If there is one thing I will remember last year for it will be games that did not live up to their hype. From the severe disappointments like Lair to the semi-successful like Bioshock (yea, I said semi) games are costing more and thus requiring more and more hype from the PR people and many times resulting in more and more disappointments from the gamer. So what is a poor gamer to do? Hopes built up over months of teasers and previews and interviews with attractive game developers only to find that he or she has in their hands a disc comprised mostly of suck.

Well this year I’m not going to take it! Actually, yes, yes I am going to take it. But, like any good journalist, I’m not going to take it without commenting on it. Therefore I bring you “The Hype Machine,” a monthly feature that will discuss the top three most hyped games (as I perceive them). Every month I will discuss these games and the hype behind them, then in the next month’s feature we’ll see if the games lived up to the hype via the general opinion of the internet along with the next top five games. I’ll also try to discuss a game or two I feel isn’t getting they hype it needs. Sounds like fun…or a lot of work.

So let’s start with January. As I’m already late we’ll just pretend this is coming out at the beginning of the month and that the games haven’t been released yet. Of course, it being January means that the hype machine is taking a much needed rest after the holiday season so not the best month to start this in, but away we go.




Mario And Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS)
Release Date: Jan. 22

The Game: Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games is exactly what it sounds like. You play as a myriad of characters from both games competing in events at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The game controls through the stylus for most events, asking you to rub the screen quickly or tap with good timing. There is no online play but the game does download leader boards.
The Hype: Obviously there is plenty of hype for the first meeting of these to legendary characters but with the game’s counterpart on the Wii having already been released before Christmas and scoring some mixed reviews ( [url= http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/wii/marioandsonicattheolympicgames?q=olympic%20games]68 on Metacritic[/url] ) some of the excitement generated simply by this has worn off. Still, previews on sites like IGN are saying “Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games looks great and plays well, and should make for an impressive showing,” giving the impression that the game has some pretty fun mini-game antics to go along with its character hype.
The developers of the game are touting it as different from previous Olympic based games not only for its classic characters but also because of its interface. Scott Steinberg, Sea of America’s Vice President of Marketing said in an interview with Gamespot “(The difference is) that it's on a Wii and a DS. So, that in itself is going to make an Olympic-style game that much more physical and kinetic and fun. You throw in Sonic and Mario, and you're talking about a real fun action sports game. All that recipe together equals a unique and innovative approach on that theme.” Plus in most of the interviews around the net everyone seems to want to mention that Miyamato has had a hand in this upping the hype for the game even more.
Barebones Hype: It’s Mario and Sonic together at last with fun mini-games, creative control and Shigeru Miyamato involved.
How it Might Fail: Much like the Wii version it could simply be not as much fun as it needs to be. Just another collection of mini-games that doesn’t do the characters it features any justice. If the touch controls are wonky it’ll be even worse.




Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom
Release Date: Jan. 8

The Game: A divergence from the RTS roots of the Kingdom Under Fire series, Circle of Doom is an action RPG designed by the same team that did the first two games. The game features plenty of bad guys flooding at you as you cast spells and fire weapons in a classic fantasy world. The game features four player co-op and allows you to design your characters to form strong teams.
The Hype: In the games blog on IGN, game directory, Henry Lee, says that he was going for three things with this game “easy, deep, and funny.” Circle of Doom is supposed to be a game where players can pick up the controller and easily get into a deep and involving but easy to use action RPG. Lee also references a sort of dark humor that will run within the game along with the dark gothic style. Gamespot sites the “extensive equipment and ability options” as what separates Circle of Doom from other action RPGs where hundreds of bad guys swarm around you, so that has got to be one of the major draws they are touting for the game along with the history of the KUF series as the six playable characters are all from previous games.
Barebones Hype: Thousands of swarming monsters attack you in an action RPG that has impressive depth with a massive variety of items and character designs that allow for truly involved battles, but the new gameplay mechanics allow for easier access into the game than previous KUF game.
How it Might Fail: No true depth making action boring and repetitive and robbing the KUF series of what makes it special.




Burnout: Paradise
Release Date: Jan. 22

The Game: Burnout Paradise is the next in the series of car racing/crashing games where the main goal is not just to win the race but to cause as much destruction as possible by crashing your speeding car into anything and everything. This time though the game isn’t on set race courses but a completely open world where you can drive anywhere within the 30 mile limit of Paradise City.
The Hype: Not only will this game live up to its completely awesome predecessors but it is also going to revolution how we interact with out games. The multiplayer feature which all happens in the game is described by IGN as “the most convenient multiplayer feature we've seen and will likely be the standard from its release point forward” and the drive up to a street and compete in races that you can win in any way you want. Add to this some amazing new crash graphics, up to eight player multiplayer and plenty of stuff to open up and you’ve got, as William Halely of Destructoid described it, “a package that could rival David Bowie's in Labyrinth.” Basically you can do anything you want from the start of the game and do it all in game while racing around at high speeds.
Barebones Hype: This game will not only revolutionize the Burnout series but it will also revolution how we interact with functions and menu options.
How it Might Fail: There is a lot of risk in the open world mechanic and the lack of lobbies and true menus. It might not be fun, the interface might not work and crashing cars just might not be worth it.




No More Heroes
Release Date: Jan. 22

The Game Suda 51’s latest game features Travis Touchdown, a stylishly-dressed yet desperate otaku who aspires to be a top-level assassin. Travis goes around a semi-open sandbox design city trying to knock off the assassins who are ranked above him and become the number one assassin. He does this with the use of his beam sword for fighting and his The Schpel Tiger for getting around. The Wii controller is used to pull off special moves and charge your beam sword.
The Hype It’s Suda 51’s next great artistic achievement in the world of gaming, bringing more stylized polish to games but with a bit less plot confusion this time. The art and style is clearly different and the game looks to play out with the same type of strange characters that were seen in Killer Seven. 1up.com points out that “The characters and their dialogue are just as crazy, but the plot is very straightforward and you're obviously more engaged in the action.” Suda 51 also notoriously promised that the game would be more violent than Manhunt 2 but this isn’t because the wireless controller will be used for attacks (you press the A button for basic attacks) but because bad guys spill gallons of blood. The game will thus be brining some very adult material to the often times kid friendly Wii.
Barebones Hype: The art and style of Suda 51 meets sandbox, lightsaber wielding gameplay but still has plenty of oddities abounding all while giving the Wii some adult content.
Why it Might Fail: The game is weird and who knows it if will actually be fun. Much of its hype is simply because it is so different and, sadly, many time different can just be dumb. Killer 7 was epic but truly relied on people’s taste, No More Heroes might be the same way.




Endless Ocean
Release Date: Jan. 21

The Game: Swim around the ocean doing whatever you want and seeing fish. A few games and collecting things add to the game but the main chunk of gameplay is using the Wii Remote to direct your swimmer around and see under water sea life.
The Non-hype: The game isn’t getting to much press as it’s not really the type of thing that attracts lots of attention but it’s non-game mechanic and good looking graphics (for the Wii) make it both an interesting departure from the norm and a truly original concept that we wouldn’t normally get in the U.S. Despite the games simple premise there is a multitude of things to do aside from just swimming around but most previews (there’s basically only one on most mainstream sites) point out how surprisingly easy it is to get lost for hours just swimming. To bad the games not getting a bigger push as I think this would be right up most new Wii gamer’s alley.
Why it Might Succeed: It’s different and that is exactly what the Wii is about. Plenty of people aren’t looking for uber-challenges out of their games and still more might find swimming and learning about fish incredibly engrossing.


So that does it for the first installment. Any suggestions or ideas are welcome for improving this as I’m just feeling the waters out right now.