Why all big game companies don't show actual gameplay on the trailer

I'm so frustrated because I don't see what the game does. It is a fps game or rpg game? What is it? Always I feel so when I watch a trailer. Why don't they show the game itself? May be because they know how shallow and mediocre the game is, so they hide the gameplay and show the cut scenes with the modern graphics?

Because trailers are not meant to show gameplay

the same reason movie trailers are misleading, and don't show a single clip of the movie that has more than three seconds of continuous footage from the film, but instead ten two-second clips spliced together to make a romance look like an action-comedy so men will go see a movie women are already going to.

Because gameplay is generally not as exciting to watch as it is to actually be in control of. It makes sense to me that trailers are usually a montage of cinematic scenes and/or scripted gameplay moments. They want the game to appear as exciting as possible so more people will buy their product. But there's usually plenty of gameplay to be found before a game is released to see what it's really like. It's more logical to make buying decisions based off of that kind of footage, I would say.

Trailers show for the hype. gaming companies use it to attract us pokemons. then catch us all by releasing the game then trapping us with the expectations that did not show in the trailers.

@yd:

Most big companies have famous games that most people already know about. Not really much of a reason to show gameplay footage of a game everybody already knows about.

Mostly cause the game is likely in a phase of development where showcasing the gameplay would have it look crude and highly unpolished. Even "Gameplay trailers" are generally not directly how the final gameplay and visuals are going to look as it's supposed to give a general sense of the gameplay while showing off what they hope to achieve visually.

I think it's unfair to disregard all non-gameplay trailers for games. I think they do a great job selling the tone / style / world of a game. Gameplay isn't always as thrilling to watch as it is to play, but sometimes a good pre-rendered trailer can give the same feeling as actually playing it makes you feel.

Doesn't bother me so much since they've been doing this type of thing in trailers since even in the psx era. I remember FF8 commericals were nothing but pre-rendered cgi and i bashed the game for it and actually when i did get the game i loved it so i was wrong to prejudge it.

Its worse when they claim gameplay is real, but it ends up being pre-rendered or custom high res textures that never make it to the final version of the game. Few games like this come to mind were No ma'ams Sky, Killzone 2 and Watchdogs. probably an endless list of games are guilty of this.

@yd: Is this a note to e3?

The Evil Within 2, Monster Hunter: World, Shadow of the Colossus: Remake, God of War (IV), Super Mario Odyssey, Dragon Ball FighterZ

Bethesda, Capcom, Sony, Nintendo, Namco Bandai.

Last I checked all these had gameplay at some-point in the running trailer. And I'm only mentioning games that I'm excited for_

Because in-engine clips rarely look better or as good as pre rendered CGI

Everyone downgrades when the game comes out. Ubisoft, I am sure will top the list. Check the intro video and gameplay at E3 2015 of Rainbow six siege and check the game now. You'll cry my friend. :(