Does the term "Hidden Gem" even mean anything anymore?

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

This is probably my biggest pet peeve when it comes to gaming in general (specially retro gaming): people throw this term around so reliably, yet it hardly means anything because they often use it to describe games that both:

A) Sold really well in their time and just aren't popular to talk about.

or...

B) Didn't sell well, but are very popular to talk about.

So, which is it? You can argue that a game like Sanctuary Wood's "Wolf" is a hidden gem because it's not talked about much, but it sold well enough to get a sequel. Does that count? At the same time, you can argue that Rogue Entertaiment's "Strife" represents the term because it sold horribly in its time, yet was apparently beloved by the few that got it.

I don't know... I'm aware that I'm overthinking this an awful lot, but I just can't continue taking this term seriously until it actually means something, anything. It's like a buzzword designed to inflate eBay prices more than anything now.

What do you think?

 

[Miles]

What someone considers a hidden gem and what's not one is subjective. There's no hard line.

 

[bjork]

Probably a little of both, but more of B? But it's case by case, because everyone's frame of reference is different. I just recently learned of an old arcade game called Spiders from 1981. I've spent plenty of time goofing off in MAME over the last... almost 30 years, and just never tried it. Cool game, but had never encountered anyone who mentioned it or never saw it on anyone's list. But, I shit you not, the very next person I showed it to was like, "oh yeah, the arcade I went to as a kid had this."

 

[Burzuru]

i always assumed it meant something that was really good but not that well known.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

I think I'm gonna start drawing the line at formerly rental-exclusive games, specially from Blockbuster -- those were extremely rare to come by unless you happened to chance upon them while browsing the store (and were not already taken). But my understanding is that most of them sucked? Ahhh! XD

 

[Sir Auriel of Lionel]

I like to think Playstations Greatest Hits is the marker of when a game is undersold to hit the hidden gem title. As while it didn’t sell enough in Playstation's eyes it was well received in the niche it served. Though I think with the internet and the retro gaming crowd more louder and connected the term hidden gem is more unearthed gem the more I see the Shadow Hearts series hit the top 10 underrated RPGs or Hidden Gems on the PS2.

So more of type 2.

 

[bjork]

I think I'm gonna start drawing the line at formerly rental-exclusive games, specially from Blockbuster -- those were extremely rare to come by unless you happened to chance upon them while browsing the store (and were not already taken). But my understanding is that most of them sucked? Ahhh! XD

How DARE you talk about Razor Scooter for N64 like that

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Not so hidden if it's being widespread.

 

[TinRattler]

I laughed at a YouTube PS2 10 hidden gems video a few years ago that had final fantasy X,god of war and GTA San Andreas in their list

 

[bjork]

I looked up "ps2 hidden gems" on YT and Metal Jesus has like six different videos about this. He also has multiple videos about the prices being too high on old games, like... dude, your entire channel helps contribute to the problem.

 

[TinRattler]

I looked up "ps2 hidden gems" on YT and Metal Jesus has like six different videos about this. He also has multiple videos about the prices being too high on old games, like... dude, your entire channel helps contribute to the problem.

Yeah mental Jesus has a shit ton of vids that jacks up prices. But I'm pretty sure the vid I watched was an English bloke

 

[Mopeybloke]

The concept of hidden itself doesn't apply to as many things any more.

 

[Turbo Kid]

I'm not gonna tell anyone how they should define "hidden gem", but for me it's something good (a lot of youtubers recommend hidden gems that are not good games) and something that hardly anyone knows about. Bonus points if it didn't sell well. Games like these:

Indie darlings that people always talk about like Hollow Knight and Shovel Knight are not hidden gems, cult favorites that everyone knows like Beyond Good and Evil are not hidden gems, and obviously AAA titles aren't.

 

[Segadude113]

This is probably my biggest pet peeve when it comes to gaming in general (specially retro gaming): people throw this term around so reliably, yet it hardly means anything because they often use it to describe games that both:

A) Sold really well in their time and just aren't popular to talk about.

or...

B) Didn't sell well, but are very popular to talk about.

So, which is it? You can argue that a game like Sanctuary Wood's "Wolf" is a hidden gem because it's not talked about much, but it sold well enough to get a sequel. Does that count? At the same time, you can argue that Rogue Entertaiment's "Strife" represents the term because it sold horribly in its time, yet was apparently beloved by the few that got it.

I don't know... I'm aware that I'm overthinking this an awful lot, but I just can't continue taking this term seriously until it actually means something, anything. It's like a buzzword designed to inflate eBay prices more than anything now.

What do you think?

of course it still means something. There's platforms out there nobody has touched outside a small group of people for decades. A hidden gem can be a random purchase or download on a whim. It can be a recommendation from a friend. It doesn't have to be the most popular game. Just about all of those games have been covered to death on YouTube. We're no longer in the early to mid 90s where RPGs would be whispered among a small group of fans who played it. Now that emulators and sites exist, we have access to way more than we had before. That's when you try something new and find a new gem in your own collection. Same with music. I never heard of the band "ex-girl" before but now that i've listened to the album "Endangered Species" i'm hooked. Sometimes searching randomly on sites like Neocities can help you find something obscure you've never seen or heard of before.

 

[job32]

The concept of hidden itself doesn't apply to as many things any more.

True dat, most things are out in the open, these days. Well, maybe not most things, but a lot more than the past. People are just not bothered, can't blame them really.

 

[Segadude113]

True dat, most things are out in the open, these days.

Mortimer and The Riddles of The Medallion, a LucasArts rail shooter edutainment game that acts as a sort of Star Wars Rebel Assault 3, the kids even wear the pilot helmet from the Star Wars movies.
It gets a lot of undeserved hate.

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

I guess for me, it applies more to something I hadn't heard of personally. Something that I took a chance on and that caught me by surprise.
I agree that it's probably an overused term, but I would still use it from time to time. I take more personal umbrage with something being called "perfect" or a "masterpiece".

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Mortimer and The Riddles of The Medallion, a LucasArts rail shooter edutainment game that acts as a sort of Star Wars Rebel Assault 3, the kids even wear the pilot helmet from the Star Wars movies.
It gets a lot of undeserved hate.

For some reason, LucasArts was always assaulted when going out of their "comfort zone" (really what people thought that was). I remember how there were many topics hating on "Pipe Dream" solely because it wasn't a Graphic Adventure.

 

[Segadude113]

For some reason, LucasArts was always assaulted when going out of their "comfort zone" (really what people thought that was). I remember how there were many topics hating on "Pipe Dream" solely because it wasn't a Graphic Adventure.

a lot of games ended up ripping it off after that too. lol You had those pipe mini games in all sorts of titles where you would have to form a path by placing pipes or rotating pieces. Whether it be forming an electrical circuit, building a train track, it was everywhere. I'd say it caught on.

 

[job32]

For some reason, LucasArts was always assaulted when going out of their "comfort zone" (really what people thought that was). I remember how there were many topics hating on "Pipe Dream" solely because it wasn't a Graphic Adventure.

May not have come from the regular joe.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

a lot of games ended up ripping it off after that too. lol You had those pipe mini games in all sorts of titles where you would have to form a path by placing pipes or rotating pieces. Whether it be forming an electrical circuit, building a train track, it was everywhere. I'd say it caught on.

Right? And then stuff like SimCity made stuff like that mandatory gameplay and now we can't escape it xD

 

[job32]

a lot of games ended up ripping it off after that too. lol You had those pipe mini games in all sorts of titles where you would have to form a path by placing pipes or rotating pieces. Whether it be forming an electrical circuit, building a train track, it was everywhere. I'd say it caught on.

Or was hijacked, lol.

 

[Segadude113]

Right? And then stuff like SimCity made stuff like that mandatory gameplay and now we can't escape it xD

Speaking of which, LucasArts had a SimCity clone too called Afterlife.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Speaking of which, LucasArts had a SimCity clone too called Afterlife.

Holy Molly! I have never heard of that one! If only the old Abandonware forum was still around... XD!

 

[Segadude113]

Holy Molly! I have never heard of that one! If only the old Abandonware forum was still around... XD!

it's on Steam and GOG