Best Thing to Happen to Fantasy RPGs in Years
Have I played Skyrim? Nope. I don't need to to know what it is, as I've played the last three Elder Scrolls games. The combat is unwieldy, the world is almost too open, and I've never liked their level up system, but that seems to have been improved on. Skyrim isn't winning this award for being awesome or anything like that. Skyrim is winning this award because it brought fantasy RPGs to the attention of the masses, and let developers know that we are interested in a genre like this. I want to see the combat improved next, guys, and then I think you'll have something truly amazing.
Best Security
It was a landmark year here at the VG30 offices, as nearly every single system that our staffers have an account on was in some way hacked over the course of the last year. Two contributors lost their Xbox Live accounts, one fell victim to the PS3 attacks, one had their email account hijacked, one had their Twitter account hijacked, 4 were hit by Trion games' recent attack, 2 were on Steam, and finally three credit cards were compromised. Congratulations, Blizzard, you win by default.
Best Community
I have been a proud reddit lurker for a year now, occasionally submitting new articles which have been checked out by the MTG and Board Game communities. Thanks to them, traffic found new highs, especially during the GenCon 2011 coverage. Thank you so much everyone, and please keep coming back to check out what we've got. You know, when we actually make posts.
Best Show That We're Convinced Actually Reads Our Blog
Xplay, it's one of two things. Either you're reading the blog and taking some of my material, or your writers and I are very like minded. As much more likely the second is than the first, I like to believe that Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb occasionally sneak a peak at what I'm writing to see what the word on the street is. We may not always agree, but I highly value your opinions. Just let me know when you've got a job opening available. And no, I won't be an intern.
Biggest Mistake Nintendo Could Make (since their last hugely successful money making mistake)
I've always been a Nintendo fan. When it first came out, I played with R.O.B. When the lines were drawn between Blast Processing and Mode 7, I chose Mode 7. In fact, I still believe to this day that the SNES was the greatest gaming system ever created, with the single greatest gaming library ever conceived.
With those words of praise, I have to speak out against the Wii U. Nintendo used to know what they were doing. They used to be the leaders and innovators. They gave us the first controller with shoulder buttons. They introduced the world to a 3D environment which was copied and recopied hundreds of times. They ruled over portable gaming with an iron fist. Those days are just about over.
In June, Nintendo unveiled their new system, the Wii U, which was due next year in 2012. It will bring the Nintendo's graphics and power into the current generation, while further giving them more control capability to allow the game that appear on other systems to be controlled on their latest.
There's several problems with this, namely that by the time that the Wii U hits store shelves, both Sony and Microsoft will have officially announced their latest platforms, and those will be once again the systems that the developers flock to. They'll have more power, and better performance than anything that the Wii U can dream to achieve. Nintendo had the opportunity of a lifetime here, to announce the newest most powerful gaming system a full year before their competition, which worked nicely for Microsoft.
They blew it. Instead proclaiming that the fall's big hit, Arkham City, would be a release title. Next year. Months after any gamer who really wanted it had already purchased it, all the DLC, and sold it back to Gamestop. This one is going to be an uphill battle for the big 'N'. I think the novelty of the Wii is gone, guys, and your 3D offering didn't do so hot, either. I've said this before, but I think you need to take a look at Sega right now.
We'll have more tomorrow, starting with the best games (that we actually played) for each system. We'll see you then!
