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Games Entertainment

More 2005 Gaming Than You Really Want 111

Posted by Zonk from the merry-christmas-from-the-games-editor dept.
It's Christmas Eve, and you need something to read while you're avoiding your relatives. We understand. Howabout several looks at the year in Gaming? The big sites have actual awards, with Gamespot and IGN both offering up decisions that are sure to spark dinner table discussion. Next Generation doesn't hand out awards, but it does have an exhaustive set of lists covering all aspects of the year. We've previously discussed their Top 30 Games of the Year, but today they have over half a dozen articles dedicated to the year in gaming. The Guardian Gamesblog has staff pics for best of the year. World of Warcraft certainly is on a lot of 2005 lists for a game released in 2004. Finally, 1up.com staffer Jared Rea probably has the most interesting take on the year. His traditional list headlines Guitar Hero, but he also has a special list, with ermm...special awards. That might make you angry. From that list: "The Sin and Punishment Award - Named after the hideous and boring N64 shooter from Treasure, the Sin and Punishment award is reserved for the the title which claimed the hearts of 'hardcore' fanboys around the world, despite the game in fact, being garbage or quite frankly, nothing special. Previous winners of this award include Ikaruga and Katamari Damacy." That award goes to Shadow of the Colossus. Which, sorry Jared, did actually rock.
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More 2005 Gaming Than You Really Want More

More 2005 Gaming Than You Really Want

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  • hmm (Score:3, Interesting)

    by gcnaddict ( 841664 ) on Saturday December 24, 2005 @06:45PM (#14333683)
    2005 gaming, but no mention of what may have been one of the biggest portable hits of the year? Mario Kart DS was very well formulated :D

    wait this just makes me a nintendo fanboy doesnt it? :P

    • Re:hmm (Score:3, Funny)

      by byolinux ( 535260 ) *
      wait this just makes me a nintendo fanboy doesnt it?

      Probably. Welcome.
    • It's pretty good, with tight control and a well balanced weapons system, but the tracks from previous games all suck.
      Seriously, Mario Circuit 1? Choco Island 2? The only (serously, the only one) good track was Wario Stadium. Sure, it has some good new ones, like the clock one, the bowser's castle one, and the pinball track, but a lot of the new ones also just plain suck, like the Yoshi's SafariIslandAdventureWhatever track.
       
      And the WiFi multiplayer modes suck. I want Battle Mode, damnit!
      • Yoshi Falls, Cheep Cheep Beach, and Delfino Square is very well made. Each track has shortcuts that unless you unlocked the ghost or play others online, you probably wouldn't know they were shortcuts. I didn't really like the clock one or the browser one or the pinball one. I like it simple and sweet.

      • Re:hmm (Score:3, Interesting)

        by FinestLittleSpace ( 719663 ) *
        The old maps are great if you remember playing it on the SNES and battling against friends all those years ago, and the new maps are actually, as a whole, brilliant too. I have no issues with it at all.

        However, the multiplayer, whilst incredibly fun, is sadly lacking. It NEEDs battle mode, it NEEDs easier, more foolproof ways of finding players (why can't you great a 'game room' and wait for people to join?) and... lots... and sadly it's never going to change.

  • Gotta love editorial impartiality (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Saturday December 24, 2005 @06:48PM (#14333697)
    That award goes to Shadow of the Colossus. Which, sorry Jared, did actually rock.

    No Zonk, *you* think it rocks.

  • Resident Evil 4 (Score:4, Insightful)

    by maynard ( 3337 ) on Saturday December 24, 2005 @06:52PM (#14333708) Journal
    Best damn game of the year. And an amazing port to the PS2 - who'd of thunk that old PS2 could perform so well? --M

    • Re:Resident Evil 4 (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I agree with you that Resident Evil 4 was the best game released in the year 2005, but that really isn't saying much. Beyond what was released on the Nintendo DS, no system produced anything that was all that interesting of fun. Resident Evil 4 wins not because it was a good game (although it was) but because there was no real competition.
    • Some say God Of War beats RE4.
      • Yeah. God of War is next on my list to buy. It's seriously cool, though if forced to make a choice I'd take RE4 instead. But it's definitely worth getting. -M

  • wow (Score:3, Funny)

    by antiaktiv ( 848995 ) on Saturday December 24, 2005 @06:53PM (#14333710)
    Wait a minute...did anyone play anything other than world of warcraft?

  • Excuse me? (Score:4, Funny)

    by JonN ( 895435 ) on Saturday December 24, 2005 @06:59PM (#14333741) Homepage
    The Guardian Gamesblog has staff pics for best of the year.

    Pics != picks. If I wanted pics of people on the internet, I will just look in my hidden stash but shh don't tell the boss

  • while you're avoiding your relatives... (Score:4, Funny)

    by mobby_6kl ( 668092 ) on Saturday December 24, 2005 @06:59PM (#14333742)
    I'm not avoiding my relatives, the relatives are avoiding me!

    And I'm not even in Soviet Russia anymore.

  • Bah, who is this "Jared Rea?" (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MilenCent ( 219397 ) <johnwh@gmai[ ]om ['l.c' in gap]> on Saturday December 24, 2005 @07:06PM (#14333769) Homepage
    So, "Beyond Good and Evil" rocked but "Katamari Damacy" didn't? BGaE WAS pretty good, but it certainly wasn't Katamari-level cool. REJECT!

    Of course, it's become common practice in some circles to try to buffer rejection of a controversial statement, or even try to shame people into accepting it, by preemptively calling those who will obviously disagree with it fanboys, which at best is figuring out to what decimal place one's geekness resolves, and at worst is an act arguably more nerdly than the actual liking of the supposedly mediocre game.

    And why did people want a sequel to KD so badly? MAYBE IT WAS BECAUSE THE ORIGINAL GAME WAS ABOUT THREE HOURS LONG! Fool! It's okay to make a sequel to a game that was, by all reports, much much too short to begin with!

    Just because he doesn't like the game (which, to me, means he's either trying to play too-kool-4-U overhipster or is simply deficient in basic humanity) and by random whim of publishing industry happens to have a megaphone handy with which to shout his merest idea*, doesn't mean that he shouldn't attempt to see why other people like it. Empathy is a surprisingly useful trait for a reviewer, of any type, to have.

    Further, later on he says "Microsoft introduces the Tard Pack." Oh yeah, that does wonders for his creditibility, oy.

    *Yep, that's a blatant TMBG reference. Also geeky, I know.

    • Re:Bah, who is this "Jared Rea?" (Score:4, Funny)

      by Talez ( 468021 ) on Saturday December 24, 2005 @07:45PM (#14333883)
      You could think of the "Sin & Punishment" award as "I didn't get it so I'm at least going to inflame the fanboys to get something out of this game." Except for Sin & Punishment which was actual crap.

      Ikaruga is a top down shooter which is awesome for us fanboys who love the genre. Just because you don't love the genre is no reason to call the game "garbage". Just put the game aside, realise the whole genre isn't your cup of tea and move on.

      I bet he doesn't like Rez because it was on the rails totally missing the point.
      • You could think of the "Sin & Punishment" award as "I didn't get it so I'm at least going to inflame the fanboys to get something out of this game." Except for Sin & Punishment which was actual crap.

        Whatever. Sin & Punishment is the finest game in its underappreciated genre. Maybe you didn't get it? ;)
        • I'll be the first person in line to be the Treasure fanboy (Guardian Heroes FTW!) but Sin and Punishment was utter crap.
          • Then I guess you're not the first in line!

            I can see how someone might dislike Sin & Punishment. But with the game's unique, well-balanced mechanics (melee in a rail shooter?), imaginative and varied levels (one is as much a sidescroller as a rail shooter), impressive atmosphere and graphics (nearly every review I've seen has mentioned the "Blue Raid" level, because it's that good), layered difficulty (there are different approaches to nearly every area depending on whether you care more about safety

    • Yeah, and tack on that the guy needs a spellchecker and some help with grammar, too; he's an editor and he writes like that? "Then" instead of "than?" ARGH! Stop butchering my language! :)

      Not exactly someone I'm going to spend any effort reading again.

    • I'll tell you who Jared Rea is- he's a petty comment deleter. In one of his articles about Tecmo a while back I posted a short criticism of Tecmo for suing their fans at ninjahackers.net (who modded the Dead or Alive games with new costumes). Rea called all the users there pirates and made a bunch of incorrect statements about copyrights and piracy. I pointed out why he was wrong and at which point he started deleting my comments because he'd been made to look ignorant. He strikes me as a rather two bit edi

  • Katamari (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Raynach ( 713366 ) on Saturday December 24, 2005 @07:07PM (#14333772) Homepage
    Previous winners of this award include Ikaruga and Katamari Damacy.

    Obviously this guy hasn't played Katamari Damacy. Yes, the concept of the game is crazy and whatnot, but this game had to be one of the funnest games you could get for the PS2. And at $20, what a steal!

    I'm with Zonk on this one, Jared's taste is lacking.

    • Seconding this. I love Katamari Damacy, it's one of the most fun games I've played in years.
    • Actually, KD works on so many levels - you can even play it when *gasp* kids are around! It is even fun to simply watch someone else play the game. Even my 55 year old cousin liked watching it. I guess I never knew he was a fanboy.

      unless...
      the list is full shit!
    • And at $20, what a steal!

      I think so. Picked it up for a friend and my GF got it for her sister. Never played the game but I have seen enough word of mouth praise for it around here and other places that for $20 I think it is worth the chance.
    • the new SEQUEL to Katamari Damacy.

      My 14yo just bought it for his best friend (who has a PS2) - we have a GameCube and an xBox, so we can't use it.

  • They're on to me (Score:4, Funny)

    by cide1 ( 126814 ) on Saturday December 24, 2005 @07:16PM (#14333797) Homepage
    It's Christmas Eve, and you need something to read while you're avoiding your relatives.

    How did they know? How do the editors know that I just finished eating dinner, my football team is losing, and my relatives are looking at cruise pictures. Get out of my mind!!! Get out of my mind!!!

  • Too...many...links...must...not...click...argh...

    Cool. Can't wait till 2006's games come out. *Very Excited*

    Anyway...
    Just got my 360. Rigged a fan to the PSU just in case. Does anyone know if H3 would be ready in time for PS3, or will it come out later?
    • hello slashdot, this is memepool. we want our links back...

    • Just got my 360.

      Bastard. Mine was supposed to arrive yesterday, but now UPS is saying next Tuesday. And I'm only on vacation for another week. Aaarrrggh!

      Rigged a fan to the PSU just in case.

      Probably overkill. Why subject yourself to the extra noise of a fan if it's not necessary? So long as your power brick has good airflow (ie, it's not tucked into the corner of a dust-filled entertainment center), you should be fine. Assuming you didn't get a bad brick in the first place, of course.

      Does anyone

  • Dragon Quest VIII (Score:1, Informative)

    by Draconix ( 653959 )
    Umm... shouldn't that award go to Dragon Quest VIII? Seriously, I see all this praise heaped on it, and when I see it actually described and played... it's just another Dragon Quest game. It doesn't add anything it didn't rip off from other RPGs (and what it rips off is nothing special) and it's just the same old same old with prettier graphics. The fans _love_ the game, but those of us who are sick of the same old thing in RPGs don't like it much at all. Shadow of the Colossus, on the other hand, had its
    • It doesn't add anything it didn't rip off from other RPGs (and what it rips off is nothing special) and it's just the same old same old with prettier graphics.

      I can understand not liking it because it's the "same old same old," since part of what makes the DQ series great to its fans is that it doesn't piss on tradition for the sake of throwing in vapid minigames in a futile attempt to appeal to the ADD-stricken 'mainstream.'

      But the claim about being a "rip off" of other games stumps me. With few exceptions

  • I checked out the Next gen top 30 (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Clockwurk ( 577966 ) * on Saturday December 24, 2005 @08:06PM (#14333952) Homepage
    I haven't played all the games on the list (only console I own is an N64), but I can comment on a decent amount of them.

    Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich
    A fairly good sequel using the original engine (graphics aren't much better than FF). I liked this game and played it to completion, but its not as good as the first one. It didn't add very many new characters to the freedom force, and none of them were introduced using the storyline (they would just show up as available for hire). If you haven't played Freedom Force or FFv3R, I would recommend just getting the original. Its cheaper ($10 at wal-mart), has a better story, and is a great game.

    Brothers in Arms:Road to Hill 30
    I played a little bit of this game and found it to be a pretty refreshing take on squad combat. I liked the command system, but it got a little hectic when you had multiple groups to control. The unreal engine lends itself to some pretty damn good graphics. The game is a console port, and has a lot of unlockable stuff like video clips, cheats, and medals. As a sidenote, it would be nice if every WWII game wasn't always about the 101st airborne.

    Battlefield 2
    A great game that should have been published by someone other than the cockgobblers at EA. The persistant statistics are nice, as are lots of medals and unlocks (of course EA charges $$ if you want a ranked server). DiCE definitely deserves extra kudos for the great squad system and microphone/headset support that add a lot to the already solid battlefield gameplay. Finding a server where squad mates work together and communicate is friggin awesome (and happens pretty often). The non-fuctioning server filters and generally shitty server browser (no surprise it's powered by Gamespy) are really frustrating (especially since the game already has a $30 expansion pack) and are quite indicative of EAs approach to publishing a game (release early, patch rarely, make lots of expensive expansion packs). Gripes about EA aside, the core game is really solid and I highly recommend it.

    F.E.A.R.
    FEAR was one game I thought was less than the sum of its parts. It has great graphics, some decent scary parts (more startling than scary really), and does slow-mo better than any Max Payne game. I didn't care for the levels (office buildings are almost as boring in a game as in real life), and I really didn't like the lack of enemy variety. You face soldiers that all look a like (except different weapons), a demon or two, and some large Police robots. The graphics engine allowed for some really cool effects and lots of polygons; it would have been nice to see it put to work with some interesting foes. I didn't think the game was that scary either (hmm... its a long hallway, I wonder if I'll see yet another dissolving girl). The slow-mo effects (bodies light up when hit, bullets leave a trail like in the matrix) were pretty slick and I hope another developer rips them off and uses them in a more fun game. Speaking of scary games, are there any more Aliens vs. Predator games in the pipeline?

    Call of Duty 2
    I just got this game and haven't spent enough time to accurately evaluate it. The graphics have definitely been improved, and a good gamer friend says the missions in the game are really fun. The Multiplayer includes some new modes that weren't in the first game (I think CTF is new), and brings back the best CoD1 maps (Carentan, Brecourt, etc) and adds some new ones.

    Psychonauts
    I have this game, but no gamepad, so I haven't played it yet. I will say, however, that its really great to see a game that has good, creative art and level design. Other than World of Warcraft and maybe Darwinia, there haven't been many titles with creative art. Its good to see a game that is an escape from reality rather than a crude attempt at duplicating it.

    Mario Kart DS
    I played this game for about 5 minutes at Wal-Mart and I was instantly hooked. I wasn't sure I would like going from analog controls (ala Double Dash)
    • You mention that the enemies aren't too varied... I personally think this is more than made up for by the AI and fight area designs (and how they interact differently to shape the fights). Plus, the soldiers more or less count as several different enemy types that simply use the same model since as you said they don't all carry the same gun, and therefore are different beasts to fight indeed. The cloaking assassins were an interesting addition as well, especially because the area they first appear in is mos
    • As a sidenote, it would be nice if every WWII game wasn't always about the 101st airborne.

      The 82nd Airborne got the John Wayne movie in the 60s and the Robert Redford movie in the 70s, the 1st Infantry got Luke Skywalker in the 80s and recently a video game or two, let the 101st have a few extra video games. ;-)
    • "(of course EA charges $$ if you want a ranked server)"

      Not to mention that in BF2...if you want access to the third tier of weapons that EA initially promised would be there on release...you need to purchase Special Forces. That's right folks...they made it so that people who purchase the expansion, get to take all their new toys into vanilla Battlefield 2 and use them in the same game as the people who chose not to purchase it and therefore do not have access to the weapons.

      Yup...EA just introduced a "pa

  • I'm not sure if that Rea guy is troll, flamebait, or just an idiot. Ikaruga, "nothing special"? It is just the best shooter ever! [classicgaming.com] If you don't believe me, believe Maddox! [thebestpag...iverse.net]
    • No, I've gotta go on Rea on this, and I am a fanboy for SCHMUPs. Ikuraga was highly overrated - it's just that the fanboys have gotten to the point of mistaking "difficult" for "fun." It was almost without a doubt the hardest SCHMUP to come out, ever. But fun?

      Yeah, the graphics and sound were really nice, but as far as that goes, they primarily shot their wad in the first level. After that, none of the graphics really impressed me. And the complete lack of powerups was annoying as hell. I thought t

      • Oh, please. If you can't spell "shmup" correctly, you think Ikaruga was the hardest shmup ever (maybe for score, but certainly not for completion), and you dislike vertical shmups... well, you're really not much of a fan.
        • I was thinking much the same thing. If he doesn't understand why adjusting the aspect ratio would change the game balance, he doesn't understand shooters PERIOD.

          There's an artform to it, and Ikaruga is a unique shooter that is anything BUT overrated.
        • "Dislike vertical shmups"? Yeah, I dislike vertical shmups THAT I HAVE TO TURN MY TV ON ITS SIDE FOR.

          Either you deliberately misread me, or you haven't even played the game.

      • 1. Shmups are about the action. Some are about reacting quickly, some are about carefully maneuvering a huge mess of bullets and some are about performing a dance with steps you have to find out by trial and error (R-Type anyone?). They are never about finding some super-kill-everything weapon. Well, the japanese shmups aren't, anyway. In western shmups you'll often have to upgrade your weapon to insane levels to kill even the smallest enemies in later levels (Tyrian and Raptor, for example). Superweapons a
    • Ikaruga is the closest to a Zen experience I've ever had in a video game. Perhaps the haters are just afraid of what they don't understand. Or they just suck at the game.

      I definitely am a fanboy, but that's beside the point. What is this guy doing acting like he has any gaming authority if he isn't a fanboy? I haven't played Katamari Damacy or Shadow of the Colossus, but from what I've heard from more reputable gaming publications, they're freaking sweet games. This guy had his 15 minutes; it's time t

      • One of the best Zen experiences I've had with a game was watching my gamer-savant buddy clear Radient Silvergun on one credit. If you think Ikaruga is great you should play the original. :)
    • I have to disagree. I think Mars Matrix is a better game.

      I liked the levels a lot in Ikaruga, but the bosses were a little flat (only faught a few :(

      I really liked the catch the falling cube thing in Mars Matrix a lot, and the catch the bullets weapon made me smile more than the color changing in general, though in som points the color patterns were truly amazing to navigate (the twirling ones in level two were just awsome to go through once you got it).

      But yeah, Ikaruga was only Sin and Punishment if you

  • The 360 Is Giving 2005 A Bad Rap (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    2005 is the last big year for the current gen consoles. There have been and are currently HUGE AAA games out right now. RE4, Shadow of the Colossus, God of War just to name a few.

    It sucks that the 360 mess is really detracting from such a fantastic time to be a gamer.

    Hopefully we won't have to hear about overheating 360s, or disc scratching, or system crashes, or jaggy graphics and all that other crap about the 360 that has been taking away from all the good news in the console world this year.

    Oh yeah, and

  • WoW (Score:2, Offtopic)

    by Peden ( 753161 )
    World of Warcraft was only a 2004 game in the USA!

    Europe and Asia got the fun in 2005.
  • Am I the only one pissed off that you to download a #$%&# video to see Gamespot's actual winner's? I guess they have bandwidth coming out their ass or something, I sure don't.

    Has anyone compiled a list of Gamespot winners?
    • Am I the only one pissed off that you to download a #$%&# video to see Gamespot's actual winner's?

      Nope. Count at least one more pissed-off person. I can't even get the stupid video to work reliably in Firefox 100% of the time. Why don't they even offer an alternate page with a text list of the winners?
    • I really enjoy the special awards from Gamespot because they give recognition of to some of the special happenings of the games industry (See: Best Femal Character of 2004: The Boss). But there attempt to sell advertising space I guess lead them to really piss off a lot of people. I hope someonetakes time to complie a list of winners and post it on the net.
  • Any best of list that doesn't at least give a nod to Psychonauts isn't complete. It was by far the best Xbox game I played all year.

    And since no one cares about my opinions...

    For the PS2: God of War and Guitar Hero are tied. No offense to Shadow of the Colossus. It looks great, but it doesn't play great. It's more a game I'd prefer watching someone else play.

    For the Gamecube: Resident Evil 4. Probably because Zelda was delayed.

    For the DS: Mario Kart DS!

    For PC: Um... I've been playing WoW on
  • If you are tired of all the serious 'TOP' lists that show up towards the end of every december, Jivemagazine.com has done a fun year end awards for the last couple of years here [jivemagazine.com] called Toon's 2nd Annual Random Awards.

    I particularly liked the award Shadow of the Colossus got.

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