Killzone 2: Will Web Hype Translate into Real-World Sales?

Have you noticed the internet hype for Killzone 2? It's reaching a fever pitch, but will this result in massive sales?

Killzone 2's internet hype; how do we measure it? A quick glimpse around the web will give you all the evidence you need. Firstly, N4G.com; a news aggregate website run by the gaming public. N4G is populated by rabid fanboys, curious gamers and the occasional developer or even journalist (yes, they're around.)

Nearly every Killzone 2 article is hitting big on N4G (news for gamers), no doubt fuelled by excited PlayStation 3 gamers and Xbox gamers eager to crush their hopes and dreams.

Killzone 2 currently stands at the top of N4G's 'hottest' games, with a massive 57,280 degrees, double second place. These degrees are produced by popular articles tagged as Killzone 2 related; clear evidence that a whole host of gamers are clicking on the stories. As a side note, N4G.com is ranked in the top 3,000 websites according to Alexa.com - its audience is huge.

Hell, even we had some success on N4G.com with our article referencing a NeoGAF post (the infamous video games forum), titled "Journalist on Killzone 2: My God. Let the hype engulf you." As if to follow the orders, this story achieved over 1000 degrees on the news aggregate. NB: One NeoGAF Killzone 2 thread is stretching beyond 15,000 comments.

Other statistical evidence can be found on Gametrailers.com. It's currently the top anticipated game out of over seven-thousand and has had a total of almost 12 million views at its videos. Now that's a-freaking-lot.

The question is, will this translate into sales? You see, although the internet is a big place, it's not necessarily where the majority of gamers live. You might think Killzone 2's main audience, the hardcore gamer, is internet bound, but in reality there's a hell of a lot of casual gamers playing shooters. Call of Duty games sell through the roof, not by attracting obsessed gamers, but by attracting the 18-35 somethings who love playing that one video game that lets them shoot the sh*t out of hoards of video game characters.

The general public was subjected to Killzone 2 in 2005, where a CGI trailer was meant to exhibit the potential of Sony's PlayStation 3. In 2009, casual gamers might find it hard to believe the hype.

Then again, Sony and developer Guerilla Games have been clever enough to swamp the web with as many gameplay videos as possible, showing how brilliant the game actually looks (evidenced by our image comparison and media round-up.)

If the public discovers gameplay footage of Killzone 2 on YouTube, the game's sales might just rocket. At least, that's what Sony hopes: they expect the game to sell numbers as high as Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, which to date has sold well over four million copies.

Lets hope Sony doesn't rely on word of mouth and actually advertises the hell out of the game. Now I wonder if this story will be hot on N4G...

Patrick Steen