How The Internet (Sort Of) Ruined Gaming For Me

As soon as a freshly announced game catches my eye, I always read and watch everything I can find about it. I know all about a game before its release; the game’s features, story and gameplay. This sort of ruins the magic of gaming; you already know everything you’re going to experience in whatever game you’re playing – the sense of wonder and discover is completely absent.

It was different when the only way I’d get my video game news was from monthly magazines like Electronic Gaming Monthly. Each month I’d read read little bits of information and eagerly look at any screenshots I could find. Now that the internet is where I get most of my gaming news, I have an overflow of information thrown at me at all times. With a quick Google search, you can find a ridiculous amount of information about any unreleased video games.

Huge gallery’s of screenshots and videos and a plethora of written previews are available to anyone with an internet connection, months before a game is released. I’ve done this for years but recently I made the conscious decision to avoid reading anything about the latest game I’m eagerly anticipating – Rockstar’s LA Noire.

The last game I remember being genuinely surprised by was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time. When OoT was first released I was 10 years old. I had recently started playing through The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past and was just starting to get into the Zelda universe. My parents bought OoT as a Christmas present for me and my older brothers. I had no idea we were going to get the game for Christmas, I didn’t know anything about it other than a quick ad I had seen in a movie theater.

Playing OoT for the first time was an experience filled with genuine discovery. The fact that I was now part of this 3D world completely blew my mind. Exploring OoT’s world, taking advantage of the game’s open ended gameplay and traversing my way though the game’s dungeons was a genuinely original, exciting experience.

I’ve experienced these feelings before while gaming but nothing has ever matched the level of wonder I experienced with OoT. At 22-years-old, I tried to recreate this sense of wonder with LA Noire. I knew very little about the game other than the fact that you play as a detective and investigate crime scenes – I hoped to keep it that way. Every time I saw a preview or information pop up on my screen about the game, I quickly closed it. I knew that the main character is that guy from Mad Men (Aaron Staton.) I also knew that the game has been in development for years, but that was about it.

As time wore on I found it increasingly hard to avoid the LA Noire publicity machine. I ended up watching a few trailers and learning a lot more about the game than I had initially hoped. In the end though the entire game was still somewhat of a surprise, but I certainly wasn't able to recapture that sense of wonder and amazement.

Have you ever played a game you eagerly anticipated but knew absolutely nothing about? Have you intentionally tried to avoid reading about a game in order capture this sense of wonder I’m searching for?

Tags: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, LA Noire, Mad Men

Problem? Report this post

Danny Concepcion

August 01, 2011

Nice article Patrick. One pet peeve of mine is when reviews acknowledge some kind of plot twist the game has. They might not say what the twist is, but just mentioning a plot twist already worsens the experience for me. I end up playing the game trying to anticipate the twist, not unlike an M. Night Shyamalan movie.

I didn't read much about Red Dead Redemption, and I wasn't even planning on purchasing the game. Some time later I eventually bought it and was blown away. I'm glad I didn't read much about it, since the game surprised me in various ways. Something about getting on my trusty seed and heading to a hideout just "felt good" to me.

Report | Reply

37893_1338936035999_1309080061_30825631_6290042_n

Chase Koeneke

August 02, 2011

This is a fine question.

I've been successful with the media blackout strategy before. When Portal 2 was announced, I made sure to avoid almost everything i could (except for the nifty little faux ads Valve made for Aperture Science.

I already knew the game was going to be great and that I was going to enjoy it from my time with the original and that's all I needed to know. It still wasn't as magical as popping in the Orange Box and wondering what that Portal game was among all the Half-Life 2 stuff, but I think not knowing everything about it did add to my experience.

And at the moment, I'm currently playing Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. It seems like the forgotten Layton game (since everyone is too busy spoiling the third iteration, Unwound Future, to me,) and because of that, I'm accidentally getting a fully surprising game experience.

I do realize both of my answers were sequels, and I think that makes a difference: both positive and negative.

On the plus side, you already know as much as you need to know about the next game. If you liked the first game, chances are you'll also like the second, and that can sate your curiosity.

On the negative though, knowing anything about that next game can somewhat degrade the surprise. And playing through a previous iteration gives you a lot of info. I think that's a big reason I still like Portal more than Portal 2.

Richard Moss

I'm doing exactly that with the new Tomb Raider game. I checked out the earliest previews -- before anyone saw any substantial gameplay -- and left it at that. I haven't watched a single trailer, and I'm avoiding any and all coverage as best I can.

Perhaps by going in fresh, with almost no knowledge of the story or mechanics, I can find some of the magic I felt when Tomb Raider 2 blew me away more than a decade ago.