The Obligatory "Awards of the Year" post: 2008 was the year of... [THERE'S A CONTEST IN HERE PEOPLE]

Written by Dan Zuccarelli

Friday, 02 January 2009 06:57

So each of us has chosen our top 5 games of the year, but we're also chosen a few other awards to give out as well. Today's is the final one and we simply had to finish this sentence and explain our choice. 2008 was the year of... (blank).

So here's the contest.... what was 2008 to you in the world of games? Tell us how you'd finish the sentence and why and you'll be entered in our drawing for some prizes. So far I have some Meatbun shirts, Tecmo Bowl for the DS, a Parappa the Rappa PSP case, A Zelda Wii shoulder bag and more. Costs nothing to enter, and I'll pay shipping to get the goods out to you!

So what was 2008 to you????

hdr_year-of-the

yea-download ...Downloading everything - nominated by Kevin

Probably not just in games but all across the media world digital download delivery services really started coming into their own this year as their general acceptance grew wider. We saw a huge string of phenomenal games grace XBLA and PSN this year as content for both Rock Band and Guitar Hero flew off the servers that now act as our digital shelves. Hell, even I was able to let go of my driving need to have a tangible object in my hands after I buy something and started to prefer Steam for my PC needs. It only makes sense to see this trend continue in the upcoming years.

yea-wii ...The Wii. Again. - nominated by Dan

It's obvious now that the system is just not meant for me, and I'm totally cool with that. Nor does it need to be, the Wii could be confiscated as a money printing machine at this point. This is the 3rd holiday season for the system and you still can't walk into a store and buy one (most of the time). Same goes for Wii Fit. They sold 2 million just this past November. It's crazy, and shows no signs of slowing down. Most people can't really even pick out more than a few titles worth buying, yet it's nigh impossible to find one on shelves. Low cost means Nintendo is making money from the get-go, attach rate be damned. And a glorified scale got everyone (including my fiancee) excited. Blu-Ray? HDMI? a console apparently needs not these things...

yea-download ...downloadable games so good I can hardly believe it – nominated by Ryan

And I never would have predicted that. XBLA is certainly the pioneer here, but it wasn't until Sony's PSN launched and started unveiling some very aggressive, freaky indy picks, that both of them got serious about experimental, low-budget games. PacMan CE is good, don't get me wrong, but look at what we got this year: Braid, Rez HD, PixelJunk Eden, Wipeout HD, N+, Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, Castle Crashers, Ikaruga and more. Unbelievable. So not only do we now get fantastic, smaller-scope games for excellent prices, but little indy devs have a direct line to console gamers and are no longer confined to the PC space only. I have seen the future, and it is downloaded.

yea-co-op ...co-op gaming - nominated by Jim

Co-op has been something game designers have been trying to incorporate successfully since the 8-bit era, but in 2008 it really came into it's own. Things kicked off with Army of Two's partner-centric gameplay and and PixelJunk Monsters couple-friendly tower building, and just kept motoring on. Left 4 Dead, Gears of War 2 Horde mode, the list goes on and on. Single player gaming can go fuck up a tree, or so says 2008.

Comments (22) Add Comment

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written by Tralfaz, January 02, 2009

...Indie Developer. WiiWare debuted this past Spring. XNA hit the 360 later at the end of Summer. [PSN, of course, has been supporting random indie startups since the beginning with the likes of Flow and such.] Steam started selling indie titles through its digital distribution service and came up with Steamworks to allow an even more fluid distribution channel for indie devs.

N+, World of Goo... pretty much every Tower Defense game from Pixeljunk Monsters to Defense Grid: The Awakening? What about all the nifty little games hitting the iPhone? Pretty much all indie.

Certainly such a breakthrough wouldn't happen overnight, and as one would expect, the veritable explosion of indie games had its beginnings in prior years, but 2008 is definitely when the floodgates have opened. Not since the shareware days of DOS have a handful of devs been able to get together and make something that, all around the world, people are putting on their Top 10 lists.

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written by Dr. Cossack, January 02, 2009

... multiplayer.

Between fun games like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, more robust online games like Mario Kart Wii, more co-op games like Left 4 Dead, more party games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band releases, there was something for everyone. People at home playing online, groups of friends playing the same title every week, family members meeting up for an evening, no one had to be left alone.

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written by killquick, January 02, 2009

2008 to me was having great games like Assasin's Creed, Grand Thieft Auto,Metal Gear Solid and Little Big Planet. All year I had the most fun on my PS3 playing endless hours, I played so much that it got me in trouble with my wife so many times for hogging up the television. So last year was the best time of my life and I would do it all over again just to see the look my wife was giving me everytime I was over doing it as she put it, so hopefully this year will bring me more joy to top last year but all I really see is Resident Evil so far which I hope is not the best they can do.

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written by Miles Moore, January 03, 2009

The Gamer.

Everyone thinks back to this last year and says that there was a new fad or a new way of thinking in gaming, but the one "person" to truly benifit from this last year was "The Gamer".

2008 saw the release of dozens and dozens, if not hundreds of great games. Some so hyped and big that no one game could ever stand up to the hype, but great none the less. Grand Theft Auto is probably the biggest one here. This year also saw the release of Downloadable games that cost a lot less and delivered alot more than retail games an also actually made you think, such as Braid. Mulitplayer Co-Op came back in a huge way as well with releases like Gears of War 2 and Left 4 Dead, which actually brought my friend and I closer together then we have ever been since I moved 1,200 miles away.

Sure, the companies made loads of money off of all the hardware and software sales, but I believe that The Gamer came out on top this year, with so many great games and alot of diverse games too. No one person can say something didn't come out this year for everyone, and really, isn't that what gaming really is anyway? Just sitting down either by yourself or with a few friends and playing video games and having a good time. Thanks 2008. Best. Gaming Year. Ever.

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written by Faith, January 03, 2009

viral marketing.

Between tons of advertising via website game tie-ins, you tubes videos, game celebrity blogs, game developer interactions and so forth, the game hype was unbelievable and probably lead to the downfall of a few or more games.

This year was probably the worst for game companies slamming the communities with their advertising.

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written by Faith, January 03, 2009

oh, not that I want to win anything but I just wanted to b*tch.

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written by Dexie, January 03, 2009

The RPG.

Between Lost Oddessey and The World Ends With You at the start of the year, to the ~EXCELLENT~ Final Fantasy IV remake on DS, to my personal favorite game of the year, Persona 4, to the countless others that were released, this year has been awesome for the RPG fan.

Let's not forget the announcement of a new FF: Crystal Chronicles on Wii and DS, FFXIII coming to 360, and hell, even though I'm not a fan, the massive launch of Lich King not too long ago.

It's been a good year for us.

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written by Jim Squires, January 03, 2009

Now THAT'S why I love reader involvement. Never in a million years would I have thought of 2008 as the year of the RPG. As a matter of fact, when I read your first line, I thought you were nucking futs. Then I read what you wrote and I'll be damned if you weren't right. It WAS a great year for RPG fans.

If you had to pick a fav RPG from '08, what would it be? I'm not a big traditional RPG player, but I wouldn't mind giving one a shot from time to time.

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written by Dan Zuccarelli, January 03, 2009

I actually really kinda want to try out a persona game.... not sure if I'll like it or not but I'm thinking I may give one a try.

Can I just start with Persona 4?

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written by swiftwulf, January 03, 2009

Dan, I could be wrong but I don't think the any of the persona games are direct sequels. Much like how the Final Fantasy games.

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written by Dr. Cossack, January 04, 2009

Jim: My own RPG pick is, without any shades of a doubt, Dragon Quest IV DS. It's an old school JRPG, yes, but it stands up to the test of time.

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written by Ian, January 05, 2009

RPGs. Fable II, Fallout 3, and Persona 4 were maybe my 3 favorites, but there was plenty of RPG love to go around for pretty much every platform.

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written by Legendbyname, January 05, 2009

... Valkyria Chronicles. This is the best JRPG I've played since the Final Fantasy Tactics and not getting the credit it deserves!. Genre re-defining game-play meets beautiful art design and an awesome story line in a fantasy WWII setting. If you haven't given this one a shot and you must. My RPG pick for the year.

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written by TheBBPS.com (Bits, Bytes, Pixe, January 05, 2009

[...] 2008 was the year of… [...]

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written by killquick, January 05, 2009

@All The RPG Heads

I think by far the best RPG for next generation is Eternal Sonata (PS3) not Xbox 360 for 2008. By far the graphics was much better than the early released Xbox 360, the story, characters and overall improvement is one that must be recognized. It was so much better than Enchanted Arms which I think was one of PS3's first RPGs, I enjoyed it so much and almost cried when my magician friend (Fredrick) died of tuberclosis, back in those days the simpleless diseases were very fatal. So it is not only the games and how we play them it is how the games make us feel playing them and how it gives us certain outlooks in life. Happy New Years everyone and game on to the fullest.

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written by Jim Squires, January 05, 2009

killquick, king of the spoiler.

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written by Xerxes3rd, January 09, 2009

... refinement. This year we saw a ton of franchises refine themselves. Gears 2 added a slightly deeper storyline and Horde mode and Call of Duty added zombie mode. Though I wasn't that into it, GTAIV refined virtually everything, save for driving, that GTAIII, Vice City, and San Andreas had to offer. LittleBigPlanet refined the side-scrolling platformer. Mirror's Edge refined (although some might argue it defined) the first-person platformer. Rock Band 2 refined pretty much everything negative about its predecessor. The Wrath of the Lich King expansion refined what we all loved and hated about the original and Burning Crusade- we now have better visuals, more interesting quests, and shorter, more exciting dungeons. Left4Dead refined the co-op experience as we know it.

@Faith: This is only the beginning, I assure you. Viral marketing is the evidence of media convergence, which has been building for a number of years.

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written by Dexie, January 10, 2009

Haven't gotten to try Eternal Sonata yet, sadly, same for DQ4. Both are on the list, though!

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written by Dexie, January 10, 2009

@Dan:

There's a few inside jokes and references to Persona 3, but otherwise it sits alone. Go for it, man!

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written by killquick, January 10, 2009

@Jim Squires:

Sorry about that dude but from the way everyone was talking, I thought you guys put this one out in the pastures, my bad to all the people who didn't play or didn't finish the game yet. Wonderful game though.

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written by OddyOh, January 10, 2009

...PS3 games finally arrive! Up until this fall, there were very few games highly anticipated for this system. But now my shelves are overflowing with NHL 09, Fallout 3, LittleBigPlanet, Call of Duty WAW, Resistance 2, Bioshock and Dead Space.

Up until then, it had been Burnout Paradise, Hot Shots Golf, and PixelJunk Monsters...great games for sure, but a meager selection. Of course, the media capabilities of the PS3 alone kept me using it everyday, while I waited for the Q4 onslaught of titles. Now there's not enough time!