general media Does hype kill the enjoyment of a game or film?

[TheJLeeTeam 914]

Do you ever feel like when a game or movie gets really hyped and you experience it that you didn't enjoy it as much as you hoped? Like when you hear the announcement of a new video game several months before it's release you get really hyped and always check for updates leading up to it. Sometimes I enjoy a game more when I'm not checking for updates and instead play it with little expectations.

 

The game Destiny got really hyped and had a high budget, I was expecting reviews to get scores of over 9 but I'm surprised that most reviewers only gave it between 7-8 however it sold great. Maybe it was so hyped that people expected too much from it. Also the movie Frozen got so hyped that some people were disappointed by it. I feel like over-hype gives the company better sales whereas under-hype gives you a better experience.

 

So do you think hype kills your experience of a game or film?

 

 

[Alex Z 849]

Sometimes. There are times where everyone says "This Movie or This Show is amazing check it out" and I watch it and feel kinda dissapointed (Attack on Titan for example)

[Sugar Pea 2,683]

In a way, yeah it sorta does!
For me, however, the case is anime. When people over hype about an anime (For example, AOT or SAO), it makes me loose interest automatically when I begin to notice radicals especially. When there are radicals, there are more radicals. The more radicals, the more people start to suspect you are one of them. So if I were to watch a mainstream anime, I would watch it in secret. Lol
I like to wait until the hype goes down...or maybe, just maybe...i'm too hipster for this. xD
 

[Andaasonsan 3,205]

I think people should just learn to not allow hype to set up unrealistic expectations in their mind. No matter how awesome something looks at first, there is always a risk it just won't work out as well as expected in actual execution even from people who are very talented and know what they're doing.

 

It's okay to be excited about something, just don't assume it's going to be the most awesome thing ever when you haven't experienced it yet.

[Megas 28,092]

It can. As seen with Watch_Dogs, Destiny and Titanfall, the media and the games' respective publishers/developers hyped these games to be the next great hallmarks of gaming...only for them to turn out to be average games, it also doesn't help that they don't deliver on a lot of claims. Of course if you don't buy into the hype you can enjoy something(even if it doesn't live up to most of the hype), but if you let the hype play a major factor then you better damn well hope that the game/movie lives up to the hype

 

For full disappointment - I was really excited for Modern Warfare 2, it was hyped to holy hell and back, turns out to be the fist game in the series for me to dislike(I was a fan of it up to that point), and didn't find much to enjoy

 

Right down to the middle was Frozen - A movie also hyped to holy hell, but while I didn't find it as good as many claimed, I still though it was a good movie and could see it's merits

 

And then for a game to deliver(for me) was Bayonetta 2 - I paid attention to every detail of the game and I was more than satisfied because it fulfilled everything I expected

Edited December 13, 2014 by Megas75

[Discordian 6,019]

Only if you let it. I let myself get extremely hyped up for games and then when I play it I completely let go of the hype and let the game experience take over. That way I'm not expecting more from the game than I'm gonna get.

 

To me, hype is little more than excitement. I can't wait to play the game and see what it's like.

[CC_Maud_Pie 6,431]

I would say so because it gives people high expectations. Just have an open mind and not expect too much from something.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,305]

When I personally get excited about an upcoming game, movie, or what have you, I usually end up enjoying it.  Why?  Because I know what I like. xD  But do I think hyping something can ultimately hurt it?  Oh my yes.  You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time.  There's no such thing as a product everyone, without exception, will adore.

[Kamii 596]

I have never been wrong when it comes to hype. I can hype up a game as much as I'd like and I was never wrong to assume it was going to be awesome. But when people hype up other things and tell me to watch/play them, that's different. I remember how Hunger Games is hyped by everyone even now. I decided to watch it last Summer... Totally worth it... (Irony) I can't be the only one who didn't find Hunger Games to be that good. It was entertaining, but other than that little girl's death, nothing else stands out to me...
But I understand that hype can kill an experience. My advice is: Hype over something with the probability of it sucking OR Calm down and wait for it like a "normal" person
(I am hyping over MLP Season 5... That means it's going to be good )

[Zekromic 1,054]

I can't say it's always the case, but yes, it can kill or diminish the enjoyment if it doesn't turns as great as you hopes. Last time it happened was with Pony of Sha... I mean, Lords of Shadows 2. As a great fan of the LoS series, I hopes for a grand finale, but I got a decent, but not an outstanding game, unlike the first one

[Simcity11100 773]

Honestly I think it does, you see when you hype something, you're giving that specific thing expectations.  If that specific thing doesn't live up to them it can hurt the value of said thing.  I normally wait for it to get released before I make a decision on whether or not I'll like it instead of automatically thinking that it's going to be good or bad based on a rumor of what it's going to be like and the such.  If you let a rumor or opinion before release dictate whether or not you're going to like it then that pretty much says a lot about said person.

[zaqwert11 70]

hype is a good thing. just dont get over hyped

[Omega Centauri 317]

Yes. Very much so.

 

There's a thing my friend calls "Hype backlash", where something has been hyped so much you can't fucking stand it no matter how great it is.

[Envy 6,372]

I don't know... I think it depends. For example, I was hyped beyond reason for Pokemon Gold/Silver and Super Smash Bros. Melee, and I felt like they were everything I ever hyped them up to be. In fact, I even had an unofficial guide for Gold/Silver (the Japanese version, but the guide was in English) and knew absolutely everything about the games long before they were released here, but still loved them immensely when I got Gold.

 

Nowadays, I think it's a mix of me perhaps beginning to grow out of my enjoyment of video games. For example, Animal Crossing New Leaf was one of those games that really should have been as enjoyable as I was hyping it up to be, because it really did deliver. The problem was me... I got bored really quick.

 

Nowadays, I play games when I get them and hardly ever - if ever pick them up again. I think I'm just growing away... When a game like New Leaf is released and it doesn't pull me back into the series I once was hopelessly obsessed with, nothing can really help me. Oh well...

[SparklingSwirls 21,549]

Sometimes, but I'm not the person who gets all hyped up for things. I prefer to set my expectations low and then be surprised

 

Some games/movies are worth the hype that they get though, in my opinion.

[catnet 9,359]

For whatever reason, I've always found it hard to not enjoy a game or film once I'm playing/watching it, even if it doesn't turn out to be quite as good as I may have imagined it to be in the past.

 

When I first got Sonic 06, I didn't know about its reputation or what people had been looking for in it. All I knew was that it was a Sonic game, and that it most probably would play like one. After playing it though, while I did come to realise that it was certainly one of Sonic's lowest points, I... didn't really hate the game. It was broken and cringeworthy, sure, but I was nowhere near as affected by it as the people who were so hyped about the game being pure undiluted Sonic, back to basics without those gimmicks some of the other games brought in.

 

Same thing with Paper Mario: Sticker Star, though Paper Mario is pretty much my favourite games series. I was excited about the return of partners (that Chain Chomp one from the early screenshots could have been interesting, IMO...) and having another game that looked to play much like TTYD. But when I finally got it, I was fine just taking what the game gave me, even though it wasn't what I had in mind all those months ago. It was a fun game in my experience; my least favourite of the series by far, but a decent little game when it's not expected to live up to PM64 and TTYD's glory. It's a very disappointing entry if that's what you were hoping for.

 

If something lives up to the hype then it becomes everything we ever wanted from it and more. If it doesn't live up to the hype, then everything we see to do with it is given a more critical eye, and it's just harder to truly enjoy what's going on by that point. I think it's safer to keep the hype at a level where you can leave it behind you if things don't go the way you hoped.

[Shift 4,274]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

 

For yes, look at Destiny. For no, look at every Super Smash Bros ever.

[DrReprise 172]

I wouldn't say hype kills the enjoyment of games or movies, however it does produce high expectations. If a game sucks, then it sucks and I don't want to play it; if a movie sucks I won't watch it again. I do have to say games like Skyrim and the older assassins creed games were really hyped up and did live up to and exceeded the hype (in my opinion).

[Steel Accord 6,660]

Not remotely. If I'm invested enough to try a new game or a new movie, there's a slim chance that it will disappoint me. Otherwise I wouldn't have gotten it.

 

To use the OP's example, I couldn't care less for Destiny's ad campaign, what hooked me was the premise. Playing an immortal guardian, serving the will of a benevolent deific entity, while fighting through a planetary romance straight out of the Barsoom series? SOLD!

 

I played it, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.