Hype @ MindSay 
marketing
It has begun! The US Open has come to town. My header pic is the 9th hole of Oakmont Country CLub, the site of this years US Open, and I live less than 1 mile from the site, but if I try to drive anywhere ... ANYWHERE, I will sit for great lengths of time in my car going no place. There simply is not enough room to contain the influx of humanity (and vehicles) that come along with such an event! MERCY!!!
The building and fussing began in March with traffic steadily climbing both in numbers and in stupidity. The town is an older quaint little one set along the Allegheny River about 20 minutes northeast of the city of Pittsburgh. The tree-lined streets are mostly brick and narrow, with cars always parked on both sides. The thing is ... we have 3 rivers and hundreds of bridges, but there are THOUSANDS of people, press, cars, busses, trucks and GAWKERS, all hoping for a glimpse of Tiger n Company. Then there's those of us who live here ... work here ... and now, sit in traffic here (with the cost of fuel still at $3.00 gal).
Golf has never been one of those "games" - "sports" that I cared much for ... I tried! I even took it in school ... the first time around. I like minature golf, but I don't get the fascination ... purses with plenty of zeros ... and the hype! It certainly is a "rich" sport. That is obvious by the lovely vehicles jamming the streets.
Economically, it will be great for Oakmont, but I technically live in Plum, a neighbor, and Plum will gain virtually nothing but headaches from the event since what little business district Plum has is no where near the Open.
So ... I propose that the next time OCC wants to bring the Open to town, it should be a referendum for us to vote upon! I say ... Bah humbug! (which is why phsbum and I are headed for Charleston, SC on Thursday morning!)
So what do those few people get for all their troubles? A bug-ridden, overpriced, first-issue gaming system that doesn't have many games developed for it yet. This year we've seen a new kind of "bug" with the Nintendo Wii systems. The motion detection game controller allows people to step even further into the games than ever before. Playing baseball? Swing the remote like a bat to make the game respond. Fishing? Cast your line with the controller and the game mimics your movements. Drawbacks? If you become too engrossed into the game and a bit overzealous with your movements, the wrist strap can break, sending the remote sailing across the room. Several people have been left with broken household items, injuries, and even shattered their television sets. Although Nintendo has taken steps to correct the issue, it makes one wonder if it was really worth all that trouble. (See Wii Have a Problem for stories and photos of the damage.)
Those who didn't manage to get their new toys at the store, there's always eBay. But hot items generally sell for a ridiculously inflated price, which is a further testament to the idiocy prevalent in society today. And beware of sellers who like to take advantage of the hype or you may end up paying $500 for an empty box. (Side note: I have a low tolerance for stupidity. If you don't take your time and fully read the description of the item on the auction block, then you are a moron and you deserve an empty box. Whoever started that trend is brilliant, and I wish I'd thought of it.)
In this day of instant gratification, people don't want to wait for anything. A little bit of common sense will tell you that after the Christmas rush is over, the systems will be more widely available. A few months after that, the major bugs will have come to light and later releases won't have the issues seen in earlier versions. By the time summer rolls around and students on break have more time to spend playing games, the choice in available games will be greater. And by next Christmas, when people have focused on the next "must-have" toy or item, the price on these consoles will drop a considerable amount. Especially in these cases, there's a lot to be said for restraint and patience. Save your money, your trouble, your television, and possibly your life, and just buy a new game for last year's model instead. What have you got to lose by waiting?
Don't forget what happened to dear Veruca Salt and her "I want it NOW" mantra. It rarely pays off in the end.
The huge hype-monster has been rumbling since 360 announcement, and none of my friends care, I do not care, no one I know has told me of someone they know who cares....so who is it doing all this caring for it to be huge on XBox forums and get whored at every single trade show...
Tell me, do you know someone who wants Gears of War, do YOU want Gears of War? Hell, if you have a blog then please for the love of god ask the same questions. I want to find someone who wants this game so I can look them in the eye and just ask WHY...
We all remember those cute little digital animals. Here they where called Tamagotchi's. I don't know where else, but they where a hype. We have had Pokemon as hype. Maybe also stuff like Lord of The Rings and The Matrix. They were hypes, you almost doesn't find anything back of that. I don't know how far it went, but here in Holland we had little round cardboard thingies called Flippo's, they were in the chips. They were a hype for very very long. I think maybe two or three years. Every store made it's own, there were even special ones about the football, like the different teams in the Dutch competion (PSV, Ajax, Feyenoord etc) and the national team. That was a long time ago already. There are some hypes still going on like Lego or with those little glass-like rounds. We here in Holland call them knikkers, I don't know what you call them. Barbies are also a thing like that. That's what the youth grows up with. With the hypes. And personally I think there will be a new one coming. That's why I started with this and it's also why I started with the Tamagotchi's. There is a new form, I am sure nine out of ten of you already heard of them. Nintendogs. They are like virtual dogs on your Nintendo DS. You have to take care of them, can play with them and win prizes to buy a playmate (another dog) for them. I heard you even can take them for a walk in a digital neighbourhood. Why do I think they are going to be a hype? I dunno. Already against us (people around 18-22 years old) they say we are the internet-generation. So what's with the "next" generation of kids then? They will grow up even more with the computer and games. And I think a game like Nintendogs will connect to that. Also there is another thing to watch with it. A lot of children say to mom and dad:
"Mom, I want a dog!!".
"Yeah, and then I am going to take care of it"
"No, I will, mom, please, awww, please"
"Alright, but you really take care of it?"
"Yes, mom, now let's go!!"
The result will be mom and dad take care of the dog while the kids go out and play. The costs for the little animal will be enormous. Maybe this will even result in dumping the dog somewhere. Then now there is Nintendogs. Cheaper and mom and dad don't have to take care of it. Maybe they want to play with it, but that's a different thing. If any parent is reading this. A tip: If your children are asking for a dog give them a DS with Nintendogs, it's cheaper then a real one.
If it's really gonna be a hype, more versions will come. Cats, birds, rabbits? Who knows? If Nintendo is getting profit out of it, they are sure as hell going to make more, different sorts or better versions. The nasty thing of this hype is that it can just stop as easily as has begun. Cause a Nintedog isn't cuddly like a really dog. And if another publisher comes with a better game or there comes out a briljant new serie then the kids leave it lying untill the game-disk is dusty and rotten. Call me crazy, but I think it actually can be a fun game. Maybe I will even end up buying one. But don't worry, I won't forget to tell you how much fun it is. :P.
But first things first, there are coming out a lot of more games, so a Nintendog can wait. A long time. Maybe even forever.
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