The Evils of Coverage

by Matt Blackie 

Final Fantasy VIII has been slated for a Winter '99 release. But I'm sure you already knew that, right? Unless you are either a monk or you live underneath a rock, such knowledge is commonplace. And I bet you also knew that the main character's name was Squall, and that he used a weapon called a gunblade, and that two more of the main characters' names were Rinoa and Seifer. And I'd wager that you also knew that summoned monsters were called Guardian Forces, and I bet you could name most of them.

Why is this, I ask? Final Fantasy VIII isn't going to be out for more than a year, and yet I know more about it than I knew about Final Fantasy VII on the day of its release. How can such a large amount of information be known about the upcoming game?

The answer is coverage. Coverage far before it's warrented or really needed. Gaming sites like EGM, IGN Network, RPGamer, and GIA all strive to bring you the most movies, the most screenshots, and the most new snippits of information they can. But all for what? I see no purpose in doing all of this, aside from spoiling much of the game and ruining the experience one gets from entering a wonderful new world that they can explore. Part of the wonder of FF7, for me, at least, was that I knew nothing about the world...I could explore and constantly discover new things.

People say it's hype, and I agree. Sometimes I wonder if Square (and other companies making largely-hyped games) doesn't pay these magazines and networks to hype these games for them. It would make sense, but in another way, it's completely incomprehensible. Why hype a game to the extent being done with FF8? Why release all of the information about the game months before its release or even completion?

I can just imagine this scenario. Winter of '99, a week or so after the release of FF8, I ask a good friend if he's bought the game already. He says to me, "No, why buy it? I already know the storyline. I know everything about the game." Do you know what the sad part is? If this were to happen to me during winter of next year, I would not be surprised. Not in the least. Simply because I know that by that time, information about everything in the game will likely be on the Internet and in magazines.

Some hype is a good thing. I mean, who would buy a game when they didn't know a thing about it? If I didn't know that Metal Gear Solid was a covert operations game (hence "Tactical Espionage Action"), I probably wouldn't have played it. Some hype is good. However, magazines and websites need to know when to stop relaying every hint or clip of information from the producers they can get their hands on, and producers, in turn, need to stop leaking this information. There is a line.

Look at Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete. This is a fairly hyped game, one that I would rate as in the acceptable range. I know enough about the game to make me want to buy it: anime cutscenes, smooth graphics, fantasy feel, memorable characters. However, I know not one thing about the plot, except that Alex, the game's protagonist, wants to be a Dragonmaster. That's it. Working Designs hasn't released comprehensive information about the characters; they haven't introduced the villains; they haven't told us how the world works. Yet they have still managed to make a game (not just a remake, but a new game in itself) that we all want to buy.

On top of that, we're nearly to the release date of the game! I wager that when we're as close to FF8's release date as we are to Lunar:SSS', then there will be people out there who know more about FF8 than I know about FF7. Sad, isn't it? I certainly think so. I intend to shy away from any FF8 information, from now until release time. I will play a game that is new to me, not one I've known the plot to for a year.