Year of Video Games - 2010

Just like last year, a list of games I finished in 2010.

This is the year of Assassin's Creed and Zelda, since there are six of them on the list and what I sunk most of my time into.

A buddy at work who lent me Assassin's Creed II, which got it's hooks into immediately since it took place in Renaissance Italy and had this great virtual reality conspiracy thing going for it. I quickly finished AC II and immediately picked up AC I, which while a bit duller than the second was still a joy to play with all the historical references and it fleshed out the story better knowing the beginnings. When AC: Brotherhood came out I was excited enough to get the collectors edition box set.

Zelda was another big player this year as I was ramping up to finish them all before my 30th birthday in April. While I had completed Ocarina of Time right at the end of 2009 I didn't start Majora's Mask until the Spring. The mechanics of the game were similar to Ocarina, but I just couldn't get into the whole three day time thing until well into the end of the summer. Finally after picking it up and 3-4 hours intervals I finally got the hang of things and was able to power through it in August. Overall I enjoyed the game at the end, collecting every mask was actually fun and the reward of the Fierce Deity Mask made the end boss ridiculously easy. Shortly after completing it the Haunted Majora's Mask story "You Shouldn't Have Done That" appeared and playing it all the way through made it even more creepy. I even went so far as finding an original N64 cartridge at a local game shop and it's sitting on my desk along with an original N64 copy of Golden Eye.

After finishing Majora's Mask I dove right into Twilight Princess. While I had twice tried to start it in the past, I started all the way over with a new game and finished it up. I don't know if it was anxiety that kept me from playing Twilight Princess knowing that it would be the last game in the series until Skyward Sword comes out or what, but I was a bit apprehensive about finishing it. The game itself is beautiful, with many of the locations and dungeons building off of the original formula and fleshing it out in 3D nicely. Some of the ancient landmarks and ruins (Bridge of Eldin) seemed like they were pulled from my seven year old selfs imagination while flipping through the original Zelda instruction manual and map. From some of the boss fights I was fully expecting the Ganon fights at the end to have more challenge. While a sword fight for the final encounter was cool, it was a bit too easy. I was hoping to use some of the more powerful items (magic armor and fairy tears) as a boost if I ran out of fairies and potions, but I made it through with only losing a few hearts. Still, it was a good way to end and overall the game was satisfying.

Another surprise this year was Alan Wake, which was the first Xbox 360 game to go onto a list. This is mainly because my buddy Bren let me borrow is 360 which gave me the opportunity to play it. While I haven't finished the second DLC package it opened me up to watching Twin Peaks and reading more Stephen King novels.

Since Zelda is out of the way and I own a majority of the Metroid games already, I'm going to set a new goal of completing all the Metroid games before I turn 40. It's a good chunk of time, but you never know what's going to come up.

Finished Games for 2010

Gameboy
Metroid II: Return of Samus

PS3
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Heavy Rain
Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Xbox 360
Alan Wake

DS
Chrono Trigger (this is actually from 2009 but forgot it last year)
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

Wii
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Virtual Console
Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

iPhone
Beneath a Steel Sky
Civilization Revolution

Android
Angry Birds

Goals for 2011
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Metroid: Other M
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Metroid Prime Trilogy
inFamous
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
No More Heroes
StarCraft II
GoldenEye 007 (Wii)

Year of Video Games - 2009

Following up on the games I played and finished in 2008...

This year is a bit different since I recently got an original Xbox and new PS3 Slim which lead to more non-Nintendo games finished as last year. Out of all the games I finished last year I'd have to say Modern Warfare 2, Half-Life 2, and Zelda II were my favorite.

Modern Warfare was a completely different gaming experience than I was used to, giving a blockbuster movie storyline with plenty of twists and challenging environments that keeps you going "just one more chapter"

I played the Half-Lifes in order starting with the first and ending on Episode 2, and even though Half-Life 1 was exception, Half-Life 2 had that same type of playable movie quality that I really liked. The levels and game play were exceptional and kept you hook till the final climax.

Unexpectedly Zelda II was, for me, more fun than Ocarina of Time. Ocarina is constantly praised as one of the best games of all time, but when I played it I didn't really see it. Zelda II offered and extremely, but rewarding challenge and once I was finished I felt a sense of loss that it was over.

I still have a goal of beating all the Zelda's before I'm 30, and with Ocarina and Zelda II out of the way I have the major hurdles done. Spirit Tracks should go quickly since it's on the DS and I really like the cell-shaded top-down 3D style it has. Unfortunately I'm not too excited about the two remaining 3D games and wish I had done those first and left the classic top down ones for last.

Since I've entered the current gen of systems with the PS3 I've found that the movie-style of these games is more appealing than I originally thought. Heavy Rain looks like next-gen Hotel Dusk and games like Uncharted and Assassin's Creed have the action adventure element I like.

The iTouch games made a small dent this year too, with me purchasing classic games from my youth; Sim City, Myst, Wolfenstien 3D, Doom, and adventure games. As the platform matures and mobile gaming takes hold I have a feeling I'll have more to add to the list.

Finally I found that Steam, PSN, and Virtual Console are a large contributor to my gaming experience. The method of downloading a game and having it "permanently" tied to you account and not a piece of hardware is cool.

Finished Games for 2009

Gameboy Advance
Metroid Zero Mission

Sony PS3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Microsoft Xbox
Halo: Combat Evolved
Grand Theft Auto III: Vice City

PC
Half-Life
Half-Life: Blue Shift
Half-Life: Opposing Force
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2: Episode One
Half-Life 2: Episode Two
Portal

Wii
The New Super Mario Bros Wii (finished cooperatively with Oanh!)

Virtual Console
Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Metal Slug

Currently Playing
Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
The World Ends With You
Beneath a Steel Sky (iPhone)
Halo 2

Goals for 2010
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed 2
Okami
Metroid Prime Trilogy
Super Paper Mario
Deus Ex
Heavy Rain

One Year of Video Games

A little over a year ago I broke down a bought a Nintendo DS for the upcoming release of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on Oct 1st. Upon getting the device I discovered that it had a built-in GameBoy Advance slot for backwards compatibility with older GBA games. I hadn't played a hand-held system since my first Gameboy back in the early 90s, so this was a bonus allowing me to catch up on all of Nintendo's hand-held titles. I eventually picked up and completed Phantom Hourglass and a plethora of DS and GBA games. This helped me get in touch with my inner video game nerd and I eventually completed around 20 titles over the last year on this spiffy hand-held as well as my Wii and Virtual Console. Here's the list of completed titles as well as a short list of games I'd like to complete over this year.

My DS signed by Gabe & Tycho from Penny-Arcade during Comic-Con 2008

Nintendo DS
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Hotel Dusk
Trace Memory
Mariokart DS
The New Super Mario Bros
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations
Professor Layton and the Curious Village

GameBoy Advance
Final Fantasy I: Dawn of Souls
Final Fantasy IV Advance
Final Fantasy VI Advance
Metroid Fusion
Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

GameBoy Color
Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

Virtual Console
Legend of Zelda
Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past

Wii
Boom Blox
Super Mario Galaxy

Almost Complete
Metroid Prime (Gamecube)

On Deck for 2008/9
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Virtual Console)
Zelda II: Adventure of Link (Virtual Console)
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (Gamecube)
Super Mario Sunshine (Gamecube)
Okami (Wii)

Updates:
Completed Oracle of Ages in the beginning of Oct 2008