The Best Videos From E3

These videos are great. Some are full CG, which is to be expected from games so far out from launch, but some like Fall Out 3 are all in game footage. Going back to my earlier post, while the FO3 video is not really (best video) great, it is possibly one of the better upcoming games.

Eye boners!

GEARS OF WAR 2 – Haunting voice over, beautiful visuals

FATAL FRAME 4 – Leave it to the Japanese to ratchet up the artistic vision of an E3 trailer

FALL OUT 3 – I love this throwback to the 50’s nuclear era.

DEAD SPACE – hmmm, anyone see the Timeshift trailer? What’s up with creepy singing? Anyhoo – very interesting game

I AM ALIVE – Once again Ubi proves that they can innovate in the game space by possibly creating a whole new genre of gameplay – environmental survival?

-HypeGeist

WTF is Wrong With E3

Do you hear that? Those are the final gasps of life for the show formally known as E3. Say what you will – it was expensive, it was loud, it was a bitch to work, but you know what? It worked.

E3 was our Superbowl. It was our prom and our chance to remind the world that our industry is fueled by creative individuals and by loyal fans.

This year’s E3 from all reports and my experience felt more like a glorified swap meet than a trade show for a multi-billion dollar industry. Thank God for excellent coverage by G4, Gametrailers TV, IGN and Gamespot, it nearly made me forget the failed abortion that that E3 has become.

The role of a trade show is to be the medium for publicity, sales and business. E3 continues to deteriorate to a point where the ESA expects the publicity, sales and business to be the medium to promote the show. Who’s working for who? I don’t fault any company for pulling out of the ESA and saying enough is enough. We don’t need this show, but many of us miss it. It used to be a beautiful cacophony of light and sound. There used to be REAL news, big announcements and booth babes!

There used to be fun.

There used to be parties – BIG PARTIES!

What was the news this year? Netflix + Xbox360 = meh. Okay – mild enthusiasm for less interaction with the outside world.

Gears of War 2 = murder boner! Looks pretty but this was announced in Game Informer a long time ago.

Dead Space is coming together nicely.

Fallout 3 could have shown better, but will be an epic purchase. Fallout 3 may be the only game I’m truly hyped up to play. Why did the devs choose a ridiculously boring section of gameplay to demo on such an important stage as the Xbox E3 presentation. When life gives you an opportunity to show off why you should be “Game of the Show” than you’d better bring your “A” game. I understand why you want to show off the finer elements of a game, but where’s the money shot? NEGATIVE KUDOS to the publicist on that one. It’s the PR’s job to educate devs and marketing folks on what is going to kill with the press and fans alike.

The Gears of War 2 trailer is far more effective and has a nice payoff at the end and leaves you wanting more KUDOS Epic!

More to come on E3!

-HypeGeist

What? Another Blog! Teh Awesome Blogging FTW

Yup, this is another game blog but we focus on the business of hype and how the developers, publicists, marketing and others come together to make good games feel great and occasionally how they fuck up and make good games look terrible. I will throw out KUDOS and NEGATIVE KUDOS to shame and give fame to our industry’s efforts.

Who am I? I’ve been knocking around this industry for 10 years in various roles. I’ve worked with some of the most creative and well known developers in the world and now I’m going to talk about it.

I’ll keep my identity secret for now. There’s honesty in anonymity.

The goal is not to slag people for bad demos, bad screens or bad games, but to pull back the veil and celebrate this business that is driven by passionate fans and amazing creatives. Occasionally someone has to remind programmers and executives that they aren’t rockstars – this blog wants that role.

-HypeGeist out