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| Pollyanna 3160th Post
  
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|  "Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Fri 30 Dec 12:27:  
So, it's that time of year again. Let's all struggle to remember which games we played in the last 12 months! What are your best and worst games for 2011? Make your own categories, I don't care!
Game of the Year:
Dark Souls
There's not much to say about this that hasn't been said already. It's one of those rare games that I start over as soon as I win it. I only wish that they had a little more time to finish the game up, as it feels like it's missing about 15% of its intended content.
Honorable Mention:
Uncharted 3
Although I enjoyed this game as much as Dark Souls, it's not as good as a "game" so much as a "gaming experience" or just flat out "entertainment." There are so many sights in the game that simply have to be seen to be believed and although the story is fairly idiotic, the dialogue (and voice acting) is extremely charming. In addition to the abundant eye candy, the multiplayer modes are also extremely fun. This is the number one game I hope other developers take inspiration from. You don't need to have quicktime events and super lengthy cut scenes to create a cinematic experience.
(I realize that these comments also apply to the other Uncharted games)
Fighting Game of the Year:
KOF XIII
I don't even want to say this, it's so obvious. My only hope is that this isn't the last in the series. Being an SNK fan is always painful.
Honorable Mention:
Street Fighter 4 Whatever Edition
Congratulations to Capcom for keeping people interested in their game as time marches on and congratulations on them bothering to make an updated Arcade Edition, even if it was their fault that it was necessary in the first place.
Ultimate MvC3 was fine, too, but I'm not picking top 3.
RPG of the Year:
Last Story
Almost forgot this one! I had to check my list from last year to see if it was on it. Guess it came out in 2011 after all.
I would say this is the "summer blockbuster action movie" of RPGs, but it's more like the "shounen fight manga" of RPGs, with its "use your powers in clever ways to beat the bosses", "11th hour hidden super moves" and "You go on! I'll stay here and finish this guy!" scenes. Much like Uncharted, it maintains a cinematic quality without sacrificing gameplay or halting the game entirely.
Much like Mass Effect 2, it left me feeling like "this is a good direction for (at least some) RPGs to go". Unfortunately, thanks to its aggressively mediocre plot, it narrowly misses being one of my favorite RPGs ever. It's a pity to see such a stereotyped story in an otherwise wildly inventive game. As a result, it only ties Xenoblade, which was my RPG of last year.
Honorable Mention:
Yuusha 30: Second
Choosing a 2nd place is really tough, as Super Robot Wars Z2 was really excellent as well. Somehow, I don't want to count it as an RPG, though.
At any rate Yuusha 30 was one of those games I thought didn't need a sequel. I loved it, but I was so satisfied with it in the end that I felt like I didn't need more...it already did everything. 30:Second changed my mind, though. It soared high above my expectations and more than justified its existence.
Of particular note is the soundtrack, which features some of the best from some of the best in the industry. The genius in-game music player kept me rocking through hours of the game's extra content.
Downloadable Game of the Year:
Guardian Heroes
I hadn't played this game in years and I thought my memory was playing tricks on me, or I had built it up in my mind, but the game is actually better than I remembered it. Sure, the character designs and color scheme are hideous, but the game itself is every bit as fun as it ever was. The world may never make a better 2D beat 'em up.
"Not Quite There" Award:
Final Fantasy Type-0
Here is a brilliant game with a fun, interesting system, typically (for Square) impressive graphics, stunning cinemas, lovely music and an interesting story all tainted by poor difficulty balance.
The story quests are wonderfully executed and nicely challenging, but they're always just out of reach in terms of difficulty. When you finish one, you'll be level 20 and the next one will be level 30 difficulty. In the meantime, it would make sense to do some of the numerous and rewarding side quests. Unfortunately, 9 out of 10 of them are level 45, making them completely impossible.
All that's left is to grind, which is a huge frustration, since you have SO MANY characters and they all level slowly, even with an EXP boosting item equipped. The game is intended to be played twice and it's obvious that most of the side missions are catered to New Game+, but that doesn't make your first runthrough any less frustrating.
Runner Up:
Tales of Xillia
I often say that I can't pick a "best" Tales game, not because they're all so good, but because they all have something so wrong with them that it prevents me from calling any of them "best." Xillia seemed to have everything right, except for the soundtrack which was just okay. The plot was even pretty good, which I never expect from a Tales Game. Then they introduce this strange new problem where the boss enemies don't necessarily react to getting hit. In other words, sometimes they flinch and sometimes they punch you as you're punching them.
The result is that you are completely at the mercy of a random system to decide how much ass you're kicking. I will be rocking 6 screen-filling combination moves in a row while one of my other dudes is also filling the screen with some epic spell and the boss will just keep punching away as if nothing is happening.
It's not an issue of challenge...I almost always put Tales games on the hardest difficulty possible...it's an issue of feeling out of control. How can I be proud of a huge combo when I know that it's only luck that the boss didn't break it earlier? There are way more elegant ways to stop you from doing endless combos all the time.
Still...great game otherwise.
"Not Quite There" Award: Company Edition:
Imageepoch
I like these guys. I played a lot of their games this year. Sadly, I didn't finish any of them. I think the last game of theirs I actually played to completion was Last Ranker. I should go back and finish Black Rock Shooter at least, since I liked the story.
Why Did I Buy This Game Award:
Gears of War 3
I like 3rd person shooters and I finally decided that my disdain for beefy heroes wasn't enough to keep me away from GoW3. It had a strong start, but the campaign becomes hopelessly repetitive by the midpoint. Here is the rare game where I'd be happy to see boss battles recycled, if only to give you something else to do. I'm sure the multiplayer is fun and the environments are quite impressive, but the campaign is severely underwhelming. Also to its discredit is the fact that "chainsaw it" solves 95% of your problems in a game that's already way too easy.
On a side note, if you don't have a buddy, the computer AI is quite excellent. I think the game presents a fantastic solution for people who are terribly at video games, but just want to have fun. You're free to kick as much ass as you like, but if you sit back long enough, your buddies will inevitably take care of things.
Most Pleasant Surprise:
Dynasty Warriors 7
I'm not nuts about Musou games. I make fun of them a lot. I usually like Basara much more. And yet, I wasn't a huge fan of Basara 3 and Musou 6/Dynasty Warriors 7 really delighted me. It's not a huge step forward, but it's definitely (in my opinion) the best game in the series. The story mode was particularly enjoyable and the ability to add things from other games as DLC is nice as well.
Game I Wish I Played, but Didn't:
Super Mario 3D Land
I'm not usually shy about buying games or systems, but until I can get around the region lock, I'm not touching the 3DS. I'm not a huge Mario fan, but my love for Mario Galaxy has me interested.
Game I'm Finally Sick Of
Monster Hunter
I love MH. I always have, but I've done it all. I have zero interest in the 3DS one. I'm irritated that 4 is a 3DS game as well, because I feel like they're leaving Sony high and dry and not advancing the series enough. An added irritation is the fact that the game has SUCH a huge impact on the success of a console in Japan. Yes, it's great, but there are other great games, too.
Predictions for this thread:
*I forget which game came out in which region in which year.
*Maou's "Game of the Year" is old enough to have children.
*Someone has become disenchanted with games and only played one game the entire year. That game is from 2005.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
[this message was edited by Pollyanna on Fri 30 Dec 12:34] |
| Replies: |
| Freeter 4556th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(1):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Fri 30 Dec 14:30:
Game + RPG of the year: - Xenoblade Chronicles
It came out in 2011, it counts. And the UK version got the full red carpet treatment, so not only did we know we were getting an already awesome game, but we pretty much got the quintessential version. And damn if that limited edition Monado controller ain't sexy.
RPG whose sequel will probably take the crown next year: - The Last Story
Tons of potential, ambitious ideas littered throughout, but the actual game left a lot to be desired. If this title is worthy enough to be granted a sequel, then improving on everything found here (along with having more playable characters from the outset) will lead to something quite extraordinary.
Best 'Comeback' award: - Sonic Generations
For a while, it seemed like Sonic was the Charlie Sheen of the video game world: a once notable character who had fallen from grace and became an utter embarrassment to everything around him. Thankfully, Sonic Colors was the sobriety act he needed, and with Sonic Generations, the hedgehog's back in top form. Now let's hope Sonic Team doesn't fumble it and knock him off the wagon again.
Best Zelda in a Zelda game award: - Zelda from Skyward Sword
Nothing says "I love you" like pushing your soulmate off a cliff. Twice.
Game that made people take Mortal Kombat seriously again award: - Mortal Kombat
Game that people wanted for Phoenix Wright but won't admit award: - Ultimate MvC3
Fighting game of the year: - KOF XIII
Because SNKP gave us a complete package with some nice shout-outs to dedicated fans of the series, and because Super SFIV Angry Constipated Akuma Edition already wore out its welcome.
Game ruined by Peter Jackson award: - Uncharted 3
Yes, yes, that Hobbit trailer was nice, but Chloe and Cutter should have stuck by Nate and Sully instead of being forcefully ejected. The final trek through Atlantis felt woefully short and ultimately empty at the end due to their absence.
HD remake of the year: - Ico/Shadow of the Colossus Collection
When the original creator himself is praising your work, you know you did a damn fine job.
Game that makes you question your own sanity award: - Wii Play Motion
Because kids today would rather do virtual rock skipping in the comfort of their own rooms than actually step outside and get the same experience for free. Great test market team you got there, Nintendo.
[this message was edited by Freeter on Fri 30 Dec 14:33] |
| Gojira 2804th Post
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(1):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Fri 30 Dec 18:13
This is going to be a strangely convenient copypasta.
Game of the Year:
Portal 2
I really held off buying this one for a good long while, but it was simply inevitable: I was going to play it, and I was going to love it. And I did. The machines of Portal 2 had more personality than many of the human characters in other games. The gameplay was packed with nuance and engagement. I even found some of Rock Johnson's hidden experiment messages. If I had any complaint it was that the new elements weren't quite as elegant or thematically solid as the portal gun, but in the end they were still fun additions.
Experience of the Year:
Uncharted 3
The gameplay won't really win any awards from me, but what really engaged me in UC3 was the set pieces. Almost every episode of UC3 had me doing things that I'd never really done in a third-person shooter or a platformer. Everything from the brilliant chase sequences to the desert death march had me hooked, and as always the characters' personalities and interactions were the glue that held the flimsy plot together.
Most Retarded Game I Enjoyed This Year:
Saint's Row: The Third
I loved Saint's Row 2 because it was a GTA alternative that wasn't entirely serious, it didn't try to simulate a world but instead just simulated you doing video gamey crap to that world. SR3 took that aspect and not only ran with it but went all Kool-Aid Man through several dozen buildings in the process. There's so much ridiculous, offensive and juvenile crap in this game I'm almost ashamed to say I enjoyed every minute of it, but I did.
Fighting Game of the Year:
KoFXIII
Actually I hesitate to even name one because I'm still trying to remedy the situation that I don't have the game (long story), but if the iOS version of it can keep me playing I can't imagine the game itself to be anything less.
Downloadable Game of the Year:
Radiant Silvergun
Sadly, the translation was the usual XBLA hack-job, but given all the Engrish present in the game that didn't affect it much. Replaying this game again (with no continues in story mode... egads) just served to remind me why it's the only overhead shooter I would ever play over and over: elegantly balanced weapon design, dynamic stage flow, creative boss designs, difficulty that actually affects AI behavior, grandiose Hitoshi Sakimoto soundtrack, incredible replayability, and so much more. The game has it all.
Why Did I Buy This Game Award:
Gears of War 3
I too bought this game and I too have no idea what possessed me to do so. I've played it for maybe a total of 40 minutes, and half of that was multiplayer. I don't want it anymore. It's not even the dumbest game I played this year (see above) it's just that it still plays like a 360 launch title. And good GOD these characters are mind-numbingly stupid.
Most Pleasant Surprise:
Dynasty Warriors 7
It's kind of weird how much of this I'm just copying from Polly's post. Over the years it's felt to me like the presentation of Warriors games was losing to the whole "we want to juggle shit uninterrupted for 120 hours and watch levels go up" crowd, and anything that got in the way of that combo meter going up was being trimmed off at the root. It had gotten to the point where almost every "significant" event in the game had to be played out in a text box with a modicum of voice acting. But DW7's main story mode felt like something of a return to form, and the way it utilized the cast of characters was admirably balanced as well. And it had Guo Huai, whose illness was handled rather surprisingly tongue-in-cheek.
Best Game with Batman In It:
Batman: Arkham City
Sorry, I had to give it some credit. Although I feel the game itself wasn't as tight as Asylum (largely because of the sandbox approach), it was still an enjoyable game that drove me to get every damn Riddler trophy. Even though I had to cheat to get a couple of them.
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| Iggy 9310th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Fri 30 Dec 23:45
Let's try !
Best comeback of the year:
The 3DS Ambassador Program
From the unfortunate release with an unforgivable price to the emergency price cut, it looked like Nintendo had lost it.
Even if it was obvious the price cut was necessary and Mario, Mario Kart and MH would save the day, the greediness of the first price was almost unforgivable. Almost.
The first launch of the Ambassador program was just emergency plaster on the wound, but when the second round of games arrived, all was forgiven. Yeah, yeah, they are 10 years old games, but they are all fantastic, they were portable, and they were FREE. And let's add Zelda 4 Swords for free to the package, even though technically it was DSi but it arrived just at the best time.
I'm ready to welcome Mario and Pit, now. Still would totally buy a 3DS XL or whatever new model that would fix all the annoyances of the current system, though.
Princess Sarah of 2011
Sony
Earthquake, Thailand flood, PSN hack revealing an impressive lack of basic security, Ueda leaving "but he promised he would finish Last Guardian from outside, don't worry", and the impressive Vita failure, the year that was to be triumphant return of Sony ends with stupid rumours of the company being bought by this or that huge conglomerate.
I felt really sorry for them. And judging by the release schedule of next year, it's not like the situation is looking any brighter next year...
Runner-up for the Princess Sarah award, but I never liked them so I don't really care
Level 5
I never understood the hype around L5, and watching them fail game after game this year gave me the warm feeling of "I was right all along, aHA !".
Best remake of the year
Oreshika (PSP)
I had found memories of the game, but nothing huge. I even started thinking the game was ridiculously overhyped.
The remake made me realise that I was largely wrong. It is indeed a great game, amazingly clever and balanced, that, indeed, deserved a remake.
No Mai No Buy of the year
KOF13
Unfortunately, I'm in the No Shermie Not Happy team.
Best fighting game and biggest disappointment
(U)MvC3
In terms of contents, it's my favourite fighting game for a long time. It even made me appreciate Marvel characters. But the online, the pathetic interface and the timing of the release (with a lot of reasons, but it still had a bad impact) really casted a saddening shadow over everything.
I do hope the game will have the 10 years lifespan of MvC2.
Best TV series and biggest disappointment
Penguin Drum
Ikuni...
Still miles ahead of anything created lately, but it could have been so much more...
Best repetitive time-waster game with Nobunaga in it
Basara 3 Utage
Still haven't started on this one, but the amount of content available scares me a little. At least, the fact the save data is compatible with Basara 3 is a relief.
And Matsunaga is a godsent. Now I just want a game with Chacha in it (or Bulbisaur).
Best overbuzzed game that surprisingly ended up being great
Catherine
I mean, who expected that ?
Best sequel of the year
Dark Souls
It's obviously an amazing game, but the fact most of the good stuff in it comes from the previous game makes it miss the bar to:
Best game of the year
The Binding of Isaac
I really didn't expect that, but in the end I spent more time on this game than on most others. The game is as fast as Super Meatboy, you die and restart immediately, you keep unlocking stuff in a clever way that make you want to come back for more...
My god. My favourite game is a western game, and indie on top of that.
2011... What have you done!
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| Grave 1424th Post
PSN: Drakee
XBL: Mikelson
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Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(3):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Sat 31 Dec 08:50:
Here are some games. I haven't finished all of them, so if you buy them and they turn out to be terrible: life is hard. Please be strong.
Best Shitty Game
Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3! I can't and won't apologize for loving this game. As a pressing-one-button-a-lot enthusiast and a Gundam dub enthusiast I realize I will never be allowed to participate in polite society, but I was not disappointed on either of those fronts!
Well, maybe a little: Domon and Kamille uuuughhhhhhhhh but everything else was good!
Best Fighting Game
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3! KOF XIII is great, it really is, but I've had zero luck playing it online, and getting my friends here to play it? Ha! Good one. MvC3 was a real surprise to me, I was ready to hate it from the get-go but it was surprisingly fun and UMvC3 just added more goodies relevant to my interests to a package that I was already pleased with. I know a lot of people were mad about how fast Ultimate followed, but considering what it added and what the original release had, I consider it a good value.
If you told me a year ago I'd completely lose all interest in Blazblue in favor of a Marvel game, I'd probably poke you in the eye and make deflating balloon noises at you until you went away. I can't bring myself to care about Extend. Not even a little. CS and CS2 got to be kind of insufferable for me.
Best Western Barbarian Game
Portal 2 was easily my best single player experience this year, and one of the most memorable multiplayer ones as well. A testament to how much I enjoyed this game: I was scrolling down my Steam games list and I accidentally launched it. I went to back out of the program, paused and thought to myself: "Well, okay. This is fine too." I proceeded to play the game for 3 hours. If you've avoided the series (or even just the sequel) for any reason, you should probably stop that. The writing is incredible, the environments are staggeringly gorgeous and everything about it is dripping with quality and taste. A rare game indeed!
Runner-up would be Warhammer 40k: Space Marine, which isn't the best third person shooter out there, but is exactly the kind of 40k game I've always wanted but nobody ever made. It's profoundly satisfying and the only way I could like it more is if they made a super hardcore scary-as-hell multiplayer squad-based Space Hulk game with similar play in tight environments against horrible odds.
Best Puzzle Game
SpaceChem, by far. I don't even know if puzzle is enough to sum up what SpaceChem is - it's about problem solving, sure, and I guess it's sort of about chemistry, but it's mostly about parallel programming. The design is disarmingly simple and the learning curve is such that to watch someone solve (or worse yet, to just see their solution) a really hard level looks impossible dense but as you play the game you almost effortlessly adapt to the new things it asks you to do. At the same time it's always forcing you to think hard. There's always a more efficient solution, there's always a way to cut down on cycles. Plus if the main game wasn't enough, there's a wealth of user-generated content that can keep you busy indefinitely. There's a very good iPad port of it as well, but being able to play SpaceChem in bed is extremely hazardous to sleep. If you haven't tried (or even heard of) this game, please check it out!
Best High Profile Title I Didn't Care About
Super Mario 3D Land! It's really good! The 3D effect is kind of pointless and doesn't even add to the atmosphere, which is sad after Ocarina of Time, which I felt put it to very good use. Still, it doesn't matter one bit. The game is a joy to play and it washes most of the bad taste the NSMB games left me with away. It's not as overflowing with character as games like SMB3, SMW or Yoshi's Island were, but it feels a whole lot less sterile to me. Far from done with it but I really like what I've played so far.
Best Mobile Game (and by mobile I mean iOS)
Taito's Groove Coaster is awesome. Wonderful little rhythm game that surprised the hell out of me. Shares a lot of visual similarities with Infinity Gene, and I consider that a good thing. Comes with a good selection of music but the most important part is that Visionnerz is available as DLC. I hope they don't release more Darius music or any Raystorm music because I will buy all of it and then I will have no money.
Runner-up: Grasshopper Manufacture's Frog Minutes. Odd little game released as a charity deal to raise money for the Japanese Red Cross after the Tohoku earthquake. You catch frogs. That's about it. It's very peaceful, very simple, you might say that there's not much "game" to it but I find it relaxing to play. I'm also apparently ranked 49th in the world at frog catching. I can do better.
Game I Wanted All Year, Finally Bought, Never Actually Played
Shadows of the Damned oh god what's wrong with me i hate myself
Dammit Polly We're Going To Talk About Old Games
I got GRIN/Capcom's Bionic Commando from 2009 this year, because $9 was about all I was willing to pay, and WHOA. WHOA GUYS. THIS GAME IS ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD. It's rough around the edges and there's a lot wrong with it... and that's not factoring in the brain-dead plot that I am dumber for having witnessed. However, the game's mechanics largely feel like a success. The swinging feels absolutely incredible, so they nailed what's really important. Once you get good at moving Spencer around, everything else falls into place. It's absolutely a game that gives back in proportion to what you put into it. I was obsessed with it when I was playing through the first time and once I finished it on normal mode I began playing it again on hard. Granted, I din't finish it on hard yet but I couldn't get enough before I inevitably got distracted! Simon Viklund's soundtrack is stunning. Mike Patton's voice almost rescues a lot of the macho bullshit dialogue. I know, the radiation sucks and you'll get pissed at it a lot, but it's absolutely worth playing.
Game of the Year
Atelier Totori - The Adventurer of Arland! WHERE DID THIS GAME COME FROM?! For years I've been unable to enjoy JRPGs. There's a number of factors contributing to why I wanted nothing to do with the genre, but when I think about what they are I get so bored I want to go to sleep so we'll do without that part. I bought Atelier Totori on a whim because I was bored and the box art was cute. I expected to be distracted for a little while, but what I didn't expect was one of the most charming experiences I've had with an RPG in years. There's no world to save. No brooding protagonist. No pretension. No bullshit. You go on adventures. You make stuff. You use that stuff on adventures. You beat up animals. You make friends. You go on adventures and beat up animals with your friends. You make stuff with your friends. It is so much fun. It's full of bright colors and happiness. I was stunned. I still am stunned. Everything about it was a breath of fresh air for me, and not even the simplistic combat could put a dent in that. Totori's English voice contributes heavily to the game's charm for me - I really, really like how she plays the character and I tried putting the Japanese voices on for a bit and I just couldn't do it. I recommend this game for anyone who enjoys life, anyone who doesn't enjoy life and thinks they would like to, or anyone who is completely indifferent.
Game of Forever
Style Savvy/Girls Mode, Nintendo DS, Syn Sophia (formerly AKI, yes, wrestling AKI), best game ever made. I don't care how old it is, I know some of you don't even know it exists. If you haven't played this game, get yourself some education. You don't like this game, stop breathing. It is the pinnacle of human accomplishment. If the 3DS Girls Mode is passed up for localization, check the newspapers to make sure I haven't set fire to myself outside of Nintendo's US headquarters.
no but seriously please try it it makes me feel good 
games I didn't play: Gears of War 3, Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, Saint's Row 3, Uncharted 3. Some more games I didn't play that don't have a 3 in them: Batman: Arkham City, Assassin's Creed Revelations, Skyrim, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. I don't feel like I missed out on much. Did I?
edit: Forgot one important one
Best Sonic CD
Sonic CD! Wow! They didn't mess it up! It's still really good! And it's five bucks! OK.
edit edit: Carpe Fulgur released EasyGameStation's Chantelise in English this year and unlike the dodgy DHM localization, it's not hard to get! You can buy it on Steam! Right now! You should play it because it's a really good game. I guess people really liked Recettear. I didn't, but this one is good, honest!
[this message was edited by Grave on Sat 31 Dec 08:59] |
| sfried 737th Post
PSN: My3DSFriendCode
XBL: isdownbellow
Wii: 279306128909
Red Carpet Regular Member+
| "Re(1):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Sat 31 Dec 13:54
Game of the Year
The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword
While not perfect (than again, what game is?), the game that starts out rather awkwardly shines brilliantly once it hits its stride, from overwolrds briming with dungeon qualities like metroidvania-ish progression, time-shifting mechanics, riding desert oceans looking for imaginary ships, beetle flying manipulation, and even a crafting system, it still provides fresh new ideas to the otherwise icing on the cake which is the motion controls.
Shut Up And Take My Money! of the Year
Humble Indie Bundle (4)
Steam sales? GOG sales? Pshaww! Who cares about those when you can donate a cent and get a bunch of awesome games AND manage to also get them on Steam? It helps that they prevent these games from being devalued by awarding people who actually contribute something significant with more games and a buncha other stuff.
Biggest Surprise of the Year
Pokemon Plus Nobunaga's Ambition
Seriously, who's idea was this? I never thought they would top the Disney x Square Enix thing with Kingdom Hearts, but here we are with an even weirder crossover coming.
Biggest Internet Scandal of the Year
PSN getting hacked
This had to be some of the loudest news to hit when they took the service down. Aside from the security compromise, it doesn't help that other services like Steam took some premeasures when they got hacked, too.
Best Puzzle Game of the Year
A tie between Catherine and Pushmo
Seriously...I can't decide...
And The Game Nobody Played Belongs To...
Go Vacation
Just when you thought Nintendo crowed itself king of casual with the Wii _____ series, along comes a game that manages to out-Sports-Resort Sports Resort...by making it an open-world exploratory vacation spot. The amount of messing around rivals Just Cause...2! Add to the fact it has some pretty slick presentation (for something involving SD characters, the scenery sure does look nice) and you have the ultimate chillax game. Of course, nobody cares becase a)it's a "casual title" b)it's on Wii. Although you know it's definitely onto something if you manage to catch Iwata's eye.
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| Spoon 2264th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Sat 31 Dec 14:59:
Best Abusive Partner Game
DOTA 2
It's still a beta and I still have no idea why I play it, when it's sole existence is for you to be subject to the abuse of others, and hopefully you rise up and humiliate them and make them feel like a waste of time. I would recommend it to nobody I love, everybody I hate, and everybody who is interested in the mechanics of a competitive game.
AAA Game I Actually Beat
Deus Ex Human Revolution
In spite of having insipid boss fights, dialogue at the end of the game that is totally disconnected with what you actually did (seriously, "didn't abuse resources"? I know that's NOT what I did), a few mechanics that are silly, and a plot that ultimately makes a lot less sense than it could've, it was still a good time.
BEST GAME
Rock of Ages
It was $2.50 earlier on Steam, last I saw it was $5 on Steam. So it's basically twice as expensive as Binding of Isaac is right now. Imagine a game that is inspired by... well, Monty Python's animated bits, and you'd have Rock of Ages. It has some movie references that you may find unfunny, but it is otherwise wonderful and amusing.
Best Game That Was Released Sometime Earlier in Japan
Ghost Trick
Xenoblade managed to capture my imagination, but I've barely been able to play it. But Ghost Trick is so thoroughly wonderful that I probably wouldn't be able to give to another game anyway.
Most Absurd Technical Achievement
Battlefield 3
It doesn't matter how interested I am in how it plays; I think the work that has gone into the game has resulted in something like 6 SIGGRAPH (i.e. think "Nature" or "Journal of Medicine" for computer graphics) publications, and it shows. In the field of photorealistic real-time, it's on a different level.
Best Spectator Game
(U)MVC3
I was totally happy just leaving major tournaments for this game playing in a window while I did other things. While I'd love to actually have been able to play the thing, I still got plenty of enjoyment out of just watching it.
Best Tagline
Serious Sam 3
"NO COVER. ALL MAN."
Best Announcement
Magicka Vietnam
Another website said it best:
"The unfortunate thing about Magicka Vietnam is that nothing in Magicka Vietnam can possibly be as funny as the existence of Magicka Vietnam."
---------------
Some other stuff:
Best Penguin Drum
Penguin Drum
It was fantastically intriguing from the outset, but it is full of things that are just hard to swallow/don't make sense as it goes on. I still watched it all, which is more than I can say about anything else.
Best Redline
REDLINE
[this message was edited by Spoon on Sat 31 Dec 15:44] |
| Ishmael 4280th Post
PSN: Ishmael26b
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(3):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Sun 1 Jan 03:00
Best scenery: Skyrim In most games mountains are represented by pointy, brown rocks. Skyrim is one of the few games I've played where the paths you take and the environments you pass through feel like something you would actually see on a hike. Even better, after trudging along for awhile you can look around and see just how much elevation and distance you've actually covered. Obviously there's some compression going on but there's also the sense that the programmers are actively trying to mimic what it would be like to interact with this type of topography. Then some big googley eyed spider hops out from behind a bush and ruins the sense of immersion but it's still quite an achievement.
Best continuing trend: Fighting Games This year I got to play MK9, MvC3, Son of MvC3, KoFXIII, TTT2 and, er, Aquapazza. That's a crazy amount of games where the entire point is to knock the other guy out. I'm even happy with the 2012 balance to SSF4 although you now actually have to know what you are doing to be able to play Makoto. This does not suit my play style at all.
Best moment of self-awareness: This year I realized I like to press the button I've sometimes wondered why I enjoy some games more than other titles that are of obviously higher quality. I've finally decided the reason is because there are some games in which I simply enjoy pressing the button. I push the button, things happen, and I'm happy. For me 2011 will go down as the Year of the Button.
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| karasu99 811th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Regular Member+
| "Re(4):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Sun 1 Jan 04:34
quote:
Son of MvC3
Hurm, that's what hey should have called it, actually!
I've actually deliberated quite a bit over what my selections would be here-- at first I was feeling as though I had played fewer games this year than ever before, but then after making a list of just what it was I played, it turns out I played almost 50% more new (to me) games this year than last year. Crazy!
Anyway, I still can't make up my mind about what I enjoyed, so here is a bunch of random words:
Best Game that I Tried on a Weird Whim:
Batman: Arkham Asylum
I'm neither a Batman fan nor a sandbox game fan, but for some reason I thought playing this game would be a good idea-- so much so that I played it to the exclusion of almost anything else for about a month, and loved it. A great game that's only marred by giving me almost too many things to do.
Best Shooting Game:
Jamestown
I was prepared to name Cave's Akai Katana Shin as my favorite in this super important category, but then I realized I had spent much more time playing Jamestown, a beautifully made game by FInal Form Games. Plus, at $9.99US (plus $1.49 for the cool extra ship DLC) it's a much better value than the $90 or so I dropped on Akai Katana. It's available on PC, Mac, and even Linux, so anybody who likes shooters should go buy it now.
As for Akai Katana Shin, it's fantastic and beautiful, and has character designs that I actually like for once. It's just pricey.
Best Fighting Game:
Do I actually have to bother typing its name? (U)MvC3, Mortal Kombat 9, and so on are fine, but they don't compare with That Game.
Best Computer Game:
Binding of Isaac
I agree completely with Iggy on this game's merits. I was in no way expecting to love this game as much as I do (despite playing though Super Meat Boy multiple times, and figuring that a game by the same basic team would be equally great) but the fact is I've logged a slightly embarrassing 87 (!) hours on this game, which tells me I may have enjoyed it. Honestly, I'm still nowhere near done playing it.
Best Console Game:
I had a few other games queued up to be named here, but thanks to a glowing review by none other than MMCafe's own exodus, I picked up, and loved, a game that had completely passed under my radar:
Rayman Origins
This truly is a game for lovers of hand-drawn art (paging Nobinobita!) and its solid physics, exploratory elements, and non-fetch-questiness make this a game for connoisseurs of the platforming genre. I know practically nothing in it is new, but it's got the same sense of lightness and joy that is present in some of my older favorites.
Graphically it's just about peerless. The characters animate beautifully and with a crazy sense of humor. There's a ton of stuff to unlock, including the kind of near-impossible experts' levels that were the best part of Super Mario World. It's apparently a really long game too, which is nice since a lot of the best platformers are over too soon.
I'm realizing that I could write a whole wall of text singing the praises of this game! I haven't even mentioned the bosses, the powerup paths, the multiple characters, the multiplayer, the mosquito-riding shooting minigame, the hidden stuff, the cuteness, the ludicrous backgrounds, and a lot of other stuff. Really though, if this sounds even relatively good to you, go buy it!
So yeah. It squeaked in at the last moment (I literally read Brandon's review yesterday, dropped what I was doing, and went to buy it, all in the space of an hour) but it so far surpassed the other games that were near the top of my list that I had to make it my game of the year.
www.secret-arts.com
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| Moo
78th Post
Occasional Customer
| "Re(5):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Sun 1 Jan 08:16:
Here's my silly list. I didn't play that many new games this year. I spent more time catching up.
Doujin Game of the Year:
Fairy Bloom Freesia
A little lacking in content, but I can't say that I enjoyed any of the other games that I tried out as much as I enjoyed Freesia. I liked virtually everything about it - visual style, gameplay design/systems, animation, effects, sound, music. Nice story and characters, too. I'd play it more if my hands didn't hurt so much whenever I play it.
Game with the Most Content:
Skyrim
I don't like the combat or the art quality issues (seams, blockiness, re-using the same few assets over and over, terrible GUI, awful hair, etc), but once I got past those issues, I found the game world to be an enjoyable immersive experience. I don't think I would have played it if I couldn't mod it. The soundtrack is pretty nice, too.
Game with the Nicest Lighting:
Dead Space 2
I don't quite remember it as clearly now, but I liked how they focused on making the lights animated. I'd really like to see more games use dynamic lighting and shadows.
Game I Heard the Most Good Things About:
Dark Souls
I'd like to try it if I ever get a Playstation 3 (I don't have an X-Box either).
Action MMORPG that is Most Like an Action Game:
Vindictus
The others I saw or tried were TERA and Blade and Soul, and they didn't feel "action" enough to me. It's a shame that Vindictus never really develops its potential. It relies too heavily on equipment and incremental stat upgrades, rather than giving players new abilities to learn and master. It also suffers from many issues, including regular hackings and severe server instability.
Most Anticipated Game:
The Last Guardian
As expected. Aside from the game's beautiful visuals, I'm particularly interested in games that are conceptually unique or that don't focus heavily on combat.
Most Anticipated Sequel that Never Was:
Mirror's Edge 2
I expected to hate the first, but ended up enjoying it and playing it thoroughly. Its environments look great and there are so many ways to get from point A to B that the player can experiment with and master. I'd much rather have a sequel to Mirror's Edge than Battlefield. I hope that when they do make the sequel, that they focus on utilizing the parkour abilities to traverse environments efficiently instead of escaping from random fatal gunfire.
Best Multiplayer Game:
Street Fighter 3: Third Strike
I struggled to find something to play with my net friends, and this is still what we always end up playing the most. Still looking for a nice co-op game that isn't an MMORPG.
Best Game Soundtrack:
Atelier Totori ~Alchemist of Arland 2~
I think this was the game soundtrack I listened to the most throughout 2011. It's really nice. I haven't even played the game, although I'd really like to.
Game with the Most Hand-Holding/Nicest Visual Style:
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
I don't think I've ever played any other game that forced me to read the same tips for every single minor thing three times in a row without any option to disable it. I really like the game's colorful visual style, though.
Most Disappointing Game:
Crysis 2
My friend and I enjoyed the first one, but the second was so repulsive that neither of us could endure past the first ten minutes. We didn't like the forced tutorials and linearity, nor that they failed to resume from the cliffhanger ending of the first game. Also thought the story was cliche.
Most Disappointing Sequel:
Portal 2
I enjoyed the first game more. I think the sequel focused too heavily on the story and characters, which is probably what fans wanted. Valve did say they initially had something completely different planned, but changed it when people asked where the original cast was. I really liked how the first game unfolded itself to players as they progressed, and I felt that the second game lacked that mysterious charm. There were some weird moments for me, where I had thoughts like "I don't want to leave the testing facility, I want to keep testing" or "I wanted to experience the dilapidated or rebuilt environments more". I also felt that Portal 2 introduced too many new elements without fully exploring their potential, and I was also disappointed by the co-op and its lack of replayability (but I'm sure it's more interesting now that the challenges are available).
Best Game that I'm Too Lazy to Play:
Batman: Arkham City
I'm sure it's good. I just haven't gotten around to trying it.
Best Game My Friend Won't Shut Up About:
Bastion
Too lazy to try this too.
[this message was edited by Moo on Sun 1 Jan 09:29] |
| badoor
244th Post
PSN: BadoorSNK
XBL: BadoorSNK
Wii: n/a
Frequent Customer
| "Re(7):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Mon 2 Jan 09:28:
The choices I'm seeing are splendid and while my true favorite games would probably be somewhere in one of the many listed above, I'd like to share a couple of oddballs I liked:
Best batshit insane idea that actually works:
Driver: San Francisco
The Driver series has probably one of the unluckiest history ever. For a series that sort of begat today's extremely popular GTA-style genre of games, it hasn't been as popular or profitable as it should be on paper. But after numerous attempts at capitalizing on that concept, it's this entry that does its most to escape from that GTA concept that's been the most enjoyable to me.
It might be splitting hairs but this feels more like an open city arcade racer, an improved Burnout: Paradise if you say, as opposed to a GTA clone. And that comes through in how the a lot of cars feel more "fun to drive" rather than "realistic". And the "possessing" mechanic is at first basically an excuse to be able to steal other cars you want without all the hassle and time-wasting of blocking the car, getting out, and hijacking. And then the mechanic becomes a really innovative one afterwards, constantly jumping between cars. It's sort of becomes like playing a sports game (say soccer or basketball) but with cars. And the story is deliciously cheesy and feels like a wacky, written-while-on-LSD, episode of a 70s buddy cop show.
Best batshit insane collaboration that actually works:
Contra & Arc System Works on Hard Corps: Uprising
Contra is probably one of the most western-favored japanese-made series ever, it and probably Sonic. So giving it to ASW to do an anime-styled makeover was a weird decision. But I think it payed off, and it lead to a really great game.
What I like about it is how the game feels so much like an ASW fighting game. It looks the part. It has running, double-jumping, even air-dashing. There's a parry button that also does context-sensitive stuff like evade or melee. And the soundtrack is Isiwatari goodness (though no GUNFLAME!!! sadly). This gives it a lovely "gameplay depth" to it since you have so many options. All done with great batshit insane level design. Also, while there's a traditional arcade mode, Rising mode is probably the best solution to the old "arcade-style" downloadable game problem of "infinite continues but short playtime" vs "limited or extendable-by-playtime continues". Unlocking true new abilities, gun-upgrades, and also stats like health & lives is just addicting. And makes replaying levels always fresh. Finally, it has a great DLC character, Sayuri (a katana wielding female), that basically turns this Contra game into a Strider game that, dare I say it, is better than the "real" grind-heavy, brown-ish looking Strider spiritual successor, Moon Diver.
My only gripe is that a lot of the weapons feel useless, like the flame-thrower or the very short range reflector-weapon or the laser. But then again, Contra is known for that as sticking with anything but the S-weapon in any game is just foolish. Which is one thing that differentiates it from Metal Slug.
BONUS EDIT:
1st surprise of 2012
Bionic Commando for Game boy is actually better than the NES?! It has a cooler story. You can stomp on enemies and swing at them. There's a prison sequence. And albatross is actually a real stage! Though sadly no Hitler nor nazis.
[this message was edited by badoor on Mon 2 Jan 13:34] |
| Moo
79th Post
Occasional Customer
| "Re(7):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Mon 2 Jan 10:38:
quote:
dohoho
Hmm? I can enjoy combat games and be interested in non-combat games, too.
Edit: Just to elaborate... I think a lot of games that I've played focus too heavily on combat or violence, to the point that I often think, "I like this game world, but I wish there were more ways to interact than only with combat". That doesn't mean I may not enjoy the combat, but sometimes I crave more. As a person who explores game design, I like to see how other people create ways to make non-violent, mundane or unique elements interesting and fun within the context of gaming.
All the non-combat games I remembered enjoying turned out to be from 2010 or earlier, so I didn't list them. I guess I didn't play many this year. If anything, I did find GIRP interesting.
[this message was edited by Moo on Wed 4 Jan 11:13] |
| Loona 489th Post
PSN: IkariLoona
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Gold Customer
| "Re(8):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Mon 2 Jan 12:49
Absolute favorite
KoF XIII on consoles: fixed everything wrong with the previous iteration, got enough attention outside the usual SNK crowd to be on Shoryuken.com's front page frequently (even had a couple of entries out of the 4 possible highlighs at one point, which is kinda impressive). I love how drive cancels can create some interesting move combinations on top of the mechanics sharpened over the past decade or so.
MMORPG that tempted me
Maybe it from coing from Final Fantasy XI, which harly holds your hand, and for which my regular playing involved keeping the browser open to check the wiki often, but my experience in the beta really sold me on it, between the seamlessness of the levelling and questing, dialog choices, to how the game easily points what you need to do without being overbearing nor unnecessarily completist about it - I don't know how long I'll spne with it, but should keep my interest for a while still.
This was this year, right?
Streets of Rage Remake's final version: even if formally stomped on by Sega, this thing is amazing by any standards, not just a fan game's, and everyone who gave a damn about the old games should get it and give it a spin - you can pretty much recreate the first 2 games with some appropriate tweaks borrowed from other games in the series or mix things up further between the different starting points and branching paths, but either wy this thing is great and Sega should consider supporting the guys who worked on this, especially since there's no sign they'll ever do anything with the series again anytime soon.
"Beat the machine that works in your head!" - Guano Apes "Open Your Eyes"
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| Iggy 9311th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Tue 3 Jan 03:18
quote:
Best Puzzle Game
SpaceChem, by far. I don't even know if puzzle is enough to sum up what SpaceChem is - it's about problem solving, sure, and I guess it's sort of about chemistry, but it's mostly about parallel programming. The design is disarmingly simple and the learning curve is such that to watch someone solve (or worse yet, to just see their solution) a really hard level looks impossible dense but as you play the game you almost effortlessly adapt to the new things it asks you to do. At the same time it's always forcing you to think hard. There's always a more efficient solution, there's always a way to cut down on cycles. Plus if the main game wasn't enough, there's a wealth of user-generated content that can keep you busy indefinitely. There's a very good iPad port of it as well, but being able to play SpaceChem in bed is extremely hazardous to sleep. If you haven't tried (or even heard of) this game, please check it out!
Thanks for talking about that, Grave!
I indeed failed to notice it, and even though I usually suck at puzzle games, this one is both not too hard on my tiny brain and challenging enough.
I usually get bored of these games after a few tries, but I still haven't looked up a single solution up the internet, and I kept playing it yesterday until unreasonably-late AM. I love it!
So on second thought, no thank you at all. I'm a walking corpse today, and it's all your fault.
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| Maou 2288th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Game(s) of the Year...1994" , posted Wed 4 Jan 03:08:
quote:
*Maou's "Game of the Year" is old enough to have children.
*Someone has become disenchanted with games and only played one game the entire year. That game is from 2005.
You're on to me, Polly!
Game of the Year: Final Fantasy VI
I'm replaying this game again, the SFC version of course (damned be the awful, sound-damaged ports), and it sure is tight and well-plotted and very expressive even with a relatively smaller amount of dialogue compared with modern games. I could play this game forever, and I have! It actually is old enough to have children...18 years old!?
....
.......JUST KIDDING
I did actually play new games this year:
I Actually Played a New Game Award: Super Street Fighter IV etc.
Turns out that having a friend get a job at Capcom is a good way to get back in the groove of fighting games--finally, a year of not just playing the Zero series and wishing that SC3 and SC4 were actually good! Like with vanilla SF4, I can't stand the stages or the music (except for the jungle eclipse, all the time, outstanding) and sure don't enjoy the pieces of III that they brought in (cancelling supers out of specials), but it's nice to see fighting games alive and well. Like I muttered in another thread, 2 new game centers in the Bay Area within six months!? Astounding!
Chrono Trigger Righting Wrongs of the Past Award: UMvC3
Marvel 3 and Ultimate, being such insane dude-fests (what are there, 5 to 1 in favor of male characters I don't like?) made me retroactively enjoy Marvel 2 instead of just chuckling at it like I have been for years. Like, I actually uttered to a friend, "let's quit this and play Marvel 2," a thing I have never said before. Sakura-Shuma-Rockman live on.
Faking It: Best Downloadable Game: Radiant Silver Gun
Thanks, Gojira, you helped me continue to live in the past in these game of the year threads by reminding me that I can count Silvergun as a "new game," again! Big fun! Though in the end, friends and I ended up putting more time in to win Gunstar Heroes for the first time in years.
Bonus: e-sports bro-deo
Also, Tim Rogers and friends made a fun 4 player e-sport game that is like air hockey meets Pong meets Crossfire (Crossfiah!!). I'm counting that as a "new game."
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Wed 4 Jan 04:10] |
| Grave 1424th Post
PSN: Drakee
XBL: Mikelson
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(5):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Thu 5 Jan 08:06
quote:
You are the first person who hasn't gushed about how the 3D is actually good and (for once) doesn't feel tacked on. I'm curious to hear more about why you think the 3D is not positive and why you might think other people like it so much in this particular game.
In a platform game, it seems like it'd be a great help, right? Improve depth perception and make it a breeze to get from point A to point B, right? Well, maybe not so much... no matter which 3D mode I'm on or how high or low it is, I still finding myself watching the shadows to determine where I'll land because it isn't any easier otherwise.
In the dungeons in Zelda, I got a real feel for how cavernous certain areas were and looking down from high places was dizzying. Granted, I've only played half of Mario so far, but I've seen little to nothing to make me believe the 3D effect was necessary, short of the "trick" rooms that use 3D to create illusions in the platform layout.
I dunno! Maybe I'm blind! But I think if people are just now crawling out of the woodwork to praise it, they either never really gave any 3DS games a chance to begin with, or they're of the mind that they're too cool/too smart for 3D and needed a game like this to convince them that it might be OK every now and then. A wonderful game, but I could take or leave the 3D really.
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| sfried 741th Post
PSN: My3DSFriendCode
XBL: isdownbellow
Wii: 279306128909
Red Carpet Regular Member+
| "Re(6):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Thu 5 Jan 11:34
quote:
You are the first person who hasn't gushed about how the 3D is actually good and (for once) doesn't feel tacked on. I'm curious to hear more about why you think the 3D is not positive and why you might think other people like it so much in this particular game.
In a platform game, it seems like it'd be a great help, right? Improve depth perception and make it a breeze to get from point A to point B, right? Well, maybe not so much... no matter which 3D mode I'm on or how high or low it is, I still finding myself watching the shadows to determine where I'll land because it isn't any easier otherwise.
I kinda disagree. While you can trace your trajectory by following shadows and pixel allignment, when it comes to speed and levels that are timed (like the extra levels), I feel the extra sense of depth does help with getting to where you want quicker, because while it is not impossible to play it in 2D, that chances that you overshoot your approach is always a possibility given how sometimes the camera shifts. Unlike Mario 64 where you just have to readjust your camera behind you and jump, some of the fixed camera stuff can get tricky. I'm not talking about just the "trick" rooms but later stages with the shifting platforms and the rooms with topdown views.
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| chazumaru 850th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(5):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Thu 5 Jan 21:44:
ANNOUNCING THE 2011 VICTORS - HERE THEY ARE
Most Topical Game of the Year
#1. Surechigai Densetsu 2 / StreetPass Quest 2 / Find Mii 2
#2. Atsumete Kirby / Kirby Mass Attack
#3. Jigoku no Gundan / Army Corps of Hell
Now that games are an integral part of our pop culture, that the NES generation is thirty-something and that the cool teenage kids probably care for something totally different like Instagram or P90X, it's about time that "Game of the Year" discussions seriously consider how the final pick truly reflects the twelve last months we spent together on the Blue Marble.
And as much as I love Mario Kart 7, as much as I understand the fascination for Skyrim, as much as I admire Super Mario 3D Land, as much as I respect Kairo games, as much as I enjoy Pullblox... None of them truly captured the social zeitgest. The Arab Spring, The London Riots, The Occupy Movement, Black Friday... 2011 was all about common people, like you and me*, gathering together and gangin'up on random things.
*Ha ha ha. But you know. "Them". Those common people.
Winning at the last minute is Surechigai Densetsu 2, although this result is tarnished by the unfair advantage of the Jury having spent the last week in Tokyo, which is to StreetPass what Bangkok is to veneral diseases.
Otherwise, my vote would have gone to Kirby Mass Attack, which would also have been a serious contender for "best game of the 2011" in the traditional and very boring sense.
As we all know, Kirby is is already one of the most immoral, terrifying videogame characters of all time. He spends his time chewing up random creatures who were posing less of a threat to him than a low fat yogurt. He flies from star to star as a nearly invincible omnivorous god, bringing misery and destruction around him. And he wears silly hats, too. Kirby is basically a more efficient Galactus.
In Kirby Mass Attack, which did not get a CERO Z rating for reasons that are beyond my comprehension, he trades his bread and butter vilainy for something even more despicable : mobbing on innocents. The whole game is nothing but a long and colorful glorification of ijime, gangs, angry mobs and groupthink. It does not help that the game is full of ideas that make you feel "I can't believe you can still be that creative on DS in 2011", great minigames that are better than most iPhone Apps released in 2011 and lovely music. This is all an illusion to distract you from the antisocial brainwash delivered by Kirby Mass Attack. Do not be surprised if all Kirby fans have brand new Plasma TVs in their living rooms by now.
(By the same criteria, any Musou game or clone was the Least Game of the Year. In Musou, you are the 1%.)
Death of the Year
#1. Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 4
#2. Game Republic
#3. Puncher's Impact
The demise of Puncher's Impact led to a rather hilarious smearing campaign on various websites and message boards, but that only affected the French microcosm, so by International standards, it does not weigh much.
Game Republic's death came after Knight's Contract, a game so forgettable that nobody even thought about it when they created their list of forgettable games (see below). It also wins Brownie Points for the crazy rumours that surrounded Okamoto's fortunes following the closure of the studio. Is he really hiding away from shady people? Man, that should have been a major, bizarre, attention-grabbing story.
But then, Fukushima happened. And that event puts our winner in a totally different league.
There is so much to say about the cancellation of Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 4. Just think about how it was supposed to push Sony's 3D displays for PS3 in Japan (don't worry, we'll talk about Sony later). Or how about the timing of the incident led to the end of Irem April Fool jokes. Or how about some guy tweeted, days before the cancellation of ZZT4, that the series had helped him think about the proper measures to save his friend. And ultimately, how the cancellation of ZZT4 had led to many other cancellations and the slow death of Irem, which will probably become official at the end of the fiscal year, as a final and very sad Irem April Fool Joke.
Best Uncharted Ass of the Year
#1. Uncharted Vita
#2. Uncharted 3
#3. The Last of Us
I have always respected Naughty Dog for their skill but their series (Crash Bandicoot, Jax & Dexter) never clicked with me until Uncharted came along. It's witty, it's beautiful, it's well written, it's well dubbed, it can be played in Easy Mode to get rid of the crappy shooting sequences as fast as possible and it's a great single player game to share with someone else on the couch. But, most importantly, Naughty Dog truly captured the importance of properly showing amazing female bottoms in movement with proper camera placements. Really, nobody does it better. I am surprised even this battle has been lost by the Japanese game developers.
Because we have been very good boys and 2011 has been a really good year, we have been rewarded with not just one or even two but THREE Naughty Dog-related peaches. There has been the girl from the first trailer of The Last of Us and of course, within the three minutes video, they managed to give us an ass-shot of her running in a corridor. Unfortunately, I cannot let her win because she is probably thirteen and I would be sent to jail. So it all comes to Unch Vs. Unch. And you know what? In one of the biggest upsets of the year, I am giving the Uncharted Ass of the Year Award to the Uncharted game that was actually not made by Naughty Dog.
Just like the World Cup, the Oscars or any Political Election, it's not really about which one was the best. Chloe wins that one in a landslide. If we needed a proof, she is completely useless in Uncharted 3 yet I perfectly remember her name whereas, I cannot for the life of me tell you the name of the blond girl that surprisingly dethroned Chloe as a better all-around character in Unch 3 and actually benefits from a mighty fine booty herself. Yes darling, you are lovely, but the first image I think of when I remember Uncharted 3 is that camera angle of Chloe next to the truck.
Facing The Brunette Queen of Booties, our Vita newcomer Chase bravely does what she can. She wears tight jeans, she climbs right in front of our noses and she receives topical wisecracks from Nate. Although the character is quite boring and her haircut makes Martina Navratilova a fashion icon in comparison, Bend Studio actually did a good job with the specific feature we are carefully dealing with right now. Should that effort alone be enough to make the Vita version win ? Nope, but here comes the clincher: they added a camera feature. You can TAKE AND SAVE PICS ! IN UNCHARTED ! How has this never came to Naughty Dog's mind? I would have spent many more hours in the PS3 games, possibly even replaying them, had they implemented a camera feature to enjoy the scenery.
I literally meant the scenery. But, coming back to our topic at hand, it is also a great way to "enjoy the scenery". So, this final vote is not as much making Bend Studio the winner, as it is penalizing Naughty Dog for not giving us what we deserved all along. See! Just like what French people will do to Sarkozy in a few months.
Also, I love that the two sudios involved in this discussion are called Naughty Dog and Bend Studio.
Shadenfreude of the Year
#1. Sony's very long year
#2. 524,000
#3. The end of Level Five's golden touch
2011 was an excellent year for people loving to make fun of other people's misery. Obviously, not much to debate here, given the year Sony had. The "Year of the PS3" gimmick just keeps on giving. Thailand. Fukushima. The PSN Hack. The other hacks. The stolen security keys that led to PS3 piracy. Ueda. Hayama. The launch of Vita in Japan. I would write "I do not think 2012 can get worse for them" but I think I said that after 2010 so I'll just shut up.
524,000 copies of Final Fantasy XIII were sold in its first week, according to Media Create. The anticipation for that catastrophe and its aftermath led to my favourite All Star e-mail discussion of the year.
Which is why it takes the second place away from Level Five's troubles. It's just too much fun to share the shadenfreude with your beloved meany friends. Nevertheless, I personally find the Level Five story even more fascinating to talk about and study than the other two. Sony probably pissed on some Indian cemetary and is just plain cursed. FF13-2 was like watching a plane crash in very slow motion. The failures of Gundam Age and Ni no Kuni are complete shockers to me.
Loudest Personal Tantrum of the Year
#1. The Skyloft collect-a-thon trial of heroes in The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword
#2. The Machine-gun guy in the cruise ship in Uncharted 3
#3. The haunted mansion Boss in The Last Story
Sometimes, I scream at the screen. Or so I was told.
The Last Story is a very good game and easily my favourite RPG of 2011, considering that Xenoblade was released in Japan in 2010. As far as I see it, The Last Story is more inventive than most Japanese RPGs I have played in the past ten years, it tries cool things (and I don't care if it fails at many of them) and the "short" 20 hours playthrough amounted to a condensed adventure of which I could actually reach the end without ever getting bored. It also features several inventive boss fights, including one which occupied me for about one hour and twenty minutes before I understood what the hell I was supposed to do. The key learning of that Boss Fight is that I am a very stupid person.
Uncharted 3 is a very good interactive movie but it sucks at being a shooting game. Especially when the extremely powerful and resilient enemy you are supposed to kill to progress gets stuck in a crate and becomes invincible while infinite minions spawn from above the arena.
Skyward Sword is a very good game and easily my favourite 3D Zelda, but it suffers from two big issues. 1 : It unexplicably turns into a stupid collect-a-thon that makes you replay three areas twice. 2 : there is a specific "test" that forces you to restart everything if you miss. Fortunately, I never had to restart that test, except for the very last challenge, which I failed upon obtaining the very last thing I had to collect, because of a stupid treacherous camera angle and the too-dark-to-see-properly background.
I have been noisy before, but this is the first time in my life I actually managed to make my neighbours get up from their bed (it was 2AM), knock on my door and look at me with angry eyes. In fact, I am pretty sure the whole block heard me. That's why it's number one.
Best Catherine of the Year
#1. Catherine Deneuve
#2. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
#3. Catherine's Catherine
Catherine Deneuve wins this award every year because she is Catherine Deneuve.
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is a neighbour of my office. Somehow she made the news this year because she got married. Her wedding dress was nice, similar to the mythical Grace Kelly dress, so she gets my official approval at the number two spot.
Catherine's Catherine beats Catherine's Katherine for third place, which does not really matter because what it means is they both lost. I should have an obvious favourite one by now but I cannot bring myself to fully support either of them. Maybe that's why I bought both the PS3 and the 360 versions; I don't know which cover I really want.
Pardon the pun but Catherine (the game) is still puzzling me. I am not sure whether I liked it or not. I am not sure whether I really understood what the story was about. I am not even sure I relate to any character. I was certainly not expecting a puzzle game, but that ended up being the most satisfying aspect of the whole experience. I could not care less about multiplayer but it might be the true hidden gem of this game. I was also not expecting to prefer the perky, boringly sexy young Catherine over the foxy, glasses-wearing thirty-something bitch Katherine, but in the end I did. Although, it was more about which one annoyed me the least, but maybe that was the whole point of the game. Maybe it wanted to show that women are a pain in the ass, but my personal lesson was rather that all men in the catherineverse are cowards and hypocritical idiots. But maybe that was also intentional so... It kinda succeeded? I feel dizzy. The only clear thing in my head is that it would have made a much better handheld game.
Best Block-Pulling Puzzle Game of the Year
#1. 引ク押ス / Pushmo / Pullblox
#2. Rapunzel
#3. Catherine
What the hell, Catherine!? Even that, you cannot win? What a letdown.
Rapunzel is a slower-paced variation of the main puzzle game in Catherine. You can play it in the bar, from an arcade machine. It ends up being much, much more enjoyable than the main puzzle game. That is a problem, methinks.
引ク押ス (Pushmo in the US / Pullblox in Europe) is often compared to Catherine, although it is actually closer to Rapunzel than to the main game since it is more about clever thinking than quick decisions. Fortunately, the answer to which is best is a no-brainer.
Struggling between Catherine and Pullblox is like struggling between two love affairs. Catherine is the really hot and popular Ex that you loved to show off on Facebook, except you ended up breaking with her because she wait I am on Madman, except you ended up breaking up with him because he was crap in bed and victim of bipolar disorder. Pullblox is that smarter but less sexy hook-up then suddenly you find out nobody gives head better than him and you get hooked and can't stop thinking about the next time the two of you can spend time together.
To cut the argument short, Pullblox lets me do this.
Mascot of the Year
#1. MelonKuma
#2. Nikki
#3. Double H
MelonKuma wins this one hands down. Meanwhile, Reiko Nagase is in rehab.
Thing That Only The Internet Seemed To Give A Shit About of the Year
#1. Rockman Dash 3
#2. El Shaddaï
#3. Project Rainfall
I might not be looking in the right places but my feeling is that Internet is not appropriately showing us just how huge Zumba became in 2011. For all the American-led talk and buzz about P90X, which even I ended up hearing about, its business certainly does not match the kilimandjaresque pile of dollar bills gathered by Zumba. The Wii version is probably a multi-million seller by now and I cannot spend a week without hearing from someone's girlfriend/sister/mom how awesome their club is. All that thanks to the revolutionary concept of losing weight by dancing. Meanwhile, the same genius at Konami who passively watched Guitar Hero catch fire is probably finding new ways to make DDR slightly less relevant in 2012.
(Speaking of which, I should mention that, during New Year's Eve, I met a super hot 23 years-old chick from British Columbia who told me she loved Wii and thought Nintendo's best game was "DDR". Her fiancé was rather wisely holding on to her at all times.)
So, what did Internet focus on instead?
Well, there was Project Rainfall but I am European so what do I know. El Shaddaï gave us tons of funny videos and catchphrases, benefited from a dedicated convention in Japan, came out on all markets, received at least a few glowing reviews and even jumped on the Android bandwagon. Also, it sold like crap.
The fate of Rockman Dash 3 is a more interesting case study, though (Megaman Universe does not count because even the Internet did not care about that one). Not a single person "in real life" is crying about the disappearance of Megaman/Rockman. Yet, the awkward announcement and awkwarder cancelling, both likely linked with Inafune's flashy exit from Capcom, seem to have captured the imagination and anger of a surprisingly big North-American fanbase. For Rockman Dash ! Really !?
I was under the sincere impression absolutely nobody gave a shit about the super average Rockman Dash games; only Tron Bonne, her dedicated game and the wonderful illustrations from the trilogy should be saved from that awkward moment in the Blue Bomber's life. Apparently, its own publisher thinks the same. And quite a few people have noticed how weird Capcom has acted with the franchise in (Ultimate) Marvel Vs. Capcom 3.
The timing of Rockman's apparent demise is pretty interesting because it comes ten years after Capcom surprisingly revived the popularity of Rockman/Megaman to a whole new generation of consumers thanks to Rockman EXE. The series was already considered left rotting to die by 2001. I even remember most gamers around me considering that Rockman EXE was the proof Capcom gave up on the franchise. On the contrary, it was a flash of brillance. Combined with the TV show, it allowed the franchise to thrive on GBA and DS until complete exhaustion (because Capcom is Capcom).
When Rockman gets miraculously revived again as a FPS in five years, I am sure a bunch of young adults will loudly complain on the Internet that Capcom is killing the franchise and that Rockman should remain what it has always been about: a fun power-up collecting RPG with strategy elements.
Game that everyone has already forgotten of the Year
#1. Monster Radar
#2. MindJack
#3. Fabstyle
Your mileage may vary on that one because it has been a pantheon year for instantly irrelevant games: The Conduit 2, Bulletstorm, Tetris 3D... The competition was fierce. The reasoning behind my pick is:
1. Monster Radar is a launch game for PS Vita that takes full advantage of 3G.
2. Not only had I forgotten about Square-Enix's Mindjack before double-checking 2011 releases, I did not even know it had already been released. I would have thought they had cancelled it or hidden it under the rug by now. Also, did you know The Last Remnant is still officially in production for PS3?
3. It's not even about the promise of one million copies sold, or the identity of the producer, or the "full" female staff. They would all be good reasons but simply put, since Fatal Inertia, there should always be one Koei game in that list.
Least Disappointing Experience Somehow Associated with Ridge Racer of the Year
#1. Go Vacation
#2. Ridge Racer 3D
#3. Ridge Racer 2011 E3 DEMO
While the main Ridge Racer team was busy developing Go Vacation, 2011 gave us Angry Urban Reiko and the posterchild for premature releases.
MILF of the Year
#1. Mallara (Skyward Sword)
#2. Murata-san (うどんの女)
#3. Gwynevere (Dark Souls)
An image of Gwynevere is worth a thousand words.
Murata-san is one of the two protagonists of うどんの女, which you are supposed to read Udon no Hito = "The Udon Person" rather than what it really says: "The Udon Lady". It is a manga I discovered last week at a shop in Shimokitazawa, among a staff pick of the best manga releases of 2011.
うどんの女 is about awkward romantic relationships and food ; two favourite topics of mine. 21 years-old art student Kino-kun eats udon at the University's canteen every single day. This becomes a topic of curiosity for the woman who serves him, 35 years old Murata-san. Her curiosity quickly translates into awkward moments, which he picks up and misunderstands as romantic interest from her side, which she picks up and misunderstands as romantic interest from his side, which leads to a mutual obsession that quickly turns into strange fantasies involving thick udon noodles, feelings of adulterous betrayal on her part when she finds out the art student went for curry and unabashed jaleousy on his part when he finds out the udon lady used to... Oh well! I should not spoil too much. I liked it! Although I thought the ending was a bit weak, I got quite attached to the characters. Be strong, Murata-san!
Meanwhile, Mallara rewards you with rupees when you secretly come visit her place and accept to "blow all the cobwebs away" while her son (your sempai) is on patrol. Skyward Sword has amazing side characters.
Western Game that most defeated Japan's reluctance to Western Games of the Year
#1. Just Dance Wii
#2. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3
#3. Skyrim
I have heard all about Skyrim through Hachimaki. Modern Warfare has a shot at having sold more than Skyward Sword when all is said and done. Just Dance Wii and its mesmerizing Japanese adaptation will pass 500,000 copies sold easily. The times are changing.
Nicest Surprise of the Year
#1. Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
#2. Danger 5
#3. Hankyu Men's
Hankyu Men's in Ginza/Yurakucho is a recently opened male-dedicated department store that does not suck! Wow!
Best Reason not to Jump on Steam of the Year
#1. My flatmate is a zombie
#2. My PC cannot even run Minecraft
#3. I have not enough money to save so much money
Steam users are scary. They proudly mention how they stop eating food because that kind of trivial purchase is too expensive compared to buying a Batman game they will never play.
However, I remember I used to do exactly the same thing when I was fifteen, in order to buy import Saturn games. In fact, I already buy more games than I could ever chew nowadays. I am very scared of what would become of me if I jumped on Steam and all its "good deals" that would "save me money". I would probably need to sell my organs to pay the rent within three months, except there would be more sales at that point, so my pancreas would probably turn into "The Rick Dangerous Trilogy" and DLCs for Aircraft Manager while I am kicked out of my own flat.
Most Adorable Psycho of the Year
#1. Armaros (El Shaddai)
#2. Zelda (Skyward Sword)
#3. Ringo (Mawaru Penguindrum)
You know it has been an amazing year for adorable psychos when Saorin does not make the cut. Insane pubescent stalker Oginome Ringo was the surefire favourite early into Mawaru Penguindrum's broadcast, until her stock fell like a rock when they sadly shifted their focus away from her. This year's Zelda did not only come with a brand new haircut but also a brand new tendancy to throw Link to his death while smiling and spouting romantic hints. Yet, none of them come close to Armaros!
Aaaw, Armaros, you adorable psycho. If only more people played the game until the end, they would know why I feel for you.
Looming social unrest of the Year that will result in chaos in 2012 and lead our society to a Mad Max future
#1. Not enough ink
#2. The fall of the Euro
#3. Kim replaces Kim
NOT ENOUGH INK. NEED MORE. GAAAAAAAAAH!
無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は
[this message was edited by chazumaru on Tue 10 Jan 20:54] |
| Pollyanna 3162th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(8):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Fri 6 Jan 16:58:
There is way too much in this thread to reply to and maybe I'll get around to it eventually, but this is an easy point to hit on.
quote:
Gojira : as a matter of fact, I have never ever played the multiplayer in Uncharted! I don't even know what it looks like. I assume it is about shooting, which is that part I care the less about in Uncharted. But thanks for the information; in my view, allowing it in multiplayer only does miss the entire point.
I'm not nuts about the shooting in Uncharted, either. It's not body part sensitive enough. I didn't care for Red Dead Redemption at all as a whole, but I wish Uncharted had a shooting scheme more similar to that. As it is, it just doesn't feel like you're shooting people.
But the multiplayer is actually pretty fun. It's not about shoot-outs so much as gaining a tactical advantage. If two players run into each other, they often both retreat and wait for a different opportunity when they have the advantage in a situation (like they outnumber the other team, or they're approaching from behind). Melee is a big deal as well, as it instant-kills if you hit someone in a blind spot.
Also, you can do sliding instant-kill crotch punches and give your teammates high-fives at your own peril. Once, I kicked a guy off of a two-foot tall air conditioner and he fell (two feet) to his death.
(AH! And I remember that boss from Last Story! It was hilarious chasing it around the mansion. One of my favorite parts, for sure.)
Edit: Also...
Sony tragedy
I think one of the saddest things about the Sony hacking scandal is the fact that people have their accounts compromised on Xbox Live all the time. It's happen to me and one of my friends as well (someone bought Kinectimals with my money.). That doesn't free Sony from any sort of blame, but it's a real "insult to injury" sort of thing.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
[this message was edited by Pollyanna on Sat 7 Jan 01:33] |
| chazumaru 850th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(2):Shinobi Legions was awesome." , posted Wed 11 Jan 17:01
quote:
I think everyone was so turned off by the hideous visuals that nobody thought that it might be decent.
Exactly what happened to me. It took a convincing argument from a journalist friend who was reviewing it and the nostalgic boxart to change my mind.
quote:
On the subject of the Vita, has anyone gotten one?
I got one in Japan during the year switch.
I am surprised by the quality of the hardware. It froze on me twice and a colleague's console broke down, ut I think all the buttons are pretty good, including the sticks, and highlight just how poor the original PSP controls were. The D-pad is alright too. It's actually possible to achieve combos in UMVC3. Easily the best D-pad Sony ever released. Battery is "OK" (actually terrible but following PSP and 3DS it suddenly looks amazing); battery charge is quite fast too. I am surprised how ineffective and useless the backtouch is. I had very low expectations, but it still managed to piss me off.
The UI is OK, separate "home page" for each app/game running is a very smart idea (would take a long time to explain but you'll get it when you try the console).
Using game cards is not recommended: more expensive, hard to remove easily, tiny and easy to lose, nothing intuitive in the OS to tell you which card is currently inside the console, etc. The user experience is so poor when using cards that a friend made a very convincing argument this was done on purpose(!) by Sony to have people switch to DL versions of games.
Got four games:
+ Uncharted is pretty good, after a slow start. Definitely the game to get at launch, I think.
+ Mingol 6 is Mingol. Very efficient, not very surprising. Tough courses!
+ UMVC3 is an alright port. Heores & Herald mode is not available yet.
+ Army Corps of Hell is the Pen Pen Triicelon of Vita.
The Gravity Daze demo is the most promising time I spent with the console.
無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は
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| Nekros 409th Post
Gold Customer
| "Re(1):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Wed 1 Feb 03:33:
So, many games I played and enjoyed this year are retrogames, my list will be outdated as hell.
I will try to make it, but I'm not a serious hardcore-whatever anymore.
Game of the Year:
KOF XIII
2D graphics fighter. Modern, fast and polished. Nothing to add.
Honorable Mention:
Child Of Eden
Loved Rez so much I can't miss this (bought on X360 AND PS3!). The game itself is very good, charming and interesting to play. The general atmosphere and the graphics are good but the music (the real core of the game) is not something I'm into. I like electronic music but Genki Rockets is too pop-oriented to my ears. A customizable soundtrack would have been a better choice.
Fighting Game of the Year:
KOF XIII
Seriously?
Honorable Mention:
BlazBlue continuuing adding shi(f)t
Good way to maintain interesting a game, like Capcom does with SF4. The only reedeming factors of BB against SF to me are the more fast-paced action (aerial attacks and guard especially) and the 2D style over the 3D one.
RPG of the Year:
Didn't play rpg this year. I bought Vesperia but never opened it.
Downloadable Game of the Year:
Guardian Heroes
It wins everything hands down. A must buy.
Portable Game of the Year:
Okamiden
Technically is not from this year (but the english version is). Never tought I enjoy an adventure featuring a little white Shiba Inu, especially when I got bored by the original.
Retrogame of the Year (old generations):
16-bit Akumajo Dracula
All of them: IV, Vampire Kiss (Snes), Bloodlines (MD), Chi No Rondo (PCECD). A guide to how o make a perfect action game in many aspects. I'd die for a remastered port of them + Igavanias.
Honorable Mention:
Parodius Series
Konami again, when they were creative and not relying on two franchises. The SFami versions are even better than arcade originals.
Retrogame of the Year (current generation):
Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu
Can't play a modern shump unless it's Cave. Daifukkatsu is clever and cruel and not impossibile like other danmaku.
Honorable Mention:
Kirby's Epic Yarn
Great style, grat graphics. 2D platformer forever. This is for children, sadly, but incredibily well-executed.
Most Pleasant Surprise:
Sonic Generations
A Sonic game that treat itself and plays like a Sonic game! Finally! Decent graphics, decent gameplay (3D section is a mix between SA2 and Unleashed while 2D stages are worst than MD ones but way better than Dimps ones), excellent music and quite rewarding. An interesting tribute to the whole series and the gamers, not the best Sonic game but probabily the best from 2003.
Honorable Mention:
Alice Madness Returns
Very interesting ideas, sick visuals and good basis for gameplay. It lacks in many aspects but is one of the few platformers that try to imitate Mario using the opposite theme.
Honorable Mention Again:
Castlevania Lords Of Shadow
A pleasant game in the same way as it's disappointing: not being so much Castlevanish. On its own it stands as a gothic/medieval God Of War with some exploration and character grinding, stunning backgrounds, tough bosses and stupid quick time events.
Game I Wish I Played, but Didn't:
A new Darkstalkers, Chrono or Panzer Dragoon
Seriously, the only one that comes to mind is SF3 Third Strike Online Edition. Didn't bought yet.
Game I'm Finally Sick Of:
Many of the franchises praised as hell nowadays.
This include Call Of Duty, Gears Of War, Uncharted, Zelda, Elder Scrolls, Resident Evil and even some downloadable titles like Braid, Super Meat Boy and Minecraft. Most of these games are carbon copy of other games, if not of themselves.
[this message was edited by Nekros on Wed 1 Feb 03:34] |
| Juke Joint Jezebel 3676th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
|  "Re(2):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Sat 26 May 04:09
Game of the Year:
Hard Corps: Uprising
Surprisingly, you will not find the recipe in Myra Waldo's Pan American's Complete Round-the-World COOKBOOK, which was steadily reprinted twice a year between 1954 and 1962. She thanks the following for "supplying information for this book"... as editor in chief: the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Mr. Chyz of the Common Council of American Unity, the various foreign consulates, and of course most particularly the Pan American World Airways agents all over the world in 81 countries," with very special thanks due to "Harold Laird and Gerald Whitted of Pan American."
Honorable Mention:
Jamestown
She goes on to say that "maintaining an open mind on all subjects is the surest way for us to learn something about the rest of the world" and that "in this atomic age" her neighbours were and are "the Patagonians, the Zulus and the people next door." I guess Harold Laird and Gerald Whitted of Pan American were just too busy with other things between 1954 and 1962 to let her know how to mix 1 cup of diced celery, 1 cup of diced apples, 1/2 cup of finely chopped walnuts and 3/4 cup of mayonnaise to help represent the United States con libros.
Game of the Year:
Costume Quest
Her other sources appear to have been "American GI's ...exposed to a wide assortment of cooking styles ... always on the move and touring foreign countries ..." to bring "gradual maturity" ... "to our own [hers the United States] country ... gastronomically speaking." The Canadian apple pie and the Canadian version of pea soup appear to have made it. As for Concorde's old match-it-with-wine guide depcited above (I was unable to upload the Pan Am text's cover for some weird and mysterious reason), the South African Allesverloren sounds great in terms of publishing partee and repartee, also Klein Karoo and Kanonkop as lesser landmarks in oenology.
Oenos/oenas/oinas is all Greek to some, I guess (oenology is pronounced 'oinasology' by some Ugrians I am told. It has something to do with Amun as Ram and Nefertiti according to Otto Neubert (not to be confused with OJ Norbert, Dilbert, Gilbert and Sullivan), "seafaring traveller, archaeologist, scholar" and his "Tutankhamun and the Valley of Kings" (London: Granada, 1972 reprint since the Neubert opening of the tomb).
Honorable Mention:
Bastion
Two of these creatures were featured about a decade ago as my mother in law's glass coffee table legs as a consequence of a professional interior design commission. By the way, Brock University of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada has been offering a university degree in wine making for some time now. There may also be something out there to help any newer culinary publishers engaged in the hospitality and travel industry with routine administrative writing and what I can only describe as the 'gone-native' banana effect in terms of representing heritage on any world tour spanning years.
Game of the Year:
Orcs Must Die
Somebody, please tell her to stop embarrassing herself and get some serious hobbies which allow her to contribute to society in a more meaningful and sensible way. I mean, there is always aviation, industrial automation, the consultancy of ...chemical explosives' engineering, and the promotion of nudism in lieu of national culture to Valeri Fabrikant at the Ecole Polytechnique here in Canada, also designing national flags with banana-leaf-weed on it. I guess I am trying to say I have never put together a hate campaign in my life, I have never supported Robert Munsch or any Sheila McGraw, and I am not trying to be offensive in my statements, to anybody, not even to my own mother or my husband Peeter's. I just do not understand some mentalities based on my family's political, historical and sound solvency experience, and matrimonial values experience, for 100 years, and do not regard offensive, impolite attention-grabbing and slimy flasher-publishing, worth any economic contribution and attention, worth anyone's serious living breath, and least of all anyone's lifetime celebrating their "kultuur." Hurt now by what I have just said? So do not sue, or sue, bill, hector and badger, Edward Bernays, like I should care, but only help yourself to re-educate yourself, of course, without much more CANOLA OIL (Ref.: CANOL PROJECT, Canada) grown anywhere in the world, ARTI-CHOKE (Ref.: all choked up), and Siberia.
Honorable Mention:
Portal 2
"M" @ "Mata," Hairy Truman, a Cat who used to write to Gordon Finlay. And please stop pressuring my husband's mother to change her religion (not sure if again, or not, she is not either, she does not care so long as people are not trying to kill her and she has her sense of heritage intact)! Also, please repe...at after me, in the foreign-Estonian language, she is not "my/MI Jewish Miller" - "tema ei ole minu Juudi jahuveski perenaine ('mrs./missus competent in home economics'?)," this without buying a vowel from Jeopardy!
Honorable Mention
Trine 2
I mean I do not actually like Michael Jackson's music as such, but we are sympathetic to his life's unique challenges, to say it in Canadian ("sympathetic/not sympathetic").
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"Game of the Year 2011" , posted Fri 30 Dec 14:03
"Re(7):Game(s) of the Year 2011" , posted Fri 6 Jan 02:38
"Shinobi Legions was awesome." , posted Wed 11 Jan 03:25
