Why Do "Hands On" Previews Usually Seem So Hands Off? (1 Viewer)

[Larry Talbot]

It never fails. I'll see a hands on preview for a game I'm interested in - in this case, Voodoo Vince, for the Xbox - and after reading the preview I don't have ANY better sense of what the game actually looks like or plays like than I did BEFORE I read the preview.

What is the point of writing about a hands on experience if you don't convey ANYTHING that couldn't be conveyed in a generic HANDS OFF PR piece about a rolling demo for the game?

If I wrote one of these previews, I would make an effort to describe the actual experience of playing the game, rather than just mumbling the requisite preview buzzwords.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

"Graphically, Voodoo Vince looked quite good. The frame rate was consistently smooth throughout the handful of levels we saw, and the lighting, bump mapping, and particle effects on display were consistent with the graphical quality we've come to expect from original Xbox titles."

"lighting, bump mapping, particle effects, bla bla bla." What does this tell me about how the game looks? Nothing. It is a generic description that could fit MANY Xbox games. The only actual information provided is the fact that the frame rate seems steady (but at what rate? 60fps? 30fps? Who knows?)

Almost half of the preview is just a regurgitation of the game's "story" (often the least interesting part of the game - particularly with a platformer - and a part that is repeated endlessly in hands off previews.)

If there is anything about what it feels like to actually experience the game in this piece, how it controls, etc, I missed it entirely.

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/...w_6072018.html

 

[Adam Tyner]

Unless I completely overlooked something, it didn't answer the biggest question I had about the game -- if Vince inflicts damage on his enemies by inflicting damage on himself, how does he die? I mean, if he's basically invincible from start to finish, it's not going to be hard to tear through the game in a weekend.

 

[Dave F]

Hey, give'em a break. I'm sure they spent a hot afternoon cutting and pasting from the marketing materials.

=)

-Dave

 

[Allen_Appel]

If the previewer isn't just regurgitating from a press release marketing pack, he might be seeing the game on a special invitation from the developer/publisher, who paid for his fare, food and entertainment. I seem to recall where the Counter-Strike X team invited game "journalists" to preview the game and fight in a paintball recreation of one of the levels. It gets pretty bad with OXM and OPM, where every preview touts upcoming games as "the next Halo/GTA" (see Brute Force or The Getaway) and the final games turn out far inferior.

 

[Adam Tyner]

It gets pretty bad with OXM and OPM, where every preview touts upcoming games as "the next Halo/GTA" (see Brute Force or The Getaway) and the final games turn out far inferior.

Reminds me of "Fangoria", who, at least when I regularly read the magazine, hyped the hell out of everything they previewed, and then would viciously pan a movie when it was finally released.

 

[Graeme Clark]

I know what you mean, but this doesn't sound like it was very "Hands On".

Microsoft brought a nearly complete build of Voodoo Vince to our offices today, and we got to see a brief demo of the game in action....

If our brief demo today was any indication, Voodoo Vince is shaping up to be a truly original and interesting game. It's slated to ship around the end of September, and we'll bring you new media and hands-on coverage of the game in the near future.

The last statement may imply that this was not a hands on preview at all.

 

[BrianB]

A lot of "hands on" aren't "freeform" as such - they're heavily directed, and heavily under the control of the company giving the demo... Hell, there's a lot of reviews that are like that - scheduled to suit the company behind it, with trips arranged etc for the reviewer to come see the game "under the control" of the company rather than the reviewer sitting at home with a beta disk to play as much/as little/as how they want.

 

[Larry Talbot]

"The last statement may imply that this was not a hands on preview at all."

Graeme makes a good point. And I bet BrianB knows more than anyone else here how things work within the industry. But even under highly controlled conditions, couldn't the writer provide a LITTLE bit of specific detail based on his experience (controlled or not?) Look at that quote about the visuals again: "...consistent with the graphical quality we've come to expect from original Xbox titles." What the hell kind of a description is that?!? Is that phoned in or what? Even if the PR people are hovering over your shoulder the whole time, couldn't you still provide at least some first hand impressions of what the SPECIFIC game actually looks like?

 

[Jay Mitchosky]

...every preview touts upcoming games as "the next Halo/GTA" (see Brute Force or The Getaway) and the final games turn out far inferior.

This annoys the hell out of me. The most recent example I can think of is Enter the Matrix. Big cover spread a few issues back proclaiming great things... then a whopping 6.2 score. Could the game have changing that much over that period of time?

They need to stop making these previews like ads.

 

[JayV]

I closely associate the gaming genre with a lack of responsibility in "journalists". The junket piece is worse than the reprinting of a press release, because I can spot a press release a mile away.

In contrast, I don't necessarily know that the review gushing over _____ was heavily influenced by a junket or an editorial policy to give someone or something a kid gloves approach.

Like Other Jay says, they need to stop making these previews look like ads.

Remember how C|net would carefully say "Intel is a part-owner of C|net" in every news piece about Intel? That's being responsible.

-j

 

[Graeme Clark]

Part of the reason that people concentrate so much on the scores given for games in the reviews is because the reviews are so drab and poorly written.

And while I was trying to give GS a little slack in this case, don't take it to mean that I think they are doing fine, because they're aren't! Half the time even the true Hands on freeform (We just got the FINAL Japanese version in the office) articles are just a useless and vague.

 

[JayV]

Part of the reason that people concentrate so much on the scores given for games in the reviews is because the reviews are so drab and poorly written.

A very interesting point, Graeme, and one that never occured to me.

-j