Origins of a Gamer 02.23.10: Week Five - The Present, the Future and the Rankings
Posted by Chris Crowing on 02.23.2010
We catch up to date with our valiant gamers experiences and have a look at what's worth looking forward to in the near future. We also reveal the final field and rankings for the upcoming 411 Mania Deathmatch Championships!
Failte,
This week we finish off my Origin story (we'll play through next time as an Elf mage, I promise...) with what I've been playing recently and the games I'm looking at buying in the near future and finally, the big reveal of what a month and a half's voting and compilation has produced as the pool of contenders for the 411 Deathmatch championship.
The Present
Having been without a console for a few years, I recently decided it's time to become more than a PC Gamer again. The choice was clear - PS3 or Xbox 360? (No, I don't regard the Wii as a console worthy of a true gamer - IMHO it's a lifestyle accessory for misguided people...)
Now I'd been a big fan of my Playstation and PS2, but that in part counted against buying a PS3 - who wants to be loyal to one company all their life? Eventually the balance was tipped when I could buy a Xbox 360 Elite console with two awesome games for only £199, when I couldn't even get the top-powered PS3 without any games for that much.
At the end of the day, money counts!
I ordered my new toy on January payday, so I've been a console gamer once again for just over a month, and frankly it feels like I was never away.
The games I received with my console were Forza Motorsport 3 - good, but despite being prettier (as befits a current generation console) it's not quite as engaging as Gran Turismo 3 for the PS2 - and Dragon Age: Origins - which has taken up the bulk of my time thus far, and is a quality RPG which is better in some aspects than my favourite game in the genre, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.
I've recently bulked out my games collection with Grand Theft Auto IV - which is yet another step forward for my favourite game franchise, although the radio stations aren't quite as entertaining as the PS2 incarnations - I miss Lazlo... - and FIFA 10 - simply put, if I have a console, then I have the up-to-date FIFA game. It's just something which HAS to happen.
I've also had a loan of Saints Row and it's sequel, as well as Halo 3 which have merely served to further embed my impressions of those franchises (being a second rate, sub-standard GTA clone and an over-hyped, and unrewarding shooter respectively.)
The Future
As we look towards my new purchases, there are a glut of games which have caught my eye. Recent releases such as Bioshock 2, Mass Effect 2 and Aliens vs. Predator look very appealing to me, although slightly older games like Mass Effect (why buy the sequel when you haven't experienced the original, which will be half the price?), Borderlands, Resident Evil 4, Left 4 Dead 2 and Batman: Arkham Asylum might sneak ahead in the queue to be bought.
The perceptive amongst you will perceive my tendency towards W-RPGs and shooters, with a certain preference to open world style games. As such, the games which have me most tickled for later in the year are Red, Dead Redemption - which currently looks like 'Grand Theft Auto in the Old West' and how much fun would THAT be?
Also, Fallout: New Vegas which should hopefully be a little more intense and characterful than the awesome, yet less-good-than-I'd-hoped Fallout 3 could well be fun.
Lastly, Alan Wake looks to be one of the most atmospheric, characterful and downright scary games to be available on current-generation consoles. If the breathless hyperbole in the previews and the five-year wait for it's release are anything to go by, then this could be the most unsettling yet addictive game since Silent Hill first gave me insomnia all those years ago...
It's a good and exciting time to be a gamer, with genuine competition between the top game studios and the dominant consoles. Project Natal, the very real and yet fundamentally unrealised potential of the Wii concept and technology which moves forward almost faster than we can follow, combined with studios who seem committed to producing games of immersive quality rather than jerking out shiny, yet hollow graphic-fests (yes, I'm talking about Bayonetta - the most over-hyped game of the year so far.)
In recent years there has been a resurgence in 'old school' role play games, and the excitement level which surrounds games like Mass Effect 2 shows that we increasingly require games to provide a full package of smooth gameplay, stunning visuals and the emotional investment which comes from quality plot and characterisation.
For all that the casual gamer phenomenon which has been building ever since the Playstation became a fashion accessory and is now reaching fever pitch with the Wii and games like Guitar Hero, not to mention the apparent death of PC gaming (have you seen how much space high street stores devote to PC titles these days?) are worrying for the long term and committed gamer, the sheer amount of money currently sloshing about the industry, matched with improvements in technology, a growing realisation amongst the studios that good characters and quality gameplay win out over stereotypes and shiny graphics and increasing gamer savvyness and market knowledge makes this a very exciting time to be 'into' computer games.
I can't wait to see what comes next! Can you?
411 Deathmatch Championship Final Rankings & Brackets
Following a strong response from the 411 writers, friends and a slightly mediocre one from the readers and forum users, I've established these as the top 16 most beloved/favourite/ games, game characters and game franchises.
Note: The way votes were compiled, the maximum score possible for any game, character or franchise was 200.
Games
1- Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – (45)
2- Super Mario 3 – (39)
3- Sonic 2 - (34)
4- Super Mario World – (31)
5- Tetris – (30.5)
6- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - (29)
7- Final Fantasy VI – (29)
8- Resident Evil 4 – (25)
9- Metal Gear Solid – (24.5)
10- Half Life 2 - (21)
11- Fallout 3 – (20.5)
12- Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – (20)
13- Street Fighter II - (20)
14- God of War – (19.5)
15 - Baldur's Gate 2 - (19)
16 - Civilisation II – (19)
Honourable Contenders:
Mike Tyson's Punch Out – (18.5)
God of War II – (15)
Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare – (14)
It seems that old school classics win out over the more recent incarnations, with older games getting much more consistent love than more recent titles - Mass Effect 2, and Uncharted 2 just falling short. What does that say about the status of games today? Or is it more a commentary on our tendency to hold nostalgic classics above perhaps shinier but not-yet as emotionally invested recent titles?
Characters
1- Mario – (97)
2- Solid Snake – (70)
3- Link – (66)
4- Sonic – (65)
5- Kratos – (33.5)
6- GlaDos (Computer from Portal) - (25)
7- Ryu – (23)
8- Samus – (21)
9- Mega Man - (20)
10- Irenicus (BG2) – (20)
11- Master Chief – (18)
12- Gordon Freeman – (17)
13- Ken (Street Fighter) – (16)
14- Sephiroth – (15)
15- Darth Revan (KOTOR) - (13)
16- Morrigan (DA) - (12.5)
Honourable Contenders:
Nathan Drake (Uncharted 2) – (12)
Bowser - (11)
Little Jacob (GTA 4) - (11)
Tommy Vercetti (GTA:VC) - (11)
What? No Lara Croft love? OK, she means nothing to me, but when I was a teenager she was probably the most promoted games character in the world. In any case, I feel the mix of legendary franchise leaders (Mario, Sonic) and lesser known, but very beloved geek icons (GlaDos, Irenicus) makes for an interesting field...
Franchises
1- Mario – (121)
2- Legend of Zelda - (83)
3- Grand Theft Auto (45)
4- Metal Gear – (40)
5- Street Fighter - (35)
6- Mega Man - (32)
7- Call of Duty – (29.5)
8- Resident Evil – (29)
9- God of War – (29)
10- Sonic – (28)
11- Mass Effect - (28)
12- Final Fantasy – (26)
13- Metroid – (26)
14- WWE Smackdown vs. Raw – (26)
15- Baldur's Gate - (26)
16- Half Life – (24)
Honourable Contenders:
Halo – (23)
Civilisation – (23)
Madden NFL – (22)
Super Smash Bros – (21)
Gears of War – (20)
With Mario almost running away with the voting, it seems like the other fifteen contenders are lining up to come second, but surely there are more Sonic fans out there who couldn't stand to see Mario win this race?
I have to say, that if I'd put every EA Sports title as being a single franchise, they would have pressured Mario for the #1 ranking, but divided into Madden NFL, FIFA Football, etc. they struggled to qualify.
Make of those contenders what you will - next week, the wistful Origin of a Gamer becomes deadly serious Deathmatch championship and if you want to influence the passage of that competition. you'd better come back
Guest'7586 said mario...
Yes, it looks like he'll dominate - remember to vote and make sure...
Volourn submitted the last votes for the championship, and actually made a big difference, effectively lifting Baldur's Gate and Morrigan into contention. I thank you for getting involved - your choices are still low in the rankings compared to some more obvious choices - better vote to see if you can force their progression!
Lastly Rod Oracheski said Portal isn't a beta for elements of Half Life 2. It's a sequel to Narbacular Drop - made by the same team, who Valve bought after seeing what they were doing.
If that's the case, then I was misinformed... (does some quick research.) Damn, you are quite correct, and I think I need to slap one of my usual sources of geek information about the head with a weighted companion cube. For him, there shall be cake - but it will be THIS cake...
(NSFW warning btw...)
If you are still reading, and not being sick, I'll bid you a fond sayonara, and see you next week for the start of the Deathmatch Championship.
"combined with studios who seem committed to producing games of immersive quality rather than jerking out shiny, yet hollow graphic-fests (yes, I'm talking about Bayonetta - the most over-hyped game of the year so far.)"
Bayonetta's graphics aren't anything out of this world and the game is just a blast to play trough. I don't need every game to have an amazing story, they're more than welcome but if the game is fun enough, a less polished story can be excused. The day variety ends in the video game industry, is the day the industry dies for me. It's already bad enough that half the games out there these days are shooters.
Posted By: Guest#8120 (Guest) on February 23, 2010 at 09:36 AM
Keep playing GTA IV, Lazlo comes back :) But its not that great a game anyway, better than 3, not as good as Vice or Andreas.
I'm also looking forward to Red Dead redemption and Alan Wake. Disgaea 3 and Heavy Rain kinda making me want a PS3 though.....
and in response to a previous comment you seem to defend Bayonetta by saying the game industry needs variety but it was one of the most derivative and bland high profile titles I've seen released in years. If you want to play Streets of Rage crossed with Tekken with a women getting her clothes off fine but don't try and sell it to me as something that provides variety to the industry.
Posted By: skinead_bufty (Guest) on February 27, 2010 at 07:39 AM
