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September 28, 2009
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The Uncharted 2 Tweet Spam Begins [UPDATE]

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Written by: Dalibor Dimovski
Tags: ,

head_unch2tw

[UPDATE: Naughty Dog has acted quickly, addressing the concerns of  frequency of tweets:

"Some reviewers have had early access to the game and selected the option to update their Twitter accounts as they completed each chapter of the game. This has resulted in some Twitter feeds being updated multiple times an hour. We obviously want to provide the best experience for everybody, so for the time being we've disabled Twitter updates on chapter completions"

Social networking, and its integration into gaming, is a funny thing.  Sony took the chance to utilize the abilities of Twitter to both promote Uncharted 2 and to give users the ability to share recent game play events with their friends.  Understanding that it is taking a risk in utilizing the integration, Sony realized that it is still learning at what is an optimal way of bringing the two together.  Naughty Dog listens to their fans and it shows in the speed in which they acted.]

[EDIT: Just to clarify... This is aimed at the Twitter users, not to Naughty Dog.]

Seriously people, this crap has to stop. Twitter has become inundated with the spam of a hundred Uncharted 2 game reviewers telling us that they have just completed an act, gained a level, or played multiplayer.  Yes, it is as bad as it seems.  Nay, it is worse.  As soon as Uncharted 2 is released, the flood of Twitter spam will undoubtedly kill it the social network.  Can you imagine 1-2 million people spamming Twitter all at once with these childish, vomit-inducing ego trips?

No, I don’t care if you just found a bronze monkey statue.  You’ve just made Twitter much less usable for those of us that follow you.  Or should I say UN-follow you.

What seemed like a hip idea at the time has turned into an almost porn-like spamming of the network.  Meant to engage friends and followers into the Uncharted 2 gaming experience, the effect has been an almost unanimous hateful response from the Twitterverse.  The issue isn’t necessarily that the game tweets out your latest achievements, but that it does it so frequently.  In one count, one user had 4 automated tweets in less than an hour.  This is bad use of social media, folks.

#Uncharted2 twitter meme, I hope you die a quick and painful death before you take Twitter down with you.

In retaliation, I have started posting mundane daily tasks within the #Uncharted2 hashtag.  “Just scratched his butt in #Uncharted2″ and “needs to finish a Powerpoint in #Uncharted2″ are just some of the less colorful ones.  Let’s hope game developers Naughty Dog get the picture and put a stop to this nonsense.



About the Author

Dalibor Dimovski
Dali is the co-founder of SideQuesting, as well as the co-Founder of CarDesignFetish and the founder of MakLink. A long-time blogger/web-designer, Dali currently works as a full-time creative Product Designer in the automotive industry and a deejay. His passions are music, contemporary and classic art, video games (naturally), and his family.
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  • lul

    high five to naughty dog for single handedly killing twitter :D HIGH FIVE!

  • http://www.Twitter.com/kewlrats Dalibor Dimovski

    I would also like to note that I do use automated Twitter integration (for my GamerDNA), but only once per day as it is a nice summation of my gaming habits. One bundle of joy as opposed to one every 6 seconds.

  • Dave

    So you’re complaining that Twitter is full of shitty messages and spam? That’s all it is. Some dick thinks that something he probably didn’t even do is funny and posts it there. Or, some sensitive prick with a pony tail and a guitar he can play 3 chords on posts a lyric to a song to tell everyone what his current mood is.

    You people that use it, here is some advice – nobody gives a fuck what you’re doing. Nobody cares if you just baked a cake, took a shit, walked the dog, murdered a hooker, or are thinking about something we don’t care about.

  • Mr Dee

    Haaa! Your comments amused me, sir. Not only because I agree with the content, but also because I couldn’t have put it better myself.

    You also write properly, spell correctly and have a grasp of the English language – a rarity on forum posts these days…

  • BillB

    Great job Naughty Dog! I can’t wait for this game!

  • sscoolchea

    You are a fkn intelligent man Dave . People all over the world have Been spamming twitter with shit like ” hey im taking a shit ” hey im whacking off ” So what the fk is the difference now …ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

    UNCHARTED 2 OCT 13 PS3 FTW

  • http://www.Twitter.com/kewlrats Dalibor Dimovski

    Thennnn… you just don’t follow those people that spam that stuff. But as for what Twitter is used for: the masses talk about what they’re eating or shitting. If that’s what you want to read, then by all means follow those people. Eating, shitting, and playing Uncharted 2.

    As a Twitter user (not for the shitting or eating) I see it as a clever marketing ploy, but one that will ultimately spawn similar actions from every game out there on all social networks.

    Prepare to see a million text messages about how many yards your friend just ran in Madden 2011, because that’s what’s next.

  • Ash

    Imagine how twitter will be when Microsoft adds it to Xbox 360. all the games will tweet nonsense all the time :(

  • EvoAnubis

    Uh…hey, smart one. You might want to check this out before you go getting all mad.

    http://www.consolemonster.com/newspost.php?id=0000006009

    Wow…looks like it’s up to the user what’s updated to Twitter and what’s not. Maybe you should save your whining for the individuals in question, and not the developer.

    Oh, and Twitter is f*cking stupid anyway.

  • http://www.Twitter.com/kewlrats Dalibor Dimovski

    So Twitter-spamming your followers (regardless of what game it is) is okay? While it’s controllable in Uncharted 2, sit back and realize that this will be the “future”: seeing tweets (or text messages, or emails, or automated phone calls) from your friends about how many headshots they just had in Halo or Koopas they just jumped on in Mario.

    And yes, I fully send my hate towards the users doing this although Naughty Dog should have anticipated something like this occurring. It’s annoying as shit to someone who actually uses Twitter. If you do a quick Twitter search for #UNCHARTED2 then you can see that the distaste for the feature is pretty widespread.

    Oh, and for those who ask: I’ve got my Twitter settings on Uncharted 2 turned off. Now if only a few other folks would do the same.

  • http://onipar.blogspot.com onipar

    Awesome!

    Now that I know leaving the twitter option ON while I play Uncharted 2 will KILL twitter, I’m definitely going to use it.

    Imagine, contributing to the demise of one of the single most pointless and time-wasting web application ever.

    Oh yes, Naughty Dog deserves praise for this.

  • twitterISstupid

    IMO this whole twitter sh*t is … well basically sh*t. These guys have absolutely no revenues and have just been valued @ around a billion dollars? WTF? lol and then we all cry when the markets tank! It’s ppl like you who have made this shi*tty idea into billion dollar company! Talk about retards following retards. But I guess young stupid teenagers need something to play with and waste their time. Tweet tweet…more like puke puke!

  • EvoAnubis

    Oh, didn’t know I could cuss here. Now that the floodgates are open, good to go!

    First off, I do use Twitter; same username as here and everywhere else (google it). Doesn’t mean that I like it, but rather it means that I dislike missing out on news and contests that for some idiotic reason seem to only happen there.

    ND gave the controls for what got updated and what didn’t to the end user…for fuck’s sake, man; what more do you want? In order to even use the function in the first place, you have to TELL IT TO; it’s not automatic.

    And based on what you just said, you’re not even mad about this, but some “could be” scenario where it just does it by itself. Well, so what? I’ve seen iPhone games that do the same thing, but still you need to manually turn it on.

    See, I actually clicked on your link in the article and saw the search, so reminding me that I can do this I find insulting; I’m not one of the morons that will choose to attack you simply because you’ve said bad things about a PS3 game. The simple fact of the matter is that it’s not as important as you’ve made it out to be. You block it and move on, just like facebook game updates from friends. The process takes almost 3 seconds.

    My point? Getting mad about this was a waste of time, and if you’re mad now, then I can’t wait to see your article on Twitter and Facebook NXE integration when that comes out.

  • EvoAnubis

    Oh, and I apologize for the insult in the first sentence of my first post. That was uncalled for, and I should not have done that.

  • http://jleack.blogspot.com/ Jonathan Leack

    If you don’t like it then don’t follow the people who use it. I personally love Twitter and love this application of it within Uncharted 2. It completely falls within the means and notions of Twitter.

  • http://www.Twitter.com/kewlrats Dalibor Dimovski

    I think people are taking my comments about the Tweet spam as a dislike towards the game. That’s not the case. This article is just about how people (on Twitter) are reacting to it.

    The point I was trying to make is that the “gray area” where social networking and gaming are beginning to intermingle is still in its infancy, with the industry in the beginnings of understanding how to integrate the two together. Is tweeting every step a character takes the answer? If your Twitter followers or Facebook friends like it, then by all means feel free to continue. It’s very easy to block or unfriend someone who’s actions don’t appeal to you. I just don’t think developers fully understand yet what the implications are, and users about what their “social and ethical” limits are. (I put those terms in quotes for a reason, and loosely.)

    Regardless, I and others have a right to dislike and whine about the tweet-bombing as much as you have a right to defend it. It’s an opinion, and that’s about it. Although, I do think you’ve added well to the conversation, actually engaging in debate rather than flaming.

    And for those who have yet to play Uncharted 2: While I’ll wait until I get the green light to post my review, I can say that the scores you’re seeing about the quality of the game are pretty much right on.

  • EvoAnubis

    Fair enough.

    Man, I so rarely get to engage in intelligent debate here on the internet, I’m almost forgot how much I enjoy it!

  • EvoAnubis

    LOL…I have to actually agree with this.

  • http://www.Twitter.com/kewlrats Dalibor Dimovski

    No worries. :)

  • http://www.Twitter.com/kewlrats Dalibor Dimovski

    Haha, so true!

    Like I said over at N4G: Perhaps I’m just an old fart who’s fearful of a gaming spam epidemic, with this as one of the first major shots (although as you said: iPhone games and social gaming sites have been doing it for ages).

    I’ll grab a beer, go back to playing the damn game and shut up. :)

  • http://www.Twitter.com/kewlrats Dalibor Dimovski

    In a morbid way I, too, somehow agree to the downfall of teh twitterz… lol

  • http://onipar.blogspot.com onipar

    Welcome to the revolution. :-)

    Viva! Viva!

  • http://onipar.blogspot.com onipar

    Hey, I just saw this article:

    http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/09/twitter-update-uncharted-2/

    Looks like your twitter worries are over. :-)

  • JAPAN

    This article is pathetic.

  • Fatguy

    The root word of Twitter is twit. That pretty much sums up that useless appendage of the internets. If the PS3 + UC2 can single handedly kill Twitter, permanently, then that will be a great accomplishment for Sony & Naughty Dog…an unexpected bonus to be proud of I
    should think.

    Burp,

    Fatguy

  • Pingback: Uncharted 2's Twitter spam is not welcome | LazyGamer .:: Console and PC Gaming News ::.

  • user1337

    I’m with this guy! Bring that damn site down! on a side note, I just keep the twitter thing off. I barely ever use twitter any way. Its only good for bigger companies and journalists. But for regular people….pointless..unless you want the world to know you made yourself a cup of tea or something.

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