hype1
informal
• noun 1 extravagant or intensive publicity or promotion. 2 a deception or hoax.
• verb promote or publicize intensively or extravagantly.
— ORIGIN originally in the sense short-change, cheat
: of unknown origin.
Yes. Today I’m going to talk about hype. I am not a fan. Just look at the origins of the word. To cheat or short change. Hype makes you expect things that you don’t get and to that end I can safely say hype has destroyed a number of gameplay experiences for me, which is officially NOT A GOOD THING. Perfectly good games, I might add, that were ruined because my expectations were lifted to unreasonable heights that could have never possibly been met. Now that the reviews of Twilight Princess (or rather, Twiilight Princess) are beginning to appear, I can’t help but be fearful.
Let’s take a look at some choice quotes from various reviewers.
Dan Ryckhart of Lawrence.com labels it as ‘One of the greatest gaming experiences of all time’ and also isn’t shy when he claims it to be ‘without a doubt one of the greatest achievements in the history of the industry’. High praise indeed. And that’s something this game doesn’t seem to be short on. UGO calls it ‘undoubtedly the Wii’s must-have, system-selling game,’ whereas Gamespy, who awarded it a 5/5 score, claim TP ‘is nothing short of an instant classic,’ and that it is ‘ultimately fantastic.’ 1up.com weigh in on the fun by asserting that TP ‘ is almost certain to be an amazing game,’ and Gamebrink aren’t afraid to confidently describe it as ‘the best Zelda title ever made.’
So far, so hyped up. Looking over at Gamestats.com, the game so far has managed a Press Score average of no less than 9.8. To be fair, there are only 4 press ratings included at the moment, so I would expect that to slide down a little. But the question is, is this current enthusiasm for the title really founded, or are the reviewers in question just getting a little carried away? Until I have sat down with the game myself, it will be impossible to say. Not every review I have read has been non-stop gushing, but then I have yet to come across anything that approaches anywhere near a poor write up, unless of course you include Vladimir Cole’s tongue in cheek (at least I hope it was tongue in cheek) rant over at Joystiq.
I have very little doubt in my mind that Zelda: Twilight Princess will be a good game. Given that I enjoyed the supposedly ‘lesser’ games of the series (including MM, WW and AoL) I also have no concerns that I won’t take great pleasure in playing the game. The question is, can it live up to the hype? Of that, I’m not so sure.
Sources:[Lawrence.com] [UGO] [Gamespy] [1up] [Gamebrink] [Gamestats] [Joystiq]
Posted by thebawp 
Posted by thebawp 
Posted by thebawp 