Comments on: Hype: Your Friendly Neighborhood Game Killer

By: xCHICKAMUNGUSx

xCHICKAMUNGUSx — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:33:43 +0000

Yeah, I see what you’re talking about, but if there was a game coming out that I really wanted, I’m one of those people who search the web for the most up to date release dates, and what the new characters look like, etc! It doesn’t kill the game for me though, it just makes me want it more!

But I totally get you on the other games that get left in the shadows, and never get a sequel. Shenmue….anyone remember that game? And it feel like squeezing water out of sand to get some footage of games like Soul Calibur 4, dude…I feel like, Dude….where’s my gameplay footage?

By: Stefanie

Stefanie — Fri, 02 May 2008 21:20:55 +0000

I totally understand where you are coming from! I stood in line with my boyfriend while he bought GTA 4 at midnight on Tuesday (or whatever day it was) and was absolutely astounded and depressed by the amount of hype a stupid little video game was getting. I mean, it was a video game. There were probably more people there in line who cared about the game than who actually voted among the youth in my community.

That said though, I was just as excited when Mario Kart Wii came out, and with Smash Brothers Brawl. So I suppose that it really depends upon the person and the game.

I haven’t played GTA 4 yet, but I have observed my boyfriend playing it and it is so detail filed. Like, it critiques every single element of society, culture, and stereotype you can think of. I find it hilarious to watch, and I have to say that my boyfriend is LOVING it - he is barely playing anything else, and this comes from a guy who is a hardcore RTS fan.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Fri, 02 May 2008 22:20:57 +0000

I managed to avoid the Portal hype, barely - I hadn’t even heard of it, saw various sites going “ZOMG BEST GAME EVER” but somehow only read the reviews which were good enough not to spoil it. And then I avoided all mention of it until I got the Orange Box.

Fortunately, I tend to hang around the kind of geeks who think spoilers are akin to puppy-kicking.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 02 May 2008 22:46:30 +0000

I think a certain amount of hype is healthy, but I agree, sometimes its overkill. It was definitely the case with me and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I was a huge Melee fan. I knew all the techniques and subtleties of the game, but since I discovered them on my own and with friends, it remained highly entertaining. But when Brawl was announced and its popularity soared, I just knew to much about the game for it to be as entertaining as the previous title. The Brawl Website had something like 300 posts on the game, and I read them all. And now, I’m all read bored with Brawl because the hype killed it for me. Also the fact that Marth got nerfed *heavy sigh*

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 02 May 2008 22:51:35 +0000

Oh and GTA IV is really good. Their physics engine is amazing compared to San Andreas. Granted its not, say, Half-life 2 physics, but still noteworthy.

By: Monique

Monique — Fri, 02 May 2008 23:23:51 +0000

All this hype has definitely got to me… in a good way tho. I’m about ot head out to buy my Xbox 360 with GTA4 (hopefully collector’s ed). I hate overhyping, but god, sometimes shit is WORTH hyping. This game is pretty much sold as the OoT of 2000’s, the game that revolutionizes and wakes up devs to see what their games can do. And I’m gonna be all over it.

So if a game can make me go to nextgen consoles, and ebay my Gamecube/PS2, it’s been really hyped. Hopefully tho, in this case, with justice!

Excellent post Brit <3

By: RiotMonster

RiotMonster — Sat, 03 May 2008 18:10:42 +0000

I am loving the title of this blog because it’s so true.. Good blog once again!! I love it!!

By: adamg

adamg — Sun, 04 May 2008 06:18:17 +0000

I really agree, and i do hate it. it really can ruin a game for me. but also, sometimes, i feel that there is something with hype that can make a game better. i mean like when games get a lot of hype, people will tell you something about it and when you finally get around to playing the game, there is this sense of suspense that is hanging there because you know something is gonna happen, but not quite when.
Like i’m playing bioshock right now, and the events of the game were revealed to me, so now when im playing, and i get a hint of something new to come, i start to get excited, because im gonna experience the cutscene that my friend said was awesome or something like that. It makes it even better when the new plot development i thought was gonna happen is pushed back by an anomaly in the game or something similar.
Also, for portal, you were saying that with all the hype and revealing, you liked the game less than you tihnk you would have. i feel almost the opposite. i mean, i think when i finally got to play it, i was excited because i was finnaly able to talk about it, and say “oh yeah, i really liked this part.” it made my experience with the game so much better

i dunno. i agree with you a lot, but i tihnk that sometimes hype can be not bad. i wont say good, but it can not have negative effects

By: Daniel Primed

Daniel Primed — Tue, 06 May 2008 03:57:44 +0000

Although it probably isn’t intentional I feel like you kinda did bash GTA IV a bit for being such a hyped game. I find this interesting because if you look at how the game has been marketed it almost hasn’t. Most of the buzz around this game has had no relationship to Rockstar’s involvement whatsoever and has instead been generated by people like us…the players.

I do wholeheartedly agree though, hype has lowered my interest in games like Super Smash Bros Brawl as it just got out of control. I particularly hate hype that is generated form marketers and not from a gae actually being a good game or having an interesting play mechanic.

I think that Prototype has self deservingly won hype. Where as other titles are just paid ‘buzz’, overstated promises and marketing. I guess this is the difference between hype and anticipation.