I find that I am completely ignoring game previews (in OXM and everywhere else).  Every single preview pimps the positives with limited or no critical points of view.  No matter how bad the actual game is you can find 10 previews telling you great it looks.  I dont trust them for either new IPs or existing franchises, but they are even worse for existing franchises as they all seem to contain spoilers.  OXM is not alone in this, but I am curious what efforts its editors undertake to prevent previews from becoming glorified advertisements. 

Are previews worthless?

No.

---

OXM FAQs:
Mag
Disc

I think game previews are like previews for movies. They all look great and usually only showcase the positive, but they're still fun to read. I liked getting excited for a game even though it may be disappointing down the road.

---

You gotta pay the troll toll.

I agree with the problems you have with the previews, but I still read them. If only for the fun of getting a scathing review, and then going back to read the preview. Try it with Shaun White, it's fun.

---

When I die, I want to go like grandpa, peacefully while I'm asleep. Not screaming like the other people in his car.

6 isn't scathing.

---

DownWriteFierce - 31 reviews in 31 days during May!

 MitchyD88 wrote:

6 isn't scathing.

Sorry, unfavorable. 

---

When I die, I want to go like grandpa, peacefully while I'm asleep. Not screaming like the other people in his car.

I don't think they are worthless, but they certainly don't have a great amount of interest for me.  I especially find the real early previews to be less interesting, because the game is usually shown on a PC and it won't necessarily look as good as the screen shots that are shown.  However, previews are good for stirring the "hype pot."

 cin8412 wrote:

I think game previews are like previews for movies. They all look great and usually only showcase the positive, but they're still fun to read. I liked getting excited for a game even though it may be disappointing down the road.

I think this is the best analogy. How do you know about a game or movie if there isn't something to promote it or just let you know what it's about. It's a minor version of advertising, so who wants to show the bad parts in a preview? It's all about establishing the premise and bringing up the interest in the game.

I enjoy them, because I don't scour the internet for news on specific games (beyond ME2 and B2), so I don't know what's coming up.

---

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. -DL

Previews are rarely negative for the same reason a movie reviewer doesn't come down hard on a work print or a food critic doesn't open the oven while the meal is baking -- it's not done yet. No developer sets out to make a bad game, and obviously, they want to share what they are most excited about. Most previews are written based on a limited amount of gameplay -- an hour, two hours, something like that. Some games change drastically between preview and review state (one of the Maddens did this -- it looked really bad but tons of polish went into the final few weeks and it was a great version).

Most games are polished in the last four to six weeks. Many times our reviews are written on builds that crash, or are incomplete, or are missing voices and textures -- obviously it's not going to ship to retail with voices missing. It's not even worth mentioning, like the work print missing the special effects or the unbaked souffle. The ingredients are there; they need more time to cook before you can pass judgement.

My other analogy is imagine getting graded for your school year before the final exam. You'd hate that and it wouldn't feel fair; you weren't done the process. Bingo.

Our preview-oriented features lately have been focusing on the process rather than the product. The people making the game exist, even if the game doesn't.  So our Tony Hawk: Ride feature in July, for instance, talks about the development team and their goals as much as the incomplete game that we tried out.

BTW, great question and I might print this in a future issue, because I think a lot of people wonder the same thing!

---

Dan Amrich, KOXM co-host and Retrologist Emeritus
New free shows every Friday at http://oxmpodcast.podbean.com

Very true, if you want to cut through the 'crud', one of the staples of gamesradar.com is saying it like it is. They try to avoid the 'glorified advertisement' style of previewing and classic statements like 'well, if you like..., you might like this'.

Check it out

---

Formerly Known as: GuitarHeroics

3oh!3 is legit

 The Dagda Mor wrote:

Are previews worthless?

No.

gotta agree with this

---

My life be like ooh ahh

On my SIXTH xbox

Put up the peace sign put the index down

3/7 of the trl audience

I like reading the previews just because they're all positive.
I know not every game is gonna be a 10, but the previews do a good job of explaining the story, gameplay, and other elements in a positive way that gets the reader pumped up for these new games.

For this reason I like previews just as much as reviews, even though they give less info.

---

Lotus Exige

I love previews!!

My definition of preview = rent it , if you like it buy. the best way to weed all the "PAID" reviewers

I love previews!! They give me a look at games to keep my eye on. Then when the game comes out, I like to read the review too. Those two things together give me a pretty good idea if I'm going to like a game or not. I must say so far OXM has never steered me wrong!

I feel previews are so positivley written because some of the stuff could be new or neat, but not all previews just have positives, the writer could have wrote something bad about the game that should be fixed. Plus, previews also can be exciteing, I betcha their was people crying to read the next preview of Halo3 or COD4, or even Fallout3!,

I have seen previews (especially the hands on ones) discuss how certain aspects of games were clunky or not up to snuff.  The writers/reviewers typically put that to being "unfinished" or at least get a developer to talk about what's being done to fix those things.  I like having some of that "inside the creation" aspect of Xbox gaming.  It's not just all about the newest thing coming, it's about the hard work being done to bring these new games to us over and over again.

I'd like to see OXM give us more inside scoop at developer methods and how they operate.  Previews are a good tip of the iceburg but in depth interviews or shadowing is always fun to read about.  I recall good ones with Bungie and 2K in the past.

---

This posting is provided "as-is" and confers no rights