"Ever since Daikatana, or infact probably long before that, I've never understood all these early announcements, I understand games need hype, its good for the sales, but I would think it'd be better to announce games in late development"
Didnt they follow this formula for BiA? Afterall, they didnt announce the game until they were in the late development stage where most of the concepts have been decided. All Gearbox did was announce that they were researching material for a sequel. This doesnt imply that they will release concept arts and early screen shots every year until release.
"and of course it'd help not making the release a complete anti-climax ala Daikatana, because that will definatly hurt the sales in the long term."
I dont really view BiA in the same light as Daikatana. Daikatana was only suppose to take 7 month to Ion storm to release. That is why it was overhyped after the initial announcement just to create buzz before it was released. When Romereo decided to switch engines and keep on hyping, then shit hit the fans. So unless Gearbox starts going crazy with the hype for BiA 2, this does not really imply that it will be anti climatic.
"Hype sells the first week, just look at DOOM3, but it wont help in the long haul, for that, you need a game that simply kicks ass."
Do not forget that Half life's longetivity was mainly due to having two solid mods, Counter Strike and Day of Defeat. If it wasnt for these mod, espcially Counter Strike, I doubt Half life 2 would have the longetivity it enjoys today.