The Labor Days/Six Gun, year end, videogaming extravaganza! [Archive]

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six-gun

12-24-2007, 02:26 PM

That's right folks, the new year is nearly upon us and over the past month both myself and Labor Days have been working on an extensive, year-end videogaming wrap up. Over the next week we'll each be posting our picks in each category along with each other's responses to the other's pick.

This is the place for:

-Seeing me get very angry over Puzzle Quest
-Reading a pre-destination vs. free will debate in relation to Bioshock
-Plato, Annie Dillard and Portal

and much much more.

six-gun

12-24-2007, 02:27 PM

Part 1:

Entertaining Grime's Pick for Short Session Game of the Year (http://entertaininggrime.blogspot.com/2007/12/game-of-year-awards-part-1-short.html)

mikegraham6

12-24-2007, 02:28 PM

OH!!! are we going to get you two facing off over Bioshock VS Halo???? I'd be pretty stoked for that conversation!

six-gun

12-24-2007, 02:30 PM

OH!!! are we going to get you two facing off over Bioshock VS Halo???? I'd be pretty stoked for that conversation!

Not exactly, but sort of. There's good stuff coming ;)

mikegraham6

12-24-2007, 02:36 PM

Either way, you two have such varied tastes that this should be pretty darn interesting. Good idea guys!

six-gun

12-24-2007, 02:37 PM

Either way, you two have such varied tastes that this should be pretty darn interesting. Good idea guys!

thanks! we've worked pretty hard... kind of ;)

esophagus

12-24-2007, 05:00 PM

Labor, your response didn't say much for what you thought of the game. Did you like it, dislike it?

labor_days

12-24-2007, 06:03 PM

I am late but present! With all the Holiday festivities, I nearly forgot it was Monday. =)

But yeah, this was a lot of fun nailing down what we liked best this year and how we felt about it. Six put deep thought into all his picks. Such that it gave me a new perspective on games I was quick to brush off this year.

Good stuff.

are we going to get you two facing off over Bioshock VS Halo???? I'd be pretty stoked for that conversation!

Six and I didn't want to take necessarily negative sides. We tried to speak to what we thought about our respective selections without being overly down on our choices.

Plus, we agreed a lot! :D

Labor, your response didn't say much for what you thought of the game. Did you like it, dislike it?
I did enjoy Super Stardust HD.

Thought it was an fine update of a simple concept that's been around since the dawn of video games. Spacewar! is one of the oldest video games ever made.

six-gun

12-24-2007, 06:42 PM

More or less in our responses to one another we get into our oponions on the current state of and philosophy of gaming in relation to the game/genre.

It was our chance to scratch our chins and get all (kinda) intellecual ;)

labor_days

12-25-2007, 06:33 AM

My selection for top Short Session Game along with Six's response is up, here (http://lecinemafantastique.blogspot.com/2007/12/best-of-video-gaming-2007-part-1-short.html).

Sorry about the lateness. Hectic scheduling being the Holidays and all.

Look for our picks for top Open World Game (such as GTA, Saints Row, Crackdown , etc) of the year tomorrow.

six-gun

12-25-2007, 01:48 PM

My selection for top Short Session Game along with Six's response is up, here (http://lecinemafantastique.blogspot.com/2007/12/best-of-video-gaming-2007-part-1-short.html).

If you want a semblance of conflict, this is where you're going to find it folks ;)

paper

12-25-2007, 02:48 PM

labor_days

12-25-2007, 03:01 PM

Entertaining Grime & Cinema Fantastique selections for Best Open World Game is live (http://lecinemafantastique.blogspot.com/2007/12/best-of-video-gamng-2007-part-2-open.html).

You will hear troubling things about Six. What a lack of funds can do to a young man starved for a high-end PC...

(Posting early because I won't be around much later on today.)

six-gun

12-25-2007, 04:31 PM

Good stuff, gents. This is a cool project you got going here.

I'm actually interested in picking up Puzzle Quest for the DS.

Not a big time gamer as you know, but my short session pick is easily Planet Puzzle League. Simple game with a nice presentation. Potato chip level addictive.

I'd love to hear what you guys think of the newer versions of Geometry Wars available on the Wii and DS. I'm pretty curious about them.

As am I. 1up Yours said that they're both incredibly awesome (as long as you're using the classic controller and not the Wii-mote) and the #1 third party Wii game this holiday.

Sooner or later I'll give it a try and let you know.

six-gun

12-25-2007, 04:41 PM

(Posting early because I won't be around much later on today.)

Mine's up too (http://entertaininggrime.blogspot.com/2007/12/open-worldsandbox-game-of-year.html)

because have no idea what the day is to hold.

drwally

12-25-2007, 04:52 PM

Wow, here is a compliment - I have never had any interest in video games whatsoever, but I find reading both your blog posts very well written and very interesting. I feel like I am viewing this vast unknown (to me) "alien" (East European? PC? Console? Geometric? Gravity Well?*) culture, described in very articulate terms. Wow. Nice. Labor has some nicely written stuff, but I have to say "kudos" to the very funny "class based" analysis by Six (PC vs. Console). Landed Gentry, Indeed! :D

*gravity wells are completely awesome. I don't why, they just are.

six-gun

12-25-2007, 09:16 PM

six-gun

12-26-2007, 10:08 PM

Part 3.0 is here! My pick for Action/Adventure game of the year (http://entertaininggrime.blogspot.com/2007/12/and-train-keeps-rolling-action.html)

six-gun

12-27-2007, 01:52 PM

I forgot to put this in the first post, but this is also the thread for you guys to say what your games of the year were!

esophagus

12-27-2007, 06:51 PM

Labor, I spent years as a child trying to get past the water level on Battletoads. Even the old "I'll just let Dad beat this level" trick didn't help. There was no doing it. My Gameboy was thrown around more than Britneys children. But, it did make me understand exactly what you're talking about. I'd be interested in trying Gaiden out if it came out for PC (or I bought a PS3).

kwok_talk

12-28-2007, 02:25 AM

Cheers Six & Labor! Wow, I really like how you two are putting this together! Can't wait for the rest of the releases.

RE: Ninja Gaiden Sigma - Being that it was like a v2.0 of the xbox version, what would have been next in line to get that award?

six-gun

12-28-2007, 11:48 AM

RE: Ninja Gaiden Sigma - Being that it was like a v2.0 of the xbox version, what would have been next in line to get that award?

Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, which had I had it before the deadline robably would have won.

six-gun

12-28-2007, 11:51 AM

Part Four (http://entertaininggrime.blogspot.com/2007/12/part-4-of-entertaining-grimecinema.html)of the crossover has arrived, however not without a measure of sadness. Labor's dog that had been ill passed away on Christmas. Labor has returned home to bury the dog and won't be back until after the new year.

So from here on out you'll be able to find both picks on my site (http://www.entertaininggrime.blogspot.com/).

neb

12-28-2007, 01:20 PM

Dudes, this is seriously cool and it's always nice to see people picking stuff (besides their noses) and backing it up. I know that this is your guy's little pet, and I don't want to step on toes but I thought I'd go ahead and weigh in my two cents because I'm farkin' bored!

Short Game Session: Brain Age 2

What could be considered the shortest gaming session available, the Brain Age series sets the bar in this regard. The picks that you guys gave are great (particularly that Puzzle Quest, good lord that game is awesome), but when I think short session, I'm thinking of something that I can pick up and put down in 20 minutes. In my pseudo hardcoredness, the two titles you guys picked keep me in my chair for hours.

Open World Game: Skate

While I enjoyed Crackdown and I lack the PC to play S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and one could argue that Assassin's Creed is the bee's knees, I had sooo much fun playing this game this year. The openess to the world and the gagillion options I had in how I wanted to skate, I was blown away by just how creative this game made me feel, which is what an open world game should do.

Action\Adventure: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Never has a Wii game looked so beautiful, and very rarely am I so sucked into a world that I can't put a game down. But the third entry in the Prime series was able to do it. With amazingly realized worlds, awesome weapons, beautiful graphics, and gameplay that was silky smooth, this game held me in awe for 20 hours and didn't let go. Just simply amazing.

RPG: Mass Effect

This is a tough category for me to comment on because, I really don't like RPGs. They're long and most times can be pretty uninteresting, but out of all the ones that I tried this year, Mass Effect is the only one to really grab my attention. Is it the amazing discussion system? Maybe. Could it be the shooter aspect of things? Probably. Or could it be that the creators have created a universe that just begs for you to explore? Absolutely. Sure this game has it's problems (driving=sucks, graphical glitches, that damned Uncanny Valley, no checkpoints, etc.), but these don't take away from a great gaming experience.

Well, there you have it. Let me know if you guys don't want others to do this as I may spur others to share. You two dudes are pretty cool, so I figured you wouldn't mind.

Keep this kind of stuff up because it makes for fun discussion and thinking!

six-gun

12-28-2007, 09:13 PM

Thanks Neb! That's exactly what we were looking for!

Skate as an open world game is an excellent choice and I obviously agreed with you on Mass Effect!

six-gun

12-28-2007, 10:06 PM

Well, here are our picks for First Person Shooter of the Year (single player) (http://entertaininggrime.blogspot.com/2007/12/greatest-crossover-of-all-time-now-with.html)
all of you Bioshock lovers tune in, becasue here, I fully explore why I think there are some severe leaks in your bathosphere (aka, Bioshock has isses ;))

six-gun

12-29-2007, 01:59 AM

kwok_talk

12-29-2007, 02:07 AM

six-gun

12-29-2007, 02:20 AM

Ha. The Martin Luther reference was a nice touch. I agree with your points as to Bioshock's failings, but man, all those components that were nice really combined to make a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Yeah, Bioshock might have been my game of the year had it not tried so hard to disguise the fact that it's ultra-linear.

But man, if those hours I spent in Rapture weren't the craziest and atmospheric... man i get chills thinking about those dang splicers :(:eek::(

esophagus

12-29-2007, 02:34 AM

This thread will not give you the rage virus.

it seems like everyone's ignoring this thread, a lot more work has gone into this that my fill-in on Kwok's blog and that had way more discussion ;)

ah well, I guess it's just a slow time round the boardsSlow time on the internet in general. Depressing.

If the rest of the board is anything like me, they've been avidly reading but just not saying much. I think it's the most intellectual and interesting video game debate I've ever seen. Had I played more of these games, I might have more input, but I haven't, so I'm just enjoying the reviews. Definitely appreciate all the work that has gone into this, though.

six-gun

12-29-2007, 02:47 AM

Definitely appreciate all the work that has gone into this, though.

Well thanks, the whole thing was de-railed a bit by Juan's tragedy but as long as he doesn't ome back pissed at me for posting his writings on my blog, then... lemonade from lemons ya know?

kwok_talk

12-29-2007, 10:17 PM

Slow time on the internet in general. Depressing.

If the rest of the board is anything like me, they've been avidly reading but just not saying much. I think it's the most intellectual and interesting video game debate I've ever seen. Had I played more of these games, I might have more input, but I haven't, so I'm just enjoying the reviews. Definitely appreciate all the work that has gone into this, though.
Yeah, agreed with Eso. I don't have too much input just b/c I really haven't played most of the games you guys are talking about. But doesn't mean that we aren't appreciating it.

six-gun

12-30-2007, 03:05 AM

In Which I try and Apply Techniques of Literary Criticism to Portal (http://entertaininggrime.blogspot.com/2007/12/year-end-break-portal-pondering.html)

six-gun

12-31-2007, 02:48 AM

The Penultimate Chapter

Best Multiplayer Awards (http://entertaininggrime.blogspot.com/2007/12/finish-line-is-in-sight-best.html)

.

neb

12-31-2007, 01:34 PM

In Which I try and Apply Techniques of Literary Criticism to Portal (http://entertaininggrime.blogspot.com/2007/12/year-end-break-portal-pondering.html)

This would have been the perfect pick for short gaming session, but this was quite possibly, one of the most intriguing and fun "minigames" I played this year. I was so sucked in, and all I wanted, after finding the cake to not be real, was a chance to play for some pie.

Best FPS of the Year (Single Player)- Bioshock

Sorry Six, but this game absolutely blew me away. Yes, it did have it's flaws. But this game absolutely sold me on the entire world. I think I've mentioned before, but if someone wrote some fan fic on this I would buy it. If they released new areas to explore, I would immediately drop the money to download it. This game drew me in like no other game this year, and I was floored by the graphics, atomsphere and the unlimited ways that you could play the game.

That said, Half-Life 2: Orange Box was amazing, and if I hadn't already played the original game and Episode 1 already, I may have been affected more by this game. Episode 2, though, knocked me on my ass with it's ending. I can't wait to see Episode 3 or Half-Life 3 or whatever the next step will be.

I sat here for a little while, trying to think of another FPS (single player) that was really good this year, and I'd have to say that one of the other games that hooked me was The Darkness. I know it has multiplayer, but when it's that bad, does it even count?

neb

12-31-2007, 01:41 PM

The Penultimate Chapter

Best Multiplayer Awards (http://entertaininggrime.blogspot.com/2007/12/finish-line-is-in-sight-best.html)

.

Ok, this shows just how lame I am when it comes to playing games with my friends...

Best Multiplayer: Mario Party 8

See, my problem stems from a very real problem: I don't have Xbox Live. I know, I know, hard to believe right? But when the system itself is in the living room, and the router is in the office, it makes for difficult set up...mainly due to the fact that my girlfriend won't let me string the chords through three rooms in our apartment and our landlord won't let me drill holes. The fates are against me. And also consider that I refuse to pay $100 for Microsoft's wireless dongle that consists of 10 cents of plastic.

So, that leaves me with multiplayer options that must be done in the household. And I'll be damned if I didn't have a more fun time with Mario Party 8. If you play this bad boy with a case of beer and play the board that is surprisingly like Monopoly, you can guarantee that you are going to have one hell of a time. This is a game that invites non-gamers in and keeps them hanging around.

six-gun

12-31-2007, 05:44 PM

I sat here for a little while, trying to think of another FPS (single player) that was really good this year, and I'd have to say that one of the other games that hooked me was The Darkness. I know it has multiplayer, but when it's that bad, does it even count?

I enjoyed the Darkness as well, it would have been eligible for my pick, the game didn't have to be solely single player-only, but our picks just ended up being that way

six-gun

12-31-2007, 06:28 PM

Game of the Year (http://entertaininggrime.blogspot.com/2007/12/game-of-year.html)

kwok_talk

12-31-2007, 06:35 PM

Game of the Year (http://entertaininggrime.blogspot.com/2007/12/game-of-year.html)
Oh wow. I totally guessed wrong for you two. Kudos to the brilliant series.

six-gun

01-01-2008, 05:06 PM

Oh wow. I totally guessed wrong for you two. Kudos to the brilliant series.

I'm going to guess that what you expected us both to pick for GOTY actually got our Multiplayer awards

labor_days

01-02-2008, 05:37 PM

Wow. I'm pretty surprised by CoD4 taking Six's top honors this year. I was a little underwhelmed by the game. That is not to say it was bad. Admittedly, CoD4 is a well oiled machine. Though it was hard to shake a strong sense of deja vu as I played it.

p.s. Thanks to everyone who checked out our videogame ramblings. Most of all thanks to Will for continuing on in my absence. Much thanks.

six-gun

01-02-2008, 05:44 PM

Wow. I'm pretty surprised by CoD4 taking Six's top honors this year.

Well, it was basically pr0n for me, that's partially why I chose it ;)

labor_days

01-02-2008, 05:49 PM

I liked all the parts of the game that didn't "feel" like a typical CoD game. The gunboat missions, the stealth missions and so on. But anytime you were playing an American running through bombed out cities- I just couldn't help but feel I was playing the same old CoD with new textures.

(But I loved the mission where you have to rescue the downed pilot. You know the one. That was the most intense bit for me.)

six-gun

01-02-2008, 05:53 PM

(But I loved the mission where you have to rescue the downed pilot. You know the one. That was the most intense bit for me.)

I wanted so badly to talk about that one but... I didn't want to spoil anything

labor_days

01-02-2008, 05:59 PM

See, I think those missions I mentioned work because there is an emotional component to them. When the game was doing that- it was spectacular.

But man, those run-n-gun missions were long and drawn out. Ugh @ slogging through the backwoods with the SAS or running around with Rangers in a office building.

I also had the curious experience of being sniped every so often when I strayed too far from the pre-defined path. There is good in CoD4 but I could see the puppet master's strings all too well at times.

meccaed

01-04-2008, 06:02 AM

So far my favorite mission has been the Captain Price flashback. The combination of stealth, 1-2 punch killings with Price's superior who's name escapes me, him letting you pick how you progress, and then capping it off with a sniper assassination that actually took me a couple tries.

I'm loving this.

P.S. This dog killing is getting ridiculous.