Spend some time reading about games, and you’ll likely come across a term that you know the meaning of, but never bothered to put a name to: bullshots. We see them often, and they are the bane of gamers everywhere. We all hate them, and with good reason. They are to videogames what the truth is to politicians…something to be manipulated in order to showcase what is otherwise average, in the best possible light.
So why exactly do they exist? Unfortunately, they have proven to be highly effective (on both fronts), and their powers to influence are well documented. Some may wish to think otherwise, but we all have our own personal agendas, and game developers are no different.
Gamepro made it a point to speak to a few insiders about the practice. A few answered, but many would not comment. One anonymous developer even went to far as to say that they didn’t want to be mentioned in an article about the topic, even if they were shown not to use it. Talk about powerful stuff!
Read more about this Photoshop phenomenon, after the jump.
As editor in chief of EGM, Dan Hsu observed, the intent isn’t necessarily always to deceive:
“Bullshots can serve a functional business purpose,” he says. “Developers sometimes use ‘target’ assets as a way to show people what a game is supposed to look like. The purpose could be to help sell a concept to financiers or put a visual on something that’s not there yet. But it’s the company’s responsibility to let the press know that these are, indeed, ‘target’ screens and not the real deal. If they do that, then you can’t fairly call it false advertising.”
Ok, I’ll give that view a fair shake. Maybe all developers aren’t hiding away in their fortified bunkers, reading up on hypnosis, and dreaming up ways to spit shine the console code equivalent of a steaming pile into something that resembles an opening scene of a Final Fantasy game. However, some high profile developers have done just that.
In an age where we have the technology to manipulate all media, consumers are becoming increasingly more aware of the stark differences between what is being shown to us, and what the final product is going to look like. Thanks to eagle-eyed observers, very little gets by us these days. Does that mean that we can expect less and less of this practice? Hell no, but developers should keep in mind that we are going to continue to ratchet up the pressure on you when we find out that you do.
Is it too much to ask of developers not to entice us with visions of things that they know damn well are not true representations of the finished product? I, for one, don’t think so. If you put together a talented team that designs an enjoyable game that has a reasonable balance between graphics and gameplay, we’re going to buy your game. Believe me, we want nothing more than to get our hands on the next great title that you’ve released, and to make sure you are successful enough to produce more down the line– we’ll support you 100%. Just keep it real along the way.
