Do you get to a point, where you don't want to read anymore on a game? (1 Viewer)

[Peter Manojlovich]

While it's nice to read up about a game, view screenshots, movies, etc, I feel that after a while my investigation of the game can lead to more hours than the actual playing of the game. What's worse, every time I read a little tidbit about the game, I go, damn, there's another suprise in the game, gone.

Right now, I'm very interested in Splinter Cell, but, I just don't want to read any more about it, view anymore screenshots or movies. I want to experience this game relatively fresh without a lot of hype and expectations.

I'm curious how other gamers feel about this. Can too much info be a bad thing?

 

[Dave Falasco]

Ha, as soon as I read your subject header I thought to myself "Splinter Cell". Turns out you were thinking the same thing. As much as good reviews try not to give out spoilers, even mentioning something like "if you think the shotgun is cool, wait 'til you get the flamethrower" can serve to spoil the surprise when you actually play the game. It's a fine line, because reviews tend to be my first line of information about a game--they determine what I rent, which determines what I buy. But too many reviews and you could find yourself waiting for the cool things you've read about to happen instead of experiencing and being wowed by those cool things as they happen.

 

[Peter Manojlovich]

Well, with Splinter Cell, I was thinking specifically about IGN and all their articles like profiling all the moves of Sam Fischer. Do I really want to learn all the moves before playing the game? I stopped myself from reading the entire article.

One of the worst practices I know of is outfits like EB that continuously hawk strategy guides for games. You pick up a game like MGS2, and the first thing out of their mouths, is, "Oh, and did you know that you can get 20% off a strategy guide when you buy it with the game." Gee, thanks a lot, just what I need, a colorful snazzy guide that has the ability to spoil every single surprise in the game. Wonderful.

I think that certain games suffer from over-profiling. PDO is another game I just don't want to see anymore screenshots or movies of. I already know pretty much what I'll be getting, and so when I play the game, I want to give myself maximum opportunity to be impressed, instead of going, "Oh, yeah, I remember that from the one hundred and one movies I saw."

The industry constantly is looking to market and entice and hype. But as a gamer I'm looking to recapture(gasp) the inner child in me. I want to play a game, and go, wow, now that is really something. You want to bring out the kid in yourself, at least I do, and just have a blast playing through a title. The last thing I want to do is come in with preconceived notions and critically evaluate a game. I want to enjoy the bloody thing as much I can allow myself to and I feel that the information overload we seem to be suffering from is proving at times to be a formidable obstacle to the pure simple enjoyment of gaming.

We seems to place far too much importance on whether a title is critically well-received. Heaven forbid that you like a title that the critics pan. But, I've played a fair number of 9+ titles that bored me stiff, so all the high marks in the world may not save you from being put to sleep by a title. Very few games come in under the radar anymore and more's the pity. It's been a very long time since I rented a title, and went, "Gee, what's this about?" It's very hard to be suprised anymore. Anytime, there's an impressive screenshot for a game, whack, out it comes on several websites, and people are oohhing and aahhing.

 

[Kris Coffin]

Hi all,


I agree, too many reviews, too many pictures = too many spoilers. I have found more and more often that I am looking to forums, hear what a fw people think, and maybe check a few screen no more than about 10, and buy the game based on that, and have a little faith.

I do disagree with the comment about stratagy guides thought Peter. I have to admit, I am quite a thorough person, or so I thought, until I played fianl fantasy VII, was at a local game shop a few weeks after completing it, and decided to check out the strat guide, and found I missed a huge pile of things that are, exact time related items, or specific things you would not stand a chance of finding without a guide. So I picked it up, and played the FF VII again. And since then, pick up a guide with every Square title I buy. Another fina example is Chrono Cross, there were 9 different endings to the game, all of which, were only acheivable if you spoke to certian people, in a specific order, and then chose to end the game. certian things, even an above average gamer would just never find.

I usually just check the secret sections, to insure I don't miss anything. And I still haven't finished a Final Fantasy game in under 90 hours. Pretty good value for the dollar.

I will admit though, a strat guide for anything other than square games, I have never picked up. As there is never much missed in them, without the guide. Just with certian games, aa guide truely enhances the game play, or even replay.

Just my 2 Cents

 

[Peter Manojlovich]

Kris, I don't have a problem with strategy guides, per se, but I don't think it's a great idea to get one with the game. Not unless, you have tons of willpower, and can resist peeking until, you're really, really, honest to god really stuck. Some guides are actually quite beautifully done, but I view them as something to pick up after the fact. Gamers need to toughen up a bit, the joy of discovery beats finding out something from the pages of a guide.