2009 in video games: the good & the bad
It was a good year for technology and video games. There was a massive increase in production and more and more people are getting into gaming. Sadly, the word “gaming” is thrown around as often as the word “gamer”, which begs the question: who is a gamer and what is gaming?
The reason I ask this is due mainly to people supporting Nintendo’s new theme, it would seem. The new theme I am alluding to is the casual “gamers” initiative and products such as Wii Fit selling like hotcakes.
I must ask, does exercising using a video game console and its accessories count as “gaming”? It’s a question that has no right or wrong answer: it is, in fact, a matter of opinion. Until there is a clearer definition of the word “game” and its nature, then sadly, whaling your arms around like a retard and hammering in 8000 hours playing Gears of War will be considered the same thing.
Modern Warfare 2: Good for hardcore gamers
As for hardcore gamers, there was a plethora of games which came out to appeal to the audience. Games such as Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3 ODST, Assassins Creed 2, Uncharted 2, and many others…and did they ever sell like they were going out of style! It was a crazy year, but sadly, there were a lot of bad games, too.
No, nothing really that bad from a hardcore gamers standpoint, unless you’re a PC user playing Call of Duty or you can’t seem to wait another billion years for Star Craft 2 and Diablo 3. But, it would seem that for Wii users and people who grew up loving Nintendo, they have been quite robbed of some good games.
For example, the only real console Mario game just so happened to be a side-scroller and a ode to the good old days of the NES and the SNES. The game, however, although fun, lacked meat and substance from a certain point of view, such as my own.
Mario: why no new characters?
Not to mention the fact that there was a severe lack of M-rated titles which were actually note-worthy and not forgettable. Sure, one good M-rated title just so happened to be Madworld, but aside from that game and its originality, there seemed to be too many garden-variety light gun shooters for the console.
Even worse than this is the lack of appearances from Nintendo’s roster, such as Star Fox, Donkey Kong, F-Zero, or even new characters, which actually brings up another point: why is it that Nintendo does not try to create new and perhaps great stars using the people at their disposal.
It seems to be a case of the same old same old and it’s going to make a lot of people angry. Nintendo is afraid to take risks now that their BIG risk has paid off. Their big risk, of course, was the Wii itself and from a marketing point of view, the risk was worth it.
However, Nintendo is playing it too safe. A good example would be in the Super Mario Brothers game where they failed to think outside the box in ways that would have completely turned the game from a good game to an amazing one. The fact that there were only three characters to use: Mario, Luigi and Toad x2… The game suffers greatly.
But enough of my hate for Nintendo. In fact, it’s not as much hate as it is annoyance. I am annoyed at Nintendo for not delivering games that I would want to play. Instead, there are too many mini-game collections and not enough games that are fleshed out.
Many games seem to be watered down to the point where they become unplayable. The graphics, for some reason or another, are worse than that of the Gamecube on many different titles. It has become sad… too sad. Sad enough that the watered down games make me want to cry a river and drink and drink and drink… the night away.
One of these things is not like the others: gaming consoles
Anyways, as I said before, 2009 was a good year for the two REAL consoles, the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. PS3 had an amazing year with awesome exclusives such as Infamous and Uncharted. Meanwhile, the Xbox 360 had fewer red ring of death errors and delivered in exclusive downloadable content and made sure Xbox live retained its title as the world’s best online video game experience.
As far as handhelds go, well, the PSP is pretty much going the way of the Sega Dreamcast, by which I mean, it won’t be lasting much longer. What with its sales dying and its games not even comparing to that which people can buy for their iPhone.
Indeed, the iPhone has become a great gaming handheld and for games which cost as little as $0.99, you are getting bang for your buck. Hell, even the DS has games which, if I were younger, would probably check out, although technologically the DS is years behind the PSP, yet it sells a lot better.
What can I say? Seems like 2010 could be an even bigger year. Still, I hope Nintendo does something worthy of the Nintendo name and makes games. Hell, I even wish Microsoft will step up their game against Apple and realize that people are buying Macs.
Personally, I’m not too keen on Macs or Apple products. They… pain me and I wish more people would go back to using Pcs and stop the Apple Revolution before it takes on an even bigger movement and strikes at the ruling Microsoft order.
Regardless, that was my little 2009 Video Game rant. If you are looking for fun and excitement, then do yourself a favour, and buy yourself a 360 or PS3, because mark my words, you don’t know what you’re missing…
