The Effects Leaks Have On Fans' Reactions to Games

It seems that a lot of developers lately, especially those working on fighting games, have problems with their metaphorical plumbing. Leaks are becoming more and more frequent during the pre-release periods of hyped games, hell, while I was typing this piece this link appeared on my Twitter feed. There are three kinds of leaks- inside sources getting info out, companies goofing up and accidentally releasing information somehow, and fake leaks that are made purely to get attention. With potential customers desperate for information on upcoming games, it’s only natural that people would try to leak out information (or pretend to), either to be a ‘nice’ person or to just get some attention. There’s plenty to talk about on the subject, like whether leaks are ethically right or looking into why people would leak information, but what I want to talk about today is the effect leaks have on hype towards a game. I’m going to reminisce on three relatively recent leaks for games I’ve been following, and have a look at what I noticed on message boards during the pre-release period, and my own personal feelings.

Site Design Updated

You might have noticed I've changed the fonts around on the site to try and make it more readable, let me know what you think. Please, I never get comments as it is :'(

Hands-On With Darksiders II and WWE 13 and a Preview of Company of Heroes 2 and South Park Stick of Truth

Now that's gotta be the longest title ever. I was lucky enough to be invited to a Darksiders II event held by THQ on Wednesday, and got to have a look at some of their upcoming games, and do some stunt work. Yes, that’s right, actual, genuine stunt work, it was a lot of fun. I felt comically out of place, because there were people from serious publications there, like Dan Chiappini (Editor of Gamespot Australia) and writers from the Daily Telegraph, and I’m just some random guy with a humble blog and Youtube account, but it’s great that THQ support little guys like me and give us a chance to report on things and give our opinions.

Battlefield Premium, One Month On- Is It Worth It?

I bought Battlefield Premium on one of the first few days it was released. It was AUD$50 on PC, and the expansion packs are about $20/25 each, so I’d be crazy not to really. I already had Back to Karkand, and Close Quarters didn’t interest me much, but the savings I’d make on the other packs, the teased exclusive content, and being able to try out Close Quarters should I choose won me over. A month on from its release, is Battlefield Premium worth the money? Here’s how I feel about it so far.

Ubisoft apologies for Personal Info Leak

Late last month, Ubisoft sent out emails related to an ARG promoting their upcoming game Watch Dogs. In a rather ironic twist, a promotional tool for a game revolving around hacking and gaining access to people's personal information leaked out hundreds of people's email addresses. These emails were sent out to anyone who 'inquired about tickets' on the website dotconnexion, and informed people of the death of one of the characters in the game.

Iwata Comments on Power Gap Between Next Gen Consoles; Refuses to Journey Through the Amazon

At Nintendo's investor Q&A earlier this year, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata was asked whether the Wii U will be able to hold up against Sony and Microsoft's future consoles technically, unlike the Wii, which was disadvantaged when it came to multiplatform games.