The Second Annual Coint and Plick Poll: ILG’s Best Video Games of 2008

2008 was a very, very good year for video games.

Coint and Plick offers a peek into the mind of a cross-section of Joe Average gamers; twenty five guys (mostly) and gals from their teens into their forties who still enjoy a good orc rampage/brick busting/mecha flight/historical sim/plastic guitar concert every now and again. The poll was taken in Pazz and Jop style vote/point format: all voters had 100 points to divide among any ten games released in 2008, with each entry receiving no more than 30 points or less than 5 points.

In the end, eighty-six games were nominated. Rather than just peel off the top half, I’ve opted to list everything that got a vote here, along with a few links and YouTubes of note. In case of a tie breaker, I went by number of people who voted for a game first and number of people who listed the game as their #1 of the year second.

Bear in mind that not every voter used the full amount of points they had at their disposal, so the numbers don’t crunch exactly; I _have_ triple-checked the scores tho’.

User comments for these games come from ballots as well as from past ILG posts; I’ve done a bit of editing to streamline but I’ve made every effort to maintain your meaning. My apologies if you feel misquoted; feel free to correct me on this thread.

So, to kick it off: seventeen games tied for 70th place with one vote at 5 points apiece. In no particular order, here they are.

#70: Aurora Feint (iPhone) – 5 points – 1 vote

http://origin.arstechnica.com/journals/apple.media/aurora_feint_02.jpg

#70: Condemned 2: Bloodshot (360) – 5 points – 1 vote

John Justin: Nothing revolutionary, nothing particularly different, but hey: it IS fun to bash people on the head with a pipe.

JeffLevine: Indeed, this is some really creepy shit. Your character moves very slowly and the camera bobs as you walk, increasing the out of balance feeling. No story really, just you crawling around the creepy, tar covered outskirts of a run-down city at midnight and through some warehouses, having to beat up bums / tar monsters with your bare hands, pipes, electrical cords and artificial limbs.

http://www.myps3.com.au/img/game/Condemned-2-Bloodshot-1.jpg

#70: Valkyria Chronicles (PS3) – 5 points – 1 vote

Roberto Spiralli: I feel like Valkyria Chronicles will get lost in the shuffle for a lot of people but there should absolutely be more games like this. It's the kind of thing that they used to make in the old days, when everything looked like shit so programmers had to really put some creative effort in to make their title stand out. VC is a turn based shooter and the basic mechanics are pretty much perfect: at once simple and complex, easy to play but with genuine strategic depth. There is a compelling story with a great cast of characters that gives the gameplay context; the game is basically a complete counter-point to MGS4 in this regard. It really is a beautiful game to look at and a joy to play.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2031/2439154437_a42a0609d7.jpg

#70: Penny Arcade: On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness (XBLA) – 5 points – 1 vote

Mordy: Eat bums, collect piss, fight killer mimes and beat the shit out of barbershop quartets. I think the reason I love Penny Arcade (and, by consequence, love PA: ORSPD, which is PA but with movable figures) is because they like the same nerdy, geeky stuff I do and they are about as vulgar as I am. Not the best game of the year by far, but a diversion of 3 hours that I don’t regret in the least.

http://images.encyclopediadramatica.com/images/0/07/Penny_arcade_bald.jpg

btw thanks for doing this dude

#70: Persona 4 (PS2) – 5 points – 1 vote

Brilliam: Honestly, I think the reason I love this game (and, incidentally, Persona 3) is the graphic design and the ease of use. I think one of the greatest secrets of a good RPG is a menu system that continues to be a joy to use and P4 nailed it.

Lamp: Persona 4 has the best story/structure/mechanic of all the Shin Megami games. It’s kinda like Dragon Quest 8 where something crystallized for the developers and all the things that make a series unique and "important" are honed to a killing sharpness.

Cozwyn: This game is SO GOOD; my save is at just over two hours so far and I've only just got back to Tartarus for the second time. This game must be impossibly massive but it's gorgeous so I don't care.

http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/files/article_screenshots/persona3secret.jpg

more forthcoming!

i didnt participate since i didnt play any new games in 08, but A+ presentation forkz, luv the WHY I AM BALD

#70: You Found the Grappling Hook! – PC – 5 points – 1 vote - FREE GAME
Official game site

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_D6ke5CRInek/R6qqG2btDpI/AAAAAAAAAG0/I6MShInVCYQ/s400/screen.PNG

“When developer Mark Essen discovered that Business Week posted a direct link to the game file for his game You Found the Grappling Hook, he replaced it with an alternate version. Players need to climb and enter the Business Week building that has been infiltrated with terrorists. All suspicious people need to be taken out. At the same time, the main character has to prove his legitimacy by answering questions of real editors. When all terrorists are gone and the trust has been proven, the main character can exit the building.”

Ha, I didn't know about the Business Week thing! Awesome.

The guy who did that video seems to be a fool or a jackass, since it doesn't look like he figured out you're supposed to SWING with the grappling hook, Bionic Commando-style. You can probably run through the whole game in 20 minutes, this guy didn't even get through half of it.

Keep it up, forkers!

#70: LEGO Batman (36) – 5 points – 1 vote
Official game site

http://www.stuffwelike.com/stuffwelike/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/lego_batman_logo_min.jpg

#70: KORG DS-10 Synthesizer (DS) – 5 points – 1 vote
Official game site

Webinar: It's funnnnnnnnnn

Tombot: I just know I will officially look like the biggest genius in town when I sit in front of my iMac with the big powered monitor speakers and plug my Nintendo into it with a dinky headphone cable so I can make loops with a stylus on a tiny touchscreen.

Jeff LeVine: I imported, fooled around with it for about an hour and then thought, “What the hell am I going to do with this thing?” It's cool that they made a KORG you can mess around with on a DS, but it's exactly as useful to me if I'd bought a real KORG... i.e. good for sitting in a corner collecting dust :(

http://www.originalsoundversion.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/korg_ds_image.jpg

#70: Dokapon Kingdom (Wii) – 5 points – 1 vote
Official game site

http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/images/gallery/9/2008/06/medium_2548905428_a62187cc43_o.jpg

Lamp: It looks pretty retarded but it also seems like a better version of Munchkin with more depth and hopefully just as much replayability. Only allowing four players is kind of a drag as we're used to playing with as many as seven but OMG this is gonna be awesome.

#70: Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (DS) – 5 points – 1 vote
Official game site

Brilliam: The battles, while difficult, are not hair-pulling maddening meat grinders. Each is a well-thought out set piece, unlike the decidedly mediocre GameCube and especially dull Wii installment. While it might not stand quite up to the GBA incarnation, it is a genuinely great handheld turn-based strategy game.

Lamp: This is probably the hardest Fire Emblem game, though Sacred Stones is probably the best of the portable ones. I think I still have some disgustingly nerdy chart I made graphing leveling potential in order to choose the best class promotions.

http://o.aolcdn.com/gd-media/games/fire-emblem-shadow-dragon/ds/tn_565_1.jpg

#70: A Kingdom for Keflings – (XBLA) – 5 points – 1 vote
Official game site

http://gamingshenanigans.com/images/keflings-press-generic06.jpg

#70: Pack Rat (Online: Facebook Only) – 5 points – 1 vote
Official game site

http://toddjordan.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/hanascreensnapz002.jpg%3Fw%3D666%26h%3D662

It's the perfect example of a good use of the Facebook application platform - the game contains all the right elements needed for keeping people coming back. Namely - a competitive element (compete with your friends, scoreboards etc); regular updates (in this case, adding new items to collect); beautifully designed graphics; not-reliant on inviting your friends; and most of all, great fun!

#70: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (DS) – 5 points – 1 vote
Official game site

Online Flash Demo!

http://th01.deviantart.com/fs26/300W/i/2008/069/6/7/The_Apollo_Justice_Test_by_Lizninja.jpg

FanFic!: Apollo blinked at Klavier’s comparison for a few moments, consequently not realizing when the guitarist carefully plied Apollo’s hands away from his face. Smirking, Klavier brushed his fingers across the brunette’s tinged cheeks, causing them to go even redder. The prosecutor then laughed to himself as he turned away, striding out of the room and leaving behind a very confused Apollo.

#70: Deadly Rooms Of Death RPG (PC) – 5 points – 1 vote
Official game site

#70: NHL 2009 (PS3) – 5 points – 1 vote
Official game site

Will M: This game is pretty great, although it still has some issues IMO… namely, I don't like aiming shots in ANY sports game with the movement stick.

GM: This is the first non-baseball sports game I've played in over a decade. Flicking the right stick is so much more satisfying then just mashing triangle, or whatever. This is a lot of fun, even though (for the most part) I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.

http://sportvideogames.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/nhl091.jpg

#70: Civilization IV: Colonization (PC) – 5 points – 1 vote
Official game site

CraigG: I voted for this just because it's the first Civ game I've played a lot since the original when I got it on my old Amiga 600. While I'd still rather play the original (and often still do), I can't vote for that... so here's a vote for a Civ IV expansion.

#70: Spore Creature Creator (PC) – 5 points – 1 vote
Official game site

Nhex: Even using the free version with few parts, I'm surprised how fun it is. Damn you Maxis! I might have to get the full game after all... maybe. The online stuff seems incredibly well integrated.

BIG HOOS: It’s the greatest game ever gave.

Libcrypt: This is kinda fun… but it's not a game! There’s nothing you can do with the guys once you make 'em besides stare at your kids. I suppose everyone who does this makes a guy with a fireball-shooting penis, eh?

http://grumpygamer.com/images/SPOREyaddlemonster.jpg

Forksclovetofu: It's like working with living Play-doh or sketching with a magic pen. Endlessly fascinating and innovative; I spent hours creating a zoo of lil' buddies. God help me if they give you the option to physically produce these guys as sculptures or action figures; I'll have to get another job to support my menagerie.

More tomorrow.
Any sitewide mods got any idea why this looks so bad from an Admin's perspective? Ah well.

Can't wait until we get out of one vote land!

i never voted on this (for which i'm sorry), and i know i busted your balls about it forks, but seriously... fine work.

We're just gettin' started!

BIG HOOS: It’s the greatest game ever gave.

^^ lolled at this inexplicable comment

i never voted on this (for which i'm sorry)

lol u never actually listed your best games in the thread u started back in July

:D

is super smash gonna place in this? easily my fav game OTY

Can't wait until we get out of one vote land!

Gonna be awhile, but I actually like the one shots! Given the number of games that charted and the number of people who voted, the average is that each person nominated four unique games and then picked six that others had nominated. What I glean from that is we recognize a good game when we see one and, by and large, have surprisingly similar tastes. Stands to reason to me that means that these one shots are probably an excellent way to discover overlooked gems.

super smash is totally going to place, but might get dragged down by non-wii ownership

predict it still doing pretty well though.

great job with this forks! kind of weird nhl only got one vote.

Two way tie for #68 here:

68: Iji (PC) – 6 points – 1 vote – FREE GAME
Official game site – Download Here

http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/104397-/iji_screen3-noscale.jpg

Nhex: Iji is a freeware 2D platform shooter inspired by Amiga era games and action titles like 'Flashback' and 'Out of this World'. With its great music and long story mode, this could easily have been a commercial title in the late 80s. It’s clearly a project of passion and it shows in the details of the menu interfaces and cutscene dialogue.

Two of those #70s were mine - both things I thought would have other support. Weird.

68: Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer (DS) – 6 points – 1 vote
Official game site

Iroquois Pliskin: What's remarkable about Shiren is how much unlearning it foists the player inured to the conventions of traditional-RPGs. All the trappings of the game bespeak RPG standbys: there's an inventory full of swords and spell scrolls, recovery herbs, and the like. There's experience points and levels and so on. But Shiren the Wanderer swiftly undercuts this expectation; all the elements of the RPG language are there, but the basic syntax of the game is radically different. It all turns on the game's attitude towards progression. In the classic Role-Playing Game, core appeal of the genre is the progressive empowerment of your player-characters over the course of the game. Whatever the setting, you expect to continually gain levels acquire better weapons. When you die in Shiren, there is no progress-saving resurrection item on offer. Every time you fall, you irretrievably lose all of your levels and items. You start again from level one in the starting town. There are persistent elements of the game, which progress and improve between playthroughs, but your character isn't one of them.

http://dsmedia.gamespy.com/ds/image/article/850/850522/mystery-dungeon-shiren-the-wanderer-20080207031039179-000.jpg

hahaha btw i do not remember like half of the stupid things i sd about games lol drunk posting

i can only think of two maybe three games that someone else might have voted for that i voted for ;_;

I didn't play enough games this year to think I oughta vote but I will just say Shiren the Wanderer is bloody fantastic

Forks, didn't mean to diss the one-votes - it's cool. Just curious to see the games where more than one random person was interested in enough to put on their poll

shiren sounds bizarre!

do you level up in it (only to lose the levels?)

I can diggit Jeff; just warning you that we're looking at another day or two of single votes ahead.
I also really wanna play Shiren.

67: Dyson – (PC) – 8 points – 1 vote – FREE GAME
Official game site – Download Here

http://www.indiegames.com/blog/images/timw/dyson2a.png

Whoa Dyson looks cool.

indeed, does look AWESOME

66: Guitar Hero: World Tour (360/Wii) – 9 points – 2 votes
Official game site

CraigG: Simply put, I'm just really good at Guitar Hero! Ironically, it also improved my speed and given me a renewed vigor for playing the "real" guitar.

Forksclovetofu: Man, I gotta say I don't know if I can buy another fucking C-Note plastic Fisher Price instrument for another system without beginning to feel badly about myself as a person but I do kinda want this for my 360. Online play that works would make this a whole new game.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/10/bill-gates-with-slash.jpg

more later tonight; my work internet is buh-roken

I abstained from this just because there are 3 or 4 08 games I expect to be contenders which I've not finished (or even started) yet. Which, in retrospect, was a bit daft really. Regretting not getting my votes in now, but hey.

gg forks!

Nice work forks, looking forward to the following installments!

forks if i submit now can you completely do over the whole thing

why is there no #69????

No sixty-nine, cause of a two way tie for sixty-eight.
S1ocks, you're obliged to be the first ballot for when I do this next year.

There's a log jam of twelve ten-point-one-vote games tied for #55 and here they are.

55: Space Invaders Extreme (PSP) – 10 points - 1 vote
Official game site

Brilliam: This game is like a Basement Jaxx record: familiar, but so over-the-top noisy and fun and colorful and explosive that you can't help but shake your ass with excitement every time you put it on. Space Invaders Extreme, perhaps even moreso than Pac-Man Championship Edition of last year, nails updated retro gaming.

cozwyn: Distracting and fun!

jamescobo: 2008 might be an even better year for remakes than for "new" games.

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/space-invaders-fractal-big.jpg

JimD: It's fantastic! Space Invaders in a Rez style with a complex and addictive combo system and fun weapon power ups. Bizarrely addictive and highly recommended.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_v0fV15P7uQo/RmQCWGSr1PI/AAAAAAAAAsg/EiyBbnWrPy8/s400/EARTH+1.JPG

55: Karoshi 2.0 (PC) – 10 points - 1 vote – FREE GAME
Official game site

Karoshi is a Japanese word and means 'death by overwork'. In this game many things are not what you'd expect and the goal of each level is counter-intuitive: you need to die.

http://www.vertigogaming.net/PSP/Karoshi0.png

55: Boom Blox (Wii) – 10 points - 1 vote
Official game site

Iroquois Pliskin: It's the finest Wii game since Wii sports and maybe even better.

Tombot: Boom Blox is pretty fun! I thought the music was the worst part, as the loops are too short and obvious but I do like being able to pick off the animals if I'm doing badly.

Forksclovetofu : Surely a great game although you will feel like a dork for playing electronic Jenga with a glorified remote even if it is THE FUTURE OF FUN!!!!! I only wish the developers had the courage to stop trying to make me get involved in some totally arbitrary anthropomorphic storyline. Great, you are chickens fighting in the old west and monkeys defending a citadel. Guess what? NO ONE CARES. WE JUST WANNA BLOW SHIT UP.

http://www.gameguru.in/images/boom-blox-1.jpg

Lamp: Not only is this addictive and awesome but it also has a great soundtrack from Mark Mothersbaugh. One of the levels has this jazz groove track that sounds like WTF Nintendevo and it is really rad. Overall though, it's no Dokapon Kingdom.

55: Trackmania United Forever (PC) – 10 points - 1 vote
Official game site

JeffLevine: I finally got into this game and what sold me was the fun, crazy community levels online. Internet play is really smooth and it's a great way to sample all kinds of user made tracks. The only downside is that sometimes those tracks are kind of broken or just too confusing for a quick jump in and try out race against fifty (or whatever) other people. Great fun though when you find a good server. Trying to improve your line and move up the leaderboard is really satisfying but awful hard; I'm currently in 638,374 place in the world rankings. The free version of the game (online mode + 65 offline tracks) should be able to be run fine on most people's PCs, I think. Just saying.

Cozwyn : This game is great: the N+ of racing games. Damn if it isn't addicting. I'm happy with the DS 'port; the handling is a bit twitchy but the unlock structure and instant restarts makes it compulsively playable.

http://blogs.dailyrecord.co.uk/gaming/upload/2008/05/TrackMania%20United%20Forever%202.jpg

55: Peggle Nights (PC) – 10 points - 1 vote
Official game site

http://www.spendtimeonline.com/gamepics/p/peggle-nights/peggle-nights_sc2.jpg

http://rockpapershotgun.com/images/sept07/gmanlovespegglelarge.jpg

55: Gears of War 2 (360 ) – 10 points - 1 vote
Official game site

CraigG: A perfect bit of mindless entertainment, with a storyline (and acting) on a par with Walking Tall.

The novelist Nathan Englander, a fan of the game, cites its third-person viewpoint, in which the player looks over the shoulder of the character being controlled, as a key to its success. 'In literary terms,' Englander told me, 'it’s a close-second-person shooter. It’s Jay McInerney and Lorrie Moore territory. You’re both totally involved and totally watching.' As for the collapsed architecture and blown-open spaces of the Gears world, Englander said, 'There’s the hospital from Blindness and the house from The Ghost Writer, and I know that beautiful, ruined world of Gears as well as either of those.'

http://www.xbox.com/NR/rdonlyres/71A0F56C-2037-41A7-B8C4-746BF90E5D07/0/gowguy.jpg

Jim: It's an improvement on the previous game but the only reservation I have about it is that there's too much non-shooting orientated gameplay. They obviously tried to switch things up a little and so you end up doing platformer type shit for about 45 minutes. Climax of this game is weak-sauce; no tough boss or anything. All in all, decent game but too many vehicle sections and not focused enough on the usual combat. I still enjoyed it.

Forksclovetofu : I think we can all agree that GoWII is not going to be remembered as this generation's Bleak House.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2008/20080811.jpg

55: Chrono Trigger DS (DS) – 10 points - 1 vote
Official game site

Cankles: Best game ever and anyone who disagrees can eatadiccup. Revisiting a lot of older games (or really just shit in general that I loved when I was ten or eleven years old) is almost uniformly v.v.v.v. unrewarding.
Except for Chrono Trigger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's pretty unique among Squaresoft bullshit in that regard. FF7 is atrocious to me today, but I could probably sit down and HELLA dig on some CT.
It was the first videogame I was actually able to BEAT on my own. *** lone, manful tear trickles down face, is absorbed by neckbeard ***
There's a puffed-up, Fisher Price, safety scissors quality to CT that really helps it out in the long run. CT just wanted to be a shiny, flashy experience that fleshed out a smaller, simpler world (gaming- and narrative-wise) and ended up succeeding on all the levels that all the FF games flailed and failed at.

Jamescobo: I’m the guy who voted for Chrono Trigger and yes, I only gave it ten points. Now, obviously, Chrono Trigger would easily be the greatest game released in any year in which it happened to actually hit stores; it's just such a minimally enhanced port on so many levels that it's impossible for me to vote it in any higher than this. TAKE THAT, SQUARE ENIX. My sincerest condolences to the families torn apart by all the soon-to-be suicides among S-E shareholders; a bereavement ham will be airmailed to you next Thursday.

http://www.halolz.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/chronotrigger-cosplay.jpg

Fight the same series of wimps in the forect for an hour or two? I DON'T THINK SO. I think I'll BEAT THE GAME 3 times.

Will M: The great thing about CT is that there's virtually no running around in circles to get experience points; there's almost no item management (aside from buying new weapons when you can and the occasional potion) and talking to the villagers is pretty fucking entertaining. The game never wastes your time with MEDIEVAL VILLAGER #457 FROM THE TOWN OF LUHIM or whatever. Battles are fast. The sheer lack of a "battle screen saves about 6 seconds per battle versus, say, FF3. Beyond that, you can avoid battles when you want to. You can't avoid them ALL, but you can avoid enough of them that it's awesome. Add up the speedy battle pacing and perfectly metered episodic quests and adventures and you've got a game that is fun to play at all times. There's always something to do; there's always at least a mild sense of urgency and there's always new environments to explore.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Dmi7Txvz7iI/R-gy7EHEVrI/AAAAAAAAAMk/5-HFmtB-zO0/s400/chrono-trigger-return.GIF

Nhex: It's one of my all-time favorites but still, try not to let the nostalgia/hype faze you. You're starting with probably the most distilled essence of the SNES DQ/FF formulas at the end of an era so if you're not already into that genre, it may turn out not to be your thing.

Caek: You know how the first 30 minutes of The Royal Tenenbaums is just montage? The first few hours of Chrono Trigger is like that. No rhythm. Really weird.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c15/chefstubbies/chtatpic.jpg

Lamp: For me, the point where you first get the ship is when I fell for Chrono Trigger. Once the game opened up a little and offered the ability to pursue each of the character's individual stories at my own pace, to create random parties and discover new abilities, it just got crazy rewarding and immersive. Superfun.

55: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) – 10 points - 1 vote
Official game site

Mitch Krpata: Finally, a Final Fantasy VII product worthy of the name. It's all heart. Crisis Core would be compulsively playable even if you’d never spent a moment with Final Fantasy VII. The basic mechanics share much with traditional RPGs, but they’ve been streamlined to include some real-time action elements. Although combat is still menu-driven — you can choose to attack, cast spells, and use items from your inventory — you maintain full control of Zack at all times and can block or dodge at will. Zack travels and fights alone, without a supporting cast of characters. This is different from what you find in most Final Fantasy games; it makes for economical use of the PSP’s screen and the relatively brief battle sequences keep the action moving.

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/5125/official9yc0.jpg

55: Nancy Drew: White Wolf of Icicle Creek (Wii) – 10 points - 1 vote
Official game site

http://static.gamecrazy.com/images/games/boxart/13038.jpg

Lamp: I kind of loved the general theme of downward mobility and turn-of-the-century cut-scenes that light the characters in this game in such a ghoulish, polygonal fashion; it’s a perfect fit for a murder mystery.. The Arctic setting is pretty on point for a frigid sleuth like Nancy and the puzzles are great and surprisingly tough. Good use of the wiimote as well. It’s not quite as good a game as Zack and Wiki, but in the same vein and still pretty dope.

55: You Have to Burn the Rope (Internet/PC) – 10 points - 1 vote
Official game site

Nhex: Needs no explanation. In my heart, it deserves MORE points.

David R: LOL at folks on the interwebs saying "I keep on hitting the boss with my axe, but it doesn't work!"

http://www.mazapan.se/tmp/yhtbtr.png

Tombot: Is there a three-page Gamasutra article about this yet?

Noodle Vague: I thought this was shit until the third go when I unlocked the secret room.

End Music MP3

55: Buzz! Quiz TV (PS3) – 10 points – 1 vote
Official game site

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/da/Leeroy_Jenkins_Jeopardy_clue.jpg

this is such a weird list so far

How can you not love a list where Gears of War 2 ties with You Have to Burn the Rope?

Okay, more later.

hahaha btw i do not remember like half of the stupid things i sd about games lol drunk posting
― Lamp, Wednesday, February 4, 2009 4:41 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

qft

oh. me being drunk obv, and my stupid shit

is there some wacky script hiding somewhere on this page btw? it's loading and scrolling v.slow, it's unreadable for me : //////

Didn't know about space invaders extreme, think i'll have to get it.

It would've placed higher if I'd voted (Nothing else on the list so far would've).

Coz, i'm having to log in anonymously to read the thread. Try that and tell me if it's the same problem you're having.

great work btw, sorry wasn't bitching ^^;

Not at all; it looks hella crappy unless I'm logged out... in some cases, a lot of the post simply doesn't show!

It looks fine for me - it's just slow to load because it's pulling in so many large images from different places and youtube videos & slow to scroll because images don't have height and width tags so as they load in they change the formatting of the thread.

yah it was loading slow for me last nite but i have img off at work and it loads quickly - altho i think with img off some of the comments are lost e.g the boom blox entry which had like four or five and has none now. either that or forx has been editing for brevity?

Nope. Just general board weirdness.

Two way tie for #53.

#53: Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard (DS) – 10 points – 2 votes

Official game site

http://www.ripten.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/etodd2-header.jpg

Forksclovetofu : Awesomely hardcore; I got killed a dozen times before I realized that there are baddies in this cart that you simply should not fuck with unless you've got major hours logged. Typical Atlas: it asks so much from you, delivers a thin opiate gruel and demands that you step up to the plate hard if you wanna suckle. The mapping element and obsessive grinding really reminded me of bygone epic junior high Basic D&D campaigns. Definitively the opposite of “casual gaming”; requires you to devote way too much energy to ciphers and care far more than you should about showing the game who’s boss.

Lamp: I had a pretty good time with the dungeon mapping element that allows you to graph out the dungeons on the DS touchscreen instead of forcing you to remember layouts or keep a hand-drawn map of your own. It's a pretty narrow and obsessive little game, but it can get engrossing.

The first level of Etrian's labyrinth is filled with a number of beasts that don't appear too tough, though once you reach the first boss and realize that this over-sized dinosaur can kill any of your party members with a single swipe, you're forced to spend literally hours killing the snails and hedgehogs you so recently took for granted, just to crank up your experience points enough to survive the dragon. And it only gets worse from there.

Abbott: Freaking impossible.

http://www.gamingnexus.com/Images/News/8853/3.jpg

Will M : You have to, like, try.

#53: World of Goo (MAC OSX/Wii) – 10– 2
Official game site

http://timothyzhu.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/large.jpg

If: Best game on WiiWare, though I wish it was twice as long as it is.

World of Goo designer Ron Carmel mentioned the game had a staggering 90% piracy rate

Braid, as told by World of Goo

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/sept08/goo/wog2.jpg

Gravel Puzzleworth : I liked it! Interesting how they packed so much so content in; every level had new ideas. I do sort of resent that I was never stuck. Maybe a bit too easy.

Forksclovetofu: Clever design and execution, comparable in some ways to Katamari. My downstairs neighbor is a mechanical engineer who knocked out the first fifteen boards in under an hour; he says this should be called “Building a Bridge”. But it’s an AWESOME bridge.

Two way tie for #51.

#51: Trauma Center 2: Under the Knife (DS) – 11 – 2
Official game site

CraigG: Ridiculous storylines, great overacting and frantic action. I totally think I could do a real operation after playing this.

Abbott: Trauma Center has given me the habit of dynamically posing while shouting "Let's begin the operation!" to my dog.

http://dsmedia.ign.com/ds/image/article/885/885044/trauma-center-under-the-knife-2-20080627040541691.jpg

Nhex: Oh god, not Trauma Center. It's a pretty cool game at first, but the difficulty curve is awful. Despite the stylus control it really doesn't embody the great accessible stuff on the DS (stuff like Phoenix Wright, Mario Kart, EBA, etc.) and ends up as a noble experiment. I know, I'm saying this despite it being successful enough to get franchised out for 3 sequels - but it is simply too hardcore.

lol at almost none of my ten cracking the top 50

#51: Resistance 2 (PS3) – 11 – 2
Official game site

http://%u201Dhttp%3A//talkplaystation.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/resistance-2-multiplayer_14-06-08_09.jpg%u201D

S1ocki: Pretty good! Seems like an improvement on the original in every way--controls, graphics, weapons, enemies, plus a totally different co-op campaign and sixty person battles online! Shoot dudes in the face! U should buy!

GM: R2's a pretty generic shooter. I enjoyed playing a sixty-dude team deathmatch the other night, but you have to cope with an almost endless series of sniper headshots immediately upon respawn.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2094/2185266011_618d9970ac_b.jpg

Jeff Levine: In some ways, there's lots of single player improvements over the first game, but Resistance 2 has lots of annoying and at times horrible gameplay design decisions that really bring the whole experience down. It doesn't make sense that I can destroy a 100 foot tall alien with a few well placed rockets, but can't harm an eight foot fish alien just because it's swimming in the water. I'm also not too fond of the way difficulty is increased by simply throwing way too many enemies against you.

#50: Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Wii) – 12 – 2
Official game site

http://skattertech.com/media/2008/03/super-smash-bros-brawl.jpg

Captain Lorax : Single player mode was fun while it lasted. It's more fun to play with friends. Map creation was a good idea but it could have used more parts and pallets. Online wasn't bad when I tried it against strangers but you have to wait about three minutes for each individual brawl. Playing a friend with a friend code is where it's at. I had my phone of speaker while we played each other.

Forksclovetofu: If this was on XBLA, it might easily be my favorite game of the year; the online component is utterly hamstrung by the useless “friend code” debacle and the single player gets tiresome after awhile. Still, playing this with four people is fuckin' bananas. Good times; even for button mashers. Really disappointed this charted so low.

http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2008/01/super_smash_bros_brawl_wii_07.jpg

S1ocki : Aren't you guys worried about pedophiles getting your friend codes and molesting you?

Tombot : I don't get the hate for the single player. This is a blast.

http://games.gearlive.com/blogimages/miyamoto_mario_luigi.jpg

More tomorrow.

Did i vote in this? I don't think I voted in this.

Either way, good job so far.

as a result of this poll, I have finally decided to nut up and buy World of Goo in the near future

also nthing the praise for Forks, who is doing the Lord's work here

also also I am eager to see if my first-place game got any other votes

no street fighter yet, I did give it a lot of points tho

the spore ez-chair people are amazing, wow.

what i meant about world of goo - at college writing essays i would think of something clever, but follow and mull and read around the thought till it seemed trivial and obvious, something that must have occurred to everyone - then i'd write a sentence or two of super compressed academese, summing and dismissing the whole thing, totally inpenetrable to professors or anyone else. goo is a little like that with its delights - it presents them to you as if you are already bored with them?

it is also a really satisfying way to spend money - to buy it almost pays for itself in pride.

#49: FIFA ’09 (XBLA/PS3) – 14 point – 2 votes
Official game site

Polyphonic: I don't understand socc... I mean, football. I've never played it; I never watch it apart from the World Cup and I have a shaky understanding of its rules. But I love sports video games, and when a good one comes along, I will play it until I puke.

http://sportvideogames.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/fifa09_rooney01optimised.jpg

Roberto Spiralli : Yet again, this is fucking terrible. The biggest problem is the movement of the players which is unnatural, clumsy and very axis-bound. Turning is sluggish and gives the feel of dragging oil tankers around the pitch. When I went to pass, what happened onscreen was frequently not quite what I intended. Tackling is very weird, partly automated and I couldn't get the hang of it at all. I don't know how they keep getting it so wrong, except for the fact that people keep buying this shit and it gets the same lazy ass decent reviews every time, so maybe the developers don't even know that their product sucks.

Cozwyn: I never thought I'd say anything positive about FIFA in my life but this game is meaty and physical and deep and FUN!! The shooting is definitely the best bit; it feels crunchy and heavy compared to PES' floaty and light kicks. The animation is, as ever, impeccable but there was some horrid slowdown during replays.

MPx4A: It is a disgrace that there is no training mode, but it is quite good that the soundtrack has Cut Copy and Gonzalez EA really appear to have brought their A-game with regards to the online possibilities in this; just as long as you have the means to play with people who will pass the ball in co-op games and not just pick Man United all the time, you’re likely to find a good match.

AleXTC: The level of detail in the gameplay and moves/combinations you can do is just great.

http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/images/community/fifa09/fifa0901.jpg

we won the war!!!

lol say no to racism

http://sportvideogames.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/fifa09_rooney01optimised.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/af/Cave_troll.jpg

Five way tie for #44.

# 44: Singstar (PS3) – 15 points – 1 vote
Official game site

http://www.gameguru.in/images/singstar-90s.jpg

Daniel RF : Singstar must be the best party game ever. Sadly, my friends and I have yet to get it together to actually HAVE a party so instead I've been playing on my own, which I realize makes me a very major saddo... but it's fun! It's funny that the game doesn't care about lyrics, so you can stutter your way through a song and if you're in tune it doesn't really matter. Also the attempts at judging rapping are some bullshit; I let the Eric B and Rakim track play while I chatted with a friend and it really didn't matter, as long as there were audible sounds (even laughter) the rap-o-meter thought I was doing okay!

http://www.acegamez.co.uk/screenshots_ps2/PS2_Singstar_Pop_Hits_Screenshot_001.jpg

Noodle Vague : What I didn't give Sony credit for are the Eye-Toy and SingStar games, which must give the PS3 a hell of a lot more mass-market appeal than 360. I guess Sony themselves don't make a big deal of those titles to hardcore gamers, but they sure do seem to make a big difference in console sales.

# 44: Crash Commando (PSN) – 15 points – 1 vote
Official game site

http://static1.filefront.com/images/bgfwkkubaa.jpg

Jeff LeVine: Basically a competitive multiplayer shooter take on a Contra / Metal Slug / Bionic Commando game with maybe a dash of N+. The online component seems to work fine (no lag in the few games I had time for) and uses really good AI bots to fill up extra slots. As frantic and fun as Call of Duty deathmatch but in awesome 2-D! Seems easily worth the ten bucks they are asking.

Jamescobo: I knew it was love the first time I banked a grenade perfectly. This game needs open-mic chatter badly; this push-to-talk nonsense is preventing people who kill me from having their sexual orientation loudly impugned in hilarious fashion.

# 44: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (DS) – 15 points – 1 vote
Official game site

http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/rdonlyres/22D908FF-4556-4B5C-94D3-9832F57408F4/15867/tactics1.jpg

Dy: My reactions are becoming more positive the more I play but it’s quite slow and certainly no match for Tactics on the PS.

Webber: It's better than FFTA1, but still somewhat infuriating. It’s a good choice if you’re looking for a game to sink a ridiculous amount of time into. I played through about twenty hours but since I didn't like the way I was leveling (and because I am ridiculously anal), I restarted and put in _another_ twenty or so hours into it. I found and used a fourth thief dagger relatively early on this time so my team is well on their way to becoming dual-wielding killing machines.

Will M: Really enjoying it. This game is absurdly slow but it makes my terrible commute relatively fast by comparison so I don't mind. Apparently I've played forty hours now? I think I'm technically 2/3 through the game but I am really fucking dicking around a LOT; I feel sure I could have easily beaten it by now.

http://spong.com/artwork/f/i/finalfanta97917.jpg

# 44: Barkley: Shut Up and Jam Gaiden - Chapter 1 of the Hoopz Barkley SaGa (PC) – 15 points – 1 vote – FREE GAME
Official game site – Download Here

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j161/kevinsblogger/barkley1.png

Nhex: Barkley: Shut Up and Jam Gaiden is a ridiculous farce that's actually pretty fun (it uses the RPG Maker engine and basically plays like Super Mario RPG). Even though story-wise it's an ironic fan-wank of Space Jam and Sir Charles, like Super Columbine RPG it uses the medium and its nostalgia to poke fun at the genre in really amusing ways specific to fans of SNES RPGs of the mid 90s.

http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb//GamesRadar/us/Other/News%20Stories/2008/Charles%20Barkley%20Shut%20up%20and%20Jam%20Gaiden/ART/RAW/backley--screenshot_large.jpg

# 44: Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble (PC)– 15 points – 1 vote
Official game site

Mordy : One sleeper pick for me is Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! It's this really neat pack of minigames set in a 1920s boarding school. It's very Dorothy Parker'esque.

http://www.macgamefiles.com/imgs_screen/19990.jpg

FINALLY at the halfway mark. More tomorrow.

I considered voting for Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble. I definitely liked a lot of things about it.

I love that our poll has Shut up and Jam Gaiden on it.

The tension is killing me!

hah i was just coming here to post that

Okay, okay; more tonight at the latest.

Thanks for all your work on this; I've been enjoying it as much as (or more so) the music polls.

yah thanks dude, my urging is made out of excitement and anticipation, not bitching

It's cool; I've been annoyed at myself for not getting this finished up too.

yeah this list more than the music lists makes me want to go back and discover a bunch of good stuff

(if the second half would be presented in a new thread I wouldnt mind, this one slows my computer terribly as it is. didnt help logging out either)

It's a reasonable point.
Continued here:
The Second Annual Coint and Plick Poll: ILG’s Best Video Games of 2008 - Part 2: The Top Forty!

I am currently porting these results over to the blog and this set of games was so wacky I had to revive this ancient-ass thread. Valkyria Chronicles getting one pity vote! a seventeen-way tie for last! the White Wolf of Icicle Creek cover! et al.

Oh cool, totally forgot about the blog, I'll stick that in my RSS reader. I admit, I'm still proud of my IF YER NOT INDIE FUK U votes for You Have to Burn the Rope, You Found the Grappling Hook, Iji and Barkley: Shut Up and Jam.

Gears of War locked in a 10-way tie for 55th is some pretty next-level challops even by ILX standards

gears is trash tho/// but i mean lol i voted for nancy drew and wld do so again

valkyria chronicles wld place much higher if we had polled this after more than 1 person had played it. same w/persona 4 probably a bunch others

Persona 4 actually did! it went from #70 in 2008 to #25 in last year's poll (on the ballot due to the Euro release)

Valkyria Chronicles probably would have been top 3 for me if I'd played it in the time period. that game fucking owns, flying pig be damned.

kinda wish i had added the persona votes from 08 to last years poll

another classic C&P moment:

http://cointandplick.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/coint-plick-2008-11-fable-ii/

fuck that game fuck that game fuck that game.

Every time I read that I wonder if I am actually G-Zeus and maybe I hit my head and had a coma but SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE AND UI JUST PLAYED FABLE II FOR OVER 2 HOURS

exhibit a: "had a coma"

Not to slight the hard work you've been doing, but for the compiled list of all games, you should probably hyperlink all the games on the list to their respective entry pages... I don't even want to think about how annoying that would be to do!

that was actually on my to-do list after I get the 2007 results up. you ppl better thank your lucky stars that no woman would ever have me.

oh right, the 2007 results were just a straight-up ILX poll result. they're up now, so I'll get started on this rn since I'm miraculously free at work today.

wow, that was much less onerous than expected - both 2008 and 2009 are fully indexed.

thumbs up brother