61 Frames Per Second

Browse by Tags

• Joe’s Top Ten Games of 2008 – Part Three

  The official mandate has come down from the top—that it is December, and we all write about games, so we all have to pick some arbitrary number of them that we enjoyed above all others this year. I am taking on this task in the way of our forefathers, using their traditional number (10) and order (from great to most greatest). Games were chosen for this list using a highly scientific list of criteria, including but not limited to dopamine levels, blood alcohol content, darts, and how well the box art fit into my photo mosaic of Satoru Iwata. Today is #4-#2.   4. No More Heroes I don’t think I’ve ever cackled with glee more often at a game than I have at No More Heroes. It’s the ultimate otaku fantasy simulator, and it revels in obsession and bombast. It’s also the ultimate otaku simulator, and it revels in loneliness and sociopathy. Were the clunky town-based elements a bad impersonation of western sandbox design, or a cynical elbow to the ribs of western sandbox design? Is it a legitimately great game or a bad game that’s ironically great, and could it somehow be both? And what was up with that real ending? For No More Heroes, a game that loves and hates itself in equal measure, these questions could be debated endlessly. The most outrageous game of the year, and the must-play of the last twelve months that most people didn’t. Read More... Posted Dec 15 2008, 11:00 AM by Joe Keiser with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: no more heroes, Grand theft auto 4, rock band 2, joe keiser, top 10, top 10 of 2008

• My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Fable 2

  It's the end of another year, and that can only mean one thing: it's list season. Inevitably, you're going to see top ten lists by the thousands; and, as an official member of the enthusiast press, I'm afraid I can't violate my directive. But, to make things a little more interesting, I've decided to assemble my 10 favorite games of this year in non-hierarchical form because--let's face facts--it's hard to pick a favorite. And unlike other top 10 lists, this one will be doled out to you in piecemeal over the next several excruciating days! Please enjoy. One of the major reasons Fable II surprised me with its greatness is that Lionhead's medieval sequel was completely off of my radar until I needed something to play in October.  Before that, the last time I had flirted with any of Peter Molyneux's creations was 1999's Dungeon Keeper II--and many would've agreed that was the perfect place to leave the ambitious developer behind.  But Fable II was a redemption for Molyneux, and one he desperately needed, at that; after nearly an entire decade of disappointments, gamers were getting less and less interested in the shit he'd been shoveling.  Thankfully, Fable II is remarkably less fecal than his 00 output--it's actually damned good. Read More... Posted Dec 15 2008, 11:00 AM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments Filed under: xbox 360, fable 2, peter molyneux, bob mackey, top 10, top 10 of 2008

• Joe’s Top Ten Games of 2008 – Part Two

  The official mandate has come down from the top—that it is December, and we all write about games, so we all have to pick some arbitrary number of them that we enjoyed above all others this year. I am taking on this task in the way of our forefathers, using their traditional number (10) and order (from great to most greatest). Games were chosen for this list using a highly scientific list of criteria, including but not limited to dopamine levels, blood alcohol content, dice rolls, and the likelihood that the game contains secret spreadsheets full of crime. Today is #7-#5.   7. Mirror’s Edge Mirror’s Edge isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but in terms of adding to the language of the medium it’s probably the most important of the year. Prior to Mirror’s Edge, first-person platforming pretty much didn’t work (Jumping Flash aside); now it does, and it does in a gripping way that ensures it will be badly copied by many first-person shooters to come. But the way the platforming was handled also, perhaps more than any other game ever, made the player feel like they were truly inhabiting the body of the protagonist. Mirror’s Edge has a moment, and only one, where the camera leaves the point of view of Faith. It’s the most powerful gaming moment of 2008. Read More... Posted Dec 12 2008, 01:00 PM by Joe Keiser with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: shin megami tensei, mirror's edge, fallout 3, fallout, persona 3, joe keiser, top 10, top 10 of 2008

• Joe’s Top Ten Games of 2008 – Part One

  The official mandate has come down from the top—that it is December, and we all write about games, so we all have to pick some arbitrary number of them that we enjoyed above all others this year. I am taking on this task in the way of our forefathers, using their traditional number (10) and order (from great to most greatest). Games were chosen for this list using a highly scientific list of criteria, including but not limited to dopamine levels, blood alcohol content, coin flips, and the rate at which the number of in-game explosions approached infinity. Today is #10-#8.   10. Fable 2 I played Fable 2 during a two-week period in which I saw some significant real-life difficulties, so the game’s emotional moments, being fiction, didn’t resonate as strongly with me as they did with others. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t appreciate the risks the game took or the choices it forced the player to make. Yet while it went further than most games, it still didn’t go far enough, with punishment for doing the right thing in the face of temptation still being too easy to make up for later. But the game play was there; Fable 2’s shallow but broad mechanics encouraged experimentation while making sure there was always something new to try.   Read More... Posted Dec 11 2008, 05:00 PM by Joe Keiser with | with no comments Filed under: fable 2, mother 3, spore, joe keiser, top 10, top 10 of 2008

• Derrick's Top 13 Games of 2008 - Part 3

  Catching up? Read part 1 and part 2. 5 - The World Ends With You (DS): The insanely ambitious action-JRPG probably makes the most use of all the DS hardware has to offer of all DS software with the possible exception of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, and even then The World Ends With You does it with so much more style and flair that the comparison seems woefully unfair. It's clear that Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts team put years of thought and research into what the DS could and could not do and the result is a game that breaks all expectations like so many angsty teenage hearts. It takes a truly great game to affect me outside of my gaming time, and much like Wii Fit got me thinking about jogging to the train every morning, The World Ends With You got me wearing pins on my bag for the first time since college, picking out just the right ones that may, someday, save my life in heated battle. Oh lord, did I love that dual-screened battle system... Read More... Posted Dec 11 2008, 02:30 PM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: the world ends with you, little big planet, playstation 3, nintendo ds, derrick sanskrit, wii, top ten, super smash bros, world of goo, super smash bros brawl, de blob, eden, pixeljunk, echochrome, pixeljunk eden, braid, cubello, top 10 of 2008, cicus atari

• My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Grand Theft Auto IV

  It's the end of another year, and that can only mean one thing: it's list season. Inevitably, you're going to see top ten lists by the thousands; and, as an official member of the enthusiast press, I'm afraid I can't violate my directive. But, to make things a little more interesting, I've decided to assemble my 10 favorite games of this year in non-hierarchical form because--let's face facts--it's hard to pick a favorite. And unlike other top 10 lists, this one will be doled out to you in piecemeal over the next several excruciating days! Please enjoy. While reading the latest GameSpite update, I couldn't help but nod my head in agreement at Spite King Jeremy Parish's trenchant comments on the modern gaming blockbuster.  Especially this: It makes me angry that reviewers actually called GTAIV's narrative "Oscar worthy," because (1) no, it really wasn't and you guys seriously need to go and watch a good movie, OK?; and (2) that kind of empty praise is just going to encourage Rockstar to keep focusing on the sloppy, poorly-written pulp noir aspects of their creations to the detriment of the part that actually makes GTA unique and fun: the gameplay. And yet, GTAIV still made it onto my favorite games of 2008 list.  Have I lost all credibility?  Did I ever have any?  Don't fret, dear reader; GTAIV is one of my favorite games of the year by virtue of that fact that it occupied so much of my carefree summer (god how I miss it).  When you make twenty attempts to beat a game's final mission, there's gotta be some love there, right? Read More... Posted Dec 10 2008, 09:30 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: rockstar, bob mackey, gamespite, top 10, gtaiv, top 10 of 2008