Originally Posted by GameHED
Yes I believe word of mouth can make it a big commercial hit but not an instant success story that lasts forever. Rather, it has to go through the slow process of being a seed that grows on to audiences in the hope it stays in thier memory long enough to last another generation. Good reviews don't necessarily lead to "impulse purchase", as there are many top ten titles that the good, high-rated-but-poorly promoted games have to compete with for attention, before the average person can fit them into thier huge shopping list of AAA games which risk making them broke. There are game like otogi which I skipped because I knew there were other games I need to buy at the time.
Word of mouth is the slower-acting alternative to media hype that could benefit the game in the long run. If it is critically acclaimed but commercially it isn't doing well, it will at least last in the minds of the fans who would readily pay to see the sequel or encourage thier friends to buy the original through loyalty alone. I bet the reason a niche title like castlevania could survive in an age of 3d is purely because fans of those games who treasured them just kept buying up regardless of thier commercial success and recognition, and so the series was allowed to survive in the long term because of the loyal fans who had wanted more. The interest by fans of the series then, acting as the promotion, resparked interest amoungst the general audience (probably curious to try it) who then encourage more people to try it out.
VJ can't be an instant success though until enough fans of the game hype the game up for themselves and are more succinct in stating why it is considered an instant hit to them without looking bias because of the types or genres they like to play. (seperate yourself from the fanboys if you can) This is one of the reasons why hype can be so destructive as it misleads the crowds not suitable for liking the game. (morrowind is a good example, yes it got rpg of the year awards but I bet people had returned it thinking it was overated. Similarly look what happened when shenmue first got hyped and then reviewed with a low score because of the differences in taste)
If enough people hype a game I don't know much about myself, chances are I will buy it in faith that the people promoting it are telling the truth and the game is worth rushing out to try for the merits they state in thier posts in praising the game. That is if I trust their tastes from past recommendations.. :D I tend not to trust those in the extremes who sound too closed or too open minded. They happen to hang around forums sometimes with an axe to grind or with a happy-cuz-its-on-my-system attitude to things.
