Scrounging for Crumbs

In the run up to a release we're looking forward to, we have basically two options. We ignore the press altogether, either because we don't want stuff to be spoiled or because we're not interested enough to waste time looking for every little tidbit scattered throughout a hundred different gaming sites (I wonder if it's really a hundred. Never easy to tell); OR, we try to soak up the gravy with our crust of bread, eager to learn every little thing about the games coming up.

The games industry, especially for the heavily promoted titles, often goes all-out for those of us who do the latter. When I was a kid there were shock ads in gaming magazines designed to make an impression more than actually advertise for the game (with the result that I stopped taking gaming magazines seriously and did my best to just ignore ads altogether. I thought they were ugly and boring; I wanted game screens and information, not some model's sweaty, backlit head or piles of intestines). Now fmv ads are pretty much the standard, since you don't need to go anywhere or buy anything to get them (except a computer with a fast connection and the processing power and hardware to crunch those HD movie files, of course).
 
Being a confessed Skyrim aficionado, not afraid of minor spoilers in a game like that precisely because the game is a lot more of a personalized experience than something expressly linear (that, and I still love listening to the main theme, although I don't feel like charging into the mountains anymore to climb to a peak and scream into the howling wind-- which is a sign of progress, I think), I've been hitting the information trickles pretty hard trying to learn more about the game.  It's a bit exhausting, though.
 
It's especially frustrating when the trickle of information doesn't match your particular hunger. I can go weeks without bothering to read anything about any of the big-budget games I'm following, like Deus Ex, Rage, Prey 2, or Bioshock Infinite, but the mood will strike me and I'll watch all the footage I can. Then...  well, it's not like you can just force them to tell you more. There's only so much you can look up before you run out.  Why do I care so much, though?
 
It's pretty much because we get these driblets (made it up) in time-release capsules, largely dictated by the ad folks. By creating information scarcity, the theory goes, you increase demand. Yet often I find myself ceasing to care if I don't hear from someone in a while (or if I hear too much); with so many projects to keep track of, not to mention the retro, small company, and independent games I like to keep up on, my attention span can only hold so many things at once. It's almost like I hit information withdrawal for a time, reading old articles trying to pick up new information.
 
After a period of drought lasts long enough, though, I calm down. I look at the games I already have and realize I've been neglecting quite a few of them. I go through the arduous task of installing on these older machines, fix what's wrong, and start playing. If the game's great, or good enough, all these information packets about upcoming games feel rather empty. Like those dreams I was talking about, they're better in the head than they often are to play, and an imperfect game in my hands is worth a backpack full of promises. 
 
Finally played Gemini Rue, beat it, then played it again with the commentary track. Tried to review it two days ago, reviewed it yesterday, and didn't pay much attention to game media in the interim. Now I'm curious again, and so the cycle goes, but it was a nice vacation from game fandom...  you know, actually playing games instead.