by Chris Plante and Russ Frushtick

I fended off last year's hype machines like a fish resisting a hook, but by fall I was caught and reeled in by the likes of Spore, LittleBigPlanet, Gears of War 2 and Fallout 3. They were all innovative, and unique and groundbreaking, but none met my unreachable expectations.

Was it always like this? Has every big release launched like an easy home run, only for a last second shift in wind to send it past the wrong side of the foul pole? My childhood memories say, "No," but my retrospective of the Most Hyped Games Ever says, "Yes."

That's right, ladies and gents, even before the internet launched a thousand blogs and studios financed $100 million tent pole titles, hype engulfed big game releases like a dense smog of false promises and flak speak. These are the worst offenders of hype.