Derailing The Hype Train: What No Man's Sky Can Teach Us About Our Gaming Expectations

Gareth from WGTC writes "With the hype so spectacularly failing No Man’s Sky, this raises an important question: can such levels of anticipation ever be good?"

[basilboxer]

Sean Murry and Hello Games marketed the game poorly, no quest. Although, I do think the gaming community only has themselves to blame for over hyping this game. NMS never looked as though it was going to be this earth shattering game to end all games - it was made by a small indie team.

[uth11]

Exactly. I got more or less what I expected which is fine. But many others dismissed all skepticism about the game prior to release.. they are the ones demanding refunds now

[Zorkaz]

THANK YOU! God I've been trying to say this for weeks, only to be shot down by a horde of angry gamers.

[gamerpop]

NMS won't be the only game this year to suffer from over hype. That being said, you probably won't see such a massive fall from grace as was seen with NMS. Interesting read...

[uth11]

No overhype is never a good thing. I think of NMS released in its current state with normal levels of hype and indie game expectations it would have been well received and everyone would be fine waiting for post launch content like they do with other games.

The other game I worry about is Last Guardian. It was always obviously a niche title. But over the years it's taken on this level of hype. I think it will please fans of the genre, but not many of the gamers who bought into the hype.

[rainslacker]

I think due to the nature of TLG hype, a lot of people still aren't really aware of what kind of game to expect should they actually get it. Those who played Ico or SOTC will pretty much know what to expect, and if they liked those games, they'll probably like TLG....and only be disappointed if they don't cry at some point. Early previews say it has good flow and interesting puzzles, which is a plus, because that would make or break the game with what the fans are expecting. The controls right now seem to be the only contention, and those saying it is somehow aged in it's graphics presentation don't seem to know this is just the art style fans of Team Ico have come to expect.

I can see the game being divisive though, because the hype was built to high levels just on the expectations that came from the prior games, and many people are building their own expectations without actually looking at it for what it is.

What I've seen so far of TLG suggests that one should expect a Team Ico game, in the Team Ico style. But no doubt, some criticism will come from those who are expecting some kind of different adventure/puzzle game.

I think Shenmue III may suffer the same fate, as the series has been built up to epic proportions, but realistically, if it holds very closely to it's roots, much of the game mechanics will seem dated by today's standards, despite being the game/s that actually set standards that are still in use today.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Clear difference...

Last guardian has shown a boy and his pet in preview trailers. Current trailers show a boy and his pet. We don't know anything else accept maybe some enemies. But there is no reason that there will not be a boy and his pet in the game.

No man's sky has documented proof in video and interviews of what to expect. Not pie in the sky "we might add it later" after launch. If gamers were told some features may not be there but will be added later, no one would have had a problem. When I bought games like the original devil may cry, I expected a guy in a red coat kicking @ss. And that's what I got in the demo, then the final game. Gunstar heroes,ninja gaiden,skies of Arcadia,GT, name the games of the past and those games were 99.9% what you saw and heard.

Murray showed giant worms that move through the ground not in the game. Creatures as tall as huge trees not in the game. Portals that lead to new planets not on the game. Vehicles flying differently not in the game. And the list goes on. The base gameplay is there. But everything that gamers also wanted to see are not.

I bought it on expectation of what I saw and heard, not hype because I don't buy games based on what others buy or think I should play.I buy what the developers showed and tells me. This isn't like EA where they lied all the time that "it's in the game." Long time gamers knew when they said it, it wasn't true based on passed games they made. The irony though is that Murray used to work at EA. Making the "it's in the game" fitting for no man's sky. And it's a shame coming from the Joe danger developers.

[Perjoss]

That first trailer did a lot if work in terms of hype, regardless of how the game turned out or how misleading the trailer was it was a brilliant trailer for building hype.

[thorstein]

I just wish the liars would have been called out as well. There was some serious faux outrage (ie I am not a MOBA fan so I posted 0 comments and 0 stories about Evolve) and the hate (which I knew would come before launch) was far more outrageous than any claims the dev made during interviews.

I know that I was getting a 1st person experience, space exploration game. That is the game I bought, that is the game I got.

Does it have MP? Yes. Exactly as it was described years ago. Exactly as described on the NMS About page.

The idea that you could battle against the universe with your friends while teabagging aliens is pure nonsense.

[Red_Renegade]

i think some people took misunderstandings and ran with them.