The Third Annual Coint and Plick Poll: ILG’s Best Video Games of 2009 - Part Three: #21 through #51

yah like big word puzzle book :/

and worms

yeaaahhh this list so far isn't exactly convincing me

It does go to show you though that the people posting here (or or the people forks browbeat into submitting ballots), have pretty diverse taste - which is a good thing, I think...

I loved Chinatown Wars too but it had the disadvantage of being early in the year. My list is heavily weighted with games I've played since the summer. I didn't even have a PS3 until May and almost all my console picks are PS3... :/

25 points for a decade-old game is super weird.

I keep getting confused about these three games

Prototype
Infamous
Uncharted

like I get they're different games but their names are so...unevocative...that I kinda blur out when I see one of their names. That's to say nothing about the quality of the games, just about their names. I figured they were all PS3, but evidently the one that just placed here is on 360 too. Am I the only one who feels this way?

I think you mean Uncharted II: Among Thieves.

Prototype and Infamous especially since they both seem to be similar superhero-GTA concepts with generic I AM UNFETTERED RAGE protagonists. Uncharted II only sticks out to me since its gotten such raves, but stylistically it seems unremarkable. I haven't played any of these, in their defense.

Uncharted II is to video games as Avatar is to movies.

yeah, Uncharted II which haha doesn't help.

Have we had a thread about the best named video games?

start it

its unstarted

no way prototype is better than crackdown, what was I on up^ there?

shd've voted for kitn ;_;

#40: Henry Hatsworth in The Puzzling Adventure – DS – 26 pts – 2 vote
Official Game Site

http://www.wiids.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/henry-hatsworth-banner.jpg

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic1Fvexrfcw

Hatsworth Flow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK7Tqqvmkbw

NI: Hatsworth is great. I love the way things shift up a gear from 'woah woah this is a bit crazy' in the normal (very good) platform game to 'SHIIIT BZZZTT' in the also very good tetris-alike side game. It's a headfuck though, on the difficult side and colorful/manic/bleepy to the extreme. My head feels like it's jammed full of popping candy

http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/123925-review-henry-hatsworth-and-the-puzzling-adventure/hat03-620x.jpg

Kyle Gray interview and his resignation letter to EA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGhrxsiMA0c

Abanana: I love the intermission/"world of chocolate" music that plays during the bonus sections.

http://www.gameandplayer.net/images/inset/inset1_09_0427_hatsworth.jpg

Free soundtrack

Forksclovetofu: This is a good time but I really need designers to stop making DS games where you have to juggle using the stylus and using the buttons, especially when it’s time sensitive. EA is making games for people with three hands.

http://www.offworld.com/assets_c/2009/04/Hatsworth_Enemies01-thumb-550x357-19440.jpg

Hatsworth doll

Hatsworth on Twitter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvRTvYnYPzg

N/A: Shit is pretty hard.

#39: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor – DS – 27 pts – 2 votes – 1 Top Game Vote
Official Game Site

http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/137924-the-best-videogames-of-2009-so-far/Best%20Games%20of%202009%20So%20Far%20-%20Devil%20Survivor-620x.jpg

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oX8K4dpWpw

Forksclovetofu: I tend not to dig handheld RPGs; they either demand all your time and then you’re staring at a tiny screen or they try to pack too much into the experience and I lose interest. SMT: DS bridges the gap nicely; each fight is only about fifteen or twenty minutes; the storyline is surprisingly not lame, play mechanics are easy to use and engaging (love the demon auction and fusion system!) and the atmosphere/art is great. This is what I wanted The World Ends With You to be like. Totally recommended and would have made my list if I’d played it before I cast my vote.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92g87ZHX96M

http://media.avclub.com/images/media/game/545/devil-survivor_jpg_595x325_crop_upscale_q85.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53M8PwCgdis

http://pfcdn.net/site/t/content_image/image/65/28/65282__shin-megami-tensei-devil-survivor-lucifer-secret-boss.jpeg

Siliconera

Cozwn: devil survivor is rad btw fuiud

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6Nx9vyLsyk

http://www.gameplayreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/devilSummoner.jpg

Will M: This game manages to be both familiar (grid-based tactics gameplay, Dragon Quest-style battles, hip-kids-in-Shibuya storyline) and somehow simultaneously refreshing and new (I am not sure I can justify that, because I don't understand why it's actually "new" in any way). It also has the most clever "who you make friends with defines your ending" mechanics I think there's ever been in a game; it susses out your philosophy on life and crisis and shapes the fate of Tokyo around it.

#38: Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story – DS – 27 pts – 3 votes
Official Game Site

http://gamerlimit.com/files/2009/12/mario-and-luigi-bowsers-inside-story-wallpaper-small.jpg

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKSBjeBDGkI

Abbott: I am having a lot of fun playing Inside Story; like, too much fun. But I hate when a game throws in something needlessly difficult as an aside that you have to do before you can proceed. The carrot-eating stylus minigame is just pissing me off.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/9/2009/11/500x_bowsers_inside_story.jpg

Localizing Mario

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k--9_Z4-pW0

Toastmodernist: The best DS game I've played in a long time; much better than even Partners in Time.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c237/RogueLemon/storytime/CropperCapture18.png

Some Basic Concepts

Jamescobo: It's very stage-managed insofar as that it's really hard to get lost (which I personally appreciate like crazy) and I do kind of miss PiT's second-screen map, but between Bowser and Fawful there's allllllll kinds of fun to be had here.

http://www.teamteabag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/bowserinsideds.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URuJ7_vZ-ZI

CraigG : I played Mario & Luigi Partners in Time last year, which I never finished thanks to a corrupt save game 30 hours in, so I looked forward to this for a long time and it didn't disappoint. I love the humor in the Mario & Luigi RPGs, and the RPG-Lite nature makes this perfect train fodder, but for one fatal flaw: I hate hate hate having to blow at, shout at - or otherwise make a tit of myself with - the DS. These features are fine for inclusion in a game, but make it an option. It's the same rant I always seem to have about the Wii; all the waving of controllers is fine, but give me the option to press a button instead. Sometimes I reach a point where a game needs more than just button input, so I have to stop playing it, which can be annoying if it happens early on a long journey.

Two way tie for #36.

#36: Punch Out! – Wii – 27 pts – 4 votes
Official Game Site

http://www.perezstart.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/punch-out-wii-500x274.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhVXJ-dB4MU

Metacritic

http://stevemccutchen.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/punchout-wii.jpg

Iwata Asks

Forksclovetofu: Motion controls basically sucked on this and led to long tirades of “But I totally threw a punch there!” but when you’re sitting on the couch reveling in the real old school controls, this is fun as hell. I like the option of learning a boxer in practice before actually having to fight them. Maybe a little lacking in depth but makes up for it with pure golden nostalgia.

http://blogs.sfx-360.com/jon/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/640-wii-punchout-german-thumb-640xauto-2837.jpg

Producer Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_F0p1ydspg

http://www.mywii.com.au/img/game/large/Punch-Out-Wii-9.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVWnwPml7aY

Boxing Glove peripheral

Polyphonic: The best boxing game ever, with an attractive new coat of paint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKMA9aOnK-E

The Rise and Fall of the WVGBA

#36: 1 vs. 100 – XBLA – 27 pts – 4 votes
Official Game Site

http://gamernode.com/upload/manager///News%20Images/Microsoft/1_vs_100_season_21257788064.jpg

Eurogamer Thoughts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TYqWCf_kPg

Will M: It's astounding that it took this long for this game to be made. I was playing "What's the big idea?" and "Acrophobia" a dozen years ago, and have always, always loved the idea of game shows online. This game does it perfectly, and it is far more fun with four people sitting around the TV than it has any right to be.

http://gamerzines.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/sim1vs10001.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7ymCV0QGlc

Forksclovetofu: Really more of a rough draft than a final product but this is some real “future of video games” happening as we speak. Once they bump the schedule up to four live hours of this sort of programming per night, I may stop watching television… though I need more friends playing this live for me to waste that much time without shame.

http://images.g4tv.com/ImageDb3/166832_S/1-vs-100-Free-To-Play-For-Xbox-Live-Silver-Subscribers-This-Weekend.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n690X8c0KJs

Winning at 1 vs. 100

JimD: This is still totally flawed, but they seem to be improving it as they go along, and even in its broke form it's still a really fun night in. Haven't yet been the one. Or even in the mob. Kinda dreading it ever happening.

http://gamingconsolenetwork.com/wp-content/gallery/1vs100/en_mobelim1.jpg

Inside the Studio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2_iRVu2WmI

Jjjusten: It's bar trivia in your house, with less drunks but more product placement than you can shake a stick at. Kudos to Microsoft for making it work, though. Thankfully it isn't just dolt level trivia. There seems to be some magic involved in the high scores that I don't comprehend, and the new way selection to be in the mob or be the one seems to reward obsessive time suck that I will never be a part of and the prizes seem pretty ungenerous compared to the odds of winning them. Hey, it's free so what the hell.

More on Tuesday; the plan is to get this to the top ten by friday and then drop the top ten on Monday next.

AND THEN I CAN STOP

<3 Hatsworth doll

You sure are including a v thorough amount of groovy info w/each post, I'm really digging reading this.

Thanks! I'm kind of intending this as a time capsule of attitudes and visuals so ten years down the road it's easier to understand why people were all excited about game X and so that great nuggets are easier to unearth.
Suppose I should really be hosting the youtubes/pics, but I ain't THAT real...

Glad Punch-Out!!! got some votes - nobody else mentioned them in the Punch Out or Wii threads. It's such a fun game, but it seemed a little buried under a lot of this year's other games, despite being the first new entry in a beloved franchise in years. (Or maybe just compared to other first-party Wii games... or maybe it's just being a Wii exclusive) Maybe because it was so simplistic and not much different from the old games. Perfect pass-the-controller-around game, too.

I hope to get around to all the DS games mentioned in today's update, they all sound pretty good. What does "fuiud" mean?

fuk u if u disagree

my votes so far:

#77: Virtual On Oratorio Tangram 5.66 – XBLA – 5 pts – 1 vote (10)

not really sure y i voted for this just kinda making a statement that i tht most games released this year kinda sucked

#77: Muramasa: The Demon Blade – Wii – 5 pts – 1 vote (07)

welllll it was better than nsbmw. and its just so pretty! mb not the greatest handling game ever made tho~

#75: Anno 1404 / Dawn of Discovery – PC – 7 pts – 1 vote (05)

already posted a bit abt this when it came up but its greatest virtue is that its complex enough to be engaging but the array of options are limited enough that its never overwhelming. its a really soothing game for me to play (dig that illusion of total control imo) and i played the fuck outta this the week after midterms

#58: Suikoden Tierkreis – DS – 11 pts – 2 votes (08)

i think i only voted for games that i tht were pretty even if they arent really v smart. games is kinda balanced weird ime but its p compulsive.

#52: Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes – DS – 15 pts – 2 votes (dnp)

thought i voted 4 this guess i didnt ?_? really i will rep for anything that feels even a little like sf2 but the puzzle stuff - even if kinda superfluous - makes for a great dynamic although i wish theyd thought more abt the battles~~

#39: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor – DS – 27 pts – 2 votes – 1 Top Game Vote (04)

cozwn otm

^ kinda

#77: Muramasa: The Demon Blade – Wii – 5 pts – 1 vote (07)

welllll it was better than nsbmw.

http://www.greenpeaness.org/pictures/wat.jpg

The only one of those games I would ever play is Anno 1404, I think. The others are definitely not my thing.

Well maybe I'd try Muramasa.

okay, I wanna get this done by Friday now, so here we go.
Two way tie for #34.

#34: World of Warcraft (2009) - PC – 30 pts – 1 vote - .5 Top Game Vote
Official Game Site

http://www.onlinemassivelymultiplayer.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/wrath-of-the-lich-king.jpg

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=066_q4DIeqk

HIDERE: This game is my crack. Since discovering the joys of raid instances and Blizzard deciding to lower the barrier of entry to them in order to ensure most of their customer base gets to see the content, I've invested more time in playing this game than perhaps any other game I've owned in my life. The storyline is more prominent and more interesting but where it really shines is in the fantastic mix of races and classes and the (for all practical purposes) limitless number of gearing choices you have to tailor your character's role to a particular encounter. I love playing a healer in this game. I love playing a class and spec that focuses on preventing damage from happening rather than bringing you back up to full health after eating an attack (go go discipline priests!). I love that Blizzard continues to be the gold standard company in terms of game quality and play experience. I don't love the bratty 13-year-olds, but life isn't perfect, and anyway they're much wimpier and easier to ignore than the average FPS fuckface.

http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/files/2009/07/world_of_warcraft_guild.jpg

Detox

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw8gE3lnpLQ

http://videogames.techfresh.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/world_of_warcraft.jpg

N00b Guide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4TyqYsC26g

http://cache-media.britannica.com/eb-media/30/93230-004-35B0C3AA.jpg

Production Director Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkCNJRfSZBU

#34: Blazblue: Calamity Trigger – 360 – 30 pts – 1 vote – 1 Top Game Vote

Official Game Site

http://acgnorthamerica.com/img/blazblue/blazblue_01.jpg

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6CGkjEPxVg

Lamp: I dont care if u like this game. I dont care if its "good" by some objective measure. I dont care if you've heard of it or if you've played it or if the very idea of a 2-D fighting game with a bunch of anime cliches makes u sick to your fukken stomach. Because this game owns. Describing why it owns is a lot harder but it probably has something to do with the learning curve, which is surprisingly gentle, or the fact that the on-line play was relatively open to start with. There's also something vaguely hypnotic about it and i spent countless hours in a rhythmic, weeded out trance making marginal improvements to my play. The game has a Skinnerian way of doling out its rewards, all of which are in service at making you better at doing cool-looking shit to humilate strangers on the internet. Really, graphics aside, blazblue is like a throwback to old skool videogames or an iphone game: its only goal and its only pleasure is in the repetition of small movements, the honing of basic, animal-like reflexes, the throb of your sympathetic nervous system.

http://gamernode.com/upload/manager///News%20Images/Sony/blazblue1257381949.jpg

A closer look

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1Wsu2g5jqw

Jamescobo: I think this is the game I regret passing over more than any other this year. I just don't have the time to learn how to be even not shitty at a fighting game these days but everything I see and read about it makes it seem like this generation's "Every Button Makes A Ton Of Ridiculous Shit Happen" title.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pk9TR9A6ls

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n205/shalter20/blazblue-20080411024255717_640w.jpg

"Thoughtful Online Multiplayer"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEsa-j4b50g

Jeff LeVine: I don't think it compares very favorably to Street Fighter. It seems to lean on offense to an excessive degree and lends itself to button mashing. The screen can get rather busy and it's hard to react to or even visually understand what the other player is doing. If Street Fighter equals speed chess, BlazBlue equals trying to shoot somebody with a machine gun while you're both mounted on motorcycles racing around each other at 100 mph.

#33: Skate 2 – PS3 – 31 pts – 3 votes
Official Game Site

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_9fcPb-VtKkc/SXu2jQ1-p_I/AAAAAAAAAPk/mg29FxH82Kk/8869.jpg

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWkh0AsKBJc

CraigG : After hearing good things on ILG about the original Skate, I picked it up for £7, and two weeks after finishing it I bought Skate 2. It has filled the ‘pick up to pass 20 minutes‘ void left by the shitness of recent PES iterations very well. The controls are spot on, there's a genuine reflection of your "skill" in the tricks you pull off (people who are rubbish can't button mash to beat you, or accidentally pull off consistant noliie inward heel flips, etc) and most importantly, the physics feel right most of time. There's no magnet that drags you to the rail you're trying to hit just because you press a button.

http://www.aeropause.com/wordpress/archives/images/2009/01/skate2review.jpg

EZ Snappin: Brutal learning curve eventually turned me off but until I hit that wall I had a helluva good time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5tjlDV3tX0

http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/skate2to1.jpg

Producer Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1whlVieRrA

Cozwn: I’m so glad you can walk up stairs this time; the little dude in Skate 1 was one dalek-ass motherfucker!

http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/911/911691/skate-2-20080919105241490_640w.jpg

If: I get points and rewards based on killing myself in hilarious and inventive ways? What a great idea! The rest of the game is also impressive. Special award to the incompetent GAME employee who put this in the box without realizing when I was trying to buy Skate 1 for less than half the price.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwyh3JfPQSM

I beat Skate 2 in like four hours and I was like Now What

#32: Scribblenauts – DS – 31 pts – 4 votes
Official Game Site

http://wedonetwork.co.uk/wedotech/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/scribblenauts2.jpg

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWIw4WR3aXQ

Will M You know how people invent "hard modes" for games arbitrarily, like beat Ikaruga w/o shooting, or only tranquilize people in an MGS game, etc?
I started making a list of "hard modes" for this game.
1. Played-Out Mode: Beat Scribblenauts without summoning zombies. ZOMBIES ARE PLAYED OUT.
2. Acrophobic Pacifist Mode: Beat Scribblenauts without use of height-assisting items or weapons (although, in true Pacifist style, tools which are also weapons can be used for their original tool-like purpose, so a chainsaw can be summoned but only to cut down a tree).
3. Fantasy Mode: Beat Scribblenauts summoning only items that only exist in the realm of fantasy. If a replica has been created of an item, it is okay, but use your discretion: a Bat’leth is okay because it is strictly from the realm of fiction, but a robot may not be, despite its birth in the realm of sci-fi.
4. Alphabet Aerobics Mode: Beat the first “level” (or stage, or starite, or whatever they end up being) using only items that start with A. Beat the next with B. The next with C. You know how the rest of the alphabet goes. Flip back to A, I guess, if there are more than 26, flip back to A, I guess. Have fun on level 24! (For the record, though, Phi-Life Cypher did the ABC thing better only a year later.)
5. Conversationist Mode: Beat Scribblenauts without destroying any of the environment. Summoning animate objects to do the destruction for you is also not permitted.
6. Breath of Life Mode: Beat Scribblenauts summoning only items that are alive upon their summoning. A tree is okay; a wood pole is not.
7. Midas Mode: Beat Scribblenauts summoning only gold-coloured items.
8. Intangible Mode: Beat Scribblenauts summoning only items whose noun is an “intangible.” While they typically become tangible once summoned in the game, words like “dream,” “temptation” or “theorem” is acceptable while “pillow,” “chocolate bar” or “right angle triangle” are not. Homonyms are a cheeky way to get around it, but are not allowed if the word you’re pretending is allowed isn’t a noun. So, no using stalk and saying “but the verb is intangible!”
9. Gadsby Mode: Beat Scribblenauts without using the letter E.
10. Summon Nothing Mode: Beat Scribblenauts summoning only items that rhyme with wolf. Remember that wolf does not rhyme with wolf. They’re the same word no matter what terrible rappers may try to trick you into believing.
11 (yes, THIS LIST GOES TO 11). 43 Mode: Beat Scribblenauts summoning only words that are a part of George W. Bush’s active vocabulary.

http://seriousgameplan.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/scribblenauts-ds-game-objects1.jpg

Zero Punctuation Review

Noodle Vague: I made some guy, can't remember what type, then I made some plutonium and dropped it on him and he turned into a green mutant and started chasing me. Hannah made a clown car and put a bride with a bazooka into the car, she fired the bazooka and loads of angry clowns came out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZgdW42Cwwk

cozwn: omg first thing I typed thinking no way this stupid game has this:
colostomy bag
and bam there it is
mind. blown.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/kotaku/2009/06/scribbledudes2.jpg

If: In the end this felt like a half-finished version of a way more awesome game and it definitely got old, but the first couple of hours are like nothing else. Tractor beams ftw!

Word List

MPx4A: I threw a tumour at a bee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDJVBRyEEPk

Antexit: Is it me or do 85% of the objects in this game exist purely for their novelty value and NOT DO ANYTHING? A game can only reward lateral or imaginative thinking if it actually WORKS. How can you have a puzzle where you have to wake up a sleeping boy, and spawning a smoke alarm and a fire doesn't work, and spawning a rooster and a sun doesn't work? There's a lot of fun to be had in it-- it's totally worth getting. But I really would have liked it better if they had a fiftieth as many spawnable objects but they all did what they were supposed to. Or did, like, anything.

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/gamelife/2009/06/scribblenauts.jpg

Edgertor: Good but also, sadly, terribly annoying.

Scandalous Sambo Silliness

Forksclovetofu: The game genuinely taxes your imagination. You find yourself looking at a starite in a hole and not having any idea what to do. It sorta highlights how limited our games are when we would prefer somebody to just give us a hook. The MAJOR issue with this thing is the control scheme. Maxwell moves when you tap the stylus. The Camera moves when you move the joypad. You interact with things in the world by tapping them with the stylus, so rather than interact with a shark by shooting it, your guy runs headlong into the pool and you get eaten. I move the camera to look at something to the right and then it shoots back to my guy before I have a chance to survey the area. The controls being so fucked up really does reach a frustration point. I love Scribblenauts, but it's more a step toward the game I want a finished product.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbeTtfTuKbw

JimD: Sure, it's nice to have access to EVERY CONCEIVABLE REAL LIFE OBJECT; it doesn't change the fact that if I need to change a light bulb I can't reach, I use a ladder, not a pile of octopuses. This game isn't actually very good. As a game.

#31: Metroid Prime Trilogy – Wii – 32 pts – 4 votes
Official Game Site

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/metroid-prime-trilogy-prime-2-screenshot.jpg

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb0Uh7u4zQw

http://wiimedia.gamespy.com/wii/image/article/101/1010497/metroid-prime-trilogy-20090804025008646.jpg

Jamescobo: Buy it quick before Nintendo comes to their senses!

Discontinued!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yphvguaZC6c

Abanana: The widescreen support and motion controls definitely improve the Gamecube titles. Also, they don't give me motion sickness like the originals did.

http://www.mywii.com.au/img/game/large/metroid-prime-3-2.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtttaQdEBg0

http://games.softpedia.com/screenshots/Metroid-Prime-Trilogy-Debut-Trailer_4.jpg

EZ Snappin: The first game is one of the best games ever; now it has the control scheme it deserves. Can't beat the value for the money.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TUSjRA0IZE

Eurogamer Review

#30: Canabalt – Online Flash Game – FREE – 33 pts – 3 votes – Top Flash Game – Top Free Game
Official Game Site

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_UFSSsONBHAQ/SqHxYsL2AOI/AAAAAAAACgo/1DW_DOc4ix0/s800/canabalt.jpg

Ned Trifle II: I am enjoying this - but it is giving me a headache.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-A-3HFbgPQ

Forksclovetofu: I assume that the reason all the non-gamer nerds are freaking out over this is because of it’s “simplicity of design” and “elegance”. That’s fine and I don’t want to hate on this trifle, but watching Michael Jackson run gets tired for me after about five minutes. Must be an iPhone thing.

http://nodpad.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/canabalt1c.jpg

Developer sketchbooks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3SCAmoFyB4

Toastmodern: I cannot get enough of this.

http://dailyiphoneblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/500x_canabalt_iphone.jpg

Sophism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCKvdBDq5L8

Gravel Puzzleworth: I hate the canonization of Canabalt as some sort of golden model of game design :(

http://www.cultofmac.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/canabalt-1.gif

Doctor Casino: Canabalt was fun for a couple runs but the rando factor becomes quickly obnoxious - every time you die, it's to a beginner's trap. Basically a whole game of the classic platformer annoyance "in real life, i would KNOW there was an enemy/pit/wall just off the screen!" But as with, say, Dino Run (or Sonic the Hedgehog for that matter), I *love* the sense of constant forward momentum.

Developer Interview

S1ocki: Makes you feel like you're an action hero in the movie's best set piece; the reward for doing well is getting to maintain that feeling. Pretty neat.

#29: Mushihimesama Futari Version 1.5 – 360 – 35 pts – 2 votes - .5 Top Game Vote
Official Game Site

http://www.thegameover.eu/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/mushihime-sama-futari-ver-1-5-xbox-360-003.jpg

Alan N: my first reaction is @__@

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gslCMU3y2_Y

No Region Lock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nscP9QpXoFM

Jeff LeVine: I'm REALLY loving this. So beautiful and satisfying and challenging. Still getting my head around the different modes and scoring systems. Ultra 1.5 is absolutely insane. Basically perfection. I'm so happy to be able to own a port of this classic Cave shooter (nobody does it better), with improved HD graphics and an almost endless variety of modes. I could play this game forever.

http://semibeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/017fcbb5aeadline.jpg.jpg

What is Bullet Hell?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Krg11W6xY0c

http://people.emich.edu/rcross1/ultispam.jpg

Info bomb!!

That first Skate 2 pic is me looking badass. I do wish I hadn't sold it, because it was a great screw around game, but between online asses and my brickwall of skill advancement I was fed up.

By the way, the Metroid Prime Trilogy collection is now out-of-print.

lol @ me

Should I try out WoW one of these days? I've never tried a MMORPG.

YES

Two way Tie for #27

#27: Battlefield 1943 – XBLA – 39 pts – 4 votes
Official Game Site

http://playstationlive.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/custom_1233846817377_bf2.jpg

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K36sYJsW7rA

BNW: A fun game but too limited and repetitive.

http://cache.g4tv.com/images/ImageDb3/150234_S/Battlefield-1943-Hands-On-Preview.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTfEwcviz58

JimD: I'm bloody rubbish at it but it's great. First military shooter I've ever loved, because it doesn't actually feel military, it just feels daft.

http://www.techspot.com/fileshost/newspics2/2009/battlefield-1943.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9lcwA3z8kY

Jeff LeVine: I think what makes Battlefield 1943 the most fun is the persistent damage and the way it really feels like you're on a crazy, huge battlefield, instead of inside a Call of Duty killbox. There seems to be a good variety of stuff to do on each map: from flying planes, to driving tanks or jeeps or boats, to manning anti-aircraft guns or stationary heavy weapons, to the usual running around on foot shenanigans.

http://fakehustle.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/battlefield-1943-3.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx634GgQceg

#27: Peggle – iPhone – 39 pts – 4 votes
Official Game Site

http://touch-mania.com/wp-content/uploads/peggle-iphone.jpg

BNW: Deceptively simple, totally addicting.

Metacritic PC

Euler: All interface again: my three-year old daughter is getting pretty good at it on this platform, which tells you...something!

http://www.iphonic.tv/assets_c/2009/05/peggle-iphone-4-thumb-430x286-89824.png

If: So having an iPhone and access to the internet almost everywhere, taking over most of my waking life, wasn't enough. Can't get signal on tube journeys! So it had to go and get a definitive version of a simple yet totally addictive game to take over that time too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t5nmAFGRZk

Jamescobo: No Peggle, no peace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYX9q2Y10b4

Jeff: It may have the most replay value of any iPhone game.

http://www.downloadatoz.com/resources/200912/pic/1262162855.jpg

S1ocki: Like Drop7, the Peggle game play just meshes so well with the touch screen. After all, you're only making some small adjustments and hitting "fire"; most of the game is spent watching the physics engine do its thing, perfect for a platform where too much controlling gets in the way of seeing what's going on.

#26: Orbital – iPhone – 40pts – 2 votes - .5 Top Game Vote
Official Game Site

http://www.appsmile.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/0091.PNG

HIDERE: After WoW, this is my other main source of crack. I play this constantly as I travel. The concept is simple enough: shoot a bullet that blows up circles it bounces off of, which then turns into a circle itself. Each circle must be hit a certain number of times to be blown up. The addition of Supernova mode, with the ability to aim shots and blow up nearby circles, make this the most involving handheld game I've ever played. I can't wait until I break 500.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNqVvIbroRA

http://www.appsmile.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/005.PNG

CraigG: I shouldn't have decided to give Orbital 'a quick try' at midnight last night... Current high score on Gravity: 18! :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xukCphY6w6Y

"Everything But Sales"

http://www.appsmile.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/003.PNG

TVGB Review

#25: Persona 4 (UK Release) – PS2 – 40 pts – 2 votes – 1 Top Game Vote – Top PS2 game
Official Game Site

http://playstationlifestyle.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/persona-4-joyswag-490.jpg

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6_rl_ldcj4

If: I don't tend to have time for long games. When I see people say 'that looks like it's only going to be 6 hours' I think 'ooh, something I might actually finish'. This one takes nearly that long to get past the point where you are just pressing X repeatedly. Yet it's awesome! The story is really unusual and well told for a game, the combat when you get there has just enough twists on ancient turn-based tropes to not be a drag, and the social link mechanism is so rewarding you start wishing things actually worked like that. 'The Singles Jukebox crew also weren't impressed by Animal Collective. You feel closer than ever.'

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/kotaku/2009/02/persona_4_teddie.jpg

"Sexuality and Homophobia in P4"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxL5U7ZJtCo

http://www.gameandplayer.net/images/inset/inset2_09_0126_persona4.jpg

"The Most Fulfilling Game I’ve Ever Played"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGnIv-uOEgQ

http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2008/03/pers4top.jpg

Atlus Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYQ8ali63jY

Zappi: Finally, a JRPG with a story that i didn't find painfully embarrassing! could have done without Teddie really, but the detective story setup, dungeon crawling through peoples' psyches (very reminiscent of Psychonauts), the fun battle system - it improved in almost every way on Persona 3. It also gave us this brilliant webcomic.

NO

#24: Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride – DS – 43 pts – 2 votes – 1 Top Game Vote
Official Game Site

http://dsmedia.ign.com/ds/image/article/947/947891/dragon-quest-v-hand-of-the-heavenly-bride-20090123025947465.jpg

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NaWI8KEX98

http://dsmedia.ign.com/ds/image/article/952/952928/dragon-quest-v-hand-of-the-heavenly-bride-20090210095816245-000.jpg

Localization Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dmb7QQN9dk

Nera’s Dress as a paper doll

Alan N: Dragon quest V was probably my fave DS of the year. Pretty hard not to like if you're into jrpgs.

http://dsmedia.ign.com/ds/image/article/953/953411/dragon-quest-v-hand-of-the-heavenly-bride-20090211021640849.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvoMZh89ShI

Lamp: It's a pleasurable rerelease of a classic 90's RPG; doesn't really do much, but what it does, it does really, really well.