Are previews still necessary with demos reaching the masses?

Earlier this week, I read an article written by NewsWeek's LevelUp blogger, N’Gal Croal, in which he called out gaming media outlets on not writing everything they see, often favoring to relay the positive elements over the negative ones, when it comes to preview articles. While the main thesis of his article was interesting enough, it’s what I found in the comments section that spurred me to write the piece you are reading now.

People were almost unanimously in agreement that the preview process is outdated and should be abolished all together. With the widespread availability demos have these days to reach massive amounts of consumers; should the preview be based solely on that demo, or should we really just rid of previews for good?

Being that there already exist certain disconnects between writers and readers when it comes to reviewing games; it is no surprise to find that the same disconnect exists when it comes to previews. Since demos of games have become more widespread thanks to services like XBLA and PSN, more and more console consumers are finding themselves taking preview articles less to heart instead waiting for the game’s demo to pop up on one of the mentioned services.

While demos are nothing new to gamers, they are becoming more accessible in that instead of having to buy magazines or only being limited to PC games, you can just download them for free and on your console. However, the demo consumers get and the demo the press gets are sometimes two entirely different things, which forces consumers to believe that what they are reading in the preview article, is everything the previewer experienced and according to N’Gai Croal at least, that is not what is happening in many cases.

So then I propose to you, our readers, if the press was limited to only seeing what you saw, just earlier, effectively erasing the blur between what the press sees and the consumer sees, would that be enough to fix that disconnect I mentioned early between the writers and readers when it comes to previews?

In my opinion, yes indeed the preview article is quickly becoming an outdated thing. What was once used as a tool to show readers how far along a game has come in its development cycle has just become an extenuated cry of “we have the FIRST and EXCLUSIVE look”! It’s a bragging tool rather than an informative one. Then, you actually read the article and there are all these overwhelmingly positive things, but when the game is released all of those positive things you read about; have turned into these atrocious game mechanics.

Perhaps N’Gai is right and writers do give companies the benefit of a doubt way too much and they need to stop. I’m not saying every preview should be this bile filled article slamming a work in progress, I am just asking for a bit more honesty. Then again, can a bit of honesty really save previews if no one is reading them? Has that disconnect between the two parties periled previews for good? I think it has. Readers are finicky people when it comes to what they choose to accept and rightfully so, they are making an investment into something and only want the good advice and the widespread demoing allows them to do just that by giving them their own advice.

Of course, all of this is theoretical as previews aren’t going anywhere. For one thing, Nintendo has yet to jump into the practice of having publicly released demos, but WiiWare is the perfect grounds for them to do so if they ever wanted to.

Press outlets are also not going to rid of the tool that lets them show off that coveted first look at upcoming titles and publishers aren’t about to rid of that opportunity to get the press, and by proxy the readers, hyped up for their wares either. Thanks for indulging my rant though, because the real reason I wrote this is to get your opinions on the matter. Comment section is below, now discuss!