Posts Tagged ‘2008’

My thinking when it comes to handheld titles is simple. The game should fill the gaps in my life when I have no other choice than to sit and wait. It is a very rare occurrence for me to play a handheld at home, thus my gaming is limited to the train and occasionally coffee shops as I kill time between shifts. For the most part I want quick games. Old arcade style jump in and die games which I can play for fifteen minutes between house and work, such as Space Invaders Extreme or Bangai-O Spirits. But there are occasions where I want something more substantial. Something which holds my attention for hours a time. In short I want Civilization Revolutions.

Civilization is a game with so many layers that in honesty I was amazed to see it compressed down into something that functioned effectively on a handheld. Though some of the complexities are removed it is none the less involving. Indeed the concessions made serve to ensure that even on the DS your civilization is never unmanageable.

It is with some irony that the title of my favorite handheld goes to a series which has been around for seventeen years. After all in every other section I have attempted to reward innovation. That is not to downplay the shear accomplishment of putting a game that just a few years ago I couldn’t imagine working on anything other than a PC into the palm of my hand while retaining the overall feel of the experience that I lost so many hours to at university.

In the interest of full disclosure I should state that I didn’t play many handheld titles this year. I suspect if I had the funds available I would have picked up Patapon 2 and LocoRoco 2 both of which are franchises I love and could have bumped Civilization from the top spot. But I didn’t.

Digital distribution is spreading its wings still further and continues to branch into the console market. The lower production cost and longer tail on game sales make it a attractive prospect for small developers who may be unable to find a publisher or who don’t want to risk releasing their games in direct competition with ‘triple A’ boxed titles.

It is hard to select one of these titles from all of those released this year. There were classics with face lifts, retro-revivals and innovative new games on each platform and all of them helped establish the downloadable space as a viable alternative for developers. In choosing one game I feel like I am turning my back on numerous others which I enjoyed and continue to play. Street Fighter 2 HD Remix, Mega Man 9, 1942, Bionic Commando (that’s four Capcom titles), Pixel Junk Eden, Castle Crashers, Geometry Wars 2, Rez HD, Braid all titles worth of note, fantastic gaming experiences at a bargain price.

But the point of this article is to pick one and it falls to Braid. It is actually the hardest of all of the choices I have made during this set of articles because of my love of classic games. Braid however is an original title from the mind of Jonathan Blow which spins a classic platform game into something different. A game which makes you think not just in the puzzles it presents you with but also in it narrative and message. The fact a game like this, which openly places its self as art, can find a space in such a commercial market and with in that gain an audience through word of mouth really demonstrates a new maturity that is starting to emerge in console gaming. 

For larger companies it is not only a space for smaller titles and re-releases but also for downloadable content (DLC). Some of these companies are even starting to offer significant updates to top tier titles for free. While this may seem like fan service it manages to serve its own purpose for the developers. As long as new content keeps the game fresh people won’t trade it in meaning new comers will have to buy the game new.

This leads us nicely into the company with the best DLC support for this year, and if you paying attention to the last paragraph it should be obvious. Criterion’s Burnout Paradise has offered outstanding support though out the year for their fantastic open world driving game. In a surprising move EA backed them in their continued development of free content for what was already an outstanding game. Including front end overhauls, weather and day cycles and even a whole new mechanic with the introduction of bikes. Even after a full year of updated content the support continues on, though now at a modest price. Truly exceptional support for what was already among the best games of the year.

A melancholy grips us today with the news last week that Ziff Davis Media sold its games division to UGO. The take over saw the close of EGM one of America’s biggest gaming magazines and the loss of more than 60% of their staff. Most of these staff are already producing new content at various sites (some links on the right) and we wish them and 1up all the best.

But it’s 2009 and new starts abound. Darren is now in possession of a Wii so he is now able to contribute to discussions. In spite of this Darren still insisted on starting his ‘Old Games’ section of the show (Darren doesn’t like the word retro). This week he’s remembering Bullfrog’s Syndicate. We also have the obligatory game of 2008 discussion and a quick chat about our hopes for 2009.

It’s a bit long this week but at least it’s on time. Enjoy. (Enter the give-away!)

Every year the gaming industry manages to up its game. Even as a consumer I was aware of how many more games each year I was eager to buy. Fortunately the industry is become less dependent on exclusivity deals. This enables gamers to save their pennies, dimes, euros, yen, etc and buy only one of the two high power consoles and still enjoy the majority of games.

This year has been littered through out with choice titles, that in other years would have been worth of the title game of the year. I actually toyed with the idea of including a list or round up of the ones which stood out. But in truth you probably know them all and if I included them the post would be twice as long. So I will cut to the chase.

Dead Space from EA was a game that pandered to the majority of my gaming loves. To make things even better it was a game which managed to avoid the usual hype. A survival horror game which while not always scary it manages through the environment, set-pieces and ambient sound to create a constant sense of tension. Through out, the game is fantastically crafted and paced. An ingeniously designed interface allows you to be completely absorbed into the world. Even the story seems to have been designed in such away that it leaves you wanting to know more about the events surrounding it (even though your role and story are frustratingly predictable). A superb title drenched in enough style to set it apart from the other titles of 2008, making it my game of the year.

Honorable mentions also go to Fallout 3, Mirrors Edge, GTA 4 and Burnout Paradise for being incredible titles. Each stole hours of my life and will continue to do so, especially with the up coming downloadable content for each.