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Of Previews and Other Demons: God of War III is Not God of War III Yet

I may write them, I may read them, but this does not mean I like previews. They are an inherently flawed cog in the grand videogame business machine and they’ll never go away. Previews, any early criticism of a game not done by the developer, publisher, or their QA teams really, is essential. Any creator needs to get a little distance from their creation to gain perspective, to consider it in a new way before it’s finished. Novelists, essayists, filmmakers, musicians, and academics work in concert with editors, engineers, producers, and any number of other peers on the path to birthing their work. Given, games are unique. Authors don’t typically have journalists reading sample chapters of a book two years before it comes out, judging what sentences work, which don’t, and predicting, for thousands of readers, whether or not the book will suck as a whole. "Well, Rushdie seems to be up to his old tricks. We got eyes on with chapters 3 through 6, and his circuitous sentence structure is in place, but we can't tell if his classic characterization is there to be complimented by it. Here's hoping it's a torrid family history worthy of the Fatwaed-One's legacy when it releases this fall."

Just not how it works.

The problem is that videogame previews shape public perception, and sometimes success, of an unfinished game based on what’s almost always a trifling sample of the overall experience. Sometimes, especially early in development, the previewer doesn’t even play the game. Eyes-on, hands-on, final impressions, review is the simple version of the cycle, but sometimes a game’s reputation can be irreparably tainted by the hands-on stage. Most previews lean positive – because the writer wants to believe in the game/stay in the publisher’s good graces – so when a preview is negative, especially if it’s of a marquee game, it stands out. The best case scenario is that this negativity comes from an honest place and it helps the developer make a better game. Worst case scenario, the writer just doesn’t like the game, and dumps on it because they’re filling a word count. Maybe Dennis Dyack’s been right all along. Maybe games shouldn’t be previewed at all. Maybe people would have like Too Human more if it hadn’t been for its tumultuous development and terrible, terrible preview reputation.

Probably not. Too Human wasn’t a very good game.

This leaked footage of God of War III from GDC that’s been making the internet rounds today is what got my brain cooking on previews.

Sony's Trailers Are Graphics Whores

We get it, Sony, the Playstation 3 is the most powerful of the three current-gen home consoles. You don't have to flaunt it over and over to make yourself feel better for being in last place in sales this generation. You seem to be treating this as a beauty pageant, and you're certainly not in the running for Miss Congeniality with these repeated boasts.

I'm referring, of course, to the recent trend of all of the PS3's exclusive AAA titles featuring trailers of all in-game footage. This would be fine, in fact commendable, if not for the fact that they have to tell us, heavily implying that other trailers rely on CGI cutscenes (they mostly do). The latest offender is this one for Sucker Punch's Infamous. It may be all in-game footage, but I'm pretty sure all that excessive blur and reverse time were added in post-production (the slow-down may very well be part of the game). See said trailer after the jump:

God of War III Does Not Need Another Sex Mini-Game

I was struck by a nugget of information which opened Gamepro's interview with God of War III's Sig Asmussen (That's the kind of name a fella named Cole Stryker can get behind) regarding the game's use of sexual mini-games.

Will the sexy mini-games return for God of War 3? Yes, that is my first question. [laughter]
Stig Asmussen: It's definitely something we're looking at. The sex mini-games are a double-edged sword: we're damned if we do, we're damned if we don't. If we do include a sex mini-game and don't add anything new to it, then people will say it's getting old. If we don't include the sex mini-game, then the fans will be in an uproar. We're trying to come up with a clever new way of advancing it. If it works, and it plays into the experience, then we'll do it. If it doesn't work, I have no problem saying "this is turning into a gimmick" and putting those resources somewhere else.

Really? Fans will be in an uproar if they don't include a sex mini-game. Can it be true that developers spend so much time hearing about these controversies from the mainstream media that they actually believe controversial content to be relevant to gamers? So much so that they would be in an "uproar" if God of War III didn't include one? How out of touch with reality can one possibly be?

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.