Destructoid"s Jim Sterling writes:

"Hype. It"s the game industry"s lifeblood, but also its poison. Developers and publishers prey upon the expectations and excitement of their customers, doing whatever they can to generate and maintain a buzz around their upcoming projects. We in the press are no better, all too eager to give game makers the platform they need to whip public interest into a frenzy of eager hope.

Sometimes a ride on the hype train pays off, with recent games like Dead Space and Fable 2 benefiting greatly from the extra attention and living up to their publicity. Other games have not fared so well, such as Too Human, which just couldn"t deliver everything that game creator Denis Dyack was promising.

As a reviewer, I had always been told never to talk about a game"s hype when officially criticizing a game. The more I think about hype and the way it has become so intrinsically linked the industry, however, I find myself asking if it"s actually fair to dismiss a game"s promises when discussing the final product.

Should hype affect review scores? Read on for my thoughts ..."