The Pavlovian Game Cycle

The hardest of hardcore gamers go through it; internet forum users go through it; hell, even kids have to go through this mess. New video games that are released under the old, traditional business model have a hype period. During this period, publishers will show off their wares to magazines, web sites, and talk shows alike to boost the hype for a given game with a big budget. There's nothing wrong with this; after all, advertising your product increases awareness, but the method itself could use some revision.

What happens is that publishers talk to the same people over and over, meaning the same customers. They bring up the latest talking points, how the game is revolutionary, innovative, creative, intense, and all sorts of adjectives made to appeal to this audience whether the game has these qualities or not. They talk about the technology, the realism, the photo-realism, and other visual cues, too. There's also talk about the length of the experience (remember when games were about what level you got to and not how long you've played it?). Certainly not every game can be the best at all these, especially when these games are released a couple of months apart when in development for 3 years, can they?

Why do publishers like talking to the same people? Hype, and fast results. This strategy can get a few hundred thousand to a few million to buy the game in the first week or two weeks. Once the hype has settled down, and word of mouth spreads about the game, sales plummet to a few thousand a week in most cases. The only time sales continue at a solid pace, or even increase since release, is if the game is genuinely enjoyable and fun to play. But I'm not talking about those games, here.

Shortly after the release of one of these hype machine games (most games nowadays), it's pretty easy to find in the used game bin for resale. Now, I've talked about the attitude of the industry regarding used games before here, so I won't go far into it. Just know that if a game is in the used bin in large quantities, it's because the hype machine got the best of hardcore gamers again.

It feels to me like some of these industry executives are just ringing a little bell to grab the attention of gamers eager to find something worthwhile to play. When they find an empty experience, it's natural for them to feel burned, and get angry at the bell. Sometimes, the gamer doesn't respond, and the industry suffers for their false alarm. For me, personally, I'd rather the gamer stop listening to the bell altogether, and start listening to each other.

Let the word of mouth spread among like people with similar tastes, as it happens now, but with everyone doing it.