Eighteen months ago, whilst combating poor previews of his imminent release Too Human, Denis Dyack expressed his opinion that videogames should not be previewed in any way, shape, or form until they near completion. I can appreciate the sentiment, to a degree, especially in Too Human’s case. That game used to look like this:
And now it looks like this:
That’s what happens when you show a game ten years before it actually comes out. Dyack, hypocrite or not, isn’t wrong. Showing a game too soon can give a very poor impression of what it will ultimately be, particularly with original concepts and new characters, but you need to get the game in the public eye early. Videogames, outside of marquee titles, are rarely advertised anywhere, let alone on television where they would get the greatest exposure. So you have to preview that sucker for a long time before it releases, seed the enthusiast press, and let people pay attention. Otherwise games die on the vine, even established franchises.
Unless, of course, you’re Nintendo.
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