Too much ado about nothing

Today, one article in kotaku.com states that one of the biggest problems of videogame industry is that people are not prone to talk about the games they are planning or developing.

In my opinion, it is the opposite: people talk too much about games, especially before they are released. In the past, people used to rely on scarce magazine articles, few ads and mostly word-of-mouth recommendations. Besides, the package of the game was very important in trying to sell the customer the game with a few hundred words and two or three screenshots. Even so, the industry was highly effective in delivering good games and selling well.

Nowadays, the gaming industry is plagued with too much information and too many people talking about the products. The developers are obliged to release uncountable trailers, teasers and demos to satisfy the gamers. They are expected to constantly provide updates about how the game is being developed, how are the mechanics, which are the characters, the settings, etc. Gamers and gaming gossip tabloids demand answers for each decision and overwhelm the media with low-quality input. Before the game is even completed, people are already bashing or praising it in the forums, editors from magazines and sites are giving unfounded opinions, companies are pressed to do things they didn't want to do. It can affect negatively potential buyers of a certain game, because people wrongly tend to rely too much on personal opinion of "critics".

One good example came from kotaku.com itself, inventing a rumor that the long waited Final Fantasy Versus XIII was canceled, citing "one source said that", "other source said another thing". The rumor was spread all over internet by unprofessional sites that only spin news from the others and the Square Enix itself had to intervene and say the game was not officially canceled and that it is still in development.

It is easy to understand the sites position, for they thrive on those kind of news, but it also explains why the companies are less and less prone to talk about game development, unless it is free-advertising. They know that any misinterpreted word will cause an uproar like Final Fantasy Versus XIII cancelation rumor, and it can affect negatively potential buyers or even investors. Because of that, it is not difficult to understand why the official policies on those companies is "no one is allowed to comment about internal activities".

No other industry is pressured to say so much about their upcoming products, save for movie industry maybe. I've never seen consumers or press demanding details, screenshots and even internal questions about cars or TV sets from their manufacturers. No other industry has so much fans playing the "expert" or even the "professional journalist" role. I've never seen people claiming in the forums that certain electronic device is bad, or that "critic X" opinion is unfounded about a product that was not even released.  Every day we see so much ado about nothing that it is not difficult to understand the unwillingness of the developers to say about their products.

People should care more about playing the games than spinning unimportant information.