I've been involved in contests (textures/objects/etc) and they tend to only involve those people who are already playing the game, since they're the ones reading the web sites that cover the game news. I don't think that would spread Dom 2 fame. Word-of-mouth and reviews on popular gaming sites are the 2 best ways (if you don't count television commercials). For years now I have been using game review sites to catch up on the latest info/demos. As a matter of fact, that's how I heard about Dom 2 (Reading a list of "games released Last month" on a game site).
Unfortunately (and I kinda agree a bit here), most of the reviews I've seen specifically state something like, "This game is NOT for the casual gamer, it's too hard to learn!" And truth be told, Japher's sarcastic (and highly amsuing) remarks about this game not being relaxing and fun has a ring of truth about it....in that it's like a good game of chess... it takes alot of concentration and it's not the type of "fun" that alot of casual gamers are looking for. Hence the popularity of first-person shooters. They are a tension release, and you can just jump in and start bLasting away.
I agree with you in theory though. We all want to see our favorite games get more and better publicity. We could all shout it from our rooftops (but first we'd have to hit "Host" just one more time....). Tell your friends, tell those who aren't your friends, submit "user reviews" on gaming sites, petition your local Congressman...
