Yesterday I took a look at some of the best video game trailers to hit the Interweb over the past couple of months.
They were trailers that showed Humour, Style, creativity or were generally just Bad-Ass, now we’re going to take a look at some which are just Ass Bad (see what I did there?)
Lets start with one which I hold close to my heart….
Smackdown Vs Raw 2011
Before I go into how and why this trailer sucks allow me to say just one thing.
I used to LOVE the Smackdown games, they were far from perfect, they had their problems but I used to love them regardless (something about hitting a guy in the head with a steel chair….)
But as the iterations went on the developers at Yukes seemed to be quickly running out of ideas. Recycling most animations, adding very little and in some cases, simply removing and restricting certain features however, this is a rant for another posting.
This is about the generic nature of this trailer. Answer me this, what new features have they added this year that’s different from the last? What is it about this game that separates it from it’s ‘Combat sports’ rivals?
See, with an annualised sports game you NEED to show how the game has improved.
A game like this is played for it’s core mechanics (and in wrestling’s case also it’s story…if you can call it that)
But this trailer highlights none of those aspects. If you can’t show me why this game is better than the last then I have no real reason to go out and buy it beyond roster updates
But if roster updates are all a person needs in order to buy the game then they’re probably going to buy it regardless! So this trailer shouldn’t be aimed at them. It should be aimed at people who have never touched a Smackdown game or better yet people like ME who USED to like them but have fallen off because of a lack of innovation!
I Know I’m ranting right now but with such a generic trailer you cant help but think ‘This is a waste of time’ a waste of time for the person who made it, a waste of time for the person who uploaded, and a waste of time for the person watching it. Compare and contrast to the new “Fifa 11” trailer which even if you have no knowledge or Interest in soccer you could easily pick out the mechanics that will make that game special.
Power Gig: Rise of the six string
Jesus F Christ! You know, FORGET Batman, this guy could probably defeat the joker simply by DEPRESSING HIM TO DEATH. It’s as if he’s auditioning to be a ‘Before’ model for mood enhancers.
You see Excitement is contagious, an a distinct lack of excitement is as noticeable as a hooker in a nunnery!
Simply put, if the person behind a game can barely show any enthusiasm while TALKING about it, then chances are we aren’t going to be all that enthusiastic while playing it >.<
Compare and contrast with the developer diaries from Alpha protocol.
Trailers like this one might have worked back in the mid 90’s but simply put ‘That shit wont fly today’. A lifeless montage of action hero moments won’t interest ANYONE today.
When you consider the acrobatic nature of Assasins Creed, The Brutality of God of War and the dramatic set pieces of Uncharted, this entire trailer comes of as down right FLAT. Did you notice how the most interesting pieces of that trailer were the dog? Because we haven’t seen an action dog like that before.
My point with this pick and perhaps this whole article is that a good trailer makes a viewer want to fill in the gaps.
when you show something we HAVENT seen before we want to know more, weather its some of the new features within the game, or some new High-concept for a story etc. however if what you show is predictable or Dull then our interest instantly disappears.
Tomorrow I take a personal look at some of the ‘Weirdest’ game trailers to hit the web and show how sometimes weird is wonderful and other times….well…other times it’s not.
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