Boy, and I thought 2010 had a scarcity of Game of the Year-worthy titles!

Alright – that was perhaps a bit too unfair for 2011′s releases. You see, 2011 had a lot of “decent” games come out on a variety of systems so it’s not like there weren’t any playable games. However, most of these were simply annual cookie-cutter installments of series (I wrote about this not too long ago) that had already found their place in gaming and for the most part played it safe… …and while they were sometimes good, they were nothing amazing in my eyes. Only a few (Skylanders, Skyrim, Deus Ex: HR) rose to the top.

Honestly though, the only game I truly considered to be Game of the Year was Deus Ex: Human Revolution – a game which used a futuristic sci-fi setting with old-school gameplay to give players in 2011 an experience that had been long gone from gaming for years and years. Kids, this is the kind of game studios used to make. It was the only game I played in 2011 that did enough of the things that matters well enough – in one package – to warrant a special honor like this.

Sure, DE:HR has its warts…but despite DE:HR’s flaws (a so-so ending design, “okay” graphics in many areas and a story that didn’t quite go the way I expected in the 3rd act), the game still managed to grab my attention and absorb me into its world like no other. Yes, even more than Skyrim.

It also didn’t hurt that the game had a beautiful artistic and memorable aesthetic design (the game looked like something from the future with its orange-ish glow and neon/rain soaked streets), a phenomenal soundtrack (just great, what can I say?) and gameplay objectives that more often than not could be handled in a variety of ways (depending on your play style). Oh, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution felt like a return to PC gaming in the 90s, when substance and style often went hand in hand and carefully crafted worlds, characters and stories were something players cared about. For almost the entire game, DE:HR kept me guessing as to what would happen next in a well designed and told storyline (even if I didn’t love every twist, the story was enjoyable). And the locales of futuristic Detroit and Heng Sha are some of the most memorable open gaming environments I’ve been able to explore in recent years.

The game has thankfully been a moderate hit for Square Enix (selling 2+ million copies worldwide) and hopefully that gives them enough incentive to release another expansion and not abandon the game (The Missing Link was a great add-on and shouldn’t be the only one).

In short, was Deus Ex: Human Revolution a perfect game? No. But was it the best singular gaming experience one could have this year? Definitely. More than Skyrim, more than Portal 2, more than Skylanders and more than any other game I’ve played or even seen from this year. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the one game from 2011 that will make any type of player look at games differently (and keep them entertained in a well designed and executed story/game world).

As I said in my review, “Everyone associated with that game should feel proud and gamers of all types should definitely buy it to see what all the fuss is about.“

PREVIOUS GAME OF THE YEAR WINNERS:
2010 – Alan Wake [XBox 360]
2009 – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 [PlayStation 3]
2008 – Persona 4 [PlayStation 2]
2007 – Monster Hunter Freedom 2 [PlayStation Portable]
2006 – Final Fantasy XII [PlayStation 2]
2005 – Civilization IV [PC]
2004 – *
2003 – *
2002 – *
2001 – Phantasy Star Online [Dreamcast]
2000 – Shenmue [Dreamcast]
1999 – System Shock 2 [PC]
1998 – Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time [Nintendo 64]
1997 – Castlevania: Symphony of the Night [PlayStation]
1996 – Super Mario 64 [Nintendo 64]
1995 – Chrono Trigger [Super Nintendo]
1994 – Final Fantasy III [Super Nintendo]
1993 – Secret of Mana [Super Nintendo]
1992 – Sonic the Hedgehog 2 [Genesis]
1991 – Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past [Super Nintendo]
1990 – Super Mario Bros. 3 [Nintendo]

* – Not enough games were played to make a fair choice and/or the games I did play were not that good or weren’t worthy of GotY status. (College Years)

Like Super Meat Boy, I’m gonna make this review short, to the point and enjoyable. That’s right – I’m gonna keep the criticisms to a minimum because like SMB, there’s not a whole lot of bad stuff to say.

When I first learned of SMB like a year or so ago I had no desire to play it. I had given enough indie puzzle/platformer games a chance and they always resulted in the same formula: Pixel perfect accuracy and timing needed at every turn to make it through stages that often had just one solution.

But getting Super Meat Boy for mere pennies on the dollar as part of the Humble Bundle let me give this game (I otherwise wouldn’t have played) a shot.

Now is Super Meat Boy all that different from the “typical indie platformer” description I just gave? Nah – not really. But thanks to the excellent 360 controller support and super fast loading levels/gameplay, the vast majority of SMB’s levels are entirely doable without once f-bomb being dropped. I suppose the real frustration comes when you want to complete EVERY stage and get EVERY special item…but for those of us who simply want to beat the game’s 5 main stages, it’s a pretty enjoyable thing from start to finish.

Now as I said before, the game is hardly anything new. The cutscenes are worth skipping (at least I skipped through them), the graphics okay (nothing grand) and the level design good but not spectacular (it’s like every other indie puzzle game out there). However, with solid controls (unplayable with keyboard though) and good music (nothing memorable, but well done overall), SMB manages to stand out in a sea of copy/paste indie titles by at least being enjoyable for a few hours.

Graphics: 5 | Sound: 7 | Play Control: 8 | Fun Factor: 7 | Final Score: 67%

From here on out, I will no longer be giving any new Sonic game a chance. Sonic Generations drives the final nail in the franchise’s coffin, and if it were any series other than the blue blur’s, this would have come much sooner. I guess, for me, I always held out hope that if Sega truly returned to what made Sonic games fun over a decade ago, they could re-ignite the excitement and fun I once experienced with their iconic mascot.

If you remember back a year or so ago, Sega was proclaiming “Sonic the Hedgehog 4″ to be the long-troubled franchise’s return to the basics. But gamers were not fooled or impressed by the very pathetic title Sega produced. Basically, the very craptastic playing (and looking!) downloadable game and gave Sega a very public black eye – in fact, the game was such a dismal failure “Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1″ never even got an Episode 2! Ha!

But after a very exciting fan-made version of Sonic was made in 2010, Sega seemed to finally do what gamers wanted all along and give Sonic a proper “throwback” installment, just in time for his 20th birthday (my God, I’m old!). And that’s where Generations comes into play – a game that was supposed to blend the best of side-scrolling Sonic gameplay with the Sonic-only 3D levels from newer games.

This would have all worked out well, if it wasn’t for one problem:

Sega.

This game is a piece of crap and I can’t believe it was even released. Just as buggy and retarded as 2007′s disaster Sonic the Hedgehog (the first of many disastrous attempts to reboot the series), Sonic Generations inflicts hour after hour of pain on the player just because it can. Sonic fans (I’m sorry if you even classify yourself as that in this day and age) will no doubt try their best to find redeeming aspects in the game (a few decent 3D New Sonic stages, an occasional decent song here and there, etc.) but there’s no escaping the harsh reality: Sonic is a series that simply cannot be saved. Sonic Generations is indisputable proof of that.

The thing players who are dumb enough to play it for more than an hour (like me!) will notice is that it’s very possible no game developers now can ever duplicate what Sega had done in the 90s. Whatever Sega “got right” was lost long ago, right around the time Sega exited the console business.

The 3D levels feel chaotic, confusing and poorly designed. The controls constantly change from stage to stage and the gameplay mechanics seem to be determined by an evil roulette wheel. Even the ear-bleeding violin renditions of Sonic music in the overworld kills your soul a bit each time you hear it.

Even the “should be easy to reproduce” 2D side-scrolling levels feel off. Here’s the perfect example of what I mean: As you go through loops on the Genesis games, holding “down” would make you into a ball, have you go even faster and protect you from damage should an enemy appear ahead (most types would get killed). It was a great way of giving the player a sense of speed but in a controllable, rather safe way. But in Sonic Generations? If you try to remain in a ball as you travel through loops, you actually lose momentum to the point where it’s significantly faster and easier to NOT be in one. In fact, most places where this is an issue won’t even allow you to go into a ball – you’ll have to settle for this new way of moving Sonic, where he moves at a snail’s pace and is vulnerable to everything.

By far the worst aspects of the game are ANY of the game’s half dozen or so boss stages. Whether you’re racing against an asinine Shadow the Hedgehog or trying like hell to maneuver through the molasses crap storm known as the Egg Dragon boss, you’ll be hating this game more and more with each successive non-traditional stage. At the end of the game when you face the Time Monster thingee you’ll simply not give a flying you-know-what in trying to decipher what the hell was going on and what you have to do. I just went online, found the solution and finished the game. It was a tedious pain in the ass even with the help, but I was sick and tired of trying to figure out what I had to do in any given boss encounter. If this game is made for kids, I believe Sega is probably responsible for hundreds of child suicides around the world because of this atrocity.

And don’t even get me started on the inconsistent framerate, getting stuck in objects (forcing you to restart stage), falling through floors (forcing you to restart stage) or being involved in a multi-part boss battle and the game failing to transport you to where you can actually proceed (forcing you to restart stage). I’m not convinced this was ever playtested.

In short, this is one of the worst games I’ve ever played in recent years, Sonic or otherwise (although I could at least complete it, unlike 2007′s buggy-to-the-point-of-not-working installment). Don’t ever play this game, even if a few levels here and there bring back okay memories of a series that was much better a decade ago. You know a game sucks when, as the credits roll, you realize the best part of this game is watching the video footage playing of previous games in the series.

Graphics: 4 | Sound: 4 | Play Control: 3 | Fun Factor: 2 | Final Score: 29%

Many games have “downloadable content”…you know, an extra character here…a new mini-stage there…but Deus Ex: Human Revolution’s DLC (“The Missing Link”) is much more than that – I would say it’s closer to what an expansion pack was back in the 90s.

The reason why I say this is because it’s not some 1- or 2- or even 3-hour affair – nope. The Missing Link clocks in at a good 6-hours, which is actually longer than many AAA titles’ single player campaigns!

In this expansion to DE:HR, you see what happened to Jensen during the time he was put into stasis aboard a ship heading to a secret research base (about halfway through the main game). But before he can get there safely he is discovered as a stowaway, taken prisoner and transported to a totally different facility – and that’s where this DLC takes place. As the next few hours of gameplay/story unfold, you learn that this other facility is run by Belltower – the for-hire military group from DE:HR – and things aren’t what they seem.

Surprisingly, there is a bit of exploration one can do in this expansion and it’s [not] non-stop action from start to finish. So that’s a [good] thing because DE:HR isn’t really the type of game that does well as an all-out action shoot em’ up. That being said, as with DE:HR, I do wish there were even more “calm time/exploration areas” to experience (perhaps a segment where you had to explore personal quarters, living areas, etc. using stealth) because what interests me most about DE:HR isn’t the gameplay, but rather the futuristic world Adam Jensen inhabits.

Now, will this game drastically change the way you look at DE:HR? No. There’s no startling revelation or new addition to items/enemies/gameplay/etc. that will make you think differently if you’ve already formed an opinion…however, you will come to appreciate the well crafted gameplay of DE:HR more (and fun level design), especially if you were like me and took a decent break from the game before going back for this DLC. It’s a pleasant way to get a nice follow-up to the much deeper main game, without committing to a 20+ hour playthrough.

This may very well be the only DLC Deus EX: Human Revolution gets (and that’s a shame), so if you’re a fan of the main game, I highly suggest you fork over some credits (or a praxis kit!) and see what The Missing Link has to offer.

Final Verdict: Purchase

Another year has come and gone and I’m here yet again to provide an insightful look into what shaped the gaming world of 2011…

2011′s Biggest News Story:
PSN Gets Hacked (& so do tons of other Sony sites)
Whether you’re a Microsoft, Nintendo, PC or Sony fanboy, you were totally sucked into the crazy early months of 2011 when hackers basically kicked Sony in the balls over and over again…for about 3 months. Everyone had opinion. The end result for Sony? Not only were 70+ million users’ account information stolen, millions of credit card numbers stored by Sony were also taken, resulting in mass user credit card canceling/replacement and even legal action from a few very disgruntled folks. The problem was that Sony got cocky and picked on the wrong group of people (hackers) and instead of being prepared for whatever the retaliation could be, us gamers instead (after the fact) find out PSN’s databses were being powered by poorly managed/non up-to-date Linux servers and that our account details weren’t encrypted very well.

In defense of Sony, I will say hackers started this crap first, by utilizing hack exploits that broke many popular games (including a game I dumped hundreds of hours into – Modern Warfare 2). I’m more pissed off that we even have to deal with hackers at all…but the real no-no was by Sony who did a piss-poor job of protecting users’ private information, creating a secure shopping/gaming environment. Then, to pour salt into the wound, Sony handed out crappy old games as freebies to make up for it. No thanks Sony. You lost me as a customer in 2011.

Runners Up:
The 3DS tanks…and gets a massive 30% price cut and another analog stick.
Well who didn’t see this coming? I mean, who’s brilliant idea was it to launch a new handheld that was barely as powerful as 2004′s PSP, put a headache-inducing 3D gimmick feature on it and charge people $250 in the middle of worst financial crisis since the Great Depression!?! In addition to that, the games just weren’t there. The 3DS’s much hyped (since the system’s reveal) Kid Icarus was nowhere to be seen and by the end of 2011, what games did players get? A rehash of Street Fighter IV and Ocarina of Time…and a fairly well reviewed Ghost Recon game. So is it any wonder that Nintendo panicked and slashed the price by a whopping 30% to $179? No…no it isn’t. Oh, and you know that silly second analog nub that Sony’s new handheld has? Turns out people actually wanted it. So now Nintendo is selling that separately for $20 extra.

The WiiU is announced/shown.
It’s no surprise that I’m not a Nintendo fan at this point in my life. I believe Nintendo deliberately drags its butt in the technology it uses, embraces gimmicks and makes zero effort to do anything creative (just resell the same series over and over). E3 2011 confirmed my suspicions that Nintendo hasn’t moved away from from the disastrous path taken over the past decade and I think the gaming world (in general) is finally starting to realize Nintendo isn’t going to always make winners. From dated hardware that barely rivals 2005/2006 tech from Microsoft/Sony to a bizarre (and probably very pricey) controller with a screen, the entire system just screams “We have no f***ing clue anymore!” Even the name is flat out ridiculous – the company is so terrified that idiot consumers it tricked into buying the Wii won’t realize their next system is from Nintendo that they used almost exactly the same name. It might be okay if they went to “Wii HD” or “Wii 2″…but “WiiU”? That sounds like a noise a pig would make.

The ”Duh!” What Did You Expect Award:
Duke Nukem Forever Fails
Really gamers? Really developers? Really publishers? This game has been vaporware since the NINETIES and there’s good reason: It was a series that went the way of the DoDo bird around the same time Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger stopped making blockbusters. No one wants to play juvenile humor games anymore…and if they do get a urge to play something ridiculous and stupid, there are series like Saints Row and Bulletstorm to keep them entertained. I think the reason why this game even came out was that the industry is so hard up for ideas they would rather dump millions of bucks and thousands of man hours into a title with a recognizable title than to try something creative. Oh, and I love that I have seen this game for less than $5 new at least 3 times since its release in June and I still have no desire to purchase it.

Runners Up:
Rage isn’t worth raving about
Perhaps Fallout and Borderlands are the biggest reasons why Rage failed to make waves like id Software hoped (are people tired of post-apocalyptic worlds, like they are with zombies?). I mean, the game didn’t look bad in trailers and despite their weak storytelling skills, id Software games have generally been enjoyable and worthy of playing – if only to see how powerful your gaming rig really was. But despite their name and talented staff behind the title, I couldn’t muster up any enthusiasm for the game. Not one person I know has played it (or expressed interest in playing it) and from what I’ve read/heard, the PC version was an absolute turd, thanks to questionable effort being put into videocard support. Oh, and even the console versions didn’t look that great (and the game was made for consoles!). And to make matters worse, John Carmack has only been on the record about a billion times saying that Rage would be the last game they make using a custom made engine from scratch and that console platforms are the future. Whatever…like we didn’t all see this much-hyped game falling flat on its face upon release.

Dragon Quest X becomes an MMORPG…on the Wii
This is kinduva weird one, mainly because I’m not a huge Dragon Warrior/Quest fan (though I do love me some DWIV!). But here’s the deal: Game companies have been using underpowered/huge userbase systems for the past several years now to crank out games they want to produce cheaply but get tons of sales from. Case in point? Monster Hunter Tri and Dragon Quest IX — One was released on the 2001-era technology of the Wii when fans were used to playing on the PS2/PSP and expecting a PS3 sequel…and the other was released on the DS when the previous two titles had appeared on Sony console systems. Now is this change to Nintendo platforms due to some powerful technical reason that made the systems more desirable? No. These companies (and others) are doing it to make games for next to nothing and deliberately avoiding the higher production costs/expectations current-gen hardware deals with. In other words, if you like Dragon Quest, the people who make Dragon Quest don’t like you. Enjoy your “AAA title” in 2012 running on hardware from 2001! – BTW – Has anyone at Square Enix tried to play an online game on the Wii?!? Hahaha!

Zynga goes public in IPO, fails investors on Day 1
Casual gamers are worthless because they don’t care enough about games to invest in them. In the world of Zynga, the shady game company behind Facebook games like Farmville and Mafia Wars, they have said that 95% of the players pay nothing to play their crappy games and only 5% of the audience generates any money for the company. When you factor in that startling figure with the knowledge that Facebook instantly takes 30% of their revenue and that the entire company’s fortune relies on Facebook and Facebook alone, is it any surprise when the first day the company goes public, it loses 5% of its value? Let’s face it – this company is just the latest in a string of tech companies desperate to go public so their founders can cash out before the next bubble pops when Facebook does its IPO in 2012. Fun Factoid: Zynga believes it is actually worth more than EA. Charming…

Most Disappointing News:
2011 Becomes Year of the Online Pass and Store Exclusive DLC
$10. That’s what gamers of used games typically have to pay now to get the multiplayer features of any given title from 2011. Publishers and developers love to moan and groan about sales lost to piracy or how David Cage’s shitty Heavy Rain was beaten by 3 million people but only sold a million copies (how could that be!?!?!?). The fact of the matter is this: Used game sales are more beneficial to the gaming community than crap like this (which will make gamers hesitate about games they can’t resell/trade-in)…and even if you could get a used game sale to generate $10 (by making the used game price $10 less), this approach effectively kills the rental market for games that utilize it. So if I manage to find a copy of Battlefield 3 at Redbox for $2…EA will tell me I gotta spend $10 to play multiplayer for a single night? Screw you game companies. And while we’re on the subject – Deus Ex, LA Noire, etc. – shame on you for making it flat out impossible to get the same game from any retailer. In order to get certain perks, you have to shop from certain stores and/or buy individual DLC piece by piece. I suppose the next thing to do is to reward players who pay for their games 12 months in advance and punish those who buy it at launch, huh?

Runners Up:
Battlefield 3 Underwhelms
I think the world was ready for the Call of Duty franchise to fade away in 2011…I really got that impression. While Battlefield: Bad Company 2 had a crappy multiplayer mode that wasn’t inviting to CoD fans at all, the series’ lifespan and structure was similarly aligned to CoD’s in that the audience who liked one should easily be able to jump over to the other. Using a bunch of extremely detailed and exciting video previews, Battlefield 3 had hype like no other game in 2011. But when the “Beta” (read: Demo) came out in September of this year, gamers all over knew EA and DICE’s dirty little secret: Battlefield 3 was gonna be a letdown (the game was scheduled to come out in weeks!). Now while I still have yet to play the single player mode (which I’ve heard can be best described as a poor clone of Call of Duty) I did play a good deal of the multiplayer mode and was very disappointed. The graphics were awful, the controls felt off and nothing was added to the BF multiplayer experience (15-20 second respawns? F*** you EA/DICE) that made it friendly to CoD fans who wanted to make the jump from one series to the other.

The NGP, er…Vita, becomes less impressive
At the beginning of this year, long before the PSN Hacking fiasco, the 3DS price drop or even the name reveal of “Vita,” I wrote a totally fanboyish article about how Sony “got it” when it came to handhelds and that the NGP (their name for Vita at the time) would take the place of consoles for many gamers around the world (who could only have one system for budget/space reasons). Since then, I’ve backed off of that almost completely. For starters, I have no faith in PSN’s infrastructure or security anymore. And for a game platform to be successful nowadays, you need an online component. So strike one. Secondly, at $249 (while a good price when initially announced) is too high now that the 3DS is at the $179 price point. Sony cannot beat Nintendo in a battle of brands and IPs – the only way it can succeed if it offers superior technology at the same or lower prices. Strike two. Lastly, from expensive, retarded, proprietary memory cards to reduced system RAM to short battery life to touch-screen-only home screens, the entire system misses the point of being a “next gen portable” (probably why it’s no longer called “NGP”) in an effort to reduce manufacturing costs and maximize profits. Strike three Sony. You’re out of here. Thanks for playing. (Oh, I’m sure it’ll do well in Japan, but this will be Sony’s last portable system, I guarantee it).

The Dumbest Thing That Happened In 2011:
The PSN Hacking Fiasco
What more can I say? Nothing topped this in 2011 in terms of sheer stupidity. From hackers being stupid and causing problems over getting their precious “Other OS” removed – to Sony provoking them when their network was guarded by a computer password named “password” (that’s how I imagine it), …the entire debacle was utterly retarded.

Runners Up:
Blizzard reveals Diablo needs an “always on” internet connection
Colorful, bright graphics? Fine. Very similar looking gameplay from I & II? Fine. Always-on internet connection required even for Single Player mode? SCREW YOU BLIZZARD. There’s really no other way to put it. Blizzard only cares about getting money from every single player at this point (which is funny, considering WoW owes most of its success to Asia where piracy rules everything) and to make a game require this not only makes it clear Blizzard doesn’t trust players, it also guarantees that 30 years from now, it’ll be impossible to just “play Diablo III to play it” (unless we have our own Blizzard authentication server).

Bethesda sues Mojang over “Scrolls”
As much as I don’t like the thieving Notch for stealing Minecraft from Infiniminer creator Zachary Barth, Bethesda suing Notch’s company over the use of “Scrolls” is downright ridiculous. Not only is “Scrolls” NOTHING like “Elder Scrolls” (one is a 3D fantasy RPG – the other is a fantasy card game), it also puts a bad mark on Bethesda’s record and makes indie developers really nervous about naming their games. This kind of nonsense has no place in gaming – chill out Bethesda.

The Best Thing That Happened In 2011:
The Tommy Wi-Show
Believe it or not, the BEST thing to happen in the world of gaming was Tommy Wisseau’s gaming show on YouTube. If you’ve never seen The Room, you’re a sheltered special needs child (kidding……no I’m not – go watch it immedaitely) and Wisseau being combined with random game reviews is beyond perfect. Why? Because Tommy is a game developer’s nightmare. He just “doesn’t get it” and instead of trying to sell us crappy gameplay or make a game appear fun to play (watching *people play games* is actually quite boring), Tommy just fumbles with all sorts of control schemes and gaming genres. When you add in his terrible dialogue (I truly believe this man is not acting) and the humorous alien/MST3K-ish set/characters/setup/etc. you get the best gaming show in years. (Yes, better than the recent Angry Video Game Nerd stuff): http://www.facebook.com/thetommywishow

Runners Up:
Digital Downloads + Game Streaming Prove Popular
Okay, OnLive only “sorta” works. And okay, Steam only works if you have a speedy internet connection. But 2011 was the year I effectively “cut the cord.” Outside of a couple physical game purchases here and there due to not being available on PC or just being a lot cheaper/easier to get physically, all my games came to me digitally in 2011. This is the future folks.

Unreal Engine 3 Samaritan Demo Previews Future Tech
While Microsoft and Sony are trying their damnedest to keep console technology from advancing before the next millennium, Epic is still hard at work on future technology that will take advantage of the hardware we one day hope to have.

==========================================

There you go folks! My look at the past year and what I thought about it. I hope 2012 will be a better year for gaming and that we [finally] get to see what Microsoft and Sony has in store for us hardware-wise. 2011, I didn’t like you very much…but you weren’t the worst ever. Onward and upward folks!

The Elder Scrolls series has always been about exploration and fantasy adventure gameplay. The fifth major Elder Scrolls largely follows in the series’ familiar footsteps, but manages to feel fresh, relevant and interesting in a gaming world much different than that of 5 years ago (when Oblivion came out and had to do much less to impress).

In the game you play as a hero who learns he/she is Dragonborn – a humanoid with the blood of a Dragon – and that he/she is the only one that can save Skyrim (and the world) from certain destruction. The game’s main quest takes about 15-20 hours to complete (perhaps even less than that if you ignore everything else) and showcases much of what the land of Skyrim has to offer.

Of course, the main quest isn’t what most players will be focusing on. No – that’d be the free-roaming, open-world exploration gameplay available to them. While this type of gameplay may not initially set well with traditional RPG fans who enjoy rather focused and fairly linear game progression (though not to the extreme of FFXIII), Skyrim fixes the mistakes Oblivion and previous Elder Scrolls titles have made by actually making the world enjoyable and approachable. Now when I say “approachable,” I mean not overwhelming every step of the way or so weighed down in text, items, locations, people, etc. that a player gets easily overwhelmed. If you want to just play the main quest and do some exploring, Skyrim will hold your hand just enough. If you wish to discover all of Bethesda’s secrets, you’ll probably need to invest in the 600+ page strategy guide with 7pt. type. Either way, all gamers will enjoy what Skyrim has to offer because at its basic level, the game doesn’t leave you stranded in the middle of a gigantic world.

And speaking of gigantic, Skyrim IS gigantic. While you may open the map screen and think to yourself, “Oh wow. 30 hours in and I’ve covered this much area – Skyrim isn’t big at all!” a few hours later you’ll be looking at the map screen thinking, “What the heck!?! How could it have taken 2 hours to explore that tiny chunk of land? Holy cow!”

Skyrim is a perfect type of game for players who want to just play for a few hours, see new content and then put the controller down. Even at close to 50 hours in I haven’t even found 20% of what there is in the game. …And to be completely honest, I probably never will. …That’s because as much as I like Skyrim, I’m not so sure it has enough substantial content to keep me coming back for months on end.

Now I have to be careful here, because this will sound really harsh and I don’t mean for it to be so blunt. But here it is: Skyrim suffers from Just Cause 2 syndrome. While the game world is beautiful, well designed, very detailed and just amazing in size…it also features a ton of copied/pasted structures, items, enemies and quests. What may have been jaw dropping at the 10-hr. mark is much less exciting 20 hours later and is borderline ignored 20 hours after that. I almost wish Skyrim was half as big but had twice as many structure types, enemy types, weapon choices, people to talk to, etc. I’ll even say this since we’re speaking of shortcomings – Skyrim never felt really challenging. Oh, sure…a few quests may have been difficult due to 5+ enemies ganging up on you at once…but the bow/arrow and your shouts made most threats quickly vanish.

And there are quite a few other things Skyrim doesn’t quite do correctly (or as well as I had hoped). Probably the biggest “flaw” outside of the Just Cause 2 thing is the rather anti-climactic ending. I sorta understand why Bethesda wanted to not have credits roll (because that would take you out of the game and certain gamers don’t like that)… …but the main quest I just spent 20 hours on seemed like a normal quest when everything went back to normal after I completed it (as if nothing had happened).

In addition to that, there were the visuals which, up close, can appear rather “meh.” And while the sound is great and voice acting very good, many NPCs say the same things and far too many characters sound alike (needed more variety). Another irksome thing was that horse travel is rather pointless. Oh, and at a few points in the main quest, the game doesn’t clearly explain what needs to be done (or if it thinks it does, it’s not clear enough). Then, on the flip-side, sometimes enemies/puzzles/strategies are too direct/straight-forward and provide almost no challenge at all. Inventory management is still a hassle/joke (I can carry 300 lbs. of iron ore but a single apple added to that will slow me to a crawl) and stuff like sleep/resting and the very empty/lifeless/boring underwater parts of the world seem almost unnecessary.

But let’s get back to the good. Because Skyrim has a lot of it. For instance, it has beautiful environmental graphics and exciting, engaging action. The excellent, thoughtful and fitting soundtrack sounds great. It’s a fast loading game with insta-saves everywhere and plenty of visual effects options for PC that make even low/mid-range cards perform well. The XBox 360 controller support in Skyrim is welcomed and, overall, Skyrim is much more accessible (gameplay-wise) than previous Elder Scrolls games. And let’s not forget stuff like the environmental effects and the fact that the land of Skyrim has the perfect gloomy/cold/tundra biome look going for it. Or how about the fact that there are literally hundreds of places to explore and quests to do. Oh, and that it makes you want to be a photographer (I have hundreds of screenshots saved on my PC right now).

Overall, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a great open-world game that finally fixes most of the genre’s shortcomings. It’s by no means a perfect game and isn’t for everyone once you cross the 20-30 hour mark… …but for people who want to be sucked into a fantasy world with dragons, magic and have tons of content to explore for a couple dozen hours, they won’t be disappointed.

Graphics: 8 | Sound: 9 | Play Control: 8 | Fun Factor: 9 | Final Score: 86%

Modern Warfare 3 is a like a fart. It stinks…and you know it will stink before you even do what needs to be done – but it’s something that must be dealt with. In a way, you could say, it’s a relief to get it out of your system.

TL;DR – We can all move on now.

It’s perhaps not fair to be so harsh on MW3, considering it’s far too easy to jump on the CoD hate bandwagon nowadays. CoD is no longer the “kewl kid” that it used to be in 2007 (at the series’ critically acclaimed peak) and after years of Call of Duty games (one after another), the series has obviously lost its edge. The fanatic players will still buy it and the casual crowd will pick it up (because, let’s face it, they buy one or two games a year, period). The magazines and big name sites out there will shower praise on it for multiplayer and poo-poo its singleplayer.

In a sea of “sameness” among fanboys and haters, how could my experience with this game possibly be any different than anyone else’s? Why should you read this review over the billion other variations out there?

Well, for starters, I didn’t even bother with the multiplayer this time. Not only did I not have an active XBox Live Gold account to test it with, Activision also decided to remove the “Bots” multiplayer mode Black Ops featured last year, forcing offline players to miss out completely (unless, of course, you want to play a shooter split-screen). Plus, even if I did have online access to play, I don’t think I would have. The maps would no doubt be just as uninspired as Black Ops’ or the Map Packs’ selections dating back to MW2, meaning I would find little to like overall.

This time around, I focused only on the single player mode because I genuinely thought that was the best thing MW3 had going for it (new content-wise). The characters of Soap, Makorov, Price, etc. are interesting enough to want to see what happens to them and the whole Russian/United States war has always piqued my interest (in games, movies, books, etc.).

Unfortunately, after a measly 6 hours of content (that actually felt gruelingly longer than that) we learn a few different things:

- World War III didn’t even have the full support of Russia’s President (?)

- Makarov was somehow in control of Russia’s entire army practically, yet he apparently had no political power whatsoever in the country

- The United States is perhaps the easiest country on the planet to invade. New York is a disaster area, surrounded by Russian subs and filled with Russian ground and air forces.

- One good guy (Price) and one bad guy (Makarov) apparently can destroy/save the world. Um…

- Price can give Makarov a call and know his location at any time, I guess.

- Oh, and air support (AC-130, I’m looking at you) is 1,000,000 times better and more effective than ground forces, no matter the situation (so why not use that for the ENTIRE war!?!).

Basically, the entire story is just dumb. You just jump from place to place this time around and effectively shrink a global war down to a grudge match between two Rambo-ish, obscure to the public, individuals. Where as MW2 showed how the world could quickly go to hell if the wrong people were in charge, MW3 clumsily tries to piece it together into a coherent storyline and cram an entire World War into a 6 hour campaign.

No offense, Activision…but there really was no need to expand upon the MW2 storyline. It ended not on a cliffhanger, but optimistically. It was a cautionary tale of how terrorists and even power hungry military people could derail the world as we know it with just a few devastating actions.

The odd thing about MW3 is how it tries hard in someways to be touching and then goes overboard in others to show brutal warfare. For example, there’s a part in the game where a Mom and her kid are blown up. Is it shocking? Nope. Heartbreaking? Nope? Funny even for the dark humorists out there? Nope. It elicits no response of any kind. Why? Because you have no attachment to these characters. You have no reason to be shocked (you already know the truck will explode). You have no reason to even pay attention.

Then, on the other end of the spectrum, you have the final part of the game where you basically spend a minute (perhaps even close to two), wrapping a cord around a man’s neck, punching him in the face and hanging him in a casino. As the lifeless body dangles back and forth in eerie detail, your character smokes a cigar.

Are we playing Duke Nukem Forever!?!

Perhaps I’m being too critical about the story, something many gamers never cared about with CoD to begin with. So let’s move on…

Graphically, the game looks fanastic – perhaps the best looking 360 game I’ve seen yet. It all runs at a snappy 60fps and – while the engine and aesthetics look/behave identical to previous CoD games – everything looks more polished. Shadows look great, facial animations look great, lighting effects look great. This is a terrific looking console game.

Voice acting and music in the game is good but nothing spectacular. The memorable, pulse pounding music of MW2 is noticeably gone – I guess Hans Zimmer decided to give his talents to a much better game (Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure) this year. What you hear is basic stuff.

Gameplay/control-wise, there’s very little to talk about. Almost every moment in the game seems ripped out of MW1 and 2, only with less care and even narrower corridors. I’m not kidding when I say that this is one of the most linear shooters I have ever played. In the final level, due to the sluggish movement you have (due to heavier armor being worn), Modern Warfare 3 feels almost like Time Crisis/Virtua Cop. In fact, the entire game almost feels like it’s on rails, with only a few seconds here and there where you can explore (I use that term loosely) or do anything besides “move forward.”

And it’s funny I should say that because that’s really what CoD games have become: “Move forward, follow the leader” games. If you move in front of the character(s)/vehicle(s) you’re supposed to follow too quickly, magic bullets will kill you (though this problem isn’t as bad as it is in Treyarch CoD games). You need to stay precisely where Activision wants you to stand at all times. And because reloading takes so long, clips are so small and enemies absorb so much ammo, you can’t survive multiple flanking attacks when you don’t have CPU allies to absorb some of the gunfire. And don’t even get me started on helicopter crashing and “character almost fell to his death” scenes…(each happen at least 3 times). It’s all…just retarded *sigh*.

The only real positives about the game was seeing characters I liked in action once again and getting some closure on the trilogy/CoD series as whole.

In the end, you just need to remember that this isn’t the true sequel to MW2 – this was Infinity Ward in name only throwing hundreds and hundreds of devs/artists/technicians/etc. into a project that was made only to feed off the previous success of the CoD series’ two most highly regarded games. It’s not as mindless and WTF-inducing as most movies Hollywood churns out nowadays…but for a game, it surely deserves recognition for being oh-so mediocre in its desperate attempt to be awesome once again.

Graphics: 9 | Sound: 5 | Play Control: 5 | Fun Factor: 4 | Final Score: 55%

Remember back in the 90s? When gas was under a buck, game magazines sometimes crossed the 400-page mark in a single issue and Sonic was still cool? Well, another thing seems to have all but ended in that decade: Slow (and few!) game sequel releases.

To help you understand why I am bringing this up now, let’s take a look at what’s coming out/has been released so far (sequel-wise) this fall:

- Assassin’s Creed Revelations
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
- Battlefield 3
- Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
- Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
- Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution
- Gears of War 3
- Dark Souls
- Batman: Arkham City
- Saints Row: The Third
- Resistance 3
- Forza Motorsport 4

So here, just in the last half of 2011, we have a dozen big name, AAA titles that are sequels to games. (Keep in mind there are even more “sequels” being released out there [especially as we get closer to Christmas])

Of these games, how many of them are sequels to games that had their last installment 5+ years ago?

- Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (March 2006)
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Deus Ex: Future War (December 2003)
- Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (December 2006)**

Okay. 25% of these games last had a major console/PC game in the series half a decade or longer ago.

What about 3-5 years? Surely, there must be more of those!

- Saints Row 3 – Saints Row 2 (October 2008)
- Gears of War 3 – Gears of War 2 (October 2008)
- Resistance 3 – Resistance 2 (November 2008)

The same? Fine. What about 1-2 years ago?

- Battlefield 3 – Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (March 2010)
- Forza Motorsport 4 – Forza Motorsport 3 (October 2009)
- Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (October 2009)
- Batman: Arkham City – Batman: Arkham Asylum (August 2009)
- Dark Souls – Demon’s Souls (October 2009)

Enough! Which games had a major new release in their series 1 year ago?

- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Call of Duty: Black Ops (November 2010)
- Assassin’s Creed: Revelations – Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (November 2010)

Alright, so are you beginning to see the issue? Half of these games are sequels to console/PC games (not portable games) that came out within the past TWO years. TWO. And two of them – Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty – barely went a whole year without releasing the next installment.

Now if we really wanted to get into the nitty gritty of the issue, let’s take a look at these series over the past 5 years and look at all the major (non re-release) releases (console/PC and portable [PSP/DS/3DS only]) these series have spawned, okay? (Ports, even if wildly different due to hardware considerations, are not included)

- Assassin’s Creed Revelations (7x releases)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (8x releases)
- Battlefield 3 (6x releases)
- Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (5x releases)
- Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (3x releases)
- Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2x releases)
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution (1x releases)
- Gears of War 3 (3x releases)
- Dark Souls (2x releases)
- Batman: Arkham City (2x releases)
- Saints Row: The Third (3x releases)
- Resistance 3 (4x releases)
- Forza Motorsport 4 (3x releases)

After looking at all the data, is it any wonder why so many games feel like they came out yesterday?

**Look at Zelda – while the console installment had a 5 year long gap, it’s not like there wasn’t any Zelda out there for people to play. We had Spirit Tracks in 2007, Link’s Crossbow Training in 2007, Phantom Hourglass in 2009 and re-releases of Ocarina of Time 3D in 2011 and Four Swords this year as well. So really, in the span of 5 years, we have had SEVEN Zelda games. That’s a Zelda release every 8 1/2 months.

Only Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty were worse…and Battlefield is right up there with them, especially if you count their most recent online and free to play endeavors.

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So what does this all mean? Well, it supports my theory that the longer of a gap there is between games in a series, the more fans will look forward to them (and appreciate them). A longer gap also helps ensure game developers have the opportunity to not only get feedback from gamers about what works/what doesn’t work, but also implement changes to a game if necessary. The issue with modern game development is this (we’ll use 2010 for a starting year as an example):

- Q4, 2010: Game is released.
- Q1, 2011: Game has sold about 80% of what it’s going to.
- Q2, 2011: Publisher/developer decides whether it makes sense to create a sequel.
- Q2-Q3, 2011: Sequel development officially starts, with a target release date of Q4, 2012.
- Q4, 2011: Sequel is previewed to gaming world, with about ~6 months of work done.
- Q2, 2012: Sequel is shown in playable form at E3, with maybe 10-12 months of work done.
- Q4, 2012: Game is released, cycle repeats.

The 1-year release cycle is even worse, with multiple teams making every other game -or- minimal effort being put into each installment as they race to reach the crucial holiday shopping season. In both situations (the 1- and 2-year schedules) there is almost zero time to create/implement/modify game engines/mechanics/etc. which leads to the very bad feeling of “sameness” among each “new” installment.

Only the games that have at least ~3 years of development time can make major changes to a game with relative ease and a decently sized staff (however companies like Activision can do it with CoD games if they wanted, simply because they have the money to employ 200+ staff for each title).

Worse than all of that though is the damage a constantly-released series can have to gamers’/consumers’ minds.

As I said at the beginning of this article, let’s rewind back to the 90s, okay?

In early 1992 you had Zelda: A Link to the Past. Now, in 1993 we got Link’s Awakening, sure (which is an amazing game)…but the true sequel to ALttP came ALMOST SEVEN years later. SEVEN. (No, CD-i games don’t count because NO ONE had a CD-i, just as I didn’t count niche iOS/Android games earlier).

And in 1991 Super Mario World came out…and for the rest of the 90s we got two main Mario games: Yoshi’s Island (’95) & Mario 64 (’96). The reason why these games didn’t feel like they were stepping on each other’s toes despite being a year apart is that they felt (and looked!) extremely different and spanned two console generations. They had very little in common gameplay-wise.

Even in the 90s, we had some Mario games aside from those released, but they were few and far between: Mario Kart (SNES & N64) and Mario RPG stand out as the most impactful/noticable games, while things like Mario Paint, Mario is Missing, CD-i Mario games and the portable “Land” games filled the void also. While it wasn’t to the point is now, even back in the 90s, there was starting to get a bit too much “Mario” in everything. But back then, as I said, the vast majority of gamers had a console-only focus and Nintendo still put effort into other IPs (like Star Fox, Donkey Kong, etc.), so the issue wasn’t as noticeable.

And then let’s look at PC games: System Shock 2 came out in 1999, FIVE years after the first game. Doom 3 came out nearly 10 years after Doom 2′s 1994 release. I could go on and on with game series that took their time and made sure appropriate development had been done to ensure new technology and a new experience was made for players.

Plus, in terms of branding, what if a BAD game is released? If a company makes Game A and it’s bad and then continues to push Game B and C out over the next 2-3 years, consumers are going to become hesitant about investing time or money into them. After all, it’s not rocket science to understand there is no chance for a game to be fixed in less than a year (especially if a sequel is greenlit before the game it’ll be a sequel to is even released!!!). It’s practically impossible to make a game in a year already and now you gotta fix a bunch of broken stuff on top of it?

What will end up happening is you’ll have gamers who become jaded in regards to a series because they’ll get the feeling the developers are ignoring their concerns. Plus, if Game A was awful but its predecessor wasn’t, a gap of 3-5 years may erase the memories of Game A from most gamers’ mind, in the way Deus Ex: Invisible War has been all but forgotten.

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Overall, my point is this: We need to slow down the release of games. At least games in the same series. If Zelda came out once every 4-5 years (among BOTH console and handheld systems), that would do wonders for that series. Same with Mario. Same with Tomb Raider. Same with any series that has abused the constant release option too much for too long.

What we’ve seen now this year is gamer backlash from people who have said “enough is enough” with Call of Duty. While the sales figures say otherwise, visit any gaming site or read any magazine and it’s clear gamers are “over” Call of Duty games and not afraid to bash it critically. I fully expect Call of Duty games to bottom out in 2013/2014 – just like they did with Guitar Hero (another Activision series) – if Kotick doesn’t turn the series into at least an every other year thing.

And in the case of Assassin’s Creed, they desperately need to take a break. Perhaps even reboot the series. Get rid of the ridiculous DNA/time travel/sci-fi nonsense and ditch the medieval GTA gameplay design which turned off many potential players in the first game. 4 console games in 5 years is way too much.

Really, ANY game series is susceptible to this. Look at Bioshock – it turned many heads in 2007 but less than 2 years later its sequel left people yawning. Meanwhile, the TRUE sequel, Bioshock Infinite, is getting the hype its deserves because it’s coming out FIVE years after the last Bioshock game Ken Levine’s team worked on. And, luckily for them, there’ll be about a 3 year gap between it and the last game so players can forget the lame cash-in sequel  from Q1 2010.

It’s incredibly humbling to discover that one of the best games of 2011 – and one of the best I’ve played in a long time – is none other than a game aimed at kids.

Since being a gamer really means you’re just a kid at heart, I gotta say…I’ve enjoyed Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure far more than I ever thought I would.

Before we go too much further, I do need to address the one thing that most gamers will notice after playing the game for any length of time: While the game is subtitled “Spyro’s Adventure” – in reality, the game just features Spyro…he’s no more the star of the game than any other Skylander. And to fans of the Spyro games (I’d be in that category), I must admit that I was a tad saddened by that. Still, it has the same feeling of previous Spyro games and perhaps that’s what I was really needing more than anything else.

However, the game is such a blast to play that you quickly forget this is a Skylanders – not Spyro – game… …and the cast of characters, levels and story are so enjoyable you’ll soon grow to enjoy the fact that a new direction was pursued. This is NOT just “more of the same.” Activision took risks here.

While I’ve namedropped “Skylanders,” a few times already, I haven’t really explained what that means. Skylanders are basically powerful creatures that belong to different elemental groups such as fire, earth, wind, etc.. As you progress through the game, you’ll encounter different areas, enemies, etc. that can only be reached by using or are more susceptible to certain elemental types. The Skylanders in the game are activated in-game by acquiring their real-world toy figurine versions and having the game communicate with them…

Wait…communicate????

What makes Skylanders truly unique is the mega cool “Portal of Power,” a USB powered pedestal that your Skylanders can be placed on in real life. The Skylanders game comes with 3 Skylanders figures to start out with and in order to use them in the game, you muyst physically place them on the device which, in turn, activates them in the game. It’s a surprisingly clever and unique approach to gameplay and adds a real value to content that could very easily just be downloadbale DLC (that is nothing more than ones and zeros). When you hold the high quality and richly detailed figurines in real life, you feel like you’re getting your money’s worth. Not only do you get a whole new character to play, but you get an awesome figurine to display on your shelf.

But wait – there’s more! Not only do the figures activate the same character in the game and make your nerdy den even nerdier, they also use technology to make the collectibles useful in another way: They retain the character data on the figures themselves, so you can bring your figure to a friend’s house, play with your own character, level them up and then bring them back home. And this character data? It works across ALL platforms. So if you have a 3DS and your buddy has a PS3, you don’t have to worry about anything – it all just works.

While this may sound like a simple enough “gimmick” to wrap your head around…let’s face it: Cross-platform gameplay is practically non-existent, even in 2011. Skylanders has successfully done what so many games should have done years ago. So kudos to them for that.

With all that said, how does the actual gameplay stack up? Well, I’m happy to report that Skylanders is a very fun game, with lots of levels to explore (some of which are quite lengthy and complex navigation-wise), items to collect (stat building hats, treasure, ability unlocks, etc.) and an enjoyable story to follow. I really like how the game avoids stagnation by introducing new gameplay/level mechanics every few stages to make things seem different, even if it all ultimately boils down to simply killing tons of enemies.

One thing I love about the story in Skylanders are the fantastic characters, all of which are enjoyable to listen to and watch their reaction to things. Flynn, voiced by Patrick Warburton (“David Putty” of Seinfeld fame), loves to end his ego-boosting talks with “Boom!” while his love interest, Cali, is a no-nonsense tough girl. The first character you encounter as a Skylander, Hugo, is a spectacled furry creature (looks like a hamster) that is so convinced sheep are deadly, evil animals that you’ll laugh every time he speaks about them. And my favorite character of all – Glumshanks – is a weakling second-in-command to the miniature baddie Kaos. Glumshanks is hilarious because in the cutscenes, you can’t help but feel for him as he has to deal with his master’s ridiculous rants and plans.

The story itself is surprisingly rewarding and – while it and the gameplay borrows heavily from many other influences (including Diablo, Futurama’s writing, etc.) – Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure manages to become something unique and special in its own right. And, even though I wish the game was even longer (it’s so good you wish it wouldn’t end), the ability to get access to new levels by buying toys is a great thing. So much DLC nowadays is just a new in-game character model, useless accessory or measly play mode addition: No – in Skylanders – when you get the extra content, it’s content you can actually play ALONG with something tangible you can hold in your hands, just like that game on a disc.

As of this review, I have already purchased two additional characters (the Walmart and Target exclusives) and the Pirate collection pack. And, I will continue to buy them all, especially the ones that add extra levels.

The graphics for the game are varied, colorful and genuinely interesting. It’s sometimes hard to discern what objects contain treasures and what are things are part of the environment, but that’s a great thing – it makes the player always look closely at their surroundings (and sometimes the detail amazes you – look at the water effects!). And the cutscenes? The CG animation is top-notch. Sound-wise, the game is excellent – it’s got a wonderfully cheery score by Hans Zimmer and the voice acting is terrific across the board. Easily one of the best sounding games I’ve heard in a long time. And control-wise, it’s so easy to understand and use anyone could enjoy the game – and with so many characters having such wildly different abilities, it’s really fun to discover their individual strengths/weaknesses. Oh, and let me mention the “Portal of Power” and game character activation once again: Stroke of genius for a game targeted at kids.

By the way – the game even comes with an ONLINE browser based game you can play with your Skylanders (http://universe.skylanders.com/play), which takes the characters you build up in the game and lets you play with them in an entirely new game, complete with modes that are similar to Angry Birds and with other players around you can interact with!

If I had any complaints (and there are a few minor things), it would be that the graphics (especially the cutscenes with dubbing issues and screen tearing/slowdown here and there) could have used quite a bit of extra polish, the gameplay could have used a “Hard” difficulty mode (to make the game increase in challenge as you level up characters), I would have liked the NPCs to have even more things to say (because what they said was so good!) and that the co-op/challenge mode could have benefited from true online play (on consoles I mean). However, none of those things are deal breakers – but certainly are things I’d like to see in the next game (which is almost a given).

In short, you NEED to buy this game, even if it is pricey. Whether you’re in elementary/middle school or just a big kid at heart, Skylanders is the rare game that makes you remember what it’s like to play a genuinely fun, clever title with great production values and really well designed gameplay. To put it another way, Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure is without a doubt the best Spyro game since the original. It’s also pushing the collectible/”gotta get ‘em all” gameplay genre in the direction that Pokémon should have went down years ago. If games like this in the future don’t go the route Skylanders has proven can work, that’d be a real shame (Are you paying attention Nintendo?).

Basically, you’ll have a smile on your face every second you play this game AND even when you shut it off and look at the collection of Skylanders toys on your shelves.

Graphics: 7 | Sound: 9 | Play Control: 10 | Fun Factor: 9 | Final Score: 87%

I know some of you will think this is link bait, but I really did have plans all along to follow up my post “Minecraft: The Infiniminer Ripoff” with an article about the success/failure of my videos and the type of reaction I got from them.

So here we are, 4 1/2 months later and what is the result of my ~20 minute long look into the shady connection between Notch’s Minecraft and Zach Barth’s Infiniminer???

- Part 1 has been viewed 3,344 times.

- Part 2 has been viewed 776 times.

- Only 23% of viewers watched the entire video and listened to everything I had to say.

- It is crystal clear that there is a second part to this video (in the name and in annotations) so “not knowing there’s more” is no excuse.

- 18% of Part 1 viewers agreed with what I was saying (via “Likes”), 82% did not

- However, 32% of Part 2 viewers agreed with what I was saying and 68% did not. Funny how there was a 78% increase in the number of people who agreed from Part 1 with me if they watched the entire thing. Hmmmm….

- Part 1 has gathered 167 comments.

- Part 2 has generated 72 (43% of 167), despite being viewed 77% less………Sounds to me like the people who stuck around had far more things to say.

- Out of all the comments in Part 1, only ~13 were NOT NEGATIVE towards me (and my comments were lumped into the ‘positive’ group). So let’s see…that means 92% of the comments are negative.

- Out of all the comments in Part 2, only ~9 were NOT NEGATIVE towards me. That means 88% of the comments are negative. So there was a 50% increase in positive comments from video 1 to 2, despite a viewership drop of 77%. Proof again that of the people who stuck around, they were more open to the idea of Notch not being a genius.

- Part 2 is where I explain and show on screen the exact timing of Infiniminer/Minecraft development, what happened to Infiniminer, talk about Zach’s own feelings concerning Minecraft and show how games can be in the same genre and not be anything alike…or, how they could be total rip-offs in a plain-as-day way. 77% of viewers did not even stick around to Part 2.

- On Part 1, ~35% of viewers are age 13-17. No other group gets even 20% of the demographic data (most were at 15%). On Part 2, the only group (again) to get over the 20% mark were the viewers 13-17. They only made up 29% at that point. In short, less younger people and a more balanced range of ages watched the 2nd part. Also, in Part 1, only 9% of viewers were women. Part 2? A whopping 19% of viewers were women. Looks like girls have better attention spans folks.

As you can see in the chart above (from YouTube’s stats), the videos barely kept the attention of the viewers BEFORE they even watched anything practically. People were skipping ahead or viewing for a few seconds and leaving. It was below average for all of Part 1. In Part 2, the video fared much better, especially at the beginning and near the areas where Infiniminer’s fate was discussed and game footage from Mario, Sonic, etc. were compared and talked about. Basically, despite having having over 77% LESS viewers, the second part was actually more successful in keeping the viewers engaged. Why? because for the people who did watch both parts, they saw not everything was just crap I was making up. Plus, Part 1 had tons of people stopping by for a few seconds, not wanting to hear me out and then leaving and/or skipping ahead. All I did was quote these people and list actual facts and people hated that.

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Now, let’s take a look at the wonderful, intelligent comments I’ve received from the viewers:

“iv’e seen 2 seconds of this and i can already tell that this guy is an intense fag” – Jangopenguin

“You a dummy” – thunder86862

“STFU MINECRAFT IS BETTER” – 55MrSpartan

“my wife says you’re an asshole” – handsband

“Notch copied infiniminer better than everyone else that tried to make a better game than infiniminer. If you make a company that creates knifes and forks you dont give credit to the original knife and fork.” – putput678

“And for your information (that I feel you quite lacking at) , Zack (the creator of Infiniminer) didn’t finish his game, he got lazy and moved on something else, Notch saw then it’s incredible potential and went “No, this can’t end here, It has to develop even farther and further’ and that with his own java code, He didn’t steal anything,developers have the right to get inspiration of other games, otherwise i’d say that Cod is rip-off quake and doom, (btw watched the whole vid, still youre wrong)” – MalekZFighter

“did notch steal your lunch money?cause it seams like you have it out for notch .the man is making a living. I bet the man who made infiniminer is playing minecraft right now.” – Videogamehunter358

“your a dumb butt, :(“ – Bloodraven216

“go and just shut the fuck up” – Tsmithy3

“So he is not a money obsessed “twat” ,he is a really nice guy,he is one of the few game developers that isnt making lots and lots of commercial saying to buy the game…so you sir are just jealous. cause it beat the shitty Infiniminer which you probably still play and cant afford Minecraft. No,I wont reply.” – TheDancingCombine

Yeah…um…so……this is the stuff that makes up 90% of the comments on my videos. A few people here and there can at least write, but they are so obsessed with making sure Minecraft is free from criticism of any kind, they are 100% close minded as to the possibility of Infiniminer playing a larger role in the origin of Minecraft than they’d like to admit.

Finally, I will agree that the 19 minute video wasn’t a thrill-a-minute thing every second. I didn’t use a ton of fancy footage and for folks with ADD, hearing someone talk with fairly static images and minimal video footage being used probably killed them. But the video had tons of really good quotes/facts/videos in them and some things made more sense to show and discuss in VIDEO form – plus, I know damned well how little people read even if it’s put there right in front of them. So yes, SHOWING a quote and NARRATING the quote is going to be far more effective against fanboys/idiots than writing a super long article.

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“Minecraft – The Infiniminer Ripoff” is by no means my best video ever, but it does provide valuable insight into the mentality of diehard Minecraft fans who flat out refuse to even be open to the idea of Notch not being a genius game god of some sort. Instead of accepting the fact that he’s a thief, they get pissy and stop watching a video that is shorter than an episode of their favorite sitcom and explains in great details how and why this goes way beyond the “Then everything’s a Doom clone!” argument.

Derp.