E3 2019 killed CG reveal videos



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The 2019 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles has arrived and gone. Despite the rumors of his passing, this show remains a point of inflection. The largest gaming companies work there every year. And I think it helps them to tell a story that consumers desperately want to understand. But E3 2019 had a problem with publishers repeatedly minting their own messages. They did it by relying too much on pre-defined trailers or videos that did not have real gameplay.

To be clear, I will use here the "CG trailer" abbreviated for any video of an E3 media event that does not include a game. Halo: Infinite, for example, used its visual engine embedded in the game for his clip based on a story devoid of gameplay. That's why I call this a "CG Trailer" in this story because there is no gameplay.

CG is not inherently bad. Nintendo revealed a sequel to Breath of the Wild without showing any gameplay, and it worked. But that's because it was a huge surprise. Honestly, last year, Bethesda said, "We're doing The Elder Scrolls IV." That's something we already knew, but that was all it took to excite people.

A video without gameplay is much less effective when the prospect of spending money is in the near future. Or if the game is a known total amount, a CG trailer then appears as a waste of time.

Why are CG trailers and videos bad?

The problem is that the revelations based on the story reveal that without gambling, there is not really a sale of what people want to buy. The cold truth is that if you want to watch cutscenes, it's easier to do it on YouTube. I spend money for a game because I want to play it.

I do not think it's exclusive to me just because I'm jaded and plugged into the stage. The audience of the players is extremely knowledgeable. They really know the difference between role playing and gameplay, and they correct the first for the same reasons as me.

This does not mean that consumers know exactly how the games are made and what it takes to launch one. I would say that they are both savvy and uninformed, thanks to forums and YouTube channels that focus on "degraded" comparisons. And it seems possible that companies are focusing on CG at E3 to avoid those unfair videos that claim games to reduce visual effects compared to previous revelations.

But companies like Microsoft and CD Projekt Red should not shape their marketing plans based on YouTube's reactions. People there will always find something to complain about before going out of a game because they are in desperate need of news. We have seen this with Marvel's Spider-Man and his "degraded" puddles. And yet, this game was sold better than even God of War before becoming the best-selling game of 2018, number 6, and it's not like the new one-hour demo, Cyberpunk 2077, was going not go out. I am fine and

What should an E3 look like

Microsoft was the most guilty of trusting CG for its pre-E3 presentation. During this event, the company did not present any games for Gears 5, Halo: Infinite, Bleeding Edge, etc. But Square Enix did the same thing during a long revelation for Marvel's Avengers (but it showed a lot of play for Final Fantasy VII: Remake).

What's frustrating here is that it's not as if these companies had no gameplay to show. Gears 5 is due out September 10th. It's in a few months. It was playable at the show and I had a lot of fun with it. Bleeding Edge is in the same situation. A public test will begin later this month.

We could not play with Avengers, but Square Enix was doing gameplay demos that won over a lot of people.

So how would these revelations really have disappeared? You do not have to throw the CG. These narrative videos with grimdark covers of pop songs are for something, but continue with the gameplay. Show me what makes Gears 5 so special. And if you do not have many moments of spectacular gameplay for E3, it may be a problem for the game.

Alternatively, if you do not want to show the gameplay, then I think you probably should not show your game at an E3 briefing. Jump. Come back in a few weeks with a trailer on YouTube or a dedicated livestream.

But my hope is that E3 will come back in 2020 and that companies are focusing a lot on gameplay. CG trailers do not already work, but they will certainly not fly if Microsoft and Sony are trying to create new consoles.

I think the best way to incorporate a summary trailer into an E3 revelation is what Nintendo does for Super Smash Bros. characters. Ultimate. These videos always start with a pre-released trailer. They have the habit of letting people guess. Or they make you feel intelligent to immediately understand the references. And then the videos invariably cut into the gameplay. Of course, Smash fans want to know that Banjo-Kazooie are going to Ultiamte – but they also want to see how they play.

And it's the same for all video games.

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