I managed to fully complete 16 games this year (same as last year) plus a lot of games I didn't get to finish. I was very surprised to see that I spent more time playing a downloadable DSi game more than any other game this year. And even though I didn't "complete" it, I definitely played it more than Super Mario Galaxy 2. Odd. Completed Game Played Most: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Not Completed Game Played Most: AlphaBounce Games Completed: Games Played (Not Completed): Games Played at E3:
1/22/11
2010 Games Played
1/7/10
2009 Games Completed
I managed to fully complete 16 games this year with a lot of games I didn't get to finish. Some of them were because they were far too difficult (Henry Hatsworth), I just wanted to try it with no real intention of beating it (Devilish, Incredible Hulk, or any iPhone game), or the game doesn't ever seem to end (Okami, Boom Blox: BP, Scribblenauts). Completed Game Played Most: Peggle: Dual Shot Not Completed Game Played Most: GTA: Chinatown Wars Complete Game Most Enjoyed: New Super Mario Bros Wii Not Completed Game Most Enjoyed: Wii Sports Resort Completed: Partially Completed: Played at E3
12/30/09
2009 Predictions: Right or Wrong
Seeing as how 2009 is nearing it's end I thought I would check back on some of my gaming predictions. See the actual predictions plus descriptions right here. Below you will see 5 things that I thought were likely to happen in 2009. In the end I shot a 1/5. Compared to my 3.5/5 last year I pretty much sucked it up this year. That'll teach me to try and predict Nintendo's choices. They make so many decisions out of left field it's near impossible to tell what they're going to do. 1) PSP2 will be released this Holiday and will not have a UMD drive Right! For the most part I nailed this one on the head. The system is not officially the PSP2, it's called the PSPGo, but it is certainly the next version of the PSP system. The system was also released a little bit before the "Holiday" window but October 1 (in America and Europe) is close enough to "Holiday" for me to count it. 2) A new Zelda for Wii will release in the holiday of 2008 Wrong! Boy was I wrong on this one. Had I not specified Wii I would have gotten it right, but alas, I didn't. As it turns out there was a new DS Zelda game released and we now know the new Zelda might be shown at E3 in 2010. So the chances of it actually releasing in 2010 aren't necessarily too great. 3) Voice chat will be standard on all online-enabled Wii games released in November and December Wrong! I specified that all Nintendo-released games with online would have voice chat but there weren't any games at all released by Nintendo on the Wii with online modes at all. So in that way I was right. But I think we can all agree that this would never have been true even if they did release any online games. I hate to say it but this is the biggest reason I now own an Xbox 360 now. 4) Again we will see a price drop for PS3 and Xbox 360 but not for Wii Wrong! Nintendo was the last one of the three to drop the price but in the end, I was wrong. I also said there would be new Wii colors and bundles and there weren't (at least not in America). 5) A new Resident Evil and GTA will be released for the Wii in 2009 Wrong! I said this was my least likely to actually happen and sure enough, I was right about that. There was not a traditional Resident Evil title or GTA games released for the Wii in 2009. And after the sales of GTA: Chinatown Wars on the DS I seriously doubt we'll see one ever on another Nintendo system.
1/7/09
2009 Gaming Predictions
Seeing as how it's 2009 now and I did this last year I thought I would make some gaming predictions. Below you will see 5 things that are likely to happen this year. Please feel free to argue with me on any of these predictions. Think I'm wrong? Well we'll just have to wait and see.
1) PSP2 will be released this Holiday and will not have a UMD drive
This one is a little bit out there but I think Sony will announce their next handheld device at either this year's E3 event or some event soon after. The system will have the ability, much like the DSi or the iPhone, to download games directly to them using a wireless signal. Also, the UMD drive will be gone since it drains batteries like a mother.
2) A new Zelda for Wii will release in the holiday of 2008
With Nintendo's new concept of holding onto game information much longer than in the past there is a good chance this prediction will not be proven true until after E3. And I don't mean we will hear about it at E3, I mean we will seriously not hear anything about it until maybe August for a November or December release.
3) Voice chat will be standard on all online-enabled Wii games released in November and December
As a new owner of the Wii Speak peripheral this could be more of a hope than a prediction. Sometimes it's hard to determine if my predictions aren't being driven by lust and the desire that they may become true. The only real way for this to be determined "Right" or "Wrong" later is if I give more details. For this prediction I mean that every Wii game released in the November and December months that has an online mode (simultaneous play with or against other humans over a network) will have voice chat available using either Wii Speak or a third party peripheral.
4) Again we will see a price drop for PS3 and Xbox 360 but not for Wii
We will, sometime before the end of 2009, see new Wii SKUs but not in the sense that you may think. The system will continue to sell well but a slight drop in sales during the summer will lead to a few different color options for the Wii. One will most certainly be black and I will be extremely tempted to buy one. I hate you Nintendo.5) A new Resident Evil and GTA will be released for the Wii in 2009
This is my grand prediction that has the highest percentage of being wrong. Like last year's stupid prediction of Saints Row getting higher reviews on average than GTA IV this is my "out on a limb" prediction. I personally think 2009 will be the year that will start seeing some serious "hardcore" games released on the system. Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition sold over a million copies so it's obvious there's a market for it on Wii. As for a GTA game being made, I see it being made by the same team at Rockstar that made the PSP Grand Theft Auto games. Let's see how close I am on that one.
Let the games of 2009 begin.
Games Played/Beaten in 2008
I did this last year and it seemed to work out pretty well. I simply keep a tab on every game I played throughout the year so I can look back on it later and see what all I enjoyed. I successfully completed 14 games this year (compared to 20 last year) and played a total of 45 this year (compared to 43 last year).
All in all it seems like I managed to beat fewer games this year but played more. I think the fact that I got married in the middle of the year may have put a small hindrance on my ability to beat more games. I think you all know why.
So without further ado, here is the list of games I played throughout the entirety of 2008. And later I will post my predictions for 2009 as well as my prediction score for 2008.
Completed (No Order):
1) Halo 3 (Xbox 360)
2) Super Mario Galaxy – Luigi and all 242 Stars (Wii)
3) Contra 4 (DS)
4) Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (Wii)
5) Super Smash Bros. Melee (Gamecube)
6) Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
7) Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
8) Lost Winds (WiiWare)
9) Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
10) No More Heroes (Wii)
11) LOL – Completed by having an awesome time (DS)
12) Picross (DS)
13) Boom Blox (Wii)
14) Lost Winds (Wii)
Partially Completed:
15) Bomberman Wii (Wii)
16) Tetris DS (DS)
17) Tetris Party (WiiWare)
18) Star Wars: Force Unleashed (Wii)
19) We Ski (Wii)
20) Gears of War 2 (Xbox360)
21) Rock Band (Wii)
22) Zack and Wiki (Wii)
23) Rock Band (Xbox 360)
24) Carnival Games (Wii)
25) Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS)
26) Art Style: Orbient (WiiWare)
27) Locks’ Quest (DS)
28) Dancing with the Stars (Wii)
29) Call of Duty 4 (DS)
30) Spore Creatures (DS)
31) Endless Ocean (Wii)
32) Personal Trainer: Cooking (DS)
33) NHL ’08 (Xbox 360)
34) WiiFit (Wii)
35) Resident Evil 4: No Kills Run (Wii)
36) Star Wars: Rogue Leader 3 (Gamecube)
37) Super Mario Strikers: Charged (Wii)
38) Geist (Gamecube)
39) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii)
40) Super Metroid (SNES)
41) Super Mario Bros: Lost Levels (NES)
42) Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
43) Guitar Hero III (Wii)
44) Medal of Honor Heroes 2 (Wii)
45) Wii Sports (Wii)
12/28/08
2008 Predictions: Right or Wrong
At the beginning of 2008 I laid down some predictions for the year. Below you will see how accurate my predictions were. Without spoiling too much, I think I did fairly well.
And stay tuned for this year's predictions in the coming week.
1) Wii Play w/ Remote will be best selling Wii game (not counting Wii Sports of course) Right!!!
According to this link it is apparent, and to some very sad, that Nintendo's brilliant marketing creation that is Wii Play has managed to be the best selling Wii game of 2008. But what is that you hear; the game actually outsold GTA IV that launched on not just the Xbox 360 and PS3 but also the PC? That is correct.2) Gears of War 2 will be release in the Fall of '08 Right!!!
Some would say it is brilliant. Some would say it's a disaster.
As I stated in my prediction, this wasn't too big of a gamble on my part especially since there was no new Halo game this year and the first Gears was a huge seller the previous holiday season it came out. But just remember, back in January the release date for Gears 2 was not common knowledge.3) Still no headset for the Wii, at least not by Nintendo Right and Wrong!!!
When it comes to voice-chat us Nintendo gamers have been a little left in the dust. My prediction was that Nintendo would complete the 2008 year without releasing a voice-chat enabled headset. Well they released Wii Speak, a voice-chat enabled device for the entire room, but not a headset. So if my prediction was "no voice-chat" I would be fully wrong but since I worded it differently, I'm gonna give myself a little credit.4) Price Drop for Xbox 360 and PS3 but not Wii before '09 Right!!!
This is a prediction that makes you wonder if it was even a question that this would happen. Well, back in January it was still unsure if the Wii was going to be able to last and the PS3 and 36o were still doing fairly well in the hardware race. Well my guess was that both Sony and Microsoft would drop the price of their systems but Nintendo would hold strong. Both the PS3 and Xbox 360 dropped its price a few times throughout the year and changed SKU options. The Nintendo Wii remains in the exact same packaging and price we got back in 2006 (aside from a few Wiimote condoms and package designs of course).5) Saints Row 2 will have a higher GameRankings score than GTA IV Terribly Wrong!!!
I went out on a limb on this one far before we knew much of anything about GTA IV or Saints Row 2. All I can say about this one is "why?"Why would I ever think that a series like GTA that has always garnered great reviews ever be beaten by a newcomer that only has one game in the series and it wasn't rated very high? Looking back on it now, I have no answer.
Well according to GameRankings these are the average scores and rank for each game:
Grand Theft Auto IV
Review Score: 96.6%
Overall Rank: 1
Saints Row 2
Review Score: 83.3%
Overall Rank: 67
12/1/08
How Things Haven't Changed
Black Friday was a success yet again (considering all things) but it appears certain companies fared better than others. In this time of economic turmoil it appears people would rather snatch up a single $250 purchase the entire family can enjoy (one gift for five) rather than a bunch of individual $250 gifts that only one person can enjoy. In this time of money crunching, people seem to be cutting back and buying up Nintendo Wii systems left and right. Those other more graphically superior systems (read: more expensive) are not fairing quite as well.
But then again, maybe money crunching isn't the reason for all of this. If you have been following the sales of the current generation or happened to walk into a store anytime after December of 2006 (post PS3 launch) then you would probably recognize the images below.
So my question, when does the Wii selling out (and selling millions) stop becoming news?
6/18/08
Cause of Solid Snake's Increased Aging
I typically read a few different video game comics every week and I stumbled upon this one from 2P Start that had me in stitches. Check it out below and tell me that's not awesome.
3/31/08
Casual Games are to Water what Hardcore Games are to Soda
Casual Games = Water
Hardcore Games = Soda
For the sake of this argument we are going to assume there is a difference between what are called "casual" games and what are called "hardcore" games. And let's be honest, there is a drastic difference in a game such as Gears of War and a game called Wii Play. What I find interesting is the relation of "casual" games to a glass of water and "hardcore" games to a can of pop.
Water has a plain flavor that anyone can enjoy. Give a 12 year old child a glass of water and they love it; same goes for an 85 year old woman. Grandparents love water. Much like "casual" games, everyone can enjoy a tall glass of water.
Soda pop has a much more complex flavor when compared to water. It almost has an acquired taste, one that many older people do not enjoy do to the excessive bubbles (complicated controls) or the "it's bad for you" reputation (violence). I know not all hardcore games have violence but that is the common belief among non-gamers.
I am the type of gamer who loves both types of beverage (talking about games now). I own and love drinks everywhere from Dasani to Aquafina to Fiji (Brain Age, Wii Sports, Picross). But I also love myself some Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, and Sierra Mist (Halo, Gears of War, and Super Smash Bros). All of these drinks I can enjoy, a good beverage is a good beverage no matter the type or the flavor.
Mario Kart Wii is an interesting beast in regards to this beverage analogy because it is trying to appease both the water crowd and the soda crowd. This game to me seems closer to a Propel Fitness Water, which I do not enjoy. There are certain things I do not like about beverages and one of the main ones is when you water down my fountain drink. I'm sure you have all taken a drink of your 7-11 fountain drink about an hour after you fill it up and the ice has begun to melt into the drink. It's nasty. That is how Mario Kart Wii tastes to me.
I can't quite put my finger on the reasons why Mario Kart Wii seems like a watered down version of the series but it simply tastes bad in my mouth. Could it be the lack of a co-op Grand Prix mode? Perhaps. Could it be the requirement that battle mode is team based only? Maybe. Or could it be the fact that it is impossible to be eliminated in Battle Mode because it is all score based? Good chance. There are simply no options, no complex flavors.
Even though they are adding an online mode it still seems to me that this is a watered down version of the series' past. Please explain to me why this is a delicious flavored beverage because I would like nothing more than to continue my love for one of Nintendo's greats, but it simply isn't happening right now.