No…That was Half Life 2.
Really? I haven’t seen anything about GTIV (except a story on Slashdot games quite awhile back, I think) but they’ve been showing Halo 2 trailers in the movie theatres. Like I said though, I doubt this game could be overhyped even if they carved the Master Chief’s name into Mt. Rushmore :D.
Uh, no. Xbox Games, Wikis, Cheats, News, Reviews & Videos - IGN
Another source checked the bittorrent and over 25,000 people were downloading it.
Halo 2’s hype has been pretty limited, actually. Most “hype” in the gaming world involves showing the content of the game, either Feature A or Feature B or whatever. To take an example: Fable. Each week you’d get an update such as, “In combat, if you time it right, you can chop off your opponent’s head and kick it like a soccer ball!” Which was technically true, but it was a mere gimmick that didn’t really add to the overall game. Similar with the “marriage” system.
Halo 2, however, has had plenty from its multiplayer setup divulged, but next to zip about its single-player. In fact, Bungie has been running a very, VERY clever build-up campaign in the form of fake online clues to the story (such as the aforementioned ilovebees thing).
It’s not Bungie’s fault if every game publication chooses to wank over each and every individual screenshot taken from a display booth at some gaming convention.
I will whatever Half Life 2. Everyone is so itching for that game to come out it is unreal. Don’t have stats or whatever but there was this unbelievable que to get CS Source the day it came out. Plus, it fits the description of having something new revealed every week, from the ragdoll to bird physics.
Also, I would like to mention Morrowind IV - even if it is not going to be out for another year people are already talking about how pretty it is.
One game that stands out hype-wise for me that hasn’t been mentioned yet is FF VII. Being the first FF for the Playstation, and because they knew they had a winner for all the other obvious reasons, the hype was huge. Especially given that while we certainly had an internet 7 years ago, it wasn’t the machine for hype it is now, so a lot of it was through other mediums - every magazine had a FF7 cover, every toy store (not even just electronics stores - your generic Kay Bee mall type stores) had a Cloud cardboard cutout, the date of release was everywhere, etc.
-K.
Spoofe: can you or someone explain what the heck that livebees site was driving at re Halo 2? I’m darned if I get the joke, but perhaps I lack l33t DNA or something.
I agree with this. GameSpot et. al. just don’t have much to write about when games don’t ship. So they have to hype every whack rumor or leaked screen just to have anything at all to put up on thier site. I don’t blame them for this – there are months at a time when little that’s interesting ships, what do they write about?
Kiros, for us latecomers who don’t know the history of Final Fantasy (like me), your post can be l33t-speak, at best. Please unwind the acronyms, and add some context for us FF newcomers or outsiders. Just a suggestion. Thanks.
The only initialism in Kiros’s post is the one you identified - FF ‘Final Fantasy’. In this case, Final Fantasy VII.
Other than potential confusion over who or what Cloud is (the main character) I can’t see where there’d be any confusion in his post.
Metal Gear Solid 2 was probably one of the most anticipated games ever.
I’m not as big a gamer as I was a few years ago, but I’m not sure any game in recent history was anticipated as much as Ocarina of Time, as Duderdude mentioned. Six years ago or so that was absolutely THE game. (And it actually lived up to the hype, in my humble opinion.) It was anticipated not just because it was a new Zelda, but also because it was released soon after the Playstation’s Metal Gear Solid and was seen as Nintendo’s “killer app” answer to Konami’s game. Ah, the dispute over the best game of 1998. Brings back memories…
Daikatana and Duke Nukem Forever? I hesitate to include those games because the development time for each was (and in DNF’s case, is) so ridiculously long that it seems the hype died out before release. Is anybody really excited about DNF anymore?
None of these had movies to add to their hype, though, unlike Super Mario Brothers 3…
No one remembers the ad blitz for Mortal Kombat on Sega Genesis? It seemed like I couldn’t get away from that TV spot.
Hype, you say? No…Nintendo just produced a feature-length film that was nothing more than a two hour commercial for the damn game.
Part of it, at least, involved friends who knew of it somehow dragging me all around for four hours straight to listen to payphones (listed only by GPS co-ordinates and times, on that website) until they rung, hold a short conversation with the video game AI, and feeling very special and important as you paid very careful attention to her apparent nonsense.
In other words, building an obsessed fanbase and making us feel as though we were truly neccesary to the production of that game.
Halo is somewhat overrated, IMHO, but still pretty decent. First of all, the level design is terrible except for the outside bits. Some of the worst pacing in the history of gaming. But cut away the repetition and the game is one of the best, most well put together straight-ahead FPS titles out there, certainly for a console.
Halo2 does look like a real improvement, especially in terms of events in game and creativity. We’ve only ever seen bits of the SP, and the MP is much heralded.
Still, nothing can beat the hype that HL2 has gotten. Hopefully, it deserves it. We’ll know for sure in just three weeks or so.
And in other FPS news, the Doom movie is about to begin production. Maybe the film will explain why the alien undead choose to spend their time hibernating in concealed closets.
I remember when SMB3 came out. One of the local game rental places actually imported the game before it came out, put it into a converter cart (possibly a Honey Bee, it’s been a long time), and put it out for rental. I haven’t seen an import game for rent since.
On a similar note, I wonder if The Wizard will ever see release on DVD. Maybe make it a double feature with Super Mario Brothers.
Trust the fungus!
My uncle used to run a convenience store that rented video games (he’s since sold it). He used to rent a lot of imports (SMB3 among them.). They were popular. Particularly the X-in-1 carts. I loved them, although I was always afraid of busting the ribbon to pull them out and the converter getting stuck in the console.
I haven’t heard anything about this one. Are they promoting it as Morrowind IV? Because by my count, it’s at least the sixth game in the series.
Well, I don’t remember the specifics of the game release hype. But Master Chief’s got nothing on Pac Man.
I remember in '81, being at the grocery store with my mom and seeing across the parking lot a crowd had formed just inside the doors of Sears. I went over to investigate and saw that Atari had just released Pac Man for their game system. People were going nuts for it, clamoring to buy it. Moms, dads, kids all fighting for the remaining copies.
Somehow, none of us seemed to notice in our elated state that Atari’s version SUCKED. Hell, the little guy didn’t even turn when he went up or down. I’m no computer programer, but would it have been that more taxing to have him turn accordingly?
The hype may be more extensive for Halo, but at least, in all likelihood, it should be worth it. THe Pac Man home game was barely worth a mention in the Sunday Paper ads
Also worth noting- while Halo has not one, but two full, orchestral soundtracks on CD, Pac Man had a top ten disco hit.
Halo’s swell, but can you dance to it? Well, not very quickly, that’s for sure.
That said, November 9th I’ll be picking up my copy of Halo 2. 
Yea, sorry, I am not really into gaming much anymore. I should of said Morrowind - Elder Scrolls part IV or what not.
I forgot to mention: The ghosts were transparent, there was only one crappy maze, the sound was nothing like the original and Pac Man kept chewing (slowly) even when still.
I give you- the Atari Pac Man time line in smilies:
SEARS:
The ride home: 
Playing it for the first time: :dubious:
Playing it for the second time: :smack:
Forever after: 
You’d think after 23 years the scars would have healed…