Man, anyone that tells you that all the biggest games come out near Christmas is a dirty rotten liar. March is where it is fucking at. We’ve got a plethora of hyped games flooding out this month. Other then the four we’re looking at here there is God of War: Chains of Olympus, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Rings of Fate, Final Fantasy: Crisis Core and a whole host of other games vying for your attention. Even games not so in demand like Sega Super Star Tennis are getting hyped up to no end. So since we’ve already taken a look at February let’s jump right into all the shiny packaging and pretty advertising we can. There might be more hype this month thanks solely to one game (you know which one) then any other during the entire year. So strap yourself in and get ready to ride the roller coaster of PR speak and doctored screenshots. This is The Hype Machine.

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If there is one thing I’ll remember last year for, it will be the 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. Many times this results in more and more disappointments from the gamer. With their hopes built up over months of teasers, previews, and interviews with attractive game developers only to find that he or she has in their hands a disc comprised mostly of suck. What is a poor gamer to do?

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. 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 the hype it needs. Sounds like fun…or a lot of work.

Welcome to the first full month of this wondering series. Let’s all come together and take a look at the games we were all excited about at the beginning of February and see if they really deserved all the hype around them. Hit the jump to see what was good, what was bad, and if we can ever truly trust marketing and the internet.

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Welcome one and all to part two of this months Hype Machine. Since we’ve taken a look at how January’s games stood up to their hype, it’s now time to see what all the fuss is over the games coming out in February. The way this will work is I’ll run down the hype of the top games for the month and give a few predictions at the end of each one.

February offers a few more hyped games than January (where I was forced to call KUF a hyped game). So I have narrowed it down to what I believe to be the most hyped games that also represent a variety of game types. You’ll notice that Turok, one of the most hyped games of the year so far, isn’t on the list. This is simply because I’m a bit late here and we’ve already found out how the game is. Still, there is plenty of hype swirling around our heads as we speak, so strap yourself in and get ready to ride the roller coaster of PR speak and doctored screenshots. This is The Hype Machine.

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If there is one thing I’ll 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. Many times this results in more and more disappointments from the gamer. With their hopes built up over months of teasers, previews, and interviews with attractive game developers only to find that he or she has in their hands a disc comprised mostly of suck. What is a poor gamer to do?

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. 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 the hype it needs. Sounds like fun…or a lot of work.

So let’s start with January. Beginning with the games of January and seeing if they lived up to their hype then in part two, which will be posted later this week, we’ll take a look at what’s coming in February and the hype around those games. Normally you’d have a link to last months post so you can refresh yourself on all the juicy hype but we’ll have to skip that here. Hit the jump for the truth behind all the double speak.

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