Why do so many rumors turn out to be true?
As many have observed, gaming journalism has changed significantly in recent times. From the days when Nintendo Power was the monthly gaming bible, the word of the Lord no longer issues from its pages. The switch from the print to the internet has not only changed the manner in which we get our gaming news, it has also changed the way in which our gaming news is gotten for us.
With the launch of the PS3 Slim and PSP Go we can confidently say that there will be no significant hardware released this year. No, a bigger hard drive doesn’t count as a new hardware release. But both the PS3 Slim and Go have already had troubled pre-launch periods as everyone waited to get their hands on them. Why? Because we knew about them a long time ago. It’s hardly a surprise that PS3 sales have spiked due to the lower price, but also because gaming journalists have been encouraging us to wait for the redesigned model for just under a year. There’s nothing quite like the rumors of a major hardware update to kill the sales of a system, and all year you feel as though Sony have been struggling to get to this point, where they can finally exhale and start selling the products they have, as opposed to the ones they will have.
We all knew about the PS3 Slim and the PSP Go well in advance of their announcement. Well, the PSP Go’s premature accidental unveiling to the world is well documented; someone posted an episode of Qore what showed of the new model, and the one subscriber to Qore posted it on the internet. But even before that there were murmurings of a radical redesign of the PSP.
Likewise the Slim and even Wii motion plus had been heavily hinted at by journalists in advance. My question is why? Is it something they have been told from someone in the know that they are unable to officially confirm, but that they want to express as a rumor in order to get the word out? The mythical embargo dates? Or is it because it seems so obvious that it is inevitable that it would eventually appear. In the case of the PS3 Slim for example, we were already aware that the PS1 and PS2 had already had a redesign. Then was it mere speculation as to when the trimmer version of the monolithic PS3 would emerge?
Thanks to a devoted and tech savvy army of internet gamers, it isn’t only the journalists that are spilling the secrets of gaming companies. Often we hear of websites hacked in order to reveal the existence of a hint of a future project. But seeing as Hideo Kojima sees fit to taunt us with endless countdown clocks, I can hardly judge people for wanting to cut to the chase.
Nowadays the statement ‘We do not comment on rumors or speculation’ is as good as a confirmation in my mind. With video games becoming more and more a 24 hour news cycle, we are always looking for the next big story. Many complained at the lack of major announcements at the Tokyo Game Show. With the way the industry is now, you should be impressed if any announcement at a game show shocks you.
Did you hear the rumor about (insert N4G.com story here)? It’s probably true.
With the launch of the PS3 Slim and PSP Go we can confidently say that there will be no significant hardware released this year. No, a bigger hard drive doesn’t count as a new hardware release. But both the PS3 Slim and Go have already had troubled pre-launch periods as everyone waited to get their hands on them. Why? Because we knew about them a long time ago. It’s hardly a surprise that PS3 sales have spiked due to the lower price, but also because gaming journalists have been encouraging us to wait for the redesigned model for just under a year. There’s nothing quite like the rumors of a major hardware update to kill the sales of a system, and all year you feel as though Sony have been struggling to get to this point, where they can finally exhale and start selling the products they have, as opposed to the ones they will have.
We all knew about the PS3 Slim and the PSP Go well in advance of their announcement. Well, the PSP Go’s premature accidental unveiling to the world is well documented; someone posted an episode of Qore what showed of the new model, and the one subscriber to Qore posted it on the internet. But even before that there were murmurings of a radical redesign of the PSP.
Likewise the Slim and even Wii motion plus had been heavily hinted at by journalists in advance. My question is why? Is it something they have been told from someone in the know that they are unable to officially confirm, but that they want to express as a rumor in order to get the word out? The mythical embargo dates? Or is it because it seems so obvious that it is inevitable that it would eventually appear. In the case of the PS3 Slim for example, we were already aware that the PS1 and PS2 had already had a redesign. Then was it mere speculation as to when the trimmer version of the monolithic PS3 would emerge?
Thanks to a devoted and tech savvy army of internet gamers, it isn’t only the journalists that are spilling the secrets of gaming companies. Often we hear of websites hacked in order to reveal the existence of a hint of a future project. But seeing as Hideo Kojima sees fit to taunt us with endless countdown clocks, I can hardly judge people for wanting to cut to the chase.
Nowadays the statement ‘We do not comment on rumors or speculation’ is as good as a confirmation in my mind. With video games becoming more and more a 24 hour news cycle, we are always looking for the next big story. Many complained at the lack of major announcements at the Tokyo Game Show. With the way the industry is now, you should be impressed if any announcement at a game show shocks you.
Did you hear the rumor about (insert N4G.com story here)? It’s probably true.
