Minecraft was nothing until Notch posted the infdev/Alpha on 4chan of all places. And the rest is history.
Anyway, on topic. Demon's souls is a textbook definition. Sony never saw it coming at least.
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Sleeper Hits
- Thread starter Alcotholic
- Start date
Minecraft was nothing until Notch posted the infdev/Alpha on 4chan of all places. And the rest is history.
Anyway, on topic. Demon's souls is a textbook definition. Sony never saw it coming at least.
Corronchilejano
Member
Far Cry 3 sold well beyond Ubis' expectations, and Blood Dragon is pretty much the best selling spinoff of last gen, completely unexpected.
Gunpoint sold so well its creator became a full fledged gamedev, then retired, then came back cause he's too young to be retired.
Portal sold the Orange Box all by itself.
To The Moon is the best selling RPG Maker game in existence, adding more sales than all others combined.
Gunpoint sold so well its creator became a full fledged gamedev, then retired, then came back cause he's too young to be retired.
Portal sold the Orange Box all by itself.
To The Moon is the best selling RPG Maker game in existence, adding more sales than all others combined.
And I am a whore for it.
Piston Hyundai
Member
The hell it did. It's a great game and all, but it was more of a bonus to the eyes of most people that bought it.
Forsaken82
Member
And Episode 2 and Team Fortress 2...
If it hadn't been for the weak Episode 1, I might argue that Portal was the worst part of the Orange Box.
Stormhammer
Member
Katamari Damacy
Maybe Brain Age?
Maybe Brain Age?
FladamPlays
Neo Member
Katamari Damacy is one of the biggest (maybe THE biggest) console sleeper hits of all time. The game was a non marketed, throwaway $20 value title upon release and its unfounded success and great word of mouth helped spawn numerous follow-ups.
Corronchilejano
Member
Portal is the best rated game in that box. If anyone was on the fence for just getting Half Life 2, Portal pushed them over.
Team Fortress 2 meant nothing to the single player crowd. Portal on the other hand...
Ehhhh, there was always a very vocal community and the PS2 version also sold very well.
Demons Souls though came out of nowhere. I remember being in the GAF import thread about a year before Atlus published it here. Opinions were extremely mixed. Some didn't like the graphics, others only liked the aesthetic, it was very hard to see what direction the general public would lean to. Luckily it was a giant hit, truly a game that you had to play to understand. Word of mouth spread like fire after the first few weeks.
Yup.
Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae
Everyone should buy this Steam game if you have a PC compatible controller. It was like $2.50 during the last sale, totally worth it. I imagine it's sold quite well to action game fans.
affleck1981
Member
Not sure if it counts as a 'hit', but what about Spec Ops: The Line - seems to be a game that wasn't really big, but keeps on being written about and recommended.
NealMcCauley
Member
Maybe Red Dead Revolver but my memory is fuzzy. I know it sold well enough to be a greatest/platinum hit title, but I can't remember what the hype was.
Markitron
Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
Borderlands didn't get a whole lot of promotion in mainstream media and went on to be huge.
I'd say possibly Arkham Asylum aswell. It was well advertised before release but nobody really thought it would be good, let alone a possible Game of the Generation.
Defining one in recent memory is Demon Souls, obscure japanese game that will go on to influence games for the forseeable future.
I'd say possibly Arkham Asylum aswell. It was well advertised before release but nobody really thought it would be good, let alone a possible Game of the Generation.
Defining one in recent memory is Demon Souls, obscure japanese game that will go on to influence games for the forseeable future.
Maybe I'm thinking about this differently than other people. I'm imagining unexpected hit games that don't have big openings but grow over time.
Most people in here are labeling big budget games from well known developers, like Red Dead Revolver, Borderlands or Far Cry 3. I don't think I share a person's sense of "little promotion" or press coverage if a big budget, retail release game from Rockstar counts as "little promotion."
Most people in here are labeling big budget games from well known developers, like Red Dead Revolver, Borderlands or Far Cry 3. I don't think I share a person's sense of "little promotion" or press coverage if a big budget, retail release game from Rockstar counts as "little promotion."
Markitron
Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
I'd agree with you about Red Dead but a quick Google would suggest that most sleeper hit movies come from the big studios.
Hoho for breakfast
Member
I think it's hard for anything other than indie games to truly be a by the book definition of "sleeper hit" but with that said, there are some AAA games that basically came out of nowhere.
Like Batman Arkham Asylum. I remember having basically zero interest in the game until reviews hit and they were spectacular. It really caught me off guard.
An upcoming possibility would be Shadow Of Mordor. We know about it of course, but there isn't much hype surrounding it. It could turn out to be spectacular and be in GOTY conversations. If that happens and it sells well I would consider it a sleeper hit.
Like Batman Arkham Asylum. I remember having basically zero interest in the game until reviews hit and they were spectacular. It really caught me off guard.
An upcoming possibility would be Shadow Of Mordor. We know about it of course, but there isn't much hype surrounding it. It could turn out to be spectacular and be in GOTY conversations. If that happens and it sells well I would consider it a sleeper hit.
manzoman96
Member
this game
MiniBossBattle
Member
Candy Crush?
loaf of bread
Member
Doesn't pretty much every "hit" iOS game ever made qualify as a sleeper hit? They're never advertised and most people find out about them just by being at the top of the charts.
Not true, I've seen a fair number of advertisements for King.com's games on cable TV. Maybe it's only happening now after they've become a strongly established brand, but they definitely advertise.
loaf of bread
Member
Yeah but I haven't seen or heard of many people playing any of their other games that they advertise besides candy crush, King advertises now but most games that get on top of the charts get there very quickly and with pretty much only word of mouth.
Dr. Black Jack
Member
The two main ones for consoles. Games that are impossible to properly evaluate with the current whambamthankyamam style of launch reviews.
Alcoholikaust
Member
the original dead space, mirrors edge and condemned are votes
Well, the major movie studios have a far tighter grasp on the film industry than the big four publishers have on the game industry. Most of the biggest hits of the last decade have escaped their grasp, because they were on the Wii, DS, iPhone, or PC.
But the few surprise hits (not necessarily sleeper, but surprise) that were on PS/Xbox like CoD4 or they absolutely nailed. The big four publishers have traditional consoles locked down a la film, they're just struggling with all these expanded markets.
Resident4t.
Member
Doesn't a sleeper hit have to be commercially successful? I don't think it's just an underrated game that did well critically.
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
this game
That's a really good example. The PS3 version bombed in Japan and I can't imagine that Namco thought it would be a huge success in the West, but they released it anyway and it turned into probably the best selling new JRPG IP of the gen. I daresay Ni no Kuni's success here is a big part of why Namco has been so agressively pursuing JRPG & anime games localization lately.
Fire Emblem 3DS and Bravely Default maybe?
I guess Nintendo did market them heavily in Direct, but they both sold well beyond expectation and I don't think were exactly prime pillars of their marketing strategy each releasing in the February doldrums.
I guess Nintendo did market them heavily in Direct, but they both sold well beyond expectation and I don't think were exactly prime pillars of their marketing strategy each releasing in the February doldrums.
XxSlasherMcGirkxX
Member
Phoenix Wright is the definition of a sleeper hit for me. I got it at launch and remember when it took off and there weren't enough copies for the demand and people where going nuts when it got around how good it was. Then it kinda turned into a meme for awhile and people really started noticing it. They reprinted the first game like three or four times.
Came to post this
DustyVonEric
Member
Yup, ultimate sleeper hit.
Damn near zero promotion, just awesome word of mouth from other countries and the import community.
I don't often take chances Day 1 with games without solid reviews and coverage. In this case though, I pre-ordered the collector's edition with no regrets.
I choose wisely
Wait, uh...
Just found this while looking for Indy knight.
Just so random
3D Dot Game Heroes
Sold like shit in Japan and sold "6 times more than they anticipated" for Atlus. Demon Souls only hit twice the projection. Funny that 3D Dot Game Heroes was published by From Software in Japan. It wasn't a major hit but for how niche it was 160k was certainly a sleeper.
Sold like shit in Japan and sold "6 times more than they anticipated" for Atlus. Demon Souls only hit twice the projection. Funny that 3D Dot Game Heroes was published by From Software in Japan. It wasn't a major hit but for how niche it was 160k was certainly a sleeper.
Still. It was a batman game from a relatively unknown developer. People probably expected it would be mediocre at best.
I did. Until I played the demo. AA is one of my games of the generation. Its godlike.
Yeah I think this might count.
I definitely don't remember it making that much of a splash when it hit, and it ended up getting a sequel (not to mention, I'm still seeing Darksiders LTTP threads on GAF despite how old the game is).
Or maybe I'm not remembering things properly.
Zen_Arcade
Banned
Sleeping Dogs was the first game I thought of too.
I have to say the industry is too aggressive as you put it for something to be a sleeper. AAA games are off the table immediately because of promotion and sales expectations. In the broader market the games that become any form of a hit go on to be megahits like minecraft or flappy bird so they don't really seem to fit in either.
Its the same thing with "undiscovered gems", at least to the gaf crowd these do not exist anymore. Not enough games are coming out that they are slipping by people watching new sites.
This right here.
It got off to a slow start, but word started spreading after people started to discover how good of a game it was.
Amazing mix of gameplay mechanics, graphics, soundtrack, story and more. Still bums me that we don't get to see SEGA's beautiful CANVAS engine being utilized for more games on the home console front.
Still one of the best new IPs to emerge out of the last generation of games. Too bad Valkyria Chronicles 3 wasn't localized for western shores...(I know there's a fan translation..but how about an official one? it is the last game remaining in Shahid's #JRPGVita campaign...so fingers crossed?)
Will probably buy a PS4 straight away if they ever consider a Valkyria Chronicles 4 for the home console platform or a VC Trilogy remaster for the PS4.
Irishmantis
Member
Just to make sure i understand clear
does Sleeper hit mean;
a) A game where there was little to not hype/notice but end up being a brilliant game?
b) A game thats not as widely known to the mass as GTA and COD would be?
does Sleeper hit mean;
a) A game where there was little to not hype/notice but end up being a brilliant game?
b) A game thats not as widely known to the mass as GTA and COD would be?
A. Little hype/notice, ends up doing pretty well, or ends up with a cult following (think Radiant Historia for the DS)
B refers to Niche games (for selected audiences only) e.g the usual Japanese games.