With E3 edging ever closer, the flood of leaks and rumours is starting to flow forth with the supposed list of games for Microsoft and Sony’s press conferences coming out, as well as ‘leaks’ of new announcements and surprises that will be present at E3. With many people jumping on various hype trains and getting all psyched up for these rumours, I am here to tell you to calm down, take a deep breath and leave these rumours alone. Beware the rumour mill, for it is a dark place.

This routine happens every E3, the show is just on the horizon and suddenly, these ‘mysterious leaks’ come out from nowhere, promising games that may or may not be at the show. It gets everybody talking and excited to see what’s on the way, it almost seems like it is intentional, right? Ever since the Survivor 2299 hoax and the ungodly amounts of hype that was created around that ‘leak’, I avoid all rumours like the plague until they have substantial evidence. Take the recently released press conference rundowns that were leaked online and everyone is going crazy over, they reek of being fake. Here’s a couple of tests you can do to check if a rumour sounds plausible and should be kept an eye on, as well as some measures to take in case of extreme rumour hype:

1 – Does it sound remotely true?

This is an easy one, right? If something in the rumour sounds completely stupid, it’s probably not real. Like with the Microsoft E3 press conference leak, the one part that stuck out like a sore thumb was that Battletoads was coming back as a Free-to-Play game. While the rest of the leaks sounded somewhat realistic, this one sent the leak’s credibility crashing down. The likelihood of Rare bringing back Battletoads, as opposed to say Conker, Banjo or Kameo, is incredibly low and it being a Free-to-Play game just sounds absurd.

2- Does it look authentic?

For example, this ‘leaked’ document might as well have been written by Bigfoot. It’s that fake.

Again, this one is pretty obvious. Are there any screenshots and if there are, do they look photoshopped or really bad quality? Take the Smash 4 roster leak, the models for the unannounced veterans were all from Brawl instead of being new ones, which casts major doubt on its authenticity. That’s one reason which the Project Beast leak is so promising, the screenshots look very authentic and there are multiple screens of good quality, instead of just one taken on a blurry camera. If there is a website which has been set up around the leak, check if it is registered to the company that is supposedly selling the game and it is using the same host that the company normally uses. Again, one major way the Survivor 2299 hoax was debunked was where the site was hosted and the fact the date used was in the dd/mm/yy format instead of the American mm/dd/yy.

3- Is the leak coming from somewhere credible?

Like when you were a kid and that guy in the playground said that Mario 64 2 was coming out because his uncle worked at Nintendo, be mindful of your source. If the rumour is coming from multiple big news sites and being tweeted out like mad, you can start to think that rumour may be legit. If your source is one guy on Reddit who heard off his cousin that Half Life 3 is definitely being announced this E3, just move on.

So you’ve done your checks and you think that the rumour that you have heard may be legit. Now what do you do?

1- Don’t jump on the Hype Train

I say this as even if you think the hype is real and that that leak is true, don’t jump on that train just yet. If you get on, more and more people will get hyped, the train will go even faster and the excitement will spread and spread, making the possible derailment of the train more painful if it comes. Just ask any Fallout fan about Survivor 2299, they may burst into tears. Just be aware that the rumour may happen and if it does come true, great but don’t get super pumped about it until it is confirmed.

Don’t jump on that train Nintendo fans. You don’t want to end up at Wii Music Junction again, do you?

2- Don’t then trust any other rumour that come from that source

Just because one rumour in a whole list of rumours was correct, doesn’t mean that source is then the oracle and must then be consulted for all gaming leaks. Treat every rumour as a separate case and put each one under as much scrutiny as the last. It’s better to be underwhelmed but informed rather than initially hyped and then disappointed.

3- Don’t read any more rumours

This is the best course of action to be honest. Unless you are a journalist and have to keep track of rumours as they develop, just don’t read or believe any rumours. You’ll spare yourself any heartbreak of being disappointed when they don’t announce that game you really wanted and it increases the surprise and hype when something you didn’t expect is announced. For example, I doubt the raucous applause and cheers that followed Twilight Princess’ announcement at E3 2004 would have happened if everyone had read NeoGAF two weeks before to learn the minute by minute breakdown of Nintendo’s conference.

Do yourself a favour, avoid the rumour mill at all costs until the conference opens and just enjoy each surprise as it happens. The hearts of many gamers will be broken during the conference due to bogus rumours, make sure you’re not one of them.