The Punished Podcast: Episode 28 – The Hype Cycle

The video game hype cycle has become an intrinsic part of the culture: E3, “not-E3,” trade shows, presentations, trailers, you name it! We’ll get into our experiences with the hype cycle, the good and the bad, and what lies ahead for video game hype in an ever-changing media environment. *Note: This episode contains light swearing.* MP3 Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts !A graphic showing a diverse group of video game journalists on a video game podcast called The Punished Podcast with their headshots and names: Sam Martinelli (host), David Silbert, Gary Wilson, and Amanda Tien. Sam Martinelli (host) | https://punishedbacklog.com/author/atien/David Silbert | Gary Wilson | Amanda Tien ## Timestamps - 0:00 – Intros: Most Over-Hyped Games - 05:15 – E3, “Not-E3,” and Best Memories - 32:00 – Why Do We Care? Why Is Gaming Culture Like This? - 45:00 – Is All of This Just Ads Now? - 55:51 – Future of the Video Game Hype Cycle - 1:06:27 – Making Our Own Dev Showcase (Feat. Dreams of a Moss Cinematic Universe) - 1:19:55 – Outros: What We’re Playing/Reading/Watching * * * !A square cover art for The Punished Podcast, Episode 28 about the Video Game Hype Cycle and E3/Not-E3, showing Keanu Reeves from a famous 2019 E3 presentation on Cyberpunk 2077. ## A Few Excerpts - **Gary:** “I’ve been entrenched in ‘Video Game Christmas’ (i.e., E3 and then, after its closing in 2023, replacement shows like Summer Game Fest) for as long as I can remember… The most notable memory to me was when, every single time, Ubisoft decided to open their presentation with *Just Dance*. Because they would fill this theater full of journalists who don’t give a flying crap about any of this stuff with dancers and music and lights and this big board that would show off the *Just Dance* background… and everybody would look super bored. The joy of these conferences, especially eventually, it really transitioned from ‘What’s a great time to showcase \[new] games?’ to ‘What’s the wildest thing we can do to drive up videos up on the internet?’ And Ubisoft’s answers were dancers.” - **Sam:** “I have a quick anecdote of my dad, who went to one of these when they were more trade shows, to other technical people in the industry. It wasn’t E3, but it might have been CES in the late 1980s. He was working for a company that was trying to make playable games on the VHS. This is a real thing. Like you would put the tape in a VCR and fast forward or whatever, and it would be a word game or something, you know, easy to interact with and people already have VCRs. And one of his co-workers comes back to their booth and says to my dad, ‘Guys, we’re fucked. Look over there.’ And it’s Nintendo showing off the Game Boy.” *Everyone laughs.* “But yeah, what I think we’re getting to here is what made those live shows so interesting…” - **David:** “I think you make a good point, Amanda, about the silliness and authenticity of Switch 2 Welcome Tour. Even in this age of a prerecorded Nintendo Direct, there’s still room for artistry. I’m thinking of something Kyle Bosman showed on a recent episode of his show Delayed Input, where he’s showing off Yoshiaki Koizumi doing the thumb wrestling in the upcoming *Switch Sports Resort* game. And he loses, and Kyle’s like, ‘Wow, now I know there’s stakes here. They can lose?!’ It reminds me of when Reggie Fils-Aimé was willing to play Smash live on stage. Those were the kinds of moments I lived for, especially Nintendo — who’s so buttoned up — to let loose. As you said earlier, Sam, the gaming industry is maturing. There’s some good and a lot of bad when it comes to maturing as a late-stage capitalist corporation that owns a lot of subsidiaries. But when we can have time for fun in these presentations, and remember that the whole point of playing games is to have fun and kind of feel like a kid again, then that’s when they’re at their best.” - **Amanda:** “There’s something economic about the video game hype cycle. Even 10 years ago, these are companies who are trying to convince people to buy a $60 game that, in order to fully experience, they’re going to have to play a minimum of 40 to 50 hours, maybe more than that. David, as you said, people can’t play demos of these games at E3 anymore. Sam, you asked about why is gaming culture like this compared to other industries, like books or movies. I have to imagine that some of the gaming hype cycle *has* to do with the amount of breadcrumbs that developers and publishers have to leave in order to get you excited about it so that *months later*, you are willing to shell out that money for that game. Like a movie ticket, depending on where you see it, could be $10 to $20, but then it’s over in a max of three hours. A book, if you’re buying hardback day one, maybe it’s $30 \[but realistically closer to $15]. But for a game, you are asking for a large investment of time and money — including the hardware it’s on! There’s a kind of literal buy-in that these companies are expecting, particularly during the heyday of console wars, right? Like, ‘How can we make you buy our $400 metal box so you can buy $60 of other little metal boxes? And believe in our metal box more than the other guys’ metal box!’ So, I think that’s why gaming trailers have become part and parcel of the gaming industry. To me, it totally makes sense why the hype cycle is so intrinsic to this culture.” ***Listen to the episode for the full conversation!*** * * * ## Further Reading > E3 Seems To Be Done. How Do We Feel? > Not-E3 2026: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly > The Punished Podcast: Episode 27 – Video Games Media > The Best Games of PAX East 2026 > E3 2019 Post-Mortem: The Good, the Bad, and the Breathtaking > We’re Live-Blogging Tonight’s Game Awards. Come Join Us! The post The Punished Podcast: Episode 28 – The Hype Cycle appeared first on The Punished Backlog.