Hello everyone,
I wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone out there a very merry Christmas & fantastic New Year. I hope 2010 becomes an great year!
Merry Christmas everyone, thanks to all that have comented on my blogs about Kayla.
Yes, you're seeing correctly. I've come back from a long hiatus with a brand new blog. The reason I blog (and tweet) so rarely is that every time I think of something to write about, by the time I get to a keyboard, I made up my mind that it wasn't very interesting to begin with. So instead you get these huge summary blogs that I write mostly out of guilt for abandoning you guys for so long. Keen eyes could still find me on GameSpot of course, offering snarky remarks on the PS3 board or giving my two cents to some of your blogs, but as 2009 comes to a close, I figured it was as good an opportunity as ever.
So what have I been up to? Had I secretly been mastering BlazBlue's Rachel Alucard after my last blog? Pursued my plans for world domination? Taken a shower? Sadly no. Not yet. And yes. I guess the downside of these once-every-couple-of-months blogs is that I can't really remember what was going on – hell I can barely remember what happened last week. Aside from the usual dread of work, it had once again been time for the annual four weeks of Swiss army. This year was somewhat special because it was gonna be the last one with our platoon, as the entire batalion is going to be disbanded. As such, it was more fun than in years past as eager anticipation mixed with a certain melancholy. Other than that it wasn't all that different from before, but let me tell you: sitting on a windy hill during November nights is not all that pleasant. Of course eating a nice cheese fondue out on the field makes for a fun if slightly bizarre memory. Also, one night I got so hammered that I can only partially remember how I got back to base.
But enough of that, this is a video game website after all and despite this recession, there were some gaming related things happening. Most importantly, I finally decided to replace my ancient PC from 2004 (I think back then, technology was still based on steam engines), with a more modern machine. I bought all the parts separately online because it's way cheaper this way, although there was some concern that I wasn't gonna be able to assemble it all on my own or accidentally buy incompatible hardware (before, I always had some help). Alas, it wasn't all that diffiult after all, even setting the jumpers was plausible enough, but there was a short period where only half the RAM was recognized by the BIOS and it didn't run at the right clock speed. After some testing, it turned out I was just an idiot and didn't push the DIMMs in far enough.
So now I have an Intel Core i7 860 running at 2.80 GHz, 4 GB of RAM at 1333 MHz with a Radeon HD 4890 providing all them pretty shaders and polygons and 1 TerraByte to store plenty of K-ON! episodes in HD. I didn't want to go for the ultra high-tech, because prices rise exponentially as soon as you go for that "future-proof rig" that will be outdated six months later anyway. The question is what to do with all that processing power. I bought it mostly because I was sick of system crashes due to my old, unreliable hardware and while there are tons of great PC games to play (The Witcher, Mass Effect are on my list and I started playing the free League of Legends as well as the Warhammer Online demo), I'm already overwhelmed with the load of PS3 titles I want to get back to. Not to forget the first quarter of 2010 is jam-packed with gaming goodness. Speaking of gaming goodness (or maybe not), I found and bought a copy of Agarest: Generations of War on ebay last weekend, so maybe I'll eventually post an update for some of you who are eagerly awaiting the digital US release.
On to what may actually justify this blog, though. With the Spike VGAs just wrapping up last weekend and gaming websites like GameSpot, IGN and GiantBomb preparing their awards features behind the scenes, I decided to offer my opinion on the gaming year 2009 in form of a personal top 10. Keep in mind though that I will only talk about games that I actually played, so don't expect Forza 3, New Super Mario Bros. Wii or Assassin's Creed 2 anywhere on that list. Also, this represents a moment in time, don't come back to me in a couple of months and tell me how I said I liked this game better than that, but now I just said the opposite. It's a list, it's numbers, it's ultimately games that should not be compared and are all fantastic on their own merits. I would have embedded every game into a spoiler tag for more convenient viewing pleasure, but GameSpot's text editor has been giving me garbage html-tag errors for hours now. So if you wanna keep the suspense going, make sure you stop scrolling before the three dots.
.
.
.
#10 Brütal Legend
Far and away the toughest spot to fill with a lot of games on the hot seat. Resident Evil 5 was close due to the fun co-op sessions with hazelnutman and another friend of mine, but blew it with a moronically stupid story that desperately tries to take itself seriously, a plot twist that practically telegraphed itself through a trailer and controls that feel clunky and ancient at this point. Even a few PSP gems like LittleBigPlanet, Monster Hunter or Dissidia had a shot at it. But in the end it was the brilliant writing, excellent voice acting and imaginative world of Brütal Legend that secured the game its place on this list. It certainly has issues with repetitive mission design and its open world is a lot smaller than you'd think with the plot rushing you through the game in the back half. I for one though thought that its unique take on real-time strategy on consoles was well-executed and I'm baffled when people say that it got too complex over time because I thought it was way too simple and limited at the beginning.
.
.
.
#9 Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon Age: Origins is a fantastic RPG. BioWare lovingly crafted an amazing world with a rich mythology and populated it with interesting characters that really grow on you. It floods you with stuff to do and places to explore and while it did feel a bit like an upgraded version of Neverwinter Nights mixed with Baldur's Gate, that's by no means a bad combination. The sole reason it isn't higher on the list is because it's very much a PC game first and while the controls were intelligently adapted for consoles, there's certainly something lost in the transition. It's also disappointing that it simply doesn't run all that great, especially on the PS3 all the while not exactly wowing you with its visuals.
.
.
.
#8 BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger
I know hazel will hate me from now on, especially when he sees the next game on the list... One of the finest examples of 2D fighting, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is a dream game for anime fans and fighting enthusiasts alike. Despite only having 12 combatants, the game offers incredible depth, lots of interesting systems to keep track of and a great selection of modes both off- and online. It helps that it also sports some of the sharpest sprite graphics to date, imaginative character designs and one hell of a soundtrack. With Continuum Shift in the works and its promise of a more lagfree environment for Europeans, the final rebel has not yet been fought.
.
.
.
#7 Street Fighter IV
I don't remember why, but when Capcom first announced Street Fighter IV, I instantly dismissed it. It was surprising to me in retrospect, because I feel like I'm good at judging a game's quality very early on (which was also why I was astounded by people's reactions after Haze's release while my expectations were appropriately measured. Also, don't take that to mean I build my opinion before I actually play a game, maybe I would find Haze to be awesome if I actually played it). Anyway, the more I saw from the game, the more impressed I was with its visual design, animations and gameplay. I had never played much Street Fighter in my days and only dabbled in the genre in general, but it was probably the first fighter that I could really sit down for hours and have fun with it, win or lose. Better yet and this is kind of what puts it ahead of BlazBlue, is that it offers a better way of learning a character with its (extremely hard) trials. I have not played the game in a while, but I can't wait for Super Street Fighter IV next year. I should use this opportunity to get a fightstick though.
.
.
.
#6 Demon's Souls
Ah, Demon's Souls. I love you, but it's tough love when you repeatedly kick me when I'm down. This game lives from its incredible atmosphere, its sense of danger that waits behind every dark corner and its somewhat clunky but ultimately gratifying combat. People say it's hard and it certainly is with enemies slashing huge chunks of health out of you. But more than anything else the game is punishing. If you take your chance at a quick slash while your enemy prepares an attack and misjudge the situation, the game will have no mercy. Arrogantly take on multiple grunts and you will still struggle to survive. And then it's back to the beginning with all progress lost. Still, the game has issues. Mainly, everything about it works best the first time you experience it. The thrill of not knowing where the enemy awaits, walking through a poisonous swamp without any antidots and figuring out how to defeat a boss while barely managing to survive. After your first play-through however, you'll be familiar with how the game works and curse it every time you pick up the same crappy armor or soul gems again and again. Still, with well over 100 hours spent, I can only congratulate From Software for its fine effort.
.
.
.
#5 Batman: Arkham Asylum
The first time I saw a screenshot of Batman: Arkham Asylum, I was cynically surprised to see that it didn't look terrible for a licensed game. From that point onward, the game was set to be a quality action adventure in my book. What was not evident from images and trailers of the game though was a layer of ambition from developer rocksteady. Not content with simply making a solid game, they strived for more and for the most part, managed to pull it off magnificently. The story is excellently paced (albeit with an unremarkable final boss), the game finds a great balance between its friendly stealth mechanics and satisfying combat, it makes great use of its comic mythology and everything is enhanced by moments of gameplay brilliance. The sequel will struggle to even come close to the expectations the team set with the first game, but even just hearing Mark Hamill's Joker laugh during the first teaser lets me hunger for more.
.
.
.
#4 Killzone 2
People say graphics are not everything and they are absolutely right. However, graphics can impact a lot more than just what you see and Killzone 2 does just that. Even nine months after the game's release there are still moments of awe when observing the graphical prowess of Guerilla's technical marvel. More important though is the atmosphere that is created by its bleak but beautiful art design thick clouds of dust and smoke, powerful explosions and the general sense of chaos on the field of battle, that the game skillfully manages to capture. Add to that an impressive multiplayer mode that is equal parts Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Team Fortress 2 and you have one of the finest games of the year.
.
.
.
#3 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
You know, I was not the biggest fan of CoD4, at least compared to all the hype around it. The story offered a couple of great moments, but a lot of it fell flat on me because I didn't really feel like I could care – I couldn't even distinguish between the guys on my squad except for Price due to his fine, mighty beard. Likewise, I was never the biggest multiplayer fan (except co-op), so by the time I had reached level 30 or so, I had seen enough. With the months leading up to its release I felt the same. It didn't look bad of course, it just looked like more Call of Duty and after a while I got a real sense of smugness from IW who felt more inclined to support the hype with dumb marketing than actually letting the game speak for itself. Because it actually does. Let's be clear: The story line lacks much in the way of common sense, character motivation and actions are hardly comprehensible and the team took the grim quasi-realism of the first Modern Warfare and turned it into an over the top action flick. However, it's just a whole lot of fun. Of course I can't talk about which moments contribute to this, but in one level it's raining friggin' helicopters. From the sky. Helicopters. It also features probably the most disturbing scenes of the year and I'm not talking about the airport bit but a little rope action towards the end. The multiplayer has been enhanced as well with some intelligent additions and spec ops offers great co-op value, but just like the first game, it was the campaign that impressed me the most.
.
.
.
#2 Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
Confused about seeing a PS2 game from 2008 on this list? Persona 4 graced European stores early 2009 and for the longest time it would stand as my favorite game of the year. Persona 3 was already a great game a year earlier, but 4 takes everything that made its predecessor awesome, polishes it up a notch and streamlines the whole game. The Japanese highschool setting provides a great pace for events to unfold as you enjoy summer vacation, go on school trips or study for exams. Beneath it all though lies a gripping murder mystery that manages to captivate with its supernatural elements and heart-breaking plot twists. At the center of everything is a fantastic cast of loveable friends with interesting and unique personalities. I spent a good 140 hours playing through the game twice, collecting every possible persona and defeating every optional boss. That alone could tell you how impressed I was with it and only the fact that other games had required my attention stopped me from playing it a third time. Even crazier however is the realization that I had spent over a hundred hours WATCHING Jeff and Vinny from GiantBomb.com play the game. Simply watching two people play a game!!! What is wrong with me...?
.
.
.
#1 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
What else did you expect? Uncharted 2: Among Thieves really is a complete package. The first game already won me over mostly due to its great cast of characters and fantastic visuals that still rank among the best. Uncharted 2 makes all those efforts look like a joke. The story may draw a few cues from Indiana Jones or National Treasure and I still stand by my opinion that Drake could have destroyed that dagger and ended it all. Once you play the game, see the fantastic performances by the actors, marvel at the brilliant pacing and flip-flop on whose side Cloe is actually on, you can't help but be sucked into a blockbuster that easily outdoes everything else. Then there are the visuals. It's a tough call between Killzone 2's glorious effects and Uncharted 2's level of detail, but the fact that I honestly shocked to hear that those cutscenes were all in-engine is telling how much work went into every aspect of the game. And then there is multiplayer. People were highly sceptical of this singleplayer experienced being tarnished by tacked-on multiplayer, but those worries were unfounded (at least in this case, BioShock 2 we'll see). Sure, it can't quite compete with something like Modern Warfare 2 in terms of sheer complexity and pacing, but it offers outstanding online action, interesting vertical level design, amazing replay tools and still looks better than most singleplayer games. Bravo, Naughty Dog for making one of the most impressive games of the generation.
So, as a certain deceased pop legend would say: This is it. If you want, let me know why all my choices were terrible, that I should blog more often or stop completely or that you want to bear my child (Disclaimer: Elegibile for the last option are female readers with smoking-hot looks, endearing cuteness and/or pleasant personality). Either way, I wanna thank you all for another great year on GameSpot, wish everyone Happy Holidays and I'll see you again, maybe in blog-form, in 2010.
http://wow.winwithamd.com/index.php?Plink=L122980688876536018
Follow the link and register for a chance to win an ATI 4550 (~$50MSRP).
Not the greatest card obviously, but its free, so why not try?
Who Would You Like To Fight Against To Save Humanity?
Who Would You Fear The Most and The Least?
-The Locust (Gears Of War Series)
-The Covenant (Halo Series)
-Los Ganados (Resident Evil4)
-The Dead Space Aliens/Infection/Mutation 
(Dead Space -Duh!-)
-The Quimera (Resistance 2)
Yea from now on i´ll be doing my blogging solely on Giant bomb.com. If you have an account there and havent added me yet, do it!
My profile can be found @ http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/Jimbo_N/ . Im not gonna go as far as to say im totally leavin gamespot but ill be focusing my blogging over there for now. So to the three readers of my blog, update your bookmarks!
If you wanna skip right to the Blog section of the profile its: http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/Jimbo_N/blog/
I've been away from TESFU for a while now, as i'm no longer interested in TES, or anything of the videogame nature. But I've decided to come back to gamespot. Thus, if anyone still reads this, I'm actually starting a new union, and it's on baseball. I hope to develop my skills as a journalist somewhat and write articles for this union which covers all facets of professional baseball.
So how is everyone back here doing? Always good to catch up on you guys!
I recently played Call of Duty 4 (PC) single player, and was able to complete the game on normal in just less than 7 hours. This isn't too bad, since it was an excellent game, and the multiplayer has kept me occupied for far longer.
BioShock (X360) took about 14 hours to beat, and wasn't particularly difficult thanks to the limitless re-spawn points and no real fear of death.
Army of Two (X360) is the most resent criminally short game. I beat it with an AI partner in less than 6 hours!!!! And if some of the achievements didn't feel like work, I'd have all of them in under a week. Why did I spend $60.00 on a game that I could have beat and finished in one rental? The game was good, but with a limited multiplayer mode, what else is there to do after you beat it?
Ok so short isn't always a bad thing, The Witcher (PC) drags out its game play into a claimed 80 hours by being way too detailed.
Where is the middle ground? I am willing to forgive games like CoD 4 for being short because there is a great multiplayer element. However the games with no multiplayer offer no real incentive for purchase.
Lets face it, Dane Cook was funny as **** and as probably made old people piss themselves, but what is with his movies?? They aren't very good and he isn't really funny at all. Please let him go back to being a comedian and making me piss myself all over again. Ahhh, good times.
A few months ago, I had finally got my hands on a PS3 (thanks to my gf btw). My only concern now is that even though we waited this long to finally purchase one (at a lower price of $549.99 + tax), the games available for the PS3 are mostly "dumbed-down" versions of X-box 360 games. One of the major reasons why I wanted a PS3 was because it's suppose to be "more" powerful than the X-box 360. I guess alot of game developers at the moment are not really taking advantage of the PS3's architecture and this is really quite frustrating.
On another note, Sony's recently released first party games have had bad reviews. Lair for example was a big let-down. I was hoping to buy this game the moment it came out but decided not to after reading how horribly it played. Heavenly Sword on the other hand (which I recently purchased) only received luke-warm reviews. These games were suppose to be Sony's blockbuster titles for its summer-fall line-up. Alot of gamers were expecting both Lair and HS to bolster Sony's dominance over its competition but instead it just showed how much Sony has lost its touch. Look at the 360 for example, titles such as GOW, Bioshock, Mass Effect, and the up-coming Halo 3 ( which Im waiting to pick-up) just goes to show how MS is now dominant force in the North American gaming market. I really feel bad for Sony because I am a big fan of their products. I just hope that the PS3 will be able to withstand the wake that the 360 is making. I am not even going to discuss about the Wii even though it is outselling both platforms. I do own one as well but I think of my Wii as more of a niche gaming console for the "kid" in us. I am just hoping that I will be able to start playing some real triple A material for my PS3 sooner rather than later. At its current state most of my gaming time in my PS3 are spent playing PS2 games (FFXII-- finally making some time for you). I am awaiting the day were highly anticipated games such as Killzone 2, MGS, Ratchet and Clank, and Drakes Fortunewill actually prove to me that Sony is still a premier gaming console because at its current state, Sony just plain SUCKS.
After a long wait, yesterday at midnight the PS3 failed to deliver even a decent launch in France (Paris). just few groups of people gathered around to wait for the fabulous machine to hit town ... however, just then they realised how wrong they were to carry all those hopes within them. about tow hours before its launch, there were just few people wandering around and waiting to see the blue-ray promises on screen... but sure, noone had the motivation to buy the machine. people were not sure if that was a wise step to take, and sure it wasn't; for after a while all the fans who had been promised to play and may be try the machine before spending any penny on it, were all let down by Sony's security!! yes ... they were not allowed to get their eyes on a PS3 if they don't entend to buy it... thanks Sony !! more to come when most people were let down by the lousy Organization of the so-called launch-night !!! rows were empty of people, just few who were driven by just the sense of curiosity, no more. Paris was freezing and so the cost of the machine ... and people were caught betwen a rock and a hard place !!! most of them did not have the slightest intention for buying the new machine because they could not see the worth of it; costly and terribly offered! some of them even said that a PS3 at that cost is not worthy because it's already lost a lot of exclusive titles and there is absolutely no need to get one. for the blue-ray... well, people were not at all fooled because they hardly saw the use of it since they are interested in games, not any kind of multimedia platform to play movies and stuff. As the night progresses , the number of people seemed to shrink, especially those who'd had some intentions to buy the machine before. Sony did screw up this time around and what a pity to lose one of tyhe greatest markets in the world for some awkward organization and lousy launch in Europe. all what's left for ony now are its fans, altough, it must have lost a lot of them. however, for the rest community of gamers ... I would say that the PS3 is no more a choice to make for a next-generation machine, simply because Sony lost the trust and respect of most gamers, if not all of them !!!
