Media Graphics "Downgrade" Issues: False Advertising or Clever Marketing?

[Solidus]

For the past few weeks, the Internet has been up in a storm over the alleged graphical "downgrades" involving The Witcher 3. I won't quote any specific articles now, since there are A LOT of articles that are covering this. But, I have linked a YouTube commentary video below (not mine!), for anyone who's unaware of what's going on. Apparently, the old trailers of The Witcher 3 from 2013 and 2014 had significantly better graphics than the final product of the game that was just released. In many ways, it's very reminiscent of what happened when Ubisoft released Watch Dogs, or when Gearbox Studios released Aliens: Colonial Marines.

It goes without saying, that every developer makes use of high-end gaming PCs to showcase their trailers and gameplay videos at E3, and various other expos. These are games which may look very different from the completed products. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands of people are also inclined to pre-order games, based on they hype and promotions that comes out of these expos.

I'll pose the following two question for discussion:

First, is it wrong (or false advertising) for developers to showcase promotional trailers for games, that will look much worse when they're finally released? Or, should we cut game developers some slack, and understand that their promotional trailers are simply "works in progress" for games that haven't been released as yet? What say you, video game section? (okay... that's three questions, but whatever).

 

[jimmie_dimmick]

I think this sums it up pretty well.

https://youtu.be/Kq_vX9ScEds

 

[Solidus]

But, where do you stand on the issue? That's the point of the thread...

 

[jimmie_dimmick]

I think it's wrong to show us these graphically superior trailers to hype the game and obtain preorders, only to do the "bait and switch" at release, sighting "we had to downgrade to put the game out".

I fell into this trap with Watch Dogs big time. I admit I bought into the hype. Turns out the game was a turd and not only did the graphics not live up to the hype, but the game was boring and linear.

I no longer preorder games because of this and while I did buy Witcher 3 yesterday, I never knew about the graphics downgrade until this morning.

That said, I read reviews before buying and since Witcher 3 is getting pretty good reviews and fellow SSF members seem to like it, I caved and bought it (the publisher can thank whomever compared this game to skyrim and red dead redemption - that sold me).

 

[Roc74]

This is nothing new, you just learn to live with the fact that commercials always make the product look 200% better then it really is. Just walk into any Mcdonalds and the images of their Big Macs and Fries always look so much more appealing then what they actually serve you.

Thats why its always better to trust word of mouth from friends and family then what the people who are trying to sell to you are saying. I think most of us do this for other products already (cars, food, appliances, electronics, clothes, toys etc etc.) Video games should be no different.

 

[Snake Plissken]

I'll just leave this here...

Colonial Marines.

 

[vareika]

First of all, I vote for response 2 in cutting game developers some slack.

Secondly, I honestly think consumers need to protect themselves better and just be more savvy about things like this. This is by no means an endorsement for false advertising, but I think the Witcher 3 thing is blown out way out of proportion. People who think they got cheated can try to acquire refunds and those who feel offended by the graphical downgrade can choose not to support the game or even the developer. If for some reason refunds are not possible, then its really is too bad so sad, lessons learned unfortunately.

Again, fundamentally false advertising is wrong but since when do we apply fundamental principles to every walk of life. Plenty of way worse and serious issues out there regarding fraud or false advertising on a grand scale that in some instances result in life or death situations (faulty equipment, "bad" health related products, etc.). Heck, the $600 or so I lost on "false advertising" from scam artists on this forum's commerce section hurts way more than the $50 I put in a game that I decide didn't live up to the hype or had downgraded graphics or mechanics.

 

[darthviper107]

It's to be expected that the game won't look exactly like the trailers, they might make choices that change the look that are unrelated to performance, like with Bioshock infinite.
However--there is a point where it gets to false advertising, it's not clear what that point is, but it's reasonable that that can be the case--trailers are advertising, people want to buy the product based off them. If the end product is significantly different than what was advertised, then that's not OK.
I'm not sure in the case of Witcher 3 if the difference is big enough though. While I am disappointed that it doesn't look as good as it possibly could, I'm not looking for a refund or anything, and it likely won't affect how I play the game. If a game is coming out on consoles and PC, you should assume that the footage is on PC unless specifically said otherwise, so console players should pretty much expect the game to look worse. But in this case, it wasn't until very recently that people could see the changes.
What I do have a problem with, is that the explanation for the difference---they didn't want separate builds of the game, so they consolidated it and lowered graphical features so that development would be easier since they had to develop for consoles. I don't think that's OK given their past history with PC gaming, that was kind of a middle finger to their fans.

 

[PermaG]

Anything you see in trailers and released, mostly for the big names, has no decisions made by the developers.

It is the suits.

Developers make what the publishers tell them and when.



Also, it's the consumers.
They hype it up, we buy it up.
Just like some of these statues. Why worry about QC if they keep selling?

Old game I used to play, Renegade. E3 videos and screenshots were way different.

We are not just talking about just a "graphical downgrade", but art are completely changed.
Characters models were different, vehicles, etc...

Later in the game's life and through the mod community, I was able to speak to some of the developers.
When asked why the change, he said, "EA told us to..."

Finally, maybe if was due to size of the game. Earlier shots were in earlier builds. Possibly less content, thus allowing for more graphical power.
Once the more content was added, that cause issues and required cuts in other places.

I do recall reading an article and they were mentioning how menus were even different...that I dont get. Again, unless some higher-up said to change cause he didnt like it...

 

[Dylan]

Not really sure Colonial Marines is an appropriate comparison. The E3 gameplay video for CM is entirely a lie. Next to nothing in that video is in the final product.

 

[SAB]

Witcher 3 is still the best looking console game ever (noting that this console gen is still young) ....so I don't have a problem with 'dowgrading'
Saying it looks 'much worse' is of course all relative....

They were building this on systems before the current consoles existed so that gives them two choices:
a) Show no previews at all until everything finalized
b) Show an estimate of what you hope you can achieve, guessing what the system can handle


The first time I personally was ever aware of sudden graphics changes was with Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and that was way back in ....early 2006 (I think)
They just couldn't get some of the lighting and shadow stuff working correctly and took it out very late in the game.
That was basically 10 years ago.

I generally cut the passionate game developers slack (Bethesda, CD Projekt RED, Bioware pre EA buyout) and believe they are trying to put out the best thing possible. What we see in he final product is what they can achieve.
As long as games aren't being released unfinished to appease the accountants, I'm not bothered.

 

[Sachiel]

CD Projekt tackles The Witcher 3 downgrade issue head on - Eurogamer.net

 

[RIDDICK]

Market awesome graphics, tell people this is what they gonna get... then release something completely different.

Modern game industry in a nutshell.
And CRPR has never released properly working games day one, not once. Expect huge patches during next six months.

 

[Kibagami]

See what happens when you follow trailers? Disappointment.

Age of Ultron, there. I said it.

 

[Nuka Cola Kidd]

People always find something to complain about.

 

[dominishin]

It's a valid complaint... especially for PC. Why do they have to get the shaft too?

 

[Matt S]

I think this sums it up pretty well.

https://youtu.be/Kq_vX9ScEds

I like the guy. His frances stuff gets old, but when he is just himself, he really has some good points

 

[megawarrior]

People knew about the downgrade halfway through 2014 but some people thought it was poorly picked photos (the promo shots first showing an area with snow)

It's a valid complaint... especially for PC. Why do they have to get the shaft too?

It was never going to look that good on PC either. They bit off more than they could chew.

 

[jimmie_dimmick]

I like the guy. His frances stuff gets old, but when he is just himself, he really has some good points

Agreed.

 

[ZombieRepublican]

First time it happened where i cared was MGS4 and MGS Rising. But both cases weren't to mislead anyone. MGS4s was before they knew the full stats and limitation of PS3 and Rising was cancelled






The real misleading one was Watch_Dogs, but that had bigger issues than graphics