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[J2 Cool]

Dang, I was hoping someone would mention State of Emergency, Brute Force, or one of the other heavily hyped games that flopped.

Oh god I hate that game. I never bought into the hype for it, cause not a single preview could explain to me what about it was so great about it, other than a lot of enemies on screen. My impatient older brother meanwhile the weekend it came out wanted a game. Of course he had a bit of money, and I had enough for an entire game. So he gave me that, and I came home with State of Emergency. Worst game ever to win an E3 award. What a duck, we knew it blew chunks in about a half hour.

 

[Az987]

GTA: The first one, I had it preordered, i was so hyped to be stealing cars lol

GTAIII: I didnt really get into GTA2 but when I heard they were going to 3D I became
extremely.

Halo: Only game I wanted when Xbox launched. It did not disappoint.

Soul Caliber: I bought like 10 games when Dreamcast launched but I wanted this the most.

Sonic Adventure: The speed in this game was so amazing

Shenmue: I remember being so hyped for this game but I stopped playing games for a bit and forgot about it. Then I started buying Dreamcast games again a few years back and this was the first one I bought. Awesome game, I still need to play part 2.

Resident Evil 4: I bought a gamecube just for this game. It was worth it

Halo 2: After Halo I couldnt wait for this game. I was a little disappointed.

 

[wildthing2022000]

I usually get hyped up for a bunch of games but I'll name 10 in no particular order

1. SSB: Brawl - read that update blog everyday
2. Madden 10 - not released yet so I'm hyped up to get it
3. NHL 10 - same reason as Madden
4. Final Fantasy VII - sole reason why I got a Playstation
5. MVP Baseball 2005 - Manny on the cover after Sox won the World Series
6. Mother 3 - kept waiting for that fan translation to finish
7. GTA III & Vice City - Been wanting to play them both & got them as a set
8. Xenosaga - Thought it was a sequel to Xenogears but didn't play it till a few days ago.
9. Final Fantasy X - 1st PS2 version of FF
10. Pokemon - it's the same game with extra stuff but I end up getting sucked into the hype till recently

 

[timetokill]

Ocarina of Time

3 years of pretty much breathless anticipation for this game :lol I would bring it up at lunch all the time at school... downloaded every tiny little video from IGN on my 56k modem, read every word in every preview I could find. I couldn't get enough.

I remember the big argument at the time between PSX and N64 owners at my school... the PSX owners insisting Final Fantasy 7 would be the best game ever, and pretty much me alone insisting Ocarina of Time would be far better. FF7 came out, and I didn't have a Playstation, so I had to endure a lot of time of those guys apparently playing the best game ever. Zelda's time would come, I thought. And then the delays... delay after delay.

But I was so goddamn hyped for that game. I preordered it probably a year in advance...

Finally, it was going to release. For real. I remember going home early from high school when the game came out... was called to the office, came back to the classroom to get my stuff and told my friend (kinda loudly) "Gonna go get Zelda!!" My professor didn't seem to find it amusing.

I ended up going with a few friends to Best Buy to pick it up. Gold Collector's Edition... and then the car overheated on the way back home. So we pulled the car over, and while we waited for it to cool down I read the entire goddamn manual.

My family knew how hyped I was for it so we all sat around the TV and they watched me play it for the first hour or so (into the Great Deku Tree and stuff). I remember my dad commenting on how amazing it looked when the intro did its camera pan over Hyrule Field. Intense.

Then my family went to bed, and I played until 4 in the morning, got about 3 hours of sleep, and woke up before anybody else and started playing again. It was hard to stop

And we all know how it ends -- Ocarina ended up so amazing, it was in a league so far beyond FF7 it's not even fair to compare them.


I would include Mario 64 but I didn't have time to get hyped for it. I didn't even know about it until my friends already had a N64 and Mario 64 at their house. Since I was staying at their place after school, one day I was there and there it was. I watched them play the game, my eyes practically glued to the screen. I was so completely floored by the game, it didn't even seem real.

I was still giddy as hell when I finally got a N64 though, and it was all for that game.


Metal Gear Solid 2 -- the trailer did it all. The game ended up sucking though, probably my biggest disappointment. But to this day, one of the best game trailers ever.

Final Fantasy 8 -- I had gotten a Playstation finally after FF7 had been out a bit, and finally played through it, and it was great. But then a new one was about to come out, and I was still at the point where I could be fooled into thinking awesome CG = awesome game. This game made me extremely wary of Square ever since, and I haven't been super hyped about any of their games ever since. FF8 was good, not horrible by any means, but I know on Disc 2 I started feeling the pangs of disappointment.

Resident Evil 4 -- Looked incredible, and when I played it at E3 for the first time I was stunned. I couldn't stop playing it. I was literally still playing it when they cut the power to the kiosks :lol



Eh, let's just cut it short there.

 

[Blast Processing]

Fun thread idea. I'm not sure I can think of 10 games I was super hyped for, but here goes:

Super Mario Bros. 3 (I had the Nintendo Power strat guide for months before getting the game)

Final Fantasy III on SNES (I was a huge fan of FFII on SNES before it, and stared at a single Nintendo Power screenie of Locke and Terra fighting a rabbit for what felt like years)

Diablo (WC2 got me into Blizzard, Diablo demo blew me away)

Final Fantasy VII (had kinda fallen out of video gaming until I saw Cloud on a cover of an EGM issue. I went out and bought a Playstation soon thereafter, around 6 months or so before the game came out)

Metal Gear Solid (EGM hyped the fuck out of this game back in the day)

MGS2 (being a huge fan of the first)

ICO (bought it day one, on account of hype)

Champions of Norrath (having loved Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance)

Halo 3 (the first game I was super hyped for upon my return to console gaming from a huge stint in FFXI)

MGS 4 (love this series)


It's hard to recall how I found out about new games in the days before the Internet, aside from Nintendo Power/EGM. I remember playing tons of awesome NES/SNES games (Castlevanias, Contra, etc., ALTTP, Super Metroid, SFIIT, Megaman X), I just don't remember ever anxiously awaiting release dates until FFIII...

The other side of the coin is just how many awesome games I never heard about until after release, especially in the PS2 era (GTA III, Hitman 2, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance)

 

[robor]

Well a lot my choices have already been mentioned a number of times except for two:

LITTLE KING'S STORY. I was hyped about this game a year before it's release and once I got it in my hot little hands BOOM, was blown away. This game seriously set my expectations way too low because what I played was so much more than what I expected, and then some. My fav game this generation so far along with:

ZACK & WIKI. Yea, same deal here too. I was pumped a year before it was released, I got the game and was blown away yet again. Truly a unique experience that helps to give the Wii more of an identity.

FINAL FANTASY IV DS. I was pumped merely for the fact that it was going to get a 3D overhaul, but it was much more than that. A lot of aspects where tweaked and enhanced which gave it so much more life and was extremely rewarding for those who had played the original. I was very much surprised with the attention to detail and how everything was treated delicately (keeping it true to the original game etc). I'd go so far to even consider it the definitive version.

 

[Diortem7]

It wasn't until E3 of '04 that I started following games before their release so my list is short. Here's my top 5 in chronological order:

1. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
2. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
3. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
4. Super Mario Galaxy
5. Super Smash Bros Brawl

 

[Shurs]

Top five from this generation.

5-Wipeout HD - When the release day was up in the air I was going crazy.
4-Grand Theft Auto 4 - I waited in line for a midnight release. I'll never do that again.
3-Demon's Souls - First game I've ever imported. Had to wait a month after ordering.
2-Metal Gear Solid 4 - My most anticipated established IP of the gen.
1-LittleBIGPlanet - I lost hair during the one week delay.

 

[Fonds]

Talked about it on forums for almost 2 years up till the release. Fantasized about playing it. And when it finally did release, it lived up to all my insanely high expectations of it. The summer of 2000 was magical. Will probably never be as hyped for anything ever again.

 

[Sadist]

Ocarina of Time, Resident Evil 4 and Super Mario Galaxy.

I had to play these, or else I would have gone mad.

 

[Mato]

1) Zelda Ocarina of Time

2) Super Mario 64

3) Final Fantasy VII

4) Metal Gear Solid

5) Resident Evil 2

6) Final Fantasy VIII

7) Resdent Evil 4

8) Donkey Kong Country 2

that is all I can think of

 

[Frenck]

Not sure about ten games but there are three that stand out:

Halo 2

Totally got caught in the hype campaign. Posters, action figures, condoms, hour(s) long wait for a five minute demo at conventions etc :lol

The game didn't disappoint me to my own surprise after I heard about first impressions from people who downloaded the leaked version (and spoiled the Arbiter for me) who were shitting on the game. It was a very surprising game chock full of ballsy decisions. I hate it when devs play it safe in sequels, one of the reasons why I'm not the biggest fan of the CoD or HL sequels where nothing really changed from a gameplay point of view. I very much expected and was excited for a by the numbers sequel to Halo.

I didn't get what I was waiting for but I was still very happy with the result.

It certainly helped that I never expected the E3 2003 demo level to be in the game.

Jade Empire

Again I happily boarded the hype train. This time without the action figures and condoms. I was lucky enough to go in with the right expectations from the very first second the game was announced as Bioware's first action RPG. I never expected a 120 hour snorefes... erm epic like BG in the first place. I expected a wuxia inspired action romp with plenty of moral choices and that's exactly what I got, except 100 times more awesome than that.

The backlash almost killed the gamer in me. I didn't for the life of me understand how anyone could walk away disappointed or even disgusted from this masterpiece. Later on I realized that most people thought they would get Knights of the Old Republic 2 or something similar. Bioware never advertised it as such and it was heartbreaking to see it flop when it contained many of my favourite video game moments of that particular console generation.

Shortly aftwards Bioware went down the shitter and I bailed out of the hype train halfway through development of Mass Effect after it dawned on me that Bioware took the wrong consequences from Jade Empire's failure. In many ways Mass Effect is much more shallow and once again it was heartbreaking to see fans claim that it was the triumphant return of Bioware after Jade Empire.

The Getaway 3 (or 2 depending on your perspective)

Whatever happened to this game?

The Getaway was sort of a guilty pleasure for me. It didn't feel right to love it and I probably shouldn't admit it on video game message boards but the truth is that despite its many shortcomings it was one of the most immersive videogames I ever played. Right from the get go the game was different than all other videogames. Much more cinematic, even to a fault.

It favoured style over substance in such a remarkable fashion that it didn't bother me at all that it controlled like a turd on acid. I was so immersed in the story that I didn't care and accepted the issues as part of the experience. I'm usually very picky when it comes to control issues or wonky UI. Anyway, it was a very enjoyable game and Black Monday was even better for me. Heck, it had one of the shittiest stealth sections in the history of videogames and it didn't bother me one bit. If there is one thing I hate about video games it's escort missions and shoddyly executed stealth missions.

Both games are very popular in Europe and a sequel was just a matter of time. There was this awesome announcement vid and shortly afterwards the London environments were absorbed into GT5 and we never heard anything about the game again.

What a shame. I was really hyped for it.

 

[ajim]

in no real order, mainly because i cant be bothered thinking that hard:

shenmue
shenmue II
twilight princess
banjo tooie (never played it though, but i remember wanting it so bad)
pokemon red
virtual on


i cant even think. damnit. too tired.

 

[ltse1]

Final Fantasy X
Dark Cloud 2
NBA Street 2

 

[Powerslave]

GTAIII: I didnt really get into GTA2 but when I heard they were going to 3D I became extremely.

:O

 

[pizzapizza64]

What a fun thread! This is definitely going to be tricky, but here it goes:

10. Twisted Metal
9. Super Smash Bros Brawl
8. Super Mario Galaxy
7. Street Fighter Alpha
6. Mario Kart DS
5. Twisted Metal 2
4. Rock Band
3. Halo 2
2. Mario Kart 64
1. Super Mario 64

 

[Loxley]

Being barely over 20 years old, most of mine are from the last five or so years.

~ Rise of Kasai
~ Resident Evil 5
~ Fable 2
~ Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
~ Battlefield 1943
~ Assassin's Creed
~ Oblivion
~ World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
~ World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

Those can be put in any order, but absolutely the #1 spot goes to:

City of Heroes was not only the first MMO I had ever played, but it was the game that got me into PC gaming. I actually bought my first real gaming PC just so I could play City of Heroes specifically. Were it not for CoH I don't know how long it would have been until I finally saw the light I don't play it steadily anymore (occasionally stop back in every now and then to check out the new Issue features), but because of it's significance to my own personal gaming history, it will always hold a special place on my shelf.


And the hype all started in early 2003, when my comic book nerd-vision spotted this on the magazine racks at my local Target:

Off to the races from there.

 

[Rahxephon91]

1.Final Fantasy XII-Watched the first Englished voice trailer so much I could recite it.

2.Final Fantasy XIII-Will and will continue to watch each trailer thousands/millions of times.

3.Metal Gear Solid 3-The epic trailer that was really long was often played at my house. It would continue to look for as much info as I could.

4.Metal Gear Solid 4-Same with 4 to the point that I cried with joy at on trailer. Disappointing game though.

5. Final Fantasy X-2-Wet my pants at the PSM cover story about the game and man was I excited as FFX was my first FF. Game was pretty bad though.


6.Pokemon Silver-What kid wasn't?

hmmm...

 

[Drakeon]

Talked about it on forums for almost 2 years up till the release. Fantasized about playing it. And when it finally did release, it lived up to all my insanely high expectations of it. The summer of 2000 was magical. Will probably never be as hyped for anything ever again.

This. 1000 times this. I hung out on Diabloii.net for like a year or two before the game even came out, making up skill build after skill build, not having any idea how any of them would turn out. I was also pretty hyped for World of Warcraft & Starcraft.

 

[Proc]

I remember bugging the computer store clerk whenever I visited the mall about the release date of the original Diablo. It kept getting delayed again and again. The same thing for Starcraft. Remember the moment when you guys walked into the store and were met with three different starcraft boxes to choose from? What a fucking glorious day that was:

I also recall being hyped beyond belief with my friends for zelda: OoT. We called each other as we booted it up for the first time. Intense shit!

 

[PolishQ]

My mom never let me have a console growing up, so I'm showing my PC gaming roots here.

Riven - Remember when Myst games mattered? Starting with Myst 3, the series became a bit too cartoony and contrived for my tastes, but Riven had a great sense of the epic and the mysterious. I remember it being quite anticipated and it certainly delivered for me. I liked delving into the secrets of one particular age for most of the game, rather than jumping from one superficial world to the next and not getting to know any very well, as in the later games.

Woodruff and the Schnibble - Not sure why this sticks out to me in my memory, but somehow in my youth I caught wind of this obscure adventure game and got pretty worked up about it since it was from the makers of the Gobliiins series. Woodruff was a somewhat different game, but I liked the humor and the weird scenarios kept things interesting. I would still recommend it if you can track it down!

Half-Life 2 - I loved the first game and this one exceeded my expectations. Valve could have easily gone for a "Return to Black Mesa" but I love that it expanded the story and universe in so many interesting directions. Still one of my favorite worlds in science fiction and gaming.

Bioshock - As a fan of System Shock 2 I followed the development of this one very closely but was ultimately disappointed. The endgame obviously was lacking, but looking back on it now the thing that gets me the most was that the work-in-progress media was so promising. Remember the third Big Daddy design? The skeletonized corpses strewn about? The early shots gave me a feeling of Rapture being a real place, rather than the eventual sequence of levels it turned out to be.

Metroid Prime - The first time I bought a console specifically for one game.

Five more:

TIE Fighter
Jedi Knight
Grim Fandango
MGS4
FFX

 

[MvmntInGrn]

Some of these are anticipated for release day, for the day I got the system I could play them on, or for just getting them when I was younger and couldn't afford games myself.

Not really in any particualr order:
Oblivion: Probably my most hyped game ever, I was convinced I would love it. I watched a massive amount of videos for it and went through a ton of information knowing exactly what I would want to play as and what I wanted my character to be. Simply said I did not end up liking it very much at all. I didn't like the world (pretty to look at but somewhat lifeless despite plenty of NPCs), I hated the combat, and hated the leveling system. I have intended to play this game on PC with mods for a long time, but I never have and don't think it will change my feeling on the game really.

Super Smash Bros. Melee: The time I spent watching videos for this game is rather pathetic, not to mention it was really just the same ones over and over again. Got a gamecube for it and don't regret it in the least.

Wind Waker: Again disgusting amount of video watching, thats pretty much what I do for anticipated games. :lol In the end I liked the game very much except for the annoying sailing system.

Killzone 2: I'm pretty sure 90% of my first 150 or so posts on Neogaf were in the Killzone 2 Nov/Dec Media Blowout thread. Ate up every bit of information about the game and liked it pretty well in the end.

Demon's Souls: Simply so hyped I imported it AFTER it got announced for the US. First game I have ever imported. Early videos (and to some extent current ones) made the game seen clunky but once I started reading the GAF thread and some impressions I had to try it. No regrets because it is my favorite game this gen so far.

Metroid Prime: Hyped enough to read through the first 1/3-1/2 of the games walkthrough.

Other less hyped titles:
Kingdom Hearts 2
Metal Gear Solid 4
Final Fantasy XII
Twilight Princess

 

[Kimosabae]

On May 23, 2000, Perfect Dark was released. It was a Wednesday. Never have I anticipated anything in my entire life more than this game. The Marshal Mathers LP released on this day also, making this day, officially, the happiest day of my life.

Every delay was agony, like knife stabs in the cuticles. For a year, I used my high school's internet solely to search for news regarding this game... fuck typing class (this post should take me around 20-25 minutes to finish).

Nintendo.com, Rareware.com, PerfectDark.com: my suppliers of addiction.

EGM had a purple and green blow-out cover story that April, that I read every single day before bed.

Damn, I miss being a kid.


Honorable Mentions:

Super Mario 64 - Camped in Toys R' Us as a kid all day and played on the kiosk.

Halo 2 - Also my greatest disappointment. Awful game, and the trailers were full of lies and broken promises. I still consider the 8 min 2003 E3 demonstration to be the best hype machine for a video game ever.

Super Smash Bros. Melee - My most favorite game of all time. Been a competitive tournament player since 2004, and still (somewhat) kickin'. Till' this day, I have yet to play a video game that is simply just...a complete joy to play.

SoulCalibur 2: My favorite fighting game of all time, just beneath Melee.

-SynikaL

 

[Lion Heart]

Hmm...well I know #1 easily enough

1. MGS2. Same ol story, trailer was incomprehensible in terms of tech.

after that it would be...

2. Syphon Filter 2!!!!- Kinda disappointing after the Classic (my Fav game) SF.
3. MGS4- Incredible game, probably the best game of the gen so far, although could have been better :lol
4. GT5- Kaz, please man, end this suffering
5. NFL 2K5- 2k4 was so amazing, plus this game was 29.99, wow it did not disappoint. Best Sports game ever.
6. Uncharted 2- Uncharted is everything I love about a game, it was such a surprise too. I now have unconditional trust in ND.
7. Need 4 Speed 4- High Stakes- Ofcourse, hot pursuit was sex so this was ultimately disappointing.
8. Halo 2- Halo was THE LAN game but this game was meh. I wish vehicles didnt break.
9. FFX- I was eager to see what the PS2 could do, I wasnt even a big RPG gamer but I was hyped for this. Didn't get to 50% lol.
10. Fable 2-........fuck.

Honorable mention: Oblivion. I thought this was the perfect game before it came out lol. It was incredibly entertaining in the first 60 hours though, gotta give it that.

I guess I didnt get too hyped for games prerelease back in the day with the exception of the ones I posted, I wish I could go back to being like that. Damn the internet. Going into the rental store/game store and picking games based on word of mouth/boxart led to some truly surprising discoveries like Starcraft, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Syphon Filter, MGS1, Goldeneye....ok anything pre MGS2.

Edit: Shit, forgot PGR3. Probably should be around 7.....and Driver 2.

 

[aerts1js]

In no particular order:

1. Trespasser. Good god I read so many previews and pictures before this game was released that I was convinced it was going to be the perfect game. The whole idea of exploring a "living" island with dinosaurs was too cool for my young 10 year old mind. The game constantly got pushed back and what came out would be one of the greatest disappointments of gaming I have experienced.

2. Jedi Knight. I played the original dark forces so many times I memorized pretty much every detail to every level. I loved star wars and when I found out Jedi Knight was gonna have light sabers I was elated. While I was not disappointed and ultimately played through this game many times, the lightsaber battles weren't exactly thrilling. I basically just ran back and forth swinging the lightsaber.

3. Final Fantasy VIII. Nothing really needs to be said. I LOVE FF7 and after seeing the intro to part 8 my jaw was on the ground for months. After beating FF8 I was extremely disappointed and never touched it again for years. I would eventually replay the game and end up enjoying it a lot.

4. Shadow of the Colossus. The trailer was AMAZING and this was one of the few games that fully lived up to my hype. One of the best games ever.

5. Half-life 2. This was another game that fully lived up to the hype, really felt like a journey. I really need to upgrade my PC so I can get around to playing Episode 2.

6. Devil May Cry 3. I still remember playing this with my friend during my spring break when this game first game out. It was SO hard but so freakin great.

7. Crisis Core. Bought this game on day 1 and was the reason why I bought a PSP. After playing through the game on "normal" i was a tad disappointed but after replaying the game on hard I fell in love with the game. Also has one of the best endings EVER in a game.

8. Kingdom Hearts 2. Sure this game gets some hate around here but after playing through the first one I was fully aboard the hype train and was not disappointed when it came out. To me it was better than FF12.

9. Metal Gear Solid 3 GAF really helped me get hyped for this game after losing almost complete interest in the series after the second one. I'm glad I let GAF convince me to give the series another chance because as it stands, it's my favorite PS2 game right after SOTC.

10. Chrono Cross. I was SO hyped for this game after watching the trailer with the song scars of time, constantly called the local stores to see if they had it when the release date came. Game did not disappoint.

 

[jett]

1.- Final Fantasy III(VI). Crazy hype for this game. Offered one guy trade him all my SNES games for his copy of FFIII. He refused. Couldn't find the thing anywhere. Finally ended up spending most of my savings on it, it cost about $95. Never been this crazed about a game EVER since, an EGM article about the import got me all riled up about it.

2.- Final Fantasy VII - I guess this is a close number one. I ended up selling my SNES and all its games plus a stereo system and a discman to afford a PS1 just to play this game. I guess this was my ultimate system seller. The last time I did something insane for one game.

3.- Super Mario Sunshine - I thought this game was going to be for some reason teh second coming of videogames. The most fucking fun one could have with a controller. THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA. What a piece of crap it turned out to be.

The rest in no order in particular:

Street Fighter II for SNES
Ocarina of Time
MGS3
MGS4
Shadow of the Colossus
Final Fantasy XII
Metroid Prime

 

[freddy]

Zeldas
Mario platformers
Metroid
Total Wars
Shadowrun 2 on the snes :O|
Age of Mythology 2 :O|
Total Annihilation:Kingdoms
Seiken Densetsu 3 and 4

 

[DarthButcher]

1. Pokemon Blue
2. Super Smash Bros Brawl
3. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
4. Metal Gear Solid IV
5. LittleBigPlanet
6. Metroid Prime 3
7. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
8. Pokemon Crystal
9. Valkyria Chronicles
10. New Super Mario Bros
11. ???
12. Profit

 

[Why would you do that?]

Woah... I'm only 19, and I grew up with only really Nintendo systems. In the end, there's not a big list...

My #1 anticipated game of all time was Twilight Princess. Ever since it was announced in 2004, I waited, waited, and did more waiting, as they kept pushing the game back. I preordered the Gamecube version, which was to come out a couple weeks after the Wii one, and when it came out, I borrowed a friends Wii and had the most intense play session I've had with any game ever. I beat it right before I had to go to school and return the Wii, after playing all night.

Twilight Princess wasn't as good as I hoped in the long run, but man, if I didn't have all sorts of fun playing through it the first time.

My #2 most anticipated game was Megaman 9. After going to college, and playing Megaman 1 - 6, and realizing that a small, fast, versatile Megaman in large stages with a large screen area made the NES games the best (as opposed to big sprites in future games), I wanted a new NES Megaman. Then, because Capcom must have been watching me, they announced Megaman 9.

Megaman 9 was everything I wanted it to be, and a little harder. While not my favorite game ever, it is my game of the millennium so far.

My #3 was Feel the Magic XY:XX. When the DS was announced (same E3 as Zelda) I really wanted it, and Feel the Magic was oozing with all sorts of style, from the looks of it. Sadly, when the DS came out, I didn't even get Feel the Magic, I got it a year later.

Feel the Magic XY:XX was a game with style, and I appreciated its quirkiness and its Space Channel 5-esque (before I've ever even heard of Space Channel 5) dancing level. Unfortunately, my cart stopped working, and I didn't make a backup of it I'll have to buy it again! I miss it a lot.

There are other games which I've waited for, but the wait wasn't as memorable... including Rhythm Tengoku Gold, Band Bros. DX, and right now, the new Wii Zelda (but I'm not crazy hyped yet, because they didn't even technically announce the game yet).

Other games that I've had somewhat of an interest in but just didn't get include Destroy all Humans!, Kameo: Elements of Power, and... well, that's about I can recall now.

Sorry it isn't 10 games, but... can't think of so many.

Edit: Oh dear goodness I forgot Smash Brawl. That would actually be #2! Used to check the site every day!

 

[EternalGamer]

10. Zelda: The Ocarina of Time (N64) - I recall press hyperbole of calling it the "best game of all time." I don't want to gain the universal censure of GAF, but I have to admit I was hugely disappointed by this game. This is one case where the hype did not transfer as I hated playing Zelda in 3D. The overworld felt barren rather than full of cool secrets. The digital nature of the fighting never gelled with me and I always fought with the camera (unlike Mario 64). Enough of these problems were minimized in WindWaker for me to find it enjoyable enough to finish, but I still prefer the classic Zeldas to this day. Nevertheless, it was a game I was thoroughly excited about at the time.


9. NBA Jam (SNES) - I don't even really like sports games, but again I got caught up in the hype. I had played it a number of times at the arcade, and, while I found it fun, I was never overly enthralled by it. However, for some reason I was far more excited about having it on consoles. I don't really recall how much I actually played it.


8. Super Metriod (SNES) - I can remember literally not wanting to leave my bedroom for an entire weekend (and largely succeeding).



7. Contra III: Alien Wars (SNES) - I can remember that I was on a band trip to Chicago when it came out and as soon as we got some free time in a mall, the first thing I did is hunt down a copy. I couldn't play it for three or four days afterwards, but I read the manual cover to cover more than once.



6. Super Street Figher 2 Turbo (SNES) - I actually never got a chance to play enough in the Arcade to become addicted, but the magazine hype (thanks to a bajillion EGM covers), had me literally counting the days till its release.



5. Mortal Kombat 2 (SNES, Genesis & GameGear) - Yes, I bought ALL THREE of those versions. I actually recall the Gamegear version being pretty fun despite it being incredibly framey.



4. Super Mario 64 (N64) - I remember driving an hour to play a Japanese version at Gamefan. Could not wait after that.




3. Super Mario 3 (NES) - The iconic chanting "Mario" commercial did its job.




2. Final Fantasy VII (PSX) - While the marketing was ubiquitous, it was really the series legacy that had me so excited.



1. Alien vs. Predator (Jaguar) - Thanks to all the Gamefan propaganda. I was also going through a pretty dark period in my life (Pentecostal upbringing and a crises of faith and sexual identity) and I literally began to view this game as my "last hurrah" for a while. Obviously, looking back, it is sort of pathetic that something as trivial as a videogame could keep me going, but it did. Surprisingly, when the actual game came out, it lived up to the hype quite well. Loved it enough to beat it with every character.

 

[thetechkid]

01. Metal Gear Solid 3 No explanation necessary + awesome trailer with awesome music + awesome series
02. Metal Gear Solid 4 After MGS3, I will find a way to get this and play it for 50 years
03. Kingdom Hearts II After loving Kingdom Hearts, this was the next obvious choice.
04. Kingdom Hearts From all the videos and my friends talking about how good it was, I couldn't wait
05. Super Smash Bros. Brawl Melee was my first Gamecube game, so yeah...
06. Grand Thief Auto Vice City I don't remember why I was so hyped for this game, it wasn't even that fun...
007. Pokemon Gold Next step up from Blue/Red/Yellow
08. Tales of Symphonia Don't remember reading anything bad about this game, well worth the money I paid for it.
09. Tales of the Abyss After ToS, I fell in love with the Tales series.
10. Tales of Vesperia Same reason as TotA

 

[tass0]

1. Metal Gear Solid 4 - I went insane when it finally arrived..

2. Half-Life 2 - Steam pre-loading ftw

3. Metal Gear Solid 2 - I bought my own PS2 on MGS2's release, even thought my bro already had one.

4. Metal Gear Solid 3 - Jungle trailer was awesome and was hyped every since I saw it :>

5. Resident Evil 5 - The end of the Chris/Wesker saga. I am extremely dissapointed with this game.

 

[ArachosiA 78]

I've been hyped for a lot of games in my life, but the ones that stand out the most are:

StarFox

Super Metroid

Street Fighter 2

Resident Evil

Super Mario 64

Turok 2

Call of Duty 4

 

[2 Minutes Turkish]

10. Sonic Adventure
9. WWF No Mercy
8. Daytona USA (Saturn)
7. Virtual Fighter 2 (Saturn)
6. Sonic 2
5. Street Fighter 4
4. Punch Out!! (Wii)
3. Halo 2
2. Halo 3
1. Street fighter 2 (Megadrive)

 

[Kusagari]

1. Super Smash Bros Brawl - I was stupidly hyped for this game and read the site everyday. Like most games on this list it disappointed me in the end.
2. Half-Life 2 - Half-Life 2 was the game that singlehandedly made me upgrade my PC and make it capable of truly gaming. The numerous delays made me wait longer than I wanted but unlike many on this list... It surpassed my expectations.
3. Metal Gear Solid 4 - The game I bought a PS3 for and another game on the list that didn't let me down.
4. Donkey Kong 64 - I LOVED every single DKC game to death. I would play them nonstop over and over. So, I was of course looking forward to DK64. I have never been more disappointed in a game in my life.
5. Pokemon Gold/Silver - I was addicted to Pokemon Blue as a kid for months on end. The thought of new Pokemon made me go insane with glee and they did not disappoint.
6. Grand Theft Auto 4 - I expected more of VC/SA. What I got was horrible and disappointed me to no end.
7. Starfox 64 - I got one of those videos that Nintendo Power used to send out that advertised this game and it got instantly me hyped. The game was pretty good.
8. Gears of War - The game that made me buy a 360.
9. Super Mario Sunshine - The first real Mario game in years. I expected great things and instead got a mediocre game that doesn't deserve to be called Mario. This game soured me on Mario and Nintendo in general and made me have zero hype for Galaxy. I guess I can thank Nintendo for that because Galaxy is one of my favorite games of all time now.
10. Ninja Gaiden 2 - I loved the first NG on Xbox and expected the same finely tuned combat. Instead I got a game that's sole purpose in life is to make you break your controller in how ridiculously cheap it feels.

 

[sf2fanatic]

Arcades-
sf 2 champion edition- just wanting to use balrog, vega, sagat and bison in battle
Another vote for MK 2
Marvel vs Cap 2
getaway High speed 2-I like to play pinball games and love High Speed
NBA JAM Tournament editon- At my local arcade we had contests and was very addiccted to the regular NBA Jam.


Consoles
Super Mario Bros 3
Mike Tyson's Punch Out- Just wanting to knock out Mike
Streets of Rage 2- Love fighting games
FF VIII- Loved FF 7

 

[eXistor]

No particular order:

-Earthbound: It didn't help that I live in Europe where the game wasn't even released and I had no means of importing at the time (that I knew). When I finally got to play it years later it was as glorious as I imagined it.

-Mother 3: Almost the same situation, but now I had the disadvantage of not knowing Japanese. Also glorious when I finally played it.

-FFVII: Again, due to me living in Europe and being a jrpg fan, this was hell to wait for. The first ever real FF to be released in Europe. I drew Cloud in artclass all the time and read every magazine that had even a snippet of info on the game and re-read it a thousand times.
Was my favorite game for a few years, not so much nowadays.

-Zelda Ocarina of Time: this was still before we had internet, so again, just buying magazine after magazine and reading stuff had me hyped up to no end.

-Super Metroid: I knew I was gonna get the game and I did read up on it, but my hype wasn't as big as with the other games. When we were on holiday in Germany the game was just out and my dad bought it for me. It was the big box version with (german) strategy guide included (and awesome artwork) so you can imagine my hype-levels were through the roof during the rest of my holiday. I just wanted it to end so I could go home and play. It still is in my top 3 fave games of all-time.

-Super Mario Bros. 3: We had s how here in the Netherlands called Telekids and they would show clips from the game. I taped that and watched it about a million times. That alone got me all hot and bothered.

Others have less amount of hype, but I was pretty damn hyped for these:

-Shadow of the Collosus
-Oblivion
-Wind Waker
-Final Fantasy XII
-Metroid Prime
-Dragon Quest VIII

 

[Grimmy]

1. Samurai Shodown II

Loved the 1st, saw the screen for the 2nd and couldn't believe it. I was in heaven when I first played it.

2. Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within

The 1st game was a masterpiece. 2nd one is not as good, but still amazing. But when I got the CGW mag with GKII as cover I was dying of anticipation

3. Wizardry 8

I love this series. Crusaders of Dark Savant is one of my faves. I waited for 8 for a long long time.

4. Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon

Still remember getting so psyched about it for X'mas.

5. Lords of Thunder

I loved Gate of Thunder. Couldn't wait to get Lords of Thunder after seeing the screenshots. Boy was I not disappointed.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

1. Super Mario Bros. 3
In 1989, I was the biggest 'Mario' fan on the planet. I played Mario 1 and 2 relgiously. When I learned about 'Mario 3', I couldn't wait to play it. This was before the internet, before demos, before any kind of easily accessed media. It was just a big mystery. All I knew was that it was coming, and it was going to be awesome. I give a special nomination to 'Mario World', but that was going to be on a different system that I didn't have. So the level of hype for me was not as high.

2. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Sonic 1 was the game that turned me from a casual Sega fan into a hardcore Sega fanboy. And my anticipation for this one was as high as you can imagine. The screenshots looked hot, and the game promised to be bigger and better than the first game. And it delivered all of that and more.

3. Mega Man 9
Those who know me know that I'm a former-but-still-sometimes-bitter ex-fanboy, unwilling to change along with an industry that has changed dramatically and refused to look back. When Capcom announced that they were planning on releasing a new entry in the 'Mega Man' series, I had a rush of excitement run through my body. It was like when you were a kid and you were in the toy store and you found that ONE TOY you had to have. That's what it was like to learn that Capcom was going to not only make a new MM game, but that it was going to be a fucking NES GAME. Goosebump city.

As an aside, I never truly got 'hyped' for any of the NES Mega Mans. I discovered the series with Mega Man 2, and got hooked with Mega Man 3. I just naturally assumed that every year would bring me a new Mega Man game to play.

4. Sonic 3/Sonic & Knuckles
Sonic 2 delivered and I was in Sonic fanboy overdrive mode. I wanted more more more. I even sought out the Game Gear games to tide me over. I even plunked down 229 dollars for a Sega CD JUST for it's exclusive Sonic game. This series was my crack. It's just a pity that after 'Sonic & Knuckles', the ride was over. Never take anything for granted.

5. Mega Man 7
I loved Mega Man X, but my true passion for Mega Man came from the original series. I thought that it was long gone. When Capcom announced MM7 for the SFC, I got really excited. However, they canceled the North American release. A few short months later, they later changed those plans and decided to release the game after all. I had a reserve riding on this game for over a year, and boy was I happy when I finally walked out of the store with the elusive game in my hand. Also, Mega Man 8 receives an honorary mention here, but that game didn't deliver like MM7 did.

6. Zelda: Ocarina of Time
There was once a time when I thought the Zelda series could do no wrong. Zelda 1 and 2 were among my most favorite games ever. Zelda 3 took the series to extraordinary hights, and Zelda: Link's Adventure was just as awesome as it's SNES daddy. So, when I learned that there was to be a new ZELDA for the game-lacking N64, I was sure I would enjoy this one too. Sadly, I did not really enjoy the game, and have been down on the series ever since as each subsequent Zelda game has been in the same vein.

7. Punch-Out!! Wii
Like Mega Man 9, this was one of those games that I wanted for a long, long, LONG time. When Nintendo quietly announced this game, I was a little excited, but also a little skeptical. Nintendo has changed every one of their series to the point where I don't enjoy them much anymore. What would they do to Punch-Out!!? Well....they didn't do a thing! Except make it better! It blows the NES and SNES versions out of the water. It's one of those rare games that lives up to AND exceeds the hype.

8. Sonic X-Treme
I purchased my Sega Saturn the day it came out in early 1995, KNOWING that there was going to be Sonic games released for it. After all, there had been numerous Sonic games available for the Genesis, Sega CD, Game Gear, and even the 32X, right? Sega would be stupid not to release a Sonic game for their next system. Well, as I later learned Sega originally had absolutely no intention of releasing a new Sonic game for their vaunted Saturn platform. The company felt that they didn't want to be known as the 'Sonic' company and wanted consumers to concentrate on their other games. When they later realized this error, they quickly scrambled to put together a new Sonic game, without the involvement of Sonic Team, who had 'retired' from making Sonic games(at that time). I didn't care, I just wanted a new Sonic game. I knew it was going to be good. Why wouldn't it? Every Sonic game beforehand had been great! And this is a NEWER system. Better technology means better games, after all! ( < How ignorant I was) Later, the game was cancelled, and the only game that the Saturn ever received was 'Sonic 3D Blast', a game that I did not enjoy. Eventually 'Sonic Adventure' was announced for Sega's next system in 1998. I was excited, naturally. But by that time, I wasn't sure if Sega still had the magic touch. They didn't.

In the end, I enjoyed my Sega Saturn a great deal despite the lack of an original Sonic game, and it remains one of my most played/loved systems I've ever owned.

9. Super Mario 64
Holy shit, MARIO'S BACK???

AND IN 3D???

YES!! I must buy this N64!!!

In retrospect, though, it's a pretty boring game to play nowadays. But come on, it was the FIRST truly 3D platformer. The magic of playing it for the first time cannot be duplicated.

10. Nights: Into Dreams
GameFan magazine got me onto this one. The level of hype they thrust upon it was like no other. The game looked absolutely beautiful. I was told that the graphics were the best available for the Saturn system, and had great gameplay to back it up. This one didn't disappoint, and remains one of my favorite games of the 32/64-bit era.

 

[DIrtyWeasel]

I tried to do it in order of release date:

Super Mario Bros 3
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
X-Men 2: Clone Wars
Super Mario 64
Zelda Ocarina of Time
Final Fantasy VIII
Sonic Adventure
Shenmue
Metal Gear Solid 2
Final Fantasy X
Super Mario Sunshine
Zelda Twilight Princess
Super Mario Galaxy
Metal Gear Solid 4

Looking back... there isn't anything surprising except for X-Men 2 on Genesis. I remember wanting that game so bad :lol.

 

[DIrtyWeasel]

3)

When I was a kid I had no money and really wanted the game, my mom told me I should learn the value of a dollar and refused to get me it. Must have scrounged up cash from every possible source I could find for about a year. Finally had enough to get the game, went to the store and found it to be on sale for $20. Ended up getting that and a wolverine action figure to match.

I posted my list before reading through the thread but it's nice to see that I wasn't alone on this thread in wanting this game. This was one game I played over and over again but never beat. I wonder if I still have my 1994 Fleer Ultra X-Men cards.

 

[EternalGamer]

10. Nights: Into Dreams[/B]
GameFan magazine got me onto this one. The level of hype they thrust upon it was like no other. The game looked absolutely beautiful. I was told that the graphics were the best available for the Saturn system, and had great gameplay to back it up. This one didn't disappoint, and remains one of my favorite games of the 32/64-bit era.

Most people outside of hardcore Saturn fans simply don't understand how to play this game. When you learn that it is a supposed to be a RACING game where you try to make as many laps as possible in the time alloted while linking tricks and combos, it becomes awesome. Beating the game is super easy. Going for all "S" ranks is where the real game is and requires you to play it totally differently (and in a more fun way).

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Most people outside of hardcore Saturn fans simply don't understand how to play this game. When you learn that it is a supposed to be a RACING game where you try to make as many laps as possible in the time alloted while linking tricks and combos, it becomes awesome. Beating the game is super easy. Going for all "S" ranks is where the real game is and requires you to play it totally differently (and in a more fun way).

Can you imagine how many countless hours I put into that game trying to get all the "S" ranks? I don't believe I ever managed to do it. My Saturn battery has died on me a couple of times, so I have lost all of my backup data over the years. But I know that I came frustratingly close.

So hard.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

pretty much any 1st party game for the gamecube.

Mario Sunshine (let down)
Starfox (let down)
Mario Kart Double Dash (let down)
Wind Waker (let down)
Metroid Prime (not let down, but not blown away either)

Favorite game on the gamecube? SSX TRICKY

 

[TitaniumGroceries]

10. Black and White
9. GTA 3
8. Spider-man 2
7. Ninja Gaiden
6. Halo 2
5. Half-Life 2
4. Deus Ex 2 (back when it was called Deus Ex 2)
3. Shenmue 2
2. Grabbed by the Ghoulies (back when Rare was good)
1. Fable (back when it was called "Project Ego")

 

[Nemo]

1. Metal Gear Solid 4. I even went to fucking see Kojima a few cities down the road.



2. Final Fantasy XII - when I played the demo included in DQVIII the hype went down FAST but soon as the real thing hit I was hooked.
3. Half-Life 2. No explanation needed
4. Mario Kart DS. First real DS game in a while


That's all I can come up with now

 

[SVxM]

The first ones that come out of my mind

10. Xenosaga Ep. 3
9. Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
8. Heavy Rain
7. Little Big Planet
6. Gran Turismo
5. Halo
4. Gears of War
3. Valkyria Chronicles
2. Civ 4
1. Persona 3

 

[EternalGamer]

Can you imagine how many countless hours I put into that game trying to get all the "S" ranks? I don't believe I ever managed to do it. My Saturn battery has died on me a couple of times, so I have lost all of my backup data over the years. But I know that I came frustratingly close.

So hard.

I played it until I pulled it off. I believe at the exact same time I was playing Crash Bandicoot 1 and Super Mario 64. What an awesome year that was.

 

[Roto13]

2. Final Fantasy XII - when I played the demo included in DQVIII the hype went down FAST but soon as the real thing hit I was hooked.

Yeah, I played the demo and almost didn't buy the game. Good thing I did, though, because I loved it.

I don't get too hyped up for games. The only ones I can really remember getting really hyped up for were Wind Waker and Soul Calibur III. And Soul Calibur III kind of disappointed me. Wind Waker was awesome, though.

 

[Vizeroth]

Demon's Souls might make the list by the time October rolls around. In no particular order:

Quake (I don't know how many times I played Doom and Doom II)

StarCraft (WarCraft, in space!)

Diablo II (the idea that we might get to play a Diablo game online without cheaters)

Half-Life (This one actually only qualifies in the context of waiting for the next game

Team Fortress 2 (I played Team Fortress for years, and then TFC for years)

Baldur's Gate (A renaissance in PC RPGs)

Final Fantasy VII (as someone that had only played FFI since I didn't own an SNES)

Grand Theft Auto III (I remember playing the PC demo for the first game many times, but never really got interested in buying a game in the series until this one)

Fallout 3 (long before Bethesda was making it)

Soul Calibur (probably tied with the DC version of RE: Code Veronica and Shenmue)