so its no secret. lots of us enjoy left 4 dead. valve fans, fps fans, and hardcore gamers have all been chomping at the bit to get their dose of co-op zombie shooting. they've got the press eating out of their hands, the fan's clamoring over the demo, and clearly developers are taking note. i don't think Horde is a happy coincidence. I don't think the tacked on OMG Zombies (or whatever its called) in World at War is a happy coincidence either. both of these games are AAA titles, and will fall into the hands of lots of casual and hardcore gamers alike. while L4D may review incredibly (which it looks like it will), as a casual gamer, what motivation do you have to purchase this game when you have a game like world at war with a similar mode tacked on? probably not much.

so while hype is a great way to get people talking about your name. keeping it on the tip of thier tongue. getting the pre-order money from the hardcore, in this case it may have backfired. anyone else notice this? you think console sales of L4D will suffer because of it? should developers shorten their hype-cycle? letting the cat out of the bag a year or two before release may prove to be deadly in this case, and while L4D may have the AI director, i don't think the casual gamers will take note.