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your sleeper hit of this gen?

demi said:
The same reason they offered money for Psychonauts
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Because the company was desperate for a publisher and would take whatever it could get?

Advent Rising was expected to do much better than it actually did. It's nearly the exact opposite of a sleeper hit. If it were any sort of hit at all, some slag out there in TV land would have a million dollars right now.
 
The only one I have that hasn't already been mentioned is sphinx and the cursed mummy. It's not as great as some of the others, but it definately didn't get the respect it deserved
 
White Man said:
Because the company was desperate for a publisher and would take whatever it could get?

Advent Rising was expected to do much better than it actually did. It's nearly the exact opposite of a sleeper hit. If it were any sort of hit at all, some slag out there in TV land would have a million dollars right now.
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So what you're saying is

Advent Rising
 
White Man said:
Because the company was desperate for a publisher and would take whatever it could get?

Advent Rising was expected to do much better than it actually did. It's nearly the exact opposite of a sleeper hit. If it were any sort of hit at all, some slag out there in TV land would have a million dollars right now.
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Well, that's why the thread title is "your sleeper hit". :)

Mine would be probably be Ninja Gaiden Black. I knew NG was going to be good. I had read all sorts of forum posts but I had never played the first NG for XB. Ignoring it for a good portion of my XB's career, I decided to give Black a try.

After playing Black, I can definitely say I'm really digging it. I haven't gotten too far (4th Chp) but the game is really challenging.

Advent Rising was pretty much unknown to me until I decided to rent it. I think it's a fun game, good production values (music and overall "epic" feel) but the glitches/choppy FPS plagued the game. IMO the game catches a little too much hate for what it is and when the game isn't messing up, the game can be pretty intense action-wise.

My 2.
 
Buffy the vampire Slayer(Xbox)
Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb(Xbox)
Far Cry Instincts(Xbox)
Metal Arms(Xbox)
Serious Sam(Xbox)

Draconus cult of the wyrm(DreamCast)
GunSpike(Dreamcast)
JetSetRadio(DreamCast)

Sub Rebellion(PS2)
 
Gpanzer_dragoon_orta_xbox_p1.jpg


&

Shenmue_Love.jpg
 
PS2: Katamari Damacy, Rez, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, ICO, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus.

Gamecube: Viewtiful Joe, Battalion Wars, Ikaruga, Pikmin, Animal Crossing.

Xbox: Sid Meier's Pirates!, Psychonauts, Phantom Dust, Burnout 2, GUNVALKYRIE, Indigo Prophecy, Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy.

GBA: Ninja Five-O, Wario Ware, Inc: Mega Microgame$, Astro Boy: Omega Factor, Advance Wars, Fire Emblem.
 
GTAIII. My friend had GTAII for the PSone. It wasn't much fun overall after a bit. I would have never guessed coming into this gen. that outside of maybe madden that would be the most important franchise to have.
 
animal crossing.

from obscure n64 japanese only release to north american million seller.

it's a deceptive game, one that at first glance has no appeal. last gen graphics, no end boss, in a traditional gaming sense you could say you don't do anything in this game, yet it's the most addictive game i've ever played!
 
My god, that's a lot of flops in a sleeper HITS game thread...

Sleeper hit(not this gen can't think of a recent one) : Diddy Kong Racing (nobody I knew read any previews of this game)

Opposite of sleeper hit: Shenmue (which is indeed one of the best games ever and did pretty good sales wise, considering the user base of the DC)

Beyond good and evil is not a sleeper hit, it's a huge flop. Of course it was great, but that was to be expected considering it's French. French games are great.
 
ICO
conflic series
disaster report
alchemic drive
psi ops
freedom fighters

and a lot more i forgot

shenmue a sleeper? that game was hyped like there is no tomorrow
 
my personal sleeper hit would have to be Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat. Awesome game. Can't wait to see what else the Tokyo studio can churn out.
 
A lot of these games are great but they weren't hits by any use of that word. Two sleeper hits that come to mind for me (i.e games that didn't have a ton of hype and ended up great and sold very well are..

Burnout 3 - The first two were decent sellers, but I don't think BO or BO2 made greatest hits. This one was a much bigger hit, was one of the best games of 2004 and turned Burnout into a prominent franchise

Brothers in Arms - Really didn't get a lot of hype coming in and ended up being the best WWII shooter ever on a console.
 
GitarooMan said:
A lot of these games are great but they weren't hits by any use of that word.
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i personally don't consider a "sleeper hit" to be determined by its sales.
 
Scrow said:
i personally don't consider a "sleeper hit" to be determined by its sales.
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I understand, but then does hit just mean "I liked it a lot"? Really this is another topic on "great underappreciated games", which I think is different than "sleeper hits". IMO, the biggest "sleeper hit" this gen is clearly GTA III, which came out of nowhere basically to sell millions. Not a big deal, though, as a lot of these are all great underappreciated games. It's just the term "sleeper hit" in movies and games is often used to described underhyped titles that hit it big, not underappreciated classics.
 
J2 Cool said:
I became obsessed, and I was aware of it. One of those moments, where you wake up early to play it. Inbetween you have to turn it off for family gatherings and x-mas dinner. Then find yourself going to bed at 5am because you couldn't stop playing when you got back to it.
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Glad to hear other people had the same Shenmue experience I did. 2 Christmas' in a row it became an experience almost engrained in tradition for me. Having to work in game, and then go to my real job was an interesting experience!

I'd say Katamari Damacy for sleeper hit this gen for me, as its what started me off importing games (Namco still earn a small amount of snarling hatred from me over the bullshit 'tech difficulties' they fed about it not coming to europe).

Oh and the Otogi series, which if doesnt come to X360 with a Live Vs. Mode, will be a crime against gaming.
 
I take "sleeper hit" to mean a game that was surprisingly good, one that wasn't expected to be any good. I would say Chronicles of Riddick for sure. Judging by most movie to game translations sucking and the fact that the movie was so mediocre, how could anyone have believed the game was gonna be as good as it was. Best FPS of this gen.
 
CVXFREAK said:
Fire Emblem's awesomeness struck me out of nowhere.

How could they not have brought it to America 15 years earlier?
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This is so true.

I remember my Sister last Christmas mistakenly bought me Ping Pals, but she was alright with me trading it for another game. By that time, there wasn't much that I wanted in the DS lineup ('cept for Mario 64/FtM/Driller DS... those games rock), so I wanted to nab Fire Emblem over at Gamestop. They had it...

...and man, I played the game for atleast 10 hours straight that day. In my DS? Or any other portable for that matter? That was hearsay, really. Awesome game. I haven't beaten FE yet, as I'm in Chap. 20, but I will though.
 
Battle Gear 3. Who would have thought one of the best arcade racers ever made is also a game practically no one's ever heard of. It's still asleep.
 
callous said:
Battle Gear 3. Who would have thought one of the best arcade racers ever made is also a game practically no one's ever heard of. It's still asleep.
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Is there a US version?
 
A sleeper hit is, indeed, a game that emerged from the ether to sell assloads. The term comes from movies; some of the great examples are El Mariachi and Blair Witch Project, which were produced on tiny budgets and made many millions of dollars at the box office. The fact that the person who named GTA III uses GitarooMan as his handle should tell you he knows a thing about sleeper hits - GitarooMan is a perfect example of a special kind of sleeper hit that comes out of left field, initially sells close to nothing because of low expectations and nonexistant marketing, but then goes on to become a prized and highly sought-after collector's item. This is very distinct from a game which is intended to be a limited-print collector's item from the start.

Examples of the first kind:

GTA III
Katamari Damacy
Ico

BUT NOT:

Killer7
Beyond Good & Evil
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System

Examples of the second kind:

GitarooMan
Rez
Moto GP 2 (Xbox)

BUT NOT:

Ikaruga
Marvel vs. Capcom 2
NCAA College Basketball 2K3 (GC)
 
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