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"Hype is bad"

Look at the PS2. It hasn't done anything special apart fom some fancy graphics and having a average DVD player. Why then is it the most wanted game console around?

Its because of hype. Before people had even seen the PS2 they thought it was the best thing ever because of all the hype the heard. Its like the old saying 'don't judge a book by it cover' the same goes for consoles. Don't judge a console by how many polygons it can muster or how much more powerful it will be. Its not important. Because of all the news people heard about the PS2 they straight away overlooked the Dreamcast, not giving it a chance.

A little hype is good, but too much can be bad for gamers.
I blame all the hype around the PS2 launch for the Dreamcast being dumped.

Whats your views on too much hype around consoles and games?

yes.

sniper doesnt read just comments in a childish way, but he is happy.

.....oh............

*Whispers*

I'm trying to win gameaday Sniper...

;0)

If you read it, I do make a point about it's length...

tis a winner

Why so long?

Woah. Wrote a lot more than I thought.

Sorry length haters... ;0)

(Welcome to the mid week rant, take your seats, and anyone eating popcorn, using a mobile phone, or sleeping, shall, and will, be removed. From where, I leave to you.)

But what about Nintendo's marketing strategy?

Firstly, the GBA. "Hardcore" gamers have known about it for years... but Nintendo did a very special thing, and didn't hype the machine that much at all. They just let the machine, and its capabilities speak for itself.

The wonderful thing about the GBA is, as well, is that they don't have to advertise it, because it has no competition. The main competitor to the GBA, is the GBC. I expect GBC's are still selling quite well to this day.

Another great thing is, the games, as Pb often tells us, are great... Which could have been blown over, due to hype. The perfect example of hype exploitation would be Episode one. (Cue Ant moaning that Episode One wasn't that bad...)

And now the biggy, the Gamecube.

Nintendo's highly rated poker face has managed to keep us information suckers from knowing hardly anything about the blasted thing... We long everyday for that extra bit of information. An article on the Gamecube saying how good the games will be gets me terribly excited, even though I already know that all I'll get at the end will be "wait till E3..."

Nintendo are basically relying on word of mouth to get the system across... not that much of a good idea, really.

So for us "hardcore" gamers, the fact that Nintendo aren't hyping the console could be disastrous. Are Nintendo hyping the Gamecube too much, by NOT hyping it?

Possibly.

Let's have a look at the X-Box for the moment.

The X-Box is said to be the best console coming out for three main reasons:

1) Microsoft are funding it. If no one buys it, it's unlikely they'll go underground.
2) They are encouraging third parties very much to the system... at least American games developers are going, anyway. Sega have made the step from Japan, but not that many are.
3) It's "more powerful than anything else", which is beginning to annoy me. Because it isn't.

A lot to get hyped about. And Microsoft will hype it, and hype it as much as they can... and what happens when they hype something that they haven't got ready yet?

Fake screenshots and dev kits "on their way... really."

It looks like Microsoft are having trouble living up to the hype, and with news that the dev kits could be delayed AGAIN, thanks to the graphics chip, it looks like they'll be having a hard time getting the thing out.

Of course, none of the above information will ever reach the mass market. It's a shame that the average user only look for power in their console, not the third parties...

Conservative policies in Nintendo have nearly wiped the knowledge of a third console in the next war from the average gamer’s mind. Nintendo have released realistic poly counts, while Sony and Microsoft still continue to pump the market with unrealistic information.

But then... have Nintendo made the right decision after all?

Let's just imagine, if you can, that the Gamecube is really really rubbish. Imagine that all the games look really rubbish, and development at the moment isn't looking very good.

It's a horrible thought, isn't it? :0)

Now imagine that you are the head of Nintendo. The press are after your blood, because they need information on the Gamecube... but you don't want to send out the pictures, basically, because they are too early in production, and they look crap, basically.

So could Nintendo's strategy be more complex than we imagined?

Thankfully, it's unlikely. With comments from third parties and second parties, it's very easy to imagine how beautiful the system really is going to be.

Third parties are saying that it's surprisingly easy to develop for, which will encourage more third parties... which gets us back to the word of mouth point.

Second parties obviously can't say that the Gamecube is easier to program for, but they can say that:

"What we're doing on the Gamecube now looks much better than anything we've seen today."

A comment by Silicon Knights, during the X-Box presentation at the CTS.

Another of Nintendo's tricks to make us think everything is better than it really is?

No. It wouldn't make sense.

Firstly, the Gamecube would be advertised in the open. Casual gamers would know about it.

Secondly, would our beloved second parties lie to us? ;0)

But then, there is always the paranoia that Nintendo are actually evil geniuses, making things make no sense, so their evil propaganda will sink in quicker...

Another problem, is that anyone remotely related with Nintendo have all

Something that hasn't really been looked into with much detail is Rareware.

What the hell are they up to?

We know that their last N64 project, at least that we know of, has been released now... and is great fun, I may add. Conker's Bad Fur Day, available now.

So what are they up to now?

Time for some news.

Rareware are working on a secret project on the GBA... which has been described only as "****ing insane." It is unknown what genre game it is... only that they are working on it. Bet ya didn't know that. ;0)

And of course, the Gamecube as well.

Dinosaur Planet is a basically definite Gamecube title now, and is highly expected to come out at launch... but knowing Rare's reputation on getting things right, and the fact that Perfect Dark 2, referred to as After Dark by many people, is also supposed to be a launch title.

Then there was the news that "Other Bad Fur Day" had been registered... and Banjo, Killer Instinct, and even Sabre Wulf are all said to make an appearance...



And now. To my main point.

Because Nintendo have released hardly any information, I have written the, rather lengthy rant, above.

I believe I would have written much less if Nintendo had released information.

It looks like Nintendo really do have their strategy sorted... at least for us "hardcore" gamers, anyway. :0)

But I suppose we'll have to wait till E3 anyway... ;0)

tis not all dat bad

PS2 wasn't just hyped.......it was OVERHYPED. Immensely. And it is poo.

OK I'm finished now.