Meaning
What does Hype Train mean?
Hype Train is a slang term that describes a level of enthusiasm and suspense of an upcoming event or perhaps the release of a new project , particularly for TV shows, video games or films.
However, it doesn’t always portray one’s feelings about the new project in a positive way, the term can also refer to a product that failed to meet the high expectations.
Origin
What's the origin of Hype Train?
The earliest known appearance of the term was in November 26th, 2002 on a gaming review website IGN in an article about the Japanese version of Pokémon.
The author of the article said they received advanced copies of Japanese versions Pokémon for the Game Boy Advance to “get the hype train moving,” he claimed.
Spread & Usage
How did Hype Train spread?
A couple years later, the term had expanded outside of the gaming community around March 2004.
Between the years of 2004 and 2009, “hype trains” were discussed and mentioned on various gaming sites and forums, such as IGN, Go Nintendo, Joystiq, N4G and gamrConnect.
In February 2012, Geekosystem was investigating all the hype trains of the year that have been referenced in the video game culture, that were more of a bait because of the cinematic trailers that didn’t feature any actual gameplay.
In the same year, the slang “hype train” was also used as a title for an independent skateboarding film produced by Zack Dowdy.
