Lists

Yea! Another list!

This time it's... uh, Time... uh, Magazine:

1. Halo 3
2. Orange Box
3. Rock Band
4. Super Mario Galaxy
5. Bioshock
6. Call of Duty 4
7. Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
8. Mass Effect
9. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
10. God of War 2

Pretty mainstream list there, Time. I'm pretty impressed by all of those... wait, 'Ace Combat 6'?! That's a nice change of pace. OH, and I heard that last game was on some old system, so it doesn't count. Just kidding... I almost forgot about 'GoW2!'

Read the whole thing here

Matt Slagle, the AP tech writer, created his end of the year gaming list. I like the dissing of 'Halo 3' and the praise of 'Call of Duty 4.' Also, Matt's "worst trend" is spot-on...

BEST GAME: "BioShock." A first-person shooter turned morality
play, a thinking person's action game, a piece of electronic
fiction with a soul. There are many positive ways to describe this
gripping game and they're all true. There's just nothing else like
this eerie vision of an undersea social experiment gone horribly
wrong. Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows PC, $59.99, Rated M.

WORST TREND: The annual holiday video game deluge. Please, video
game makers, you're only hurting your most loyal fans here. We
spend all year with hardly anything new to play, then October rolls
around and it's like an avalanche. Suddenly, we're faced with tough
decisions about which of the dozens of good games we can actually
afford to buy. Why not release more of these gems in the winter,
spring or summer doldrums, when we're really looking for -- and more
able to afford -- something new?

(MORE after the jump)

Continue reading "Associated Press' end of the year gaming list" »

I know it's another list (and there's more coming), but this one is kind of cool. It's from people who we'll soon be hearing about...

From the press release:

Students at The Guildhall at SMU, the country’s premier graduate video game development program, have released their suggested top 10 video game gift list for the 2007 holiday season. These are the selections from the men and women who will be designing the blockbuster games of the future:

1) Super Mario Galaxy
Platform: Wii
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

MediaFamily.org posted their annual report card on the video game industry. You can download your own copy HERE.

Besides giving a "C" letter-grade to parental involvement with gaming, a "C-" average to retailers' enforcing of the game rating system (national retailers got a "D" and rental stores got an "F"), a "C" to the game industry as a whole, the group also pointed out the 10 most avoidable games for children and teens.

Let's take a look at the list:
• Assassin’s Creed
• Call of Duty 4
• Conan
• The Darkness
• Jericho
• Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
• Manhunt 2
• Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
• Stranglehold
• Time Shift

Doug's opinion of a glaring omission: 'Soldier of Fortune: Payback.' And what's up with 'Conan?' Did anyone even play that game?

So what are better alternatives that the report card suggests?

These:
• FIFA Soccer 08
• Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
• Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour
• Madden NFL 08
• Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games
• Need for Speed Pro Street
• The Sims 2: Castaway
• Super Mario Bros. 3
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Viva Piñata

Ewww, 'Hannah Montana'? That's way scarier than 'Manhunt 2!'