Let me warn you now before you read on, THIS IS A RANT. More than anything at least. But it should be a good one.
<RANT>
So I'm sure that most of you have heard about the "limited" "beta" keys that Sony is handing out for their new game LittleBigPlanet. If not, Check It Out Here. But for now I will assume that you have.
Well it seemed like Sony decided they were going to hook users up with an early version of this game before it comes out on October 21st. Pretty cool of them if you ask me. Well for the most part pretty cool of them. Why for the most part, well because the game is no longer in Beta for one. It went Gold not too long ago. So how the fuck can you call it a Beta? Why not call it an early Demo in this case?
Because they want to make it feel exclusive and drive up Hype for the game is the answer I would come to gather. Which is good for a marketing aspect, but to someone that can usually see through corporate BS, it looks like they are trying make a game that they know is shit to look awesome. I'm not saying that it is shit, but this is the normal ploy they use to make consumers buy the game out the gate only to realize afterward that it is shit and can't take it back. I honestly do hope that is not the case, but it is how it is shaping up to be in my head.
Another reason for this "Hype" issue I see is that they are giving out limited numbers of keys for gaming sites to hand out. Like say, 2000 here, 1000 there. I mean hell the Official LBP site only has 1000 to hand out. So what does this do? It crashes servers of gaming sites for people who don't care about this game at all. GamePro.com has been down 90% of the day and the above link isn't even working due to people slamming the servers to get this "Exclusive" "Beta." It is, in my opinion, hurting these sites more than anything by doing it this way. Personally I think it is just another way for them to say "Look how awesome our game is going to be. It crashed all other sites more than Halo or anything on the Wii ever did."
In the end, it feels more like these "beta keys" are more of a hindrance to the game than a promotion. I'll admit I went to a site to get my key so I can get a look at the game early, but my reasons are so I could tell you all if it is Shit or not before it releases. But now that I am trying to just general work and surfing for news tidbits, it seems more and more like a huge ploy by Sony to get people to buy this game. Which of course it is. But like I said, it feels like it is a ploy to get people to get it right off. Because they call it a Beta they can always cop out if someone says they played it and it was shit before it releases. Thus having people still going in and picking it up. Yes, this all sounds convoluted, but it sounds solid in my head.
So in the end dear readers, I guess my point is, always try to be objective when stuff like this happens. Don't buy into the hype. Don't crash servers for something that isn't even what it is. It is not a Beta, but a majority of the gaming community is flocking to it like it is. It is a glorified demo of the game. A demo that Sony is making exclusive to make people pine for this game. A game that has a full release in a little over three weeks.
</RANT>
