Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the nightmare of Albert Pujols signing with the Red Sox in 2012, $99 iPhone cases, or Britney’s new video, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
The Dead Island trailer has been getting a lot of attention this week. Some of it is deserved — it’s truly a unique and haunting piece. Some of it isn’t — way too many journalists have spent hundreds of words “informing” their readers that the trailer has nothing to do with the game’s quality. I’ve been arguing with a lot of writers about this. Do they really think that their readers are that stupid?!? To me, game trailers are like movie trailers — marketing tools that are not indicative of the overall quality of the final product. I know that you’re all smart enough to know that.
Yet for some reason, dozens of writers from dozens of enthusiast sites felt the need to write hundreds of words on the “issue”. As I debated the topic with real journalists (not verbal entertainers like me), one of the few reasonable responses was that game trailers aren’t like movie trailers. You don’t get a sense of a title’s gameplay from a trailer the same way you get a sense of a movie from a trailer. Sometimes that’s true and sometimes that’s not. The Dead Island trailer is pure movie and doesn’t offer any sense of what the game is like. Certainly it’s responsible to tell readers that the trailer isn’t gameplay (like I did here), but pounding on the matter for hundreds of words seems excessive and patronizing.
Lastly, I was disappointed that the enthusiast press was far more interested in covering the “controversy” of the Dead Island trailer than writing about the amazing people honored at the Interactive Achievement Awards last week. It saddens me that the majority of them were more interested in reactionary stories about a game few people will remember in five years than writing about Bill Budge, Bing Gordon, Dr. Ray Muzyka, and Dr. Greg Zeschuk — people that have changed the gaming business forever.
Of course I want to check myself through you guys and dolls. Do you need someone to explain to you — in hundreds of words — that a game trailer doesn’t reflect a game’s quality? Does it bother you that most popular enthusiast gaming sites prefer knee-jerk reaction pieces instead of meaningful features about people that made gaming what it is today? Aside from not wanting to insult excellent journalists like “Dancing” Dean Takahashi, do you think I call myself a verbal entertainer because I don’t want to be lumped in with hacks that call themselves journalists?
Not to knock on other sites but mainstream gamers can care less about the people behind the games so they have to write about what the majority of their readers are concerned about, drama.
Any semi-educated gamer knows the difference between gameplay and CG trailers. I think we all learned that from the PS1 era commercials.
That's the thing — writers for enthusiast sites are in a position to highlight Bill Budge and Bing Gordon. It bothers me that they prefer the Dead Island non-story. It's a waste of the powerful reach some of them have.
i actually try to avoid game trailers at all costs, watching CG cutscenes as opposed to actual gameplay makes me very angry…i cant help but think of how amazing the GTA4 trailers looked, then the game was essentially more of the same stuff we had seen on ps2…actually it was worse than GTA3, vice city AND san andreas…
just actually watched this trailer…thats pretty disturbing, im somewhat hyperemotional though…that is to say, that i get emotional pretty easily
this might be the coolest trailer ive ever seen, but like i said earlier, the gameplay will most likely be something weve seen 1000 times. No such thing as bad publicity though, i give these guys credit
when i see a game trailer i'm well aware that this is not actual game play footage and at times if you look at the bottom of the screen when the ad is running it will have a note saying not actual gameplay. i don't know what this game Dead Island is about but it's got my interest and i look forward to see what this game offers but i'm thinking it will be some type of shooter involving zombies.
@Pujols
what!?!?!? he will definitely be signing with the Cubs not the Red Sox!
another sweet KB commercial. this is the killzone 3 one.
I enjoy watching trailers despite the fact they rarely highlight gameplay. When they do show off a bit of gameplay it's like a bonus to me. But even then, since you can't see the person working the controls it's still hard to really judge. Either way they still can get me amped up for a game I'm already looking forward to, or perhaps get me interested in a game I wasn't looking at before. In the later case, I do more research about the game in question before I buy.
finally a release date for infamous 2 june 7
It depends on the game. Some games are heavily driven by story as to where you spend quite a bit of time watching cutscenes (MGS4, FF games, etc). Other games are heavily driven by gameplay (GTA, CoD, Sports games, etc). Then some games are a happy mix of both (GTA4, Deade Rising, etc).
That said, based on how the game unfolds, the trailer should act accordingly. Nobody complained about the Dragon Age Origins trailer.
Great example on Dragon Age Origins.
Now that I watched the trailer posted….
Is there REALLY one ass clown out there who is watching this video thinking "Wow, a zombie game you plat in reverse so that the end is back when everything was happy… AWESOME!!!! Dead Island FTW!!!!"
WAIT!!!! so you're telling me i won't be playing this game like the movie Memento?!?!?!?
I think it should be pretty obvious to readers and anyone who follows video games that most commercials out there for games do not show actual gameplay. Personally I wish that more of them would, because that is what I want to know about before I buy or play a game—but I don't remember the last game trailer or commercial that really showed me a lot of actual gameplay.
Now I could see someone who doesn't play or pay attention to video games having trouble grasping the concept, but I fail to believe that this one game is drawing tons of non-gamers to an abundance of gaming sites that are writing articles about this game.
Bulletstorm.
Lots of gameplay footage in that.
True. I completely forgot about that, but I do really enjoy seeing those commercials because I get to see things that can actually happen in the game.
Now the part where the demo felt like Gears of War with different characters and in a different area—that's another matter.
I don't see what the fuss is about.
@RROD
well one arguement i heard from a writer is that the ad might be tricking you into buying this game by pulling your emotional string.
I call that great marketing lol.
You mean like how Apple uses deaf people using sign language on Facetime through an iPhone 4?
I don't need any journalist or blogger telling me that a trailer doesn't show the game's true content. Trailers are just there to get the hype train rolling. I mean, the trailer was kinda hard to watch since I'm a bit more squeamish to this kinda stuff, but that's not going to tell me what's in this game.
It also really irritates me that some journalists like to report on criminals committing murders simply because he played a video game, like when Kotaku wouldn't stop reporting on that douche who shot up some Congressmen in Arizona and reported on it simply because of what games he played. I mean, it's 2011! I would've thought news sites would've matured past that by now.
Unfortunately, when tragedy strikes, people need to find out why it happened. In fact, in tragedies similar to the one you mentioned, the perpetrators are usually completely sussed out by the unspoken rule of “3 whys”.
Basically, people only care down to the third level of “why”. The first level of why is always a given… “because their crazy”. This now leads to the second level of why.
At this level of why, you have room to be creative. If level one was “because their crazy”, then the obvious next level of why is “Why are they crazy?’. If you implement something in to the response of this that has to do with pop culture (movies, games, music, art, sports, dating, etc), the third level of way becomes almost redundant. People will either assume “that’s the way we live” or “damn kids these days”. Therefore, it’s easier for a reporter to keep the news flowing by answering level 2 with a pop culture reference.
Examples:
Arizona shooting:
Why?:
Because he was crazy.
Why was he crazy?
He played violent games.
Why did he play violent games?
Damn kids these days.
9/11
Why
Because they were crazy.
Why were they crazy
Because they’re religious fundamentalists who hate or freedoms.
Why do they hate our freedoms?
Because that’s how they are raised in that terrible part of the world.
Columbine
Why
Because they were crazy.
Why were they crazy
Because nobody liked them.
Why didn’t anybody like them?
Damn kids these days.
etc. etc. etc.
i tried this with
Why do the buffalo bills suck so badly
i ended up with
"they are too proud a franchise to move to a larger city"
What is the issue here? Someone can't tell that is a CG trailer?
Isn't a trailer supposed to create interest or stir up fans?
I was thinking about this today actually. The last 2 game trailers that made me excited for a game were the Halo 2 trailer (the one where the prophet narrates it) and the MW2 trailer. I missed the boat on MW1 multiplayer so I was ultra excited at the trailer showing MW2 mp footage. The Halo 2 trailer seemed to cater to me specifically since I had read the books and knew the Halo universe was deeper than a run of the mill FPS.
If you need someone to disclaim a trailer as nonrepresenting of a certain aspect then owe it to yourself to learn to research more. Nothing wrong with that.
I think it's a non-issue that being grossly over-reported by the enthusiast press.
Also, did you get a Verizon iPhone?
@Ray
Nope still using my ATT paper weight. I honestly have not had the free time to go by Verizon or Bestbuy in my area. I'm kinda mildly intrigued with the Thunderbolt to be honest. I'm in an LTE area.
I'm actually working on a video feature comparing Vertizon LTE, T-Mobile HSPA+, and Sprint WiMax. Since my flight is broken up over several cities, I figured I'd do bandwidth tests.
The only option in my neck of the woods is LTE. According to TMo they were going to have HSPA+ in the whole metro area by January. Well that hasn't happened yet. Unless TMo is peering off of ATT towers in this area which I can then understand but I was told that Charter provides the backhaul for them here.
What's even more weird is that there are a few ATT towers here that have Verizon as their backhaul provider. Too bad those towers are few and far in between.
WiMax will be in this area sometime this year provided by a company named Pride, a sub of XFone. They are only doing a fiber and WiMax buildout because of a huge grant given to them for Mary Landrieu's cooperation for healthcare amongst other things.
penny arcade ep 1 and 2 bundle is 3 bucks on psn
ive never played these games, they just seem like a good deal, considering they used to be 20 bucks
Dude, if you like RPGs with a really great sense of humor, you have to get this game. And if they're only $3, you've got no excuse to pass up on them.
ty for the recommendation, ill definitely pick them up then!
That Dead Island trailer was disturbing, but beautifully rendered. It was a really artistic move by the designers. That said, I really had one glaring thought that would cross my mind as I was understanding what was happening, and that thought is:
How long is it going to take for people to realize that if someone gets bit by a zombie, you DON'T try to comfort them or try to "nurse them back to health"… they will only rise up and kill you. It's so frustrating when I keep seeing parents take in bitten children or loved ones, only to have the hellspawn rise up and kill them.
I just have to ask all the parents out there: If your kid gets bit by a zombie, what would you do? Euthanize them or take them in and hope they don't turn into the living dead and bite your ass?
-M
Off for a quick shoot in Orlando. The route there is wacky, but at least I got upgraded. Tonight is LAX-SFO-ORD-MCO.
Would you be stopping by South Florida as well? I'd love to show you around and get you some great Cuban food. You'd love it.
-M
I saw an episode of Anthony Bourdain No Reservations where he went to Miami for Cuban food…if you've seen that episode was he accurate at all? I always wonder how accurate some of those shows are sometimes.
I've heard of the show, but I've never actually watched an episode. I'll have to look it up online and check.
-M
The fat guy with bleach blonde hair came and did a show at a local place here. I think he chose a very bad place. I'm not sure how they ch oose such places.
I like Bourdain's show the best out of all of the food shows, even though it is on the travel channel not the food network. I always do wonder how accurate the places they go to are, or how much bribes and favors play a role in everything.
And do you mean Guy Fiere(a, o, something like that)? He is ok, but not really that great I don't think.
Yeah that's the guy. He did a show at a place called "Louie and the Redheaded Lady". We went there and the food was pretty regular. Very plain. Maybe they liked how the staff called you babe, doll, etc. No clue.
I love Cuban food. Sadly, I'm only in Orlando for half a day. The company I'm working for is really tight with travel.
@rpad
If u get a long layover and u end up in terminal 2 in o'hare check out a place called "tortas" that place has the best mexican food i've ever had in an airport.
Do they serve non-breakfast food that early?
I tried to look up their hours online but nothing was available. I'm pretty aure u can order non-breakfast food in the a.m. Also i was mistaken it's terminal 1 not 2. My bad.
I'll probably skip. There's great Mexican food in LA and SF. If I' at O'Hare I go for the Italian beef sandwiches.
Oh snap! Rpad is stopping by o'hare!!!!! Have a safe trip!
Btw i just saw monday night raw and the unedited version of the rock's promo was awesome! I hope vince doesnt make him clean up his promos with their pg policy.
Orlando seems to be a deadspot for 4G. Sprint WiMax doesn't work at all. T-Mobile HSPA+ is really weak. Verizon LTE is doing well, but not as blazing as the other cities I tested it in. I'm pretty sure this is all a Disney conspiracy.
That was the same conclusion I came to about five years ago.
-M
You came to conclusions about 4G five years ago? :P
Well, no, not that specifically. I was referring to the Disney conspiracy to tightly regulate communications in their own little "world".
-M
I know. I was just kidding. Double :P
Man, that trip kicked my ass. Hopefully I'll be okay for GDC next week. After some coffee. I'll start today's posts.
orlando. The city that brought us O-town and Emmitt Smith
BAH!!
Heads up: looks like Wednesday will be all videogames for Amazon Gold Box. Hopefully there's some good stuff there.