happen.

I like something like “heard that game was confirmed to appear…”

Hate something like “maybe there’s something there… hihihi”

Can’t be hyped for this shit, actually works like anti-hype lol.

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