[Interesting Trope] Attempts at fanservice/virality that failed not because they were hated, but because nobody noticed them or cared at all.

[u/mp3help]

1) Hoopy the Hoop, Portal (2007) When you defeat GLaDOS and her room is destroyed at the end of the game, debris rains down in the final cutscene, including a big metal hoop that bounces around a bit. Developer Erik Wolpaw said the team dubbed it "Hoopy the Hoop" and expected it to become the big meme of Portal. Of course, none of the fans paid much attention to the hoop since "The Cake is a Lie" became the biggest meme of the game, and overall one of the biggest video game memes of all time.

2) Burgh, Pokemon Black and White (2010) When designing Burgh, developer Yusuke Ohmura said Gamefreak had many of their female employees give input on his design to create their ideal handsome man. However, as someone who's been in the Pokemon fandom for almost 3 decades, in the 15+ years since Pokemon Black and White released, I have personally never seen any fans swoon over Burgh, or even mention him in general. If anything, characters like N and Colress are far more well-known within the fandom as the most handsome and beloved male characters of Pokemon Gen 5.

[u/Cyberbug7]

They really thought they cooked with him. Pushed him in everything for a bit

[u/Sonic_Roach → u/Cyberbug7]

Yea I really liked his design

[u/Conocoryphe → u/Sonic_Roach]

There's nothing wrong with his design. It's the same general design philosophy as Lucario and Zoroark, both of which are fan favorites.

But it's a mythical. So unlike Lucario, you can't actually use it on your team in a playthrough. This is the same problem Zoroark suffered from, until it was available in-game in Black and White 2.

[u/saltydoesreddit → u/Conocoryphe]

Zorua basically being locked behind an event was my first experience with frustration that wasn't a skill issue as a kid.

"So the only way I can personally get one is that I have to cheat?" was roughly my thought process back then.

[u/Jaszs → u/saltydoesreddit]

Events were kinda nice and a great way of getting hyped with friends tbf... unless you were living in a town w/5000 people and you'd need to drive a few hours to your nearby city

[u/saltydoesreddit → u/Jaszs]

Or me, who was a shy kid and didn't personally know anyone who played Pokemon, and even then was too scared to ask.

[u/Jaszs → u/saltydoesreddit]

Oh thats sad (seriously who'd downvote that lol). Couldn't you go on your own?

[u/saltydoesreddit → u/Jaszs]

I was too scared to consider asking my peers if they played Pokemon and wanted to trade. I couldn't even fathom potentially bothering either of my parents with "hey, can you take me to the Toys R' Us 15 minutes away just so that I can get a green time-traveling onion Pokemon?"

[u/Jaszs → u/saltydoesreddit]

Oh yeah, I get that feeling... it's a bummer tbf. I almost miss my leafy hedgehog because of that...

Well, tell me, did you at least get that magical now?

[u/aitathrowaway987654 → u/Jaszs]

Fuuuuuck man. When B&W came out I knew literally one person in a 3 county radius who even had wifi.

[u/Jaszs → u/aitathrowaway987654]

Times have changed a lot haha

[u/ActivateGuacamole → u/Conocoryphe]

i do think it's a worse design than lucario and zoroark, plus it's also clearly aping them without bringing anything novel.

[u/aitathrowaway987654 → u/ActivateGuacamole]

It's also jacking some of Luxray's style too tbh.

[u/Icanfallupstairs → u/Cyberbug7]

I always thought it gave huge digimon vibes

[u/Lungseron → u/Cyberbug7]

He looks so much like a sequel to Lucario, if i didnt knew better i'd believe you if you told me that this guy is some new side evolution of Riolu lol.