Trailers vs actual video game

Trailers are the first taste of players before the actual games come to our gaming platform However, I find that more often than not, publishers spend talent and money in developing CGI trailers to promote games that are far from expectations once released.

Compare for example the trailer of Rome 2 Total War and Rome Total War. The latter uses the actual game engine, while the newest installment offers a CGI bunch of trailers far from what you got.

What about KOTOR vs SWTOR? To me SWTOR trailer was epic but the game a complete let down in my opinion.

Do you have any other examples? What are your thoughts about this? Does it matter?

Nope no Examples. But I was pretty pissed that Bioshocks E3 Trailer, which was essentially a gameplay demo, was nothing like the final product.

I preordered that shit thinking.... What could go wrong ? Why wouldn't the final game be like this. And they delayed it, and literally spent money just to make it worse. **** those bastards ! :(

So yeah, thats what I think.

@Lulu_Lulu: Yeah, preordering is also a gamble nowadays since you get the taste of what could be, but you can end up with a let down

Y'know this could lead into a bigger conversation about how to properly sell a game. I don't know who around here has a background in advertisement, but as gamers, the problems with game advertisement are so glaringly awkward, that anyone can see it.

Advertisement should be an artform of selling the product for 'what it is'. Not what some 'hope it to be.'

We've got CGI deception
(after Killzone 2 you'd thought ad depts would be more careful about that stuff)

Very vague descriptions of gameplay concept.
(why can't they say. It plays like "insert familiar game(s) here", and then say what it does differently)

Painfully awkward attempts by mega-publishers to be 'edgy' or 'kewl'
('Peter Moore GTA tatooes?' 'Sin to win?' 'Your mom will hate this game?' Last yrs E3. Hiring Joel McHale or Odd Future? Come on suits. We weren't born yesterday)

Doritoes, Taco Bell & Mountain Dew...etc

And all we wanna know is. How does it play? Simple question one would think.

In a utopia maybe. Advertisement is there to make people buy stuff. If that can be accomplished with lies and distortions, then that is what will happen. Advertisement isn't going to change; all we can do is develop the skills to interpret them for what they're worth.

I hate that most game trailers aren't of actual gameplay. I've seen very few recent trailers that actually show the game being played and that's just dumb. I mean I enjoy a good cinematic trailer as much as the next guy but at some point they need to show gameplay, but companies rarely ever do.

But hey, advertisement is about getting people to buy shit, not about telling the truth.

Maybe that last statement sounds a little too 'a field of dreams' and 'principled' but there are creative ways to apply deception that serve the product directly. Like the tabloid spinmaster that helped advertise the first GTA 1969, by stirring the local politicians concern in the press, and getting people curious. Its like...people hate this game, what's it do? Really? Lemme go try it then!!

When a top-down game like that had ocarina of time, tomb raider and resident evil to compete with, it was used wisely in that scenario to draw peoples attention, but in a way that scandal was in touch with the spirit of what GTA was.

In other cases, the climate is different. we're so saturated with social media fighting for our attention from every single outlet, and so much popular scamware in between. It looks like in this climate, not everyone can afford to overhype lest they have an Aliens: Colonial Marines scenario. Our community loves and hates more passionately than other mediums.

Sure some AAAs can absorb commerical blows when the gameplay is addictive, but thats the only qualifier.

Better if some titles are more forthright with their mechanics, moderate expectations, get people psychologically used to what the gameplay will be like, and the lore of it. Grassroots fandom like 'Dark Souls' 'Doom' might have to be more common to keep all sorts of players interested in the long run. If games are now seen as investments, smart players may need real incentives to keep on investing.

I personally would like to get my hands-on first before I get a game. Sure, the CG from their promotional video looks nice but I still have doubts. An example would be the last game I tried: Eclipse War. IMO, the game could use a ton of changes.

My main grip is when they show gameplay then ether remove content that was shown and or downgrade the graphics.

You make a fair point, but real incentives aren't found in advertisements. They are found in hands-on reports, they are found in pre-launch gameplay streams, they are found in reviews (both professional and user) and in post-launch streams (and these can all be consulted in ways that are not too spoilery). I feel that is how you should approach your potential investment. Whatever a commercial or trailer suggests should ideally be irrelevant when making that choice. If people get instantly suspicious or hyped because of trailers and commercials, then that's their problem.

I feel it's more constructive to put a little effort in interpreting trailers and advertisements. That way people have the tools to extract what they find important from these commericals and to maybe not be influenced by them as much. Oversaturation and misleading messages are not the only factors of hype. There are also the people who create unrealistic expectations based on those messages. And if the end product disappoints them, they blame the marketing methods. That doesn't fly with me. Blame yourself. People are the reason these commercials and trailers are there in the first place. It appears that for a lot of people trailers and commercials justify pre-ordering or buying at launch. It amazes me how reluctant people are to critically look at themselves (and their expectations), instead of finding someone or something else to blame.

I realise I'm looking at this from an entirely different angle (and I'm kind of ignoring your points in the process), but well, I think advertisement is the way it is, because a lot of people are gullible and emotional. Maybe we should change first. Commercials should be there to draw your attention. The idea that commercials trick us into buying stuff is an illusion. We do that ourselves.

I'd say one can only shift blame onto the consumer for gullibility so much. On the marketing side theres still some room for improvement. It looks like it's more than just TV spots. Some gamers don't watch television, and some use adblock. Especially when the publisher is being vague. Most you can say is these guys shouldn't pre-order games. Specially since its rare to have heard of stores running out of game copies since...the early 2000s.

Ultimately, the only way folks don't get taken in, is when its made clear in all aspects what type of game they're buying. But we're saturated in enthusiast press for blockbuster entertainment, that only shifts after the game is out. and its like other press are somewhat doing game marketers jobs for them.

I think that maybe in this era of gaming, we don't need as much duplicity from big budget game promotion, unless its for other reasons, that'll get people to examine an overlooked game, or accentuate huge differences between a game and its overshadowing contemporaries in the same genre.

Especially if we're moving to solely digital distribution, where refunds aren't always standard.

@platinumking320: good point. Maybe we are also in for deceptive advertisment of video games (no wonder). However, laofofgame, makes also a good point in stating that advertisement is the way it is because we, consumers, are not self-critical enough about our expectations.

Nevertheless, I still think that it is a waste of talent and a blatant intent of missleading when publishers use CGI trailers for games when the actual product has nothing to do with it when it reaches shelves, steam or whatever selling platform.

Well, yesterday I booted up my PS4, looking for Dark Souls 2. I remember seeing trailers that I thought only were possible on next gen hardware, so I assumed as much. Bought it last night after curiously discovering it was only on PS3, though, "Hmmmm, these aren't the visuals I remember". Come here today, see this thread:

http://www.gamespot.com/forums/games-discussion-1000000/why-does-dark-souls-2-now-look-like-a-ps2-game-31140621/#5

What happened? Not that I don't think DS II looks acceptable, but the bottom's a far cry from the top, even if that's a PC shot in comparison. The disparity shouldn't be that alarming. How are developers allowed to do this? Remember the furor over Colonial Marines? First Aliens, then Watchdogs, now this. Why is this allowed to happen?

@MirkoS77: Trailers should be there to entice gamers for what is coming, Naturally, they have to help promoting and sellilng the game. In my opinion the trailers should focus on the core offerings of the game: gameplay, replayability, single player/multiplayer mods, lasting value. However, we get flashy trailers that are good CGI work but do not relly tell about the game. Publishers expect consumers to pre order and judge games with these trailers. We should be more critical about our expectations with games before falling, since there is clearly no autoregulation, just like in advertising for anything else.

Now a days, its not only trailers that are deceiving but also the initial gameplay footage. More on this subject, watch this weeks jimquisition.

Vertical Slice Of Steaming Bullshit

Never trust a game trailer. Even if it is gameplay, you know they have put it on maximum settings with other post-processing effects to make it look better than the final product. A CGI trailer is just that - CGI, and not a part of the general gameplay experience. A trailer can look cool, for sure, but it is just marketing to build hype, and over-hyping is something the game industry seems to do a lot.

If you enjoy a trailer, that's great, but don't expect it to resemble the final product. Don't preorder games based on flashy marketing gimmicks.