Does hype ruin a game?

[Ginza]

Let me explain myself.

We all know what a huge disappointment Driv3r is. I bought it from GAME to see what all the fuss was about and you guys were right along with Eurogamer who gave it an excellent review detailing why they gave it 3/10.

So my question is this. Does hype ruin a game?

I know that the game has to initially be piss poor to be ruined in the first place but does the hype and pressure thats put on the game have an effect?

I am taking Driv3r and Spiderman 2 as my examples.

Driv3r i have known about for months and it did look visually astounding and i couldnt wait but that was because i hadnt been able to play the game and went on purely aesthetics. Oh and the ?44.99 price tag was laughable which no discerning gamer would allow. GAME and 20:20 Games bought their stock from France and other countries which hurt Atari who was distributing the game in the UK and that was only the start of it. The amount of money that was spent advertising and marketing the game is unbelievable. The only game i can compare it to on that level is Enter The Matrix and i found that more enjoyable.

On the other hand there is Spiderman 2. A game you / i would instantly think is a cynical cash in for the films release. I have heard nothing about the game prior to its release and wasnt the slightest bit interested or excited about its release.

I blame this change in opinion solely on the bast Inertia_ who has made me delve once again in to my wallet. His opinion on how great the game is has been backed up with many others in his thread. His username is clickable by the way and it takes you to the Spiderman First Play thread.

Now if you hadnt heard about Driv3r then youv been asleep / dead / in a coma for the last god knows however many years the game has been harped on about but Spiderman 2 has only really dawned on me now its been released. (9th July release) Iv still got 10 days to wait until it arrives. I know there was a huge spiderman at the entrance of E3 but i wasnt their...

The question remains. Does hype ruin a game?

[VR46]

I think hype builds expectation, expectation that the game can't match no matter how good it is.

[Tom Salter]

I've given up on reading lots about games before their release. I know nothing about Halo 2, I know nothing about Devil May Cry 3, and I know nothing about <game XXXXXXX which is supposed to be BAD-ONG!!!>, simply because I want to explore it myself. I don't want to have expectations that are going to be dashed, there's no point.

This is probably because I've been burnt too many times before. I tried to lap up every last bit of info about Zelda Wind Waker before it's release, same with Mario Sunshine, and yet these two games disappointed me greatly.

But I delved straight into many other "AAA" games without reading about them, and I was happy with them, simply because I had no expectations. It also leads me to appreciate the lesser titles, simply because they all receive an equal start in terms of time I'll give to them.

[MD]

Didn't ruin R Sports.

[JibberX]

Spiderman 2, will be ruined by your own personal hype...its a bit schwang....

It all depends y'see you can personally hype a game until your head pops off, or you can be marketed hyped until your head pops off. Two examples: Entre le Matric, might have done "better" had they "kept it real" and Matrix was still arthouse, 2nd example, Need for Speed Underlicence, somehow this skipped a few bits of development, stick a poster up with a large rack and pinion steer mount and you sell load and people are happy.

The only game I am currently hyped about is... er.... umm.... See StuntMan hyped me for Driver 3, but then slowly it resolved itself in, I just wanna drive with those physics I don't want no extra crap, so I went back to my PC 1024x768 100fps version of the original Driver and was happy.

So its a combination of expectation and delivery, if I were you read the most scathing reviews of Spiderman2: The game and be happy when you boot it up.

[dataDave]

I think hype builds expectation, expectation that the game can't match no matter how good it is.

Ocarina of Time certainly lived up to and beyond the hype.

Perfect Dark" did as well (for me at least).

[Alf-Life]

This is probably because I've been burnt too many times before. I tried to lap up every last bit of info about Zelda Wind Waker before it's release, same with Mario Sunshine, and yet these two games disappointed me greatly.

I was exactly the opposite.

When I was younger, I was so hyped up about Mario 64 and Zelda 64 that they still exceeded my expectations (although that's probably because Mario was a revolution and Zelda OOT was my first Zelda game).
With Sunshine and Wind Waker, I purposefully avoided any hype or information, but with their predecessors available to me, I guess I could say a certain high degree of expectation was present, and both games ultimately left me disappointed (although going back to them now they're aren't exactly that bad).

Halo's a funny one, though. I had just ordered a Jap/Modded-to-US Cube when the 10/10 Edge review came out, and I was both gutted that I hadn't got an Xbox, and suspicious at how a game which looked - let's face it - like Planetside does today had worked out all its E3 problems so quickly. Even moreso in disbelief was I (Ba Hons in Yodaspeak, I'm afraid), that my still-all-time-favourite game, GoldenEye had only got 9/10, so 10/10 had better be blimmin' amazing for an FPS.
Anyway, even after it was out on a demopod and I'd spent like 45 minutes playing it in Gamestation, I still could not accept or believe this hype/score. Heck, even after finishing it on normal, I was like wtf. Only Legendary changed my opinion and opened my eyes to the greatness.

[Ian(not Ian)]

The best games ever popped up off the mainstream radar.
Mark of Kri
Sly Raccoon
REZ
ICO
etc, etc. Even good ol' Halo wasn't over-hyped.

Good games in general dont need the hype, we're going to buy those anyway. Games like Spiderman 2, Driv3L, Matrix and the rest NEED that hype to dupe the bloke in the street into buying a pig in a poke.

[Ginza]

err my argument was that Spiderman2 hadnt had near enough hype as Driv3l and ETM and also my point was that it was the opposite of 'buying a pig in a poke'

Sigh. Why do i bother.

[Inertia_]

Ginza, I'd imagine your overall opinion of Spidey 2 will be largely the same as mine. Without regurgitating my review here, I'll simply say that the game is a fantastic ride that, like all rides, comes to a more abrupt end than we'd like.

I'd be very carefully about getting too hyped, though. Bear in mind that the only thing I'd heard when I played it was that it was a GTA-style game; I still expected it to be a failure, if not a catastrophic one. I'll stand by my comments regarding its awesome control system and impressive graphics engine, and I'll also advise you to wait until you've powered Spidey up a bit before making a solid judgement. That said, don't expect the best game in the universe - it does certain things better than I've seen in a long time, but like everything it has flaws.

Getting back OT, I think hype is a purely harmful phenomenon. In fact, it's usually the case that getting hyped about a movie or game is more enjoyable than actually playing it. Conversely, the very best experiences are the surprise ones; I remember seeing the original Mission: Impossible alone at the cinema while everyone else watched Independence Day. I expected the worst and ended up being completely blown away - still my favourite movie-going experience ever (though seeing Blade Runner at the Cineramadome in LA was pretty damn close).

There are many things that I've only really enjoyed after the hype has died down. Examples include Jurassic Park, Rez and Pulp Fiction. Though it shouldn't be the case, I find it very difficult to enjoy something that I've had crammed down my throat (no innuendos please).

[Ginza]

I just couldnt think of an example of a game which i enjoyed that was unhyped off the top of my head so used it as an example.

[John Beaulieu]

Psi-ops popped out of no where (nearly anyways) and its pushing for surprise of 2004 already

[Ian(not Ian)]

Ginza my man.
Apologies for including Spiderman 2 in my little dit. Just got carried away with the hype I guess.
I am sure it's as good as you say it is.

That said, back to the hype. I've noticed it's not only piss-poor games such as Driv3r and ETM and AoD which are hyped up to increase sales but also those which offer us 'innovation' and the breaking of ground.
Full Spectrum Warrior is one of those. A jolly good game indeed, but one which most definately does not deliver the goods as predicted by the hype-masters / developers / publishers etc.
Prince of Persia also purported to be the best thing yet for PoP / platform fans, but set us off on a mere wash/rinse/repeat 6 hour jumpy jaunt for 6 year olds which could have been so much better had the developers really gave us the challenge they said they would.

HYPE = LIES don't fall for it.

[Salsa Party Animal]

Just be more careful when buying games that have a lot of hype or made by EA. Most games doesn't have that much hype.

[Brats]

I was disappointed with Wind Waker because it didn't live up to the incredibly high threshold set by the previous two Zelda games. Beyond Good and Evil on the otherhand though was an unexpected joy from start to finish.

Arguably, Zelda is the better game but I enjoyed BG&E much more.

There's nothing like an unexpected gem. A game that goes under everyone's radar and is amazing. The best examples I can think of were Mariokart and Goldeneye, but recently there have been loads (Psi Ops, Riddick, Metal Arms, BG&E, etc).