your mother said:
The only problem with hype is when consumer expectations don't match the hype. Case in point: Batman (the Keaton/Nicholson one). That movie was hyped to high heaven but in reality the movie failed to live up to the hype. Therefore, it became a bit of a hit-and-miss with critics and viewers alike. That didn't stop the movie from grossing millions and breaking records, however! It's still the one that grossed the most worldwide, despite having the lowest of all budgets. |
Your case is the problem with hyping. However, I wanted to point to the other problem: not hyping. Isn't it unfair for a good game to not sell because it was not hyped before?
I actually liked this post so that I could mention what I thought about hype. Today, I have the idea that the most important factor for a game to sell well is hype. A game that comes out of nowhere doesn't sell well even if it gets great reviews everywhere. I mentioned Okami. Another example is Psychonauts. I guess everyone can get their own example of the other way around. An overhyped game that did not live up to its expectations.
Is hype more important than gameplay for selling a game? If it is, can we really criticise a company for hyping their product?
