FEATURE: Best Video Game Year … EVER?

Scribbled on October 21st, 2008 by Jonah Falcon
Filed in Features, Game Genres, Platforms, Release Date(s)

2008 could be the best video game year ever. Ever. People who thought 2007 was stacked (BioShock, Halo 3, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Crysis, Mass Effect and so on) – this year is turning into a bigger year, at least in terms of quality, since some great games are going to get lost in the crowd.

Already, we’ve seen Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Grand Theft Auto IV, Burnout Paradise, Sins of a Solar Empire, Devil May Cry 4, Civilization Revolution, Star Wars: The Forced Unleashed, Silent Hill Homecoming, Spore, Dead Space, Saints Row 2 and Rock Band 2. If that weren’t enough, downloadable games have seen some amazing titles, including Xbox Live Arcade’s Summer of Arcade (featuring Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, Braid, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, Galaga Legions, and Castle Crashers), as well as Mega Man 9. And that’s just a few of the downloadable content.

The thing is, the hot titles have just started. So far, C|Net writers have started anointing titles such as Fable II and Dead Space as Game of the Year. Some are giving LittleBigPlanet that title. Still others say Fallout 3. Far Cry 2’s map editor is the best ever made for an FPS. One writer called Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia the “best Castlevania ever.” If you check the upcoming titles, Gears of War 2, Resistance 2, Call of Duty: World at War, SOCOM: Confrontation, Mirror’s Edge, Left 4 Dead, Prince of Persia, Grand Theft Auto IV (PC), Starcraft II, Persona 4, Halo 3 Recon and Prince of Persia are all looming.

The thing is, even if you only own one console system, you can’t buy all the games you might want to play on your system. In a rush to get the holiday crowd, some great games are going to get lost in the shuffle. Midnight Club: Los Angeles is certainly going to get lost in the shuffle, as well as Need for Speed Undergcover. Playing Saints Row 2 has caused everyone to ask me how good it is, because they have limited budgets; they really want to play it, but need confirmation from friends before they spend their money.

Publishers should be moving some of their chancier titles to the post-Christmas winter months and the summer, because those are traditionally dry periods. Games released in those months often sell tons even if they’re average games – Lost Planet and Crackdown both benefited from being the only big game released in a week. Games are $40-60, unlike films. People can’t go play everything – if publishers and developers are upset at the rental market (like GameFly) stealing their sales, they have only themselves to blame. GameFly, for instance, is the only way I can play some games without breaking my bank account, and the only way I’ll play some linear play-once games, such as Star Wars: The Force Unleashed or The Bourne Conspiracy.

Are you stymied by the glut of quality games that have been and will be released? Let us know.

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