The Element of Surprise is Dead

Ah, the guiltiest of parties have truly lessened the element of surprise. Maybe destroyed it outright. But the blame cannot rest solely with developers and publishers, nor with the "journalists" who report daily on the common happenings of this business. The expansive growth has led to citizens taking on self-investigations into the world of copyright, where corporate trademarks are quickly unraveled to the public. Thus, beleaguering the excitement of game announcements is evidently normal and conferences lose importance.

Some accidental, some purposeful; all ridiculous. The wealth of announcements at any given conference is frankly overshadowed by one or two specific noteworthy products, a long-awaited sequel or new console for example. And this electrified push, known simply as hype, in a profit-driven environment is what crumbles competitors and forms frontrunners. Essentially, the game of dethroning the Call of Dutys and World of Warcrafts lies with gaining an early foothold and never losing momentum.

In 2007, the first-person shooter genre waned at the overlapping turmoil of another WWII game. What happened seventy years ago was most definitely a tragedy -- the lowest point of human history -- but having to digitally relive the conflict year after year tired out the fanbase, and they sought something new. Activision-owned Infinity Ward migrated Call of Duty to present times and Modern Warfare was born. (Battlefield 2 preceded Call of Duty 4's release, but the limited exposure on consoles doomed the game.) Arguably, the raving success of future games in the series can be attributed to that announcement trailer in which the direction taken caught many off-guard, but caused the meteoric rise of the industry's leading franchise.

While E3 last year was a bust, accidental reveals and confirmed rumours violently murdered the shock factor, the only reason to actually watch the conferences. Instead of letting the crowd awe stupendously at Nintendo's new machine, the company confirmed the presence of the Wii U that April. Moreover, the confirmation sprouted rumours and speculation from every direction, possibly working in Nintendo's favour anyway. But brilliantly following up, Nintendo seemed unprepared at its showing and little information was given. Surprise killed, and the result was pitiful.

Similarly, Microsoft shared in the blunder glory with its botched announcement of Halo 4. Slated to start off the company's presentation, someone posted a blurb on the Xbox Live Dashboard several hours before. It was expected Microsoft had something planned when purchasing the rights from Bungie, though what transpired was a disaster.

One other major Microsoft exclusive suffered due to the company's idiocy as well. After Cliff Bleszinski was bumped for Justin Bieber's interview on Jimmy Fallon, the Dashboard lit up with a shiny ad parading the existence of Gears of War 3.

These bewildering, head-scratching blunders are certainly a sign of what is to come. The degrading importance of E3 and other expos, and how quickly news spreads in the digital age might mean the end of pure amazement in this industry. E3 2012 better bring the fun or I'm not watching.

Hey guys, for the slim number of you who actually read my blog, I know you took notice of my announcement to post daily. Somehow, I think life is working against me when I announced that, because I received a rather unpleasant letter in the mail and its after-effects I'm forced to deal with. If I take a long break, I really do apologize; sadly blogging can't be my main priority right now. But in time, things should settle themselves out and I'll continue on like normal. Thanks.

As well, please subscribe, tweet, share on Facebook and other sites and tell your friends. Thanks!