151 replies to this topic

[Atarifever]

JB, on Tue Oct 10, 2006 7:28 AM, said:

Viral marketing gone horribly horribly wrong. Pity no one quoted the originals for posterity.

Trust me, it's all right there in Mattel's press releases. It was all about how Mattel was making bold moves with a revolutionary new games system or something. There was also something there of actual interest: that Mattel said they've committed to it until 2008 at least. I also remember some corperate passing the buck type reasons being given as to why the X-Men game blows.

[Gregory DG]

Wow, this is the first I've heard of this thing. Looks like they spent more money on making the website "cool" than on making the games fun.

[else]

Quote

There was also something there of actual interest: that Mattel said they've committed to it until 2008 at least. I also remember some corperate passing the buck type reasons being given as to why the X-Men game blows.

There was also something about how orders for this thing have far exceeded Mattel's wildest dreams....

[EmOneGarand]

So how many of you are basing your opinions on it from actually playing it or from this one review?

[else]

Anybody who make make a decision based on one review of one game is crazy.

[Atarifever]

My opinion so far is based on the poor quality of their viral advertising.

[else]

Quote

My opinion so far is based on the poor quality of their viral advertising.

Really? That's like basing an opinion on graphics instead of gameplay. I know people do it all the time, but I thought most people here saw past things like that...

[Atarifever]

else, on Tue Oct 10, 2006 10:07 PM, said:

Quote

My opinion so far is based on the poor quality of their viral advertising.

Really? That's like basing an opinion on graphics instead of gameplay. I know people do it all the time, but I thought most people here saw past things like that...

It was a joke. I hoped captain justice's bosses were checking his work.

[candiru]

I bought a Mattel Hyperscan and found it to be an EXCELLENT value. Based upon the bucketloads of sheer enjoyment the Mattel Hyperscan has allowed me to experience, I would easily have paid TWICE as much! I will be buying a Mattel Hyperscan for everyone I know this Christmas so that they too may know happiness!
























Please help me. I have been taken hostage by captainjustice.

[Atarifever]

candiru, on Tue Oct 10, 2006 11:42 PM, said:

I bought a Mattel Hyperscan and found it to be an EXCELLENT value. Based upon the bucketloads of sheer enjoyment the Mattel Hyperscan has allowed me to experience, I would easily have paid TWICE as much! I will be buying a Mattel Hyperscan for everyone I know this Christmas so that they too may know happiness!
Please help me. I have been taken hostage by captainjustice.

Good stuff. I too will purchase that particular item. It sounds like a good, um, product for people.

I'm phoning the police. I'll tell them to check Mattel's basement.

[Atarifever]

So seriously, does viral marketing like this ever work? I remember on the N-Gage forums it was abundantly clear to anyone with a pulse that one of the posters there was working for Nokia. Also, when you read forum reviews of movies and games on some websites it's very clear that they weren't written by unbiased sources. Do we ever fall for this stuff? Like are there really obvious ones like this guy so we won't notice the more subtle ones? I mean, BUY PS3, we could have established posters here who turn conversations just enough some times who might be, BUY PS3, actually working for those companies. That's a scary thought. PS3.

Edited by Atarifever, Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:38 AM.

[Lord Thag]

Quote

Anybody who make make a decision based on one review of one game is crazy.

Then you should go buy one and see what I mean. I predict a similar review

Bashing aside, I hope Mattel will pull it's head out of it's ass and make some decent games for the thing, as it has good potential on paper. The hardware is certainly capable of far better. Imagine a platform/mario type game where you scanned in different levels or powerups, or where the cards actually alter the way the game plays so that you could build your own add-ons with the cards (kind of like video game legos). This thing could be a great idea, but the pack in game is so dreadfully bad I wouldn't have played it as a kid. I played damn near ANYTHING as a kid.

[else]

A pretty ugly review of the Hyperscan from the Associated Press:

Hyperscan Review

That last paragraph is brutal....

Edited by else, Mon Oct 16, 2006 6:30 PM.

[Tempest]

Atarifever, on Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:38 AM, said:

So seriously, does viral marketing like this ever work? I remember on the N-Gage forums it was abundantly clear to anyone with a pulse that one of the posters there was working for Nokia. Also, when you read forum reviews of movies and games on some websites it's very clear that they weren't written by unbiased sources. Do we ever fall for this stuff? Like are there really obvious ones like this guy so we won't notice the more subtle ones? I mean, BUY PS3, we could have established posters here who turn conversations just enough some times who might be, BUY PS3, actually working for those companies. That's a scary thought. PS3.

If done right it can. Sometimes over enthusiastic viral marketers can masqurade as fan boys and not get caught for a long time. It obviously works to some degree or they wouldn't keep doing it. This guy was a bit overzealous, but it really wasn't viral marketing since I believe he mentioned he worked for Mattel right up front so he wasn't hiding that fact.

Tempest

[JB]

Tempest, on Mon Oct 16, 2006 8:24 PM, said:

This guy was a bit overzealous, but it really wasn't viral marketing since I believe he mentioned he worked for Mattel right up front so he wasn't hiding that fact.

I thought he just said he had "insider information" from a guy that worked for Mattel, which was his proof it wouldn't be abandoned by the end of the year.

But given he deleted the evidence, it's hard to say.

[Tempest]

JB, on Mon Oct 16, 2006 10:35 PM, said:

Tempest, on Mon Oct 16, 2006 8:24 PM, said:

This guy was a bit overzealous, but it really wasn't viral marketing since I believe he mentioned he worked for Mattel right up front so he wasn't hiding that fact.

I thought he just said he had "insider information" from a guy that worked for Mattel, which was his proof it wouldn't be abandoned by the end of the year.

But given he deleted the evidence, it's hard to say.

I thought he said he worked next to the guy who was developing it or something like that. Like you said, I can't remember what his post said anymore. Maybe Al can reconstitute it?

Tempest

[MCHufnagel]

Jess Ragan, on Tue Oct 10, 2006 12:37 AM, said:

Don't worry, the exact same sentiments will show up on a dozen other web sites.

JR

I haven't read this thread in a while, so I didn't know about the Mattel guy posting. But a very simular posting occured at the Hard Core Gaming 101 forums. It was decided that this was just a Mattel guy posting. So it is being done elsewhere.

[jesusc]

In case someone was thinking Lord Thag was exagerating or trying to make the HS look bad so that he could look cool, he wasn't.
I picked up a unit, extra controller, and two packs of cards.
First thing that ticked me off was that I got doubles of cards in each pack. Out of 102 possible cards, I got doubles. Unbelievable.
On the way home my son opened the controller. Out of the $19.99 this thing costs $19.49 must be pure profit. Chinsy is too good of a desrcipter of this PoS. More on that later.

So it's all hooked up and turned on. After a TWENTY SECOND LOAD, the Marvel logo (like before the movies) plays. Then another load, and you get the games' main menu. I pick two player battle. Another load. My son and i scan in our character cards (me wolverine, him Lady Deathstrike). ALMOST A FULL MINUTE LATER OF LOADING the battle begins. Still pictures have more animation than this trash. I wipe the floor with him because nothing can stop a low leg sweep.
There are no real moves, and since the design gurus who crafted the controller made the stick like an analog (i doubt it is, but it is free moving like a PS2 stick) good luck having it respond. UP/Forward which should be a forward jump more often than not results in jumping straight up or just moving forward. The only good thing I can say about the controller is that they built a little card holder into it. Handy for when you want to do your "spectacular" finishing move, but can't find where that card is among all your character and mod cards strewn about the floor.

The dumbest thing is that I mistakenly thought that after you scanned in your mod cards, the added stats would be forever incorporated into your character. Not so. They only add to the current fight and disappear when the battle is over. So what does this mean? that out of 80 or so mod cards, there are only going to be two that you will use. I got one that made half of an enemys' attacks do no damage and one that negated projectile attacks. With those two cards I easily beat the whole game. LOW SWEEP KICK FTW!
The one kind of cool idea was the danger room, which tasks you with stupid little mini games, the completion of which will increase your character stats. However, being that I beat the game with no stat increase at all, it's kind of pointless.

Very, very stupid idea and on behalf of all Mattel shareholders I believe whoever greenlighted this thing should be fired and forced to repay all R&D costs.

[Tempest]

jesusc, on Tue Oct 17, 2006 1:17 PM, said:

Very, very stupid idea and on behalf of all Mattel shareholders I believe whoever greenlighted this thing should be fired and forced to repay all R&D costs.

I'm pretty sure it was greenlighted by people who more than likely either don't have kids, or haven't actually seen their kids in some time. They probably heard somewhere that kids like video games and collectable card games, so when someone offered them a product that combined both they just greenlighted it without looking at it.

Tempest

[Atarifever]

Tempest, on Tue Oct 17, 2006 9:27 PM, said:

jesusc, on Tue Oct 17, 2006 1:17 PM, said:

Very, very stupid idea and on behalf of all Mattel shareholders I believe whoever greenlighted this thing should be fired and forced to repay all R&D costs.

I'm pretty sure it was greenlighted by people who more than likely either don't have kids, or haven't actually seen their kids in some time. They probably heard somewhere that kids like video games and collectable card games, so when someone offered them a product that combined both they just greenlighted it without looking at it.

Tempest

I still think the idea is great and deserved to get the greenlight. The problem is in the excecution. If the people above were reviewing something besides a shitty game on the thing they might like it. Unfortunately, from what I've seen all the games look shitty thus far. Kids would love to have scanable, collectable cards. There's money just waiting for that idea to be done well. You could even make perephrials like "power readers" that determine a card's "worth", and a little portable battler thing that would let you do little mini fights on the playground. However, kids would only do that if the games were worth getting excited about. From the looks of it, someone at Mattel forgot about that.

[jbanes]

Tempest, on Tue Oct 17, 2006 1:27 PM, said:

I'm pretty sure it was greenlighted by people who more than likely either don't have kids, or haven't actually seen their kids in some time. They probably heard somewhere that kids like video games and collectable card games, so when someone offered them a product that combined both they just greenlighted it without looking at it.

You assume laziness where stupidity would work just as well.

Execs are usually older folks, not likely the type you'd find playing video games. So they did some market research and found that Video Games were A MULTIBILLION DOLLAR industry. On the other hand, they saw that trading cards were A MULTIBILLION DOLLAR industry. Lots of charts and pies and sandwiches and cake later, one exec turns to another and says...

(no he doesn't ask if this tastes funny)

"What if we combined video games with trading cards? Then we'd capture MULTIPLE MULTIBILLION DOLLAR industries!"

All the execs at the table were immediately taken with the idea, so they rushed down to R&D!

"We want a video game that plays trading cards, and we want it by Christmas!"

The R&D fellows, quite used to the stupidity of the execs by now, decide to make it into a fun project. So they fire back,

"What if we add the ability to save your character's strengths? Then some trading cards could be worth more because the character would be more powerful."

The execs start muttering about the idea, but before they can make a decision, Paula, Vice President of Marketing cries out,

"Brillant!"

All the marketeers now are forced into agreement! The idea really is "Brillant!" (whatever that means), so off they go to give birth to their newest creation, the HYPERSCAN (SCAn SCan Scan scan).

9 Months, 5 days, 12 hours, 2 minutes, and 6.7153 seconds later, the Mattel HyperScan is officially foisted onto the world. And thus it begins...

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!

Game Console, that is. (Insert cheesy rock music here.)

[Classic Pac]

Here is what I found on it http://boardgames.ab...a/hyperscan.htm

[Gabriel]

I finally saw this thing the other day. I was amazed at how tiny the package was. It really does look bigger in the pictures. It was kind of mixed in with the plug and plays. I almost missed it because the packaging wasn't exactly eye catching either.

I didn't buy it, though. And I have yet to see it in action outside of online videos.

[swlovinist]

Lord Thag, that was one hell of a funny review. I plan on buying one when they hit clearance, only to add to to the "obscure collective" It looks like we have a video game system that make the Tiger R-zone look good.

[else]

Looks like someone set up a website devoted to the Hyperscan:

Hyperscan web site

The reviews of it there aren't very positive either. I've yet to find anybody who has anything good to say about it....

Edited by else, Mon Nov 6, 2006 4:34 PM.