Hype Gamer
I walked into the game shop yesterday afternoon to buy Diablo 3, and there were about 163 other people doing exactly the same thing. I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into. Never played the first two, skipped the beta, didn’t watch any videos or read a single review. I’m a hype gamer in its purest form.
Why did I play StarCraft II? Because everyone was talking about it. Why Skyrim? Same reason. Why Mass Effect? I loved it, actually—but I only picked it up because it was the game everyone was playing. Each of those games gave me hours of genuine fun, but would I have bought any of them if they didn’t have millions of devoted fans? No. I wouldn’t have even known they existed.
I used to be different. Back then I hunted for games nobody else knew about. Weird stuff, niche stuff, games with stories and characters that didn’t have mainstream appeal. But that was when I had time. Now I don’t. And back then there were maybe twenty games a year that actually mattered culturally, games you had to play or you’d be completely left out of the conversation, left behind without a Super Nintendo or a PlayStation or both.
Now everything comes at you in waves. Steam bundles, identical shooters dropped every weekend, indie games everywhere, Kickstarter projects, then you’re buying a Wii and a 3DS and a PlayStation and an Xbox and a PS Vita and an iPad and an iPhone and whatever other overpriced retro console hits the market. I lost track years ago.
So I do what makes sense: I buy the most hyped thing available. Not because I want to, but because at least then I know it’ll probably be worth my time. And if it isn’t, at least I can complain about it alongside everyone else. There’s something comforting about being disappointed in unison.
I dropped 50 euros on Diablo 3 knowing full well I’ll barely touch it. Maybe finish the campaign, try multiplayer for an hour, then it goes on a shelf somewhere. In a few months something else will be hyped to hell and I’ll buy that too, play it a little, shelf it. Then something else. And that’s fine. That’s enough. I’m a hype gamer and I’ve made peace with it.