I'm so indie. I make Top 11 lists instead of Top 10. You can't control me. This isn't even a "Best of" list. Why don't you go home and cry to the establishment?
Anyway, 2008 was a pretty good year for games. I found a few new favorites (lookin' at you, Fallout). Here, however, are some of the games that slipped through my grasp.
Pure
Why I Didn’t Play It: Sports games, especially ones involving sports foreign to me, are never my cup of tea. Despite
SSX Tricky being my favorite game of all time, other sports games like
Madden and
FIFA never caught my attention. I don’t follow ATV racing in real life, and so that interest never carried over to my gaming.
Why I Want To Play It: I played the demo, and it had a similar
SSX vibe to it. If they just made the tracks a little bit zanier, made the tricks a little bit crazier, and added drivers with much more personality, I might have picked this one up. Of course, I’m still holding out for the possibility of an
SSX 4.
Dead Space
Why I Didn’t Play It: Two reasons: cash supply and genre (though mostly the former). I have never liked, nor played, survival horror. It just isn’t my thing.
Dead Space jumped out at me for some reason, though. Maybe it’s because it looks beautiful, scary, and difficult without being too much of a hassle.
Why I Want To Play It: Aside from getting admirable reviews from publications and the Destructoid community, it would probably be a fun game to have my friend and I play simultaneously. Then we would meet up at lunch and talk about all the “Oh shit!” moments.
No More Heroes
Why I Didn’t Play It: It’s on the Wii, and it didn’t look like a surefire success. I didn’t want to dust off the white paperweight (“Oh no he di-int”). The game looked a bit too quirky for my taste, and I consider myself to be a pretty quirky dude. Word of mouth also informed of some tedious parts that I didn’t want to deal with.
Why I Want To Play It: It is easily the year’s best Wii game among the core gaming community. It looks funny, people seem to love the main character, and it has a cool artistic style. Also, I heard you save by taking a shit.
Persona 4
Why I Didn’t Play It: I don’t own a Playstation 2. In addition, I fall into the “Western RPG” camp. I’ve never completed a
Final Fantasy, nor do I particularly want to. Anime is also one of those things I just don’t find very appealing.
Why I Want To Play It: It is almost unanimously described as one the best games of the year, and a near-perfect RPG. Whereas
No More Heroes looked a bit too off-kilter,
Persona 4 looks just right.
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Why I Didn’t Play It: Having never played the first two (gasp), anticipation wasn’t high for this one. Additional whining about the series’ change in direction was another turnoff. It seems that popular opinion was split about this one.
Why I Want To Play It: Thanks to Gamestop customer support, I gleaned a free code for the original on XBLA. The game is friggin’ funny, and I’ve heard that the newest iteration upholds that reputation. It looks colorful, and whimsical, and joyous. The $40 price tag certainly doesn’t hurt it either.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Why I Didn’t Play It: Never playing the first three games in the
Metal Gear Solid series is one of my greatest shames. I have never owned any of the three Playstations. Unfortunately, I do not own or foresee myself buying a PS3, so this one is sitting on the “Fat chance” pile of games to play.
Why I Want To Play It: The story sounds awesome, intriguing, and convoluted. Even though I pretty much know what happens, it seems like one of those games that needs to be experienced.
Prince of Persia
Why I Didn’t Play It: The game’s reputation for constant handholding and ease of play made it seem to be unworthy of a $60 investment.
Why I Want To Play It: It looks gorgeous, and its ease is not necessarily a turnoff. I enjoy games more for the experience than I do a challenge. I have no problem turning
Fallout 3 to its easiest setting and then just soaking up the world around me.
Prince of Persia seems right up that alley. Not the same type of game, but the same type of traversal experience.
World of Goo
Why I Didn’t Play It: I didn’t feel like dusting off my Wii, and my PC is shit. In 7th grade, I took a technology class, and I couldn’t design bridges to save my life. From what I’d seen, this looked like the same thing.
Why I Want To Play It: It’s cheap, it looks cute, and Neil Patrick Harris gave it an award. The trifecta.
Boom Blox
Why I Didn’t Play It: Another Wii game. I just couldn’t bring myself to turn on the system. A large component of the game is multiplayer, and no one else in my household plays games. Hence, I play multi online.
Why I Want To Play It: It’s got Steven Spielberg’s name on the box. Plus, Jenga is the shizzit and you can blow up sheep. Need I say more?
Fable II
Why I Didn’t Play It: Despite getting a positive review from my friend, I never played the first
Fable. The sequel never sold me on its own. The artistic direction was bit creepy, in my opinion. It looked like one of those games that I could wait for a price drop on.
Why I Want To Play It: My friend, who is a cheap bastard (read: Jewish), actually bought this game, so I know it has to be good. I might just end up borrowing it. Plus, you can fuck people and make babies and shoot dudes and get fat. That’s a legendary combination of maneuvers.
Eternity’s Child
Why I Didn’t Play It: My PC sucks. Luc Bernard is emo.
Why I Want To Play It: It’s like a train wreck. I’m scared but I can’t look away.
See you in 2009!
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