Saturday, 11 July 2009

  • Countdown Sites Need To Go Away



    Who cares about countdown sites? They're frustrating. They're for slow news days, and more often than not they count down to something underwhelming anyway.

    The most recent countdown site (unless another one went up this morning; they pop up like weeds) to titillate no one involved Square Enix' announcement of their latest Final Fantasy remake for the DS, Final Fantasy Gaiden: The Four Warriors. It's no surprise that a company known for nothing but remakes these days is making another a remake, but they had a lot of gall to precede it with a countdown as if YET ANOTHER REMAKE was something to get excited over.
     
    Hideo Kojima, the prankster video game developer behind the Metal Gear Solid series, did a countdown to his trio of E3 2009 announcements: Metal Gear Rising, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Admittedly, some interesting stuff. Except his countdown just led to more countdowns, increasing the already out-of-control hype to maddening levels. The stunt refurbished his reputation as the Master Troll of the industry.

     

    Countdown sites are one of the worst marketing trends. They're a cheap way to drum up interest. If people see a countdown, they will notice it. It raises suspense and suspicion.

    Which I'm sure is the whole point.

    Were there any countdown sites that actually paid off? Do you care about them? Or do they annoy the hell out of you too?

Comments (8)

  • Choose Identity

  • Give eProps (?)

About the Author

  • Riskbreaker
    • From: Riskbreaker
    • Name: Riskbreaker
    • About Me: Tim loves film, running and good 'ol conversation. Oh, and video games. Enjoy his writing why don't you!
    Stats: This Week All Time
    Posts: 0 59
    Views: 0 40858
    Comments: 0 1166
    View all posts by Riskbreaker

Who recommended?