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More 2005 Gaming Than You Really Want
It's Christmas Eve, and you need something to read while you're avoiding your relatives. We understand. Howabout several looks at the year in Gaming? The big sites have actual awards, with Gamespot and IGN both offering up decisions that are sure to spark dinner table discussion. Next Generation doesn't hand out awards, but it does have an exhaustive set of lists covering all aspects of the year. We've previously discussed their Top 30 Games of the Year, but today they have over half a dozen articles dedicated to the year in gaming. The Guardian Gamesblog has staff pics for best of the year. World of Warcraft certainly is on a lot of 2005 lists for a game released in 2004. Finally, 1up.com staffer Jared Rea probably has the most interesting take on the year. His traditional list headlines Guitar Hero, but he also has a special list, with ermm...special awards. That might make you angry. From that list: "The Sin and Punishment Award - Named after the hideous and boring N64 shooter from Treasure, the Sin and Punishment award is reserved for the the title which claimed the hearts of 'hardcore' fanboys around the world, despite the game in fact, being garbage or quite frankly, nothing special. Previous winners of this award include Ikaruga and Katamari Damacy." That award goes to Shadow of the Colossus. Which, sorry Jared, did actually rock.
Umm... shouldn't that award go to Dragon Quest VIII? Seriously, I see all this praise heaped on it, and when I see it actually described and played... it's just another Dragon Quest game. It doesn't add anything it didn't rip off from other RPGs (and what it rips off is nothing special) and it's just the same old same old with prettier graphics. The fans _love_ the game, but those of us who are sick of the same old thing in RPGs don't like it much at all. Shadow of the Colossus, on the other hand, had its flaws, but was an incredibly fun, unique, _beautiful_ game, and one of very few non-strategy games I find myself going back and replaying.
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Reading your post, you may want to ask someone what a blow-job is. It has nothing to do with your ass.
Or perhaps a lot of people think it rocks. I never played it, but you can't argue that it hasn't been well received. And unless you plan to present a rigorous, objective proof to definitively refute the majority opinion, I think it's safe to say that Zonk was (for a change) not pulling things out of his ass when he said the game rocks. Really, this doesn't matter in the slightest, but it's just incorrect to imply that Zonk is alone here.
Telltale Games: Bone, Sam and Max