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UGO: Most Hyped Video Games Ever

February 04, 2009 in Top List comments 9

Russ Frushtick and Chris Plante provide this look into some of the most iconic "over hyped" games from the past 30 years. There are some notable additions in there including MGS2 (which I personally defend as the "Empire Strikes Back" of the Solid Snake saga) and the notorious Daikatana (which I still own, proudly).

I fended off last year's hype machines like a fish resisting a hook, but by fall I was caught and reeled in by the likes of Spore, LittleBigPlanet, Gears of War 2 and Fallout 3. They were all innovative, and unique and groundbreaking, but none met my unreachable expectations.

Was it always like this? Has every big release launched like an easy home run, only to strike the foul post? My childhood memories say, "No," but my retrospective of the Most Hyped Games Ever says, "Yes."

That's right, ladies and gents, even before the internet launched a thousand blogs and studios financed $100 million tent pole titles, hype engulfed big game releases like a dense smog of false promises and flak speak. These are the worst offenders of hype.
Daigoji_Gai via ugo.com »
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  • 1
    Taker4ever Feb 4, 09
    Surely The Getaway is another classic example?

    The ironic thing about The Getaway is that it bares more similarity to GTA IV than any other game on the market, despite being released 4 years before it. Makes you wonder just how impressed Rockstar were by it.
    • 1
      Daigoji_Gai Feb 4, 09
      You know, I hate to say it. I simply loved The Getaway, it had issues with controls, granted, but for the storyline and seeing the events from two perspectives really got me. I even enjoyed the sequel Black Sunday, and am hoping we may eventually see a PS3 version with a vastly improved control scheme (which I think hurt the game from the beginning, along with the original navigation system)
      • 0
        chautemoc* Feb 4, 09
        I didnt play much of it, but what I did I thought was really well done. Seemed to recreate the feel of gritty British crime movies very well.
      • 0
        Ameer Feb 5, 09
        I thought it was Black Monday.
  • 0
    FinalFantasyFanaticc Feb 4, 09
    I gotta disagree with the fact that he says FFVIII and MGS2 didn't live up to their hype, i thought both games were fantastic and deserved all the hype they got.

    Was happy that Zelda was listed as overhyped BUT lived up to it and then some.
    • 0
      Storm Feb 4, 09
      FFVIII, though my favorite of the series (well, that and FFIV), surely didn't live up to the hype. I mean, look at the game that came before it: FFVII. That was a revolutionary, highly-praised RPG that made history...FFVIII barely tried to top it. The backstory was terrible, the new battle mechanics were a love-hate style, the plot involving time compression was laughable, so on and so forth.

      MGS2 also didn't live up to the hype for me simply because of one character: Raiden. I hated that guy, why we had to switch to him for most of the game was beyond me. To make matters worst, we had to cope with him nude. -_-

      It's too bad that some games get an excess amount of hype, so much so that fans end up being disappointed with what they got, especially with sequels. Games like GTAIV, which I think is fantastic, and got superb and fair reviews, are destroyed by gamers today because of how it disappointed them, then there's the nostalgic factor (can't blame people for that, but they should give the games of today a chance).
    • 0
      Mr Gray Feb 5, 09
      I don't agree with either. I hate VIII for many reason (professional reasons, not biased opinion). I have a lot of problems with MGS2, a lot of them, but I love that game too.


      So nobody has mentioned the Halo series yet either. :\
  • 0
    Disillusioned Feb 4, 09
    Sheesh I haven't heard of have of them let alone queued to buy them.
    Those this mean I live under a rock? =O
  • 0
    tallteen86 Feb 5, 09
    I've heard of all of them myself, but didn't know there was much hype for several of them...

    Interesting, didn't know that Too Human jumped companies TWICE...It was slated for development on all 3 of the 'big 3' modern gaming console companies...

    At 16th place on the 'most hyped' scale, we first see a game worthy of it's hype....Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

    GTA IV was good, but it didn't have the same 'je ne sais quoi' as GTA III and Vice City (and even San Andreas, which I didn't like as much as Vice City).

    lol @ The Wizard. Not sure, I MIGHT have seen it, but I was probably a kid at the time...

    For me, I enjoyed FFVIII more than VII. Though I didn't get either of those games until well after they were released, and pretty much stuffed in bargain bins.

    I liked MGS2 myself. Didn't mind that Raiden was the main character, though I was a bit surprised.

    And ET....Glad I am not so old that I ever played it. From what I heard, it only had one or two levels, which wasn't finished, so you can't even beat said level, and that is the extent of the game....

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