Since I doubt I’ll be buying any new games before the end of December, it’s a safe time for me to cast my vote for game of the year. While pretty much every major publication is wetting themselves over Grand Theft Auto IV, Dead Space is sitting at the top of my list. While it isn’t revolutionary and doesn’t bring anything terribly new to the table, the polished production value and tight gameplay gripped me from beginning to end.

It wouldn’t be fair for me to go on without mentioning that Resident Evil 4 is one of my favorite games of all time, and Dead Space is very similar in many regards: over-the-shoulder, third person camera view, survival horror gameplay, and a scary as hell story-line. Combining awesome elements from a few other games, (Bioshock’s weapons upgrade system being most noticeable) while feeling unique and fresh in its own right, Dead Space is a must play for any horror enthusiast or video game fan. And to think - I almost shrugged it off as just another generic action/adventure title.

Follow this link for Dead Space’s Metacritic rankings page.

- Joshua

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When I was deciding which system to buy from the current generation of consoles, I told myself it was important to pick the one I wanted most - I had no intention of owning more than one system. So, two years ago Linda picked up the Xbox 360 for my birthday, and I’ve been nothing but happy with it. With a great lineup of first and third party games, as well as great support for Xbox Live Arcade games, I felt as though the right choice was made. For the past few months, though, I’ve noticed a lot of titles on the Nintendo Wii have really been catching my eye. More and more as I went to look at games to pick up, I was perusing the Wii section pretty heavily.

With the exception of system exclusives, the PS3 and Xbox 360 are relatively identical in terms of quality and the types of games they have to offer. The Wii, however, is very unique in terms of the titles in its library. The control scheme helps separate it quite a bit, but the system exclusives and first party titles are really what put it in a class all its own. Link, Mario, Samus... you help bring me back to my childhood.

P.S. If you haven’t seen me on XBox Live very much over the past couple of weeks, now you know why.

- Joshua

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I was never a big fan of Gears of War for the Xbox360. I thought the single player was somewhat lackluster and the on-line multiplayer was too frantic. I’m not sure why, then, I picked up Gears of War 2 (the limited edition, no less) on day one. I guess after watching most of the promo videos, the developers convinced me the changes being made would be enough to make me want to play it. Thankfully, they weren’t just spewing garbage and they’ve really delivered on their promises.

I really like the single player element this time around. Everything from the environments to the battle sequences feels like they’ve had a makeover and it makes the entire experience so much more enjoyable. In multiplayer, the maps are bigger and it feels like there is more strategy involved instead of the rush and shotgun, rush and shotgun, rush and shotgun “tactic” of the first game. Even the graphics and the sound have been touched up enough so it looks very new and fresh.

Overall, I’m glad I made the purchase. The matchmaking process in multiplayer is currently in a pretty crummy state (it can take upwards of 5 minutes to connect to most matches), but I’m confident Microsoft and Epic will have the bugs ironed out soon. If you are still on the fence about this one, let this serve as one more vote in favor of picking it up.

- Joshua

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In this blog post I mentioned 3 video games I planned on picking up before the end of the year, two of which being must-buys. Well, I picked up Fallout 3 on launch day and I plan to pick up Gears of War 2 tomorrow morning. I’ve scratched Prince of Persia off the list, though. I still think it looks like a game worth playing, but the amount of time I’m currently spending on Fallout 3 coupled with how much time I’m sure I’ll be sinking into Gears of War multiplayer just doesn’t leave room for much of anything else. If anything else happens to be Mirror’s Edge, however, I’ll be making some room.

Mirror’s Edge is a first person platformer that focuses heavily on parkour, a type of freestyle running sport. Ever since I saw initial gameplay videos, it has been on my radar, though barely registering a blip. With the recent release of the demo on Xbox Live and this very awesome trailer, I’ve decided to make it a day one purchase. There is something about the gameplay that is reminiscent of both Crackdown and Skate, two games I enjoyed immensely. Time will tell if it lives up to my expectations.

- Joshua

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One of the first games I got after getting my Xbox 360 a couple years back as a birthday present (thanks, sweetie!) was Dead Rising. Being the huge zombie nut that I am, I was very, very excited to play this game, and it was one of the primary reasons I wanted a 360 over any other system. Decimating hordes of zombies in a closed up shopping mall - parallels to Dawn of the Dead notwithstanding - what could be better? Just about any other game, apparently, because I could not get into it no matter how hard I tried. The controls were frustrating, the difficulty level was insane, the spread-out save points were an exercise in frustration, the survivor AI was horrid, etc. It took me less than a week to decide to trade it in for something else.

Now, almost two years later, when I look at people’s played games lists on XBL, I see that people are still playing it. Video game message forums still have active threads devoted to it, and most stores carry it new for $20. For these reasons, despite my initial reaction, I decided to pick it up again. I’m not sure what is so different after two years, but I’m really like this game. It is still difficult, but I think it helps add to the atmosphere and generates a nice sense of tension. After all, you are are trapped in a mall with hundreds and hundreds of zombies. The bosses are interesting, the story is engrossing in a campy horror sort of way, and the graphics still hold up fairly well to today’s games.

So, why didn’t I like it when I first played it? Honestly, I think it had something to do with not playing console games for a couple of years before getting my 360. Dead Rising really is a tough game, so I’m not sure if it’s the best games to subject “console n00bs” to. Given two years and a slew of other games to hone my skills with, I’m definitely happy I decided to give it another go.

- Joshua

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With the holiday season upon us, video game manufacturer’s are gearing up to release their “big dog” titles. With so many intriguing games coming out between now and the new year, I’ve had to whittle my selection down to three games. The following list, presented in no particular order, is what I’ve decided to drop my cash on:

1) Gears of War 2 - Even though I didn’t go gaga like the majority of Xbox 360 owners for the first installment, Epic Games looks like it might be stepping up the amount of content in Gears of War 2 - enough so that I’m interested in picking it up. My primary source of on-line shooter action has been Halo 3, so I’ve been itching to play around with something new. Hopefully GW2 has what it takes to scratch that itch.

2) Fallout 3 - When Black Isle Studios closed their doors, gamers were certain the future of the Fallout franchise was doomed. Fortunately for us, Bethesda Softworks snagged up the opportunity to produce Fallout 3, and we’ll all be able to get our eager hands on it later this month. Honestly, if I didn’t have responsibilities to tend to, I would be preparing to shut myself into our condo for however long it took me to finish it. If the overall length of their last game, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, is any indication of how massive Fallout 3 will be, I probably wouldn’t have seen the light of day for a long, long time.

3) Prince of Persia - Honestly, I had little interest in this game prior to watching this gameplay demonstration. After being horribly let down by Assassin’s Creed, I turned my attention towards other upcoming games - other non-Ubisoft games. Though I could end up getting burned again, that video does pique my interest. I will probably wait for reviews before deciding to purchase it, but I’m hoping the final verdict is positive.

There are a few more titles I may or may not pick up. I’m definitely getting the first two in this list, though. If the rest of the games I’m eyeballing turn out to be too good to pass up, the list could wind up getting a few entries longer.

- Joshua

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Based on the mediocre and borderline-negative reviews circling the internet, I almost didn’t pick up Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (SW: TFU). I loved the demo, and despite having it on my day-one purchase list, I was scared the full game wouldn’t hold up to a worthy purchase at $60. While shopping at Fred Meyer with Linda one evening, I spontaneously decided to purchase it, hoping I would disagree with reviewers.

Frankly, I’m quite happy I did. The game isn’t perfect by any means, but what it does do well is deliver a very interesting story and a fun, engaging combat system that utilizes the Euphoria physics engine. And, though I’m only between a third and halfway through the game (I’m taking my sweet time trying to collect every secret item), I haven’t encountered any show-stopping bugs or frustrating glitches that might detract from my overall enjoyment level.

So, if you’re looking for a fun, albeit short, action game to tide you over until the holiday season “big dogs” come out, SW: TFU may be right up your alley. Oh, and it goes without saying - being a Star Wars nerd makes the experience that much better.

- Joshua

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I’m not a very competitive guy. Sure, I enjoy kicking arse as much as the next person, but when playing games, I far prefer the company and the overall experience to whether or not I win or lose. However, when Soul Calibur IV for the Xbox 360 found it’s way into my possession, I became a totally different person.

When I first picked up the game, I stuck to single player play-modes against the computer AI. I was having fun honing my skills and learning the various nuances of all the characters, but I found myself anxious for some on-line play. Holy personality alteration, Bat-Man! Playing SC4 on-line, more so than any other game I’ve played, has turned me into a foul mouthed man who yells incessantly at the television. Fortunately, I tend to only play with my mic and headset on when I’m playing with friends, so at least complete strangers who find themselves pitted against me aren’t subjected to the nasty slew of expletives flying out of me. Linda gets a kick out of it since it goes against my nature to behave this way, and chuckles every time I start yelling.

Be warned, people, if you find yourself up against D3ad13 on XBL rocking Seong Mi-na, your ears might start burning a little. Keep in mind, though, it’s nothing personal; everyone I meet in the arena incurs my wrath.

- Joshua

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One of the things that bummed us out about the Xbox 360 was a dependency on Microsoft software for using extra features available on the console - most notably, digital content streaming. In order to stream music, pictures, or video from your computer, you originally had to be running some flavor of Microsoft OS (XP or Vista) so you could use Windows Media Player version 11 (WMP11). WMP11 has a built-in ability to search out other systems on your network to stream content to, and the Xbox 360 is one the systems it recognizes as a compatible device. This is all fine and dandy for Windows users, but what about us MacOS users?

Yes, we could climb out from under our safety blankets and install Windows through one of a couple of virtualization programs available for OS X, or we could make use of Apple's Boot Camp, but we really, really don't want to. We're forced to use PCs at work and school on a regular basis, but we choose to use our Macs at home. We realize this limits us, but when company's like Nullriver are awesome enough to recognize the need for software alternatives for Mac users, we get to stay sheltered in our comfortable Apple world just a little bit longer.

Connect360 is a program which runs as a preference pane plugin and acts just as WMP11 would for streaming media from a Mac to a Xbox 360. We tested it out last night and found that it works flawlessly. Due to limitations of the Xbox 360 for only accepting certain video types, we had to convert some videos to a compatible format before they would work, but it wasn't a big deal or inconvenience. A few TV episodes and movie trailers later, we realized Connect360 is $20 very, very well spent.

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