Games of the Decade
A post went up recently on Colony of Gamers about games of the decade. Now, I don’t necessarily think these games are worthy of the title due to enjoyment, but I see them as important in the world of gaming. Here are my picks:
Halo: Combat Evolved – Goldeneye may have changed the way FPS’s are played on consoles in the 90’s, but Bungie revolutionized it with Halo on the XBox. Now every system needs an FPS (…or Halo killer as they like to claim). The Wii even has a few of its own. This is what really made the dual-analog set-up make sense. I was actually used to playing N64 FPS’s by using the analog stick to aim and the face-buttons on the right side of the pad to move. This carried over onto the Dreamcast, then when the XBox was released, FPS’s were made to play with aiming on the right stick and moving on the left. This confused me (and I’m sure it did for other gamers), and I played southpaw until the 360 came out. I’m sure this was due to a computer mouse being used by the right-hand of a player. Some games didn’t have the southpaw option, and so I became ambidextrous.
Grand Theft Auto 3 – I’ve always envisioned a game of this type, and it finally happened. I actually did not enjoy the game, or the later sequels (the earlier top-down games are very enjoyable), but it was influential nonetheless. It started a trend of open-worlds with sandbox gameplay, giving other developers ideas for making tools for players to use in their freedom. I personally enjoyed True Crime, Mercenaries, Just Cause, and Red Faction. For me, GTA III allowed too much freedom for the player. Limitations give more for the player to think about to complete an objective, which I believe is much more satisfying. For instance, True Crime would give the player a better ending, better powerups, and better abilities by not harming or killing criminals when apprehending. Right now, Wheelman has the best driving mechanic out of any action game and I hope future open-world games take from it.
World of Warcraft – I don’t like RPG’s. I don’t even like MMORPG’s. Even as a fan of the WarCraft RTS’s and anything Blizzard puts out, I still stay away. This game has a ton of players. Even non-gamers. It doesn’t allow other MMO’s to be successful. What does this mean? Any developer will mimic what they can from this game to get their MMO or RPG off the ground. Even the recently released Torchlight takes its art direction straight from WoW. Sometimes friends can almost talk me into it when telling me about raiding and the team work. Maybe someday. But for now, I have no interest.
Guitar Hero – I’ve never had as much plastic shit in my house as I do now. Like Wow, you don’t have to be a gamer to enjoy these music games. People like music, people want to play instruments…and by getting it right it makes you feel achieved. As a musician, I only slightly enjoy these games. Anytime I play, it makes me want to pull out the real thing. But for people with no music talent, this gives them the satisfaction. It works well in parties and anytime you’ve got people around looking for something to do. The most fun I’ve had with it is just jumping around like a monkey with friends, acting like you’re really a rock star. Yeah you don’t hit all the notes, but the point is to have fun. Now we have a skateboard peripheral and who knows what could be next.
Wii Sports – It took me a while to take Nintendo seriously, but even as a hardcore gamer there’s a place for this. While the original Wii Sports didn’t do much for me, Wii Sports Resort has been a revelation. Part of me hopes this motion-based gameplay doesn’t take over, but when done right, it is a lot of fun. I don’t think I have to go into how popular the Wii has become, but I’m sure it was Wii Sports specifically that really showed off what Nintendo had up their sleeves. Sony will be releasing their wand soon and MS has Natal.
Again, I may not necessarily enjoy these games, but they are definitely influential in the world of gaming for both developers and gamers. And I guess technically, if you look at the root of it all, the seeds were planted back in the 90’s and even 80’s. What did we have this decade that could sprout a whole new way to game? I say Augmented Reality.
The odd thing here is with the new Metal Slug on PSP. I’ve got it on the DS because I found it cheap during a Gamestop sale, but I was waiting for the XBLA release that they hinted at before. It doesn’t look like that’s the case here. They will also be releasing the KoF Shmup, which sounds completely awesome. These are still Japan only releases for now – but I’m sure they’ll be here soon.
