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[Grildon Tundy]

Hype is a double-edged sword: It can prime endorphins to flood your system when a game approaches or exceeds expectations. But it can also set you up for disappointment if the game doesn't deliver.

On the flip-side, lack of hype can result in pleasant surprises. Or, if the game isn't great, a feeling of, "Well, I didn't expect much anyway, so no big loss."

Sidenote: If you think you're impervious to the influence of hype/marketing, check out Edward Bernays' "Torches of Freedom" campaign and consider how his tactic may have been refined and advanced over the past 100 years.

Anyway, the Silent Hill 2 Remake got me thinking of a simple 2x2 hype x reality gaming matrix, and how I'd rank the different permutations in terms of subjective experience, with an example game for each.

With #1 being the best experience and #4 being the worst. Here's mine:

#1) Hyped and Game Delivers: Bioshock
#2) Not Hyped and Game Delivers: Silent Hill 2 Remake
#3) Not Hyped and Game Doesn't Deliver: Spider-Man 2
#4) Hyped and Game Doesn't Deliver: Final Fantasy XVI

What's yours? Or is the entire thesis flawed? Tell me how I'm wrong in the replies.

 

[Punished Miku]

Hype I find to be a mostly negative thing that distorts your view of reality because it's not talking about individual excitement, but the collective narrative of excitement. I don't really ever have a "honeymoon phase" for games where I like something and then change my mind a year later. If I like something at the time, I think in almost all cases I like it for the duration.

In terms of gaming I think hype is mostly just a form of conformity through coercion. If you don't fall in with the hype cycle, you're often ostracized, and explicitly pressured to change your mind to merge with the horde. It's that merging with the group opinion that is the cause of a "honeymoon phase." You're mostly parroting an opinion that has been given to you, but it takes many people 1-10 years to realize the opinion is actually not their own. I've seen it happen over and over again with games like DMC, Resident Evil 6, Final Fantasy XIII, Metroid Other M, and on and on into the present day. People can very quickly devolve into 2 groups: bullies and sheep.

I'm not a robot though, and I can casually talk about hype and see trailers and indicate I'm interested. I usually like to cut loose during E3 season in particular and just let myself enjoy the marketing. But when it's time for a release to actually come out, I'm usually doing whatever I can to distance myself from overly hyping things. Prior to Starfield I was just reminding people it's likely going to be nothing more than Fallout in space and will of course have load times like every other Bethesda game. Prior to Clair Obscura I'm reminding people it's likely a AA game that's not perfect. Prior to Metaphor I'm pointing out that it's likely very similar to Persona's design template. Not only do I think this gets me closer to an accurate assessment of games, and what I specifically think about them, but I think not overly hyping myself up leads to me actually enjoying a lot more games than most people that do the opposite and expect perfection.

Not falling in line with the horde's approved hype cycles usually makes you a thorn and an obstacle on boards like this. Basically you conform or you deal with morons that get angry that someone thinks differently. That's hype; collective raw peer pressure conformity.

 

[Dacvak]

Hype in the most pure form I find to be a negative thing that just distorts your view of reality because it's not talking about individual excitement, but the collective narrative of excitement.

It really depends for me. Like, the hype leading up to Smash Bros Brawl, with the Smash Dojo updates, was incredible. It was even better than the game itself, imo, and I wouldn’t trade that experience.

 

[Punished Miku]

It really depends for me. Like, the hype leading up to Smash Bros Brawl, with the Smash Dojo updates, was incredible. It was even better than the game itself, imo, and I wouldn’t trade that experience.

Those are more like spectacle E3 style trailers. I like that stuff too, especially around events. I just try to turn off that influence if I can when it's time for the game to actually come out. But everyone is susceptible to all this stuff and no one is entirely above the effects of advertising or manipulation. It's always going to get you on something.

 

[XXL]

As long as a game delivers, I don't care.

I think the bigger problem is people looking at things as either they're amazing or they suck with not much in-between.

Some games are just good...Hype ruins that sometimes.

 

[Danjin44]

I hype a games based on my taste and for me most of the games I’m hyped for did delivered.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Hype can be a great thing. It’s fun to get excited and share that excitement with other fans. That’s part of what makes gaming fun. It becomes a problem when there’s a “hype train” and the fans become hostile and defensive about anything that can derail the train. They start shouting down all criticism and posting arguments about imaginary criticism that reviewers might hypothetically give the game. That’s when I bow out.

#1) Hyped and Game Delivers: FF VII: first game I ever preordered
#2) Not Hyped and Game Delivers: Doom 2016
#3) Not Hyped and Game Doesn't Deliver: too many to name. Does the PS3 launch count?
#4) Hyped and Game Doesn't Deliver: Final Fantasy XVI

 

[SmokedMeat]

I’m 100% impervious to hype/marketing, and I feel it’s the absolute best way to be.

GAF is generally where I learn about games, along with what catches my eye on Steam. I do not follow the development of games, I don’t watch streams/follow influencers, I don’t look at review scores, and I see no reason to get hyped over the same old gameplay experiences.

With rare exceptions I don’t even buy games until they’re heavily discounted. Most times I just get them in bundles.

So in my position going into games with no expectations I’m either satisfied or I’m not. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still look into a game, but that’s not until I’m ready to possibly make a purchase.

Even if a game is getting torn to shreds, I’ll still look into it if there’s just something there that looks appealing. Most people are only going by what they’ve heard, not what they’ve played themselves. Sometimes I wind up liking the game and sometimes I don’t.

But the bottom line is what’s good and bad is decided by me. Hype which is brought on by marketing and other fans can only bring disappointment.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

#1 hyped and delivered: goldeneye/mortal kombat2 (arcade)/killer instinct 2
#2 not hyped and delivered: dark souls/HL1/killer instinct (arcade)
#3 not hyped and doesnt deliver: tons of stuff
#4 hyped and doesnt deliver: gta5/ut2004

 

[SportsFan581]

Hype is one of those weird things that can derail conversation on boards and social media. I can understand why Zealots that are trying to convince everyone that their new favorite is the best thing since sliced bread annoys people. At the same time you have people that just want to enjoy their excitement with other people that are also excited by the release but are constantly attacked by the fun police (the people mad that other people are excited for something). And then you have the negative nancys that make discouraging people from liking a game a full-time job.

I've certainly been on all sides of that over the years, #GuiltyAsCharged. Sometimes it is just fun to get caught up in the hype even if it sets you up for disappointment. As a general rule I just take in the marketing and see if anything clicks, but outside of the GP day ones, my buying decisions get made after the game is out of the public zeitgeist.

 

[Games of Today]

I only get hyped of games that are fully open about their development anymore as well as ones who actually show that they give a shit. And even so I tend to spend more of my hype of games that I can currently.

Six Day in Fallujah is the best example I have currently, cancelled by Konami in 2006, I literally jumped in the air and screamed in the middle of my work office when it was announced that it was coming back. Because I knew that the lead dev was an actual U.S. Marine who fought in Fallujah, meaning that he actually care about the source material. I love this kinda hype, makes me remember and long for the days of E3 days of summer's past.

Hell Let Loose and now Squad 44 as well. They get be pretty hyped with new content.

As for AAA games, seeing a Naughty Dog reveal always delivers the hype I'm looking for, regardless if the game turns out good story wise or not. I know I'll always buy , play it and be utterly amazed by their newest graphical fidelity. The are te top and foreseeably will be for me.

I also feel some hype anytime it's Infinity Ward's turn to make a CoD. MW19 was an amazing comeback for the franchise and MWII was even better in my opinion, though the multiplayer characters looked worse aesthetically. But IW goes the hardest out of the 3. After playing Infinite Warfare, which I consider a CoD masterpiece in storytelling, the other two dev studios can't get me hyped anymore.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

Hype is one of those weird things that can derail conversation on boards and social media. I can understand why Zealots that are trying to convince everyone that their new favorite is the best thing since sliced bread annoys people.

Most games I play long after the zeitgeist is passed.

But with the Silent Hill 2 Remake, I'm becoming one of those zealots. I get it now. I want the game to succeed even more than it already has in the selfish interest of making the action/survival horror genre continue to flourish (and for people to experience what I think is something very worthwhile.

After playing Infinite Warfare, which I consider a CoD masterpiece in storytelling,

Objectively correct.

 

[Trilobit]

I try to temper my expectations nowadays and just check before buying it if it's something for me. Spider-Man 2 was a disappointment to me as I wanted more of Spidey from the first game, but as they changed the face and put in more non-Spidey game elements I had to pass on it. Many devs seem very eager to put at least some strange woke stuff into their games so that has also made me feel less inclined to hype.

But the day RDR3 gets announced I'm going to hype it to the sky!

 

[grvg]

Hyped and doesn't deliver - MegaMan legends 3

 

[Digital-Aftertaste]

Worse kind of hype is having a friend with buyers Stockholm syndrome who are easily hyped. To this day a guy I know doesn't want to admit when a game is mediocre.

He's hyped Starfield, FFXVI, Dragon's Dogma 2, Didn't hype SW Outlaws but doesn't want to admit the game is bad and same with Frontiers of Pandora.
He also doesn't explain why he drops those games and never finishes them...
Would be a great Resetera user.

 

[Fbh]

As I've gotten older it's not that I like gaming less than before but I feel like I no longer get caught in these hype cycles very often. At this point I think I'm pretty good at setting realistic expectations so I'm rarely disappointed.

For some reason though Square still gets me with the mainline FF games every time. You'd think after XIII and XV I'd have learned but there I was like an idiot getting hyped about XVI thinking it would "the one".

 

[fart town usa]

Hype is like that old anti-masturbation slogan.

"Stop or you'll go blind"

 

[Banjo64]

#1) Hyped and Game Delivers: TotK
#2) Not Hyped and Game Delivers: OOT
#3) Not Hyped and Game Doesn't Deliver: FF13
#4) Hyped and Game Doesn't Deliver: Red Steel

 

[diffusionx]

Hype/deliver: World of Warcraft, SF4, Ocsrina of Time, elden ring, many great games
Hype/no deliver: shartfield
No hype deliver: prey, the newer one, or the star ocean remake
No hype/no deliver: I don’t know… dustborn

 

[chokotoureiki]

#1) RE4make
#2) Vampire Survivors
#3) Dustborn
#4) Starfield

 

[Kings Field]

#1) Hyped and Game Delivers: Elden Ring
#2) Not Hyped and Game Delivers: Gears of War 1
#3) Not Hyped and Game Doesn't Deliver: skyrim
#4) Hyped and Game Doesn't Deliver: GTA5

 

[gamerEMdoc]

#1) Hyped and Game Delivers: Elden Ring
#2) Not Hyped and Game Delivers: Baldurs Gate 3
#3) Not Hyped and Game Doesn't Deliver: Fallout 76
#4) Hyped and Game Doesn't Deliver: Every Madden for 20 years?

 

[Loomy]

For the last 2 generations now, a game might as well not exist in my mind until it's actually released.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

#1) Hyped and Game Delivers:

Elden Ring

#2) Not Hyped and Game Delivers:

Demon's Souls (PS3)

#3) Not Hyped and Game Doesn't Deliver:

Concord

#4) Hyped and Game Doesn't Deliver:

Starfield

 

[KiteGr]

Never Hyped about anything....
Asume everything is shit until it proves it self otherwise.
Even on games that I find promissing, I go expecting the worst.

So:
#2) Not Hyped and Game Delivers: Hollow Knight
#3) Not Hyped and Game Doesn't Deliver: ....Why would one even bother with such a game?!... Saubnautica: Below Zero

Still I wasn't always like this. If we go years back to face the successes of hype and its betrayals...

#1) Hyped and Game Delivers: Guild Wars 2
#4) Hyped and Game Doesn't Deliver:

• Marvel vs Capcom 3
• Street Figher 5 (launch)
• No man's sky (launch)
• Devil May Cry 2
• PS Vita
• Death Jr (obscure launch PSP tittle)
• Dragon Age's Origin console port
• Xenosaga's European release
• Max Payne PS2 port
• Final Fantasy 13
• Final Fantasy 12
• Final Fantasy 8
• Plenty of GB, GBA and PS1 tittles of my inocent years.

 

[Raven117]

Final Fantasy 7.

Hyped but did not deliver.

(I was about 14 years old… switched from Nintendo to Sony (at a time where guessing wrong was fatal because my family could only afford one console ever few years). My buddies and I scoured every gaming magazine we could find for glimpses of that game. We would talk about it at lunch on a daily basis. The game was great, but unless it turned me from a boy into a man, there is no way it could live up to that hype)

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Hype is for noobs and shills. It only makes games end up being disappointing when it's overdone.