‘As of right now’ Xbox Live Stats
I am ONE achievement away from completing NHL 08 — that’ll give me a clean sweep of the EA Sports Hockey series for Xbox 360! Other than that, I’m just grinding away at Mass Effect in prep for the sequel…
Stevivor’s stats:
| Rep: | 5-Star |
| GamerScore: | 63,123 |
| Zone: | Pro |
| Completed XBLA: | 5 |
| Completed Retail: | 38 |
| GS Completion %: | 63% |
| Unique Achievements Unlocked: | 2,364 |
| Country Rank: | 390 |
| World Rank: | 21,138 |
| Completion Rank: | 10,538 |
100% completed games:
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Hockey Night in Melbourne – February 12
End of December Xbox Live stats
I’m back in Saskatoon, SK and spamming easy NTSC games. Sue me.
I’ll easily be in the 60,000s by the time I’m back in Australia.
Stevivor’s stats:
| Rep: | 5-Star |
| GamerScore: | 59,468 |
| Zone: | Pro |
| Completed XBLA: | 5 |
| Completed Retail: | 36 |
| GS Completion %: | 62% |
| Unique Achievements Unlocked: | 2,246 |
| Country Rank: | 543 |
| World Rank: | 22,854 |
| Completion Rank: | 12,201 |
100% completed games:
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I met Steve Yzerman!
Oh yeah, life is good. As Saskatoon is saying, “Come for the Hockey, stay for the Party!” — I think I’ll change that to “Come for the Finn, stay for the meeting of one of your idols!”.

Why type out the story when a video post from 2010juniors.com can do the same?
Stevivor.com’s “Top 5″ Video Games of 2009
Picking the top 5 movies of 2009? Easy. You’re pulling from one source; two if you count direct to video as something glaringly different than the traditional “starts at the cinema” model. Try picking 5 games – do you stick to the Xbox 360 and the PS3? What about the Wii? Or the PSP, or DS? Don’t forget about PC…
So, rather than applying some sort of scientific process to set all consoles and games on a level playing field, we’re splitting it up this year; say hello to your top games of 2009, plus a ton more notable runners-up!
Best Multiplatform game of 2009
Batman: Arkham Asylum
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Runners Up: Assassin’s Creed 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Resident Evil 5
Big loser: Terminator: Salvation – The Video Game
Batman: Arkham Asylum almost lost this very close race for game of the year. In 20 years of gaming, this title holds the distinct honour of being the only game I’ve ever had a save file go corrupt on. Needless to say, my first thought when considering the game was how I was forced to replay a game after getting through 79% of it beforehand.
My second thought? I barely noticed I’d played through most of the sequences before! Two words on why: Mark Hamill. Or, Kevin Conroy. How about Arleen Sorkin? Or simply, “HOLY NOSTALGIA, (Batman!)”.
The plot is stellar, the voice actors are literally ripped from our childhood – come on, you know Batman: The Animated Series is a total classic – and…finally…it’s a Batman game that actually makes you feel like Batman. Moreover, it’s a superhero game finally done right. With a sequel recently announced, Batman fans cannot be happier right now.

Arkham Asylum narrowly beat out Assassin’s Creed 2, though the two share strong plots and simple controls that are easy to learn and hard to master, and Ghostbusters: The Video Game which relied on a ton of nostalgia itself. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was almost up there due to addictive multiplayer modes and a non-stop (though short) single-player campaign. Dragon Age: Origins gets a nod purely for its gay sex option* in my book, and since I’m being biased, Resident Evil 5 also gets tipped for finally tying together all the series’ loose plot threads. Mostly.
The big loser of the year? Terminator: Salvation – The Video Game. Hands down. If you want to learn how to very loosely tie a game to a film franchise, and then rush it out the door so quickly a first-year game developer could have done a better job, look no further. Avoid it all costs unless you’re looking for some relatively achievements/trophies.
Best Xbox 360 exclusive game of 2009
Halo 3: ODST

Runners Up: 1 vs 100, Forza Motorsport 3, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, Shadow Complex, Trials HD
Big loser: Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
The problem with console-exclusive awards this year is that there weren’t too many exclusives. THAT IS A GOOD THING. Still, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo all need their exclusives, so let’s start the awarding. From the Microsoft camp, Halo 3: ODST gets the gong. It’s another Halo; not particularly innovative in its single player campaign, but still a lot of fun. The multiplayer, however, is why this award is being issued; if you haven’t played the Firefight mode yet, you’re missing out. It’s fun with a partner, and even better as 4-player co-op. Throwing Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, and Adam Baldwin (all from Firefly), Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica), and Nolan North (every single video game on the planet, it seems – most notably Uncharted, Assassin’s Creed, and Prince of Persia) into the mix surely didn’t hurt either. The star power and replayability just put it past the post when compared to Forza Motorsport 3.

The Xbox Live Arcade beats the PlayStation Network and its offerings hands down. The best of the crop this year? 1 vs 100 looks like a hoot; it’s shame Australians don’t get to find out, first-hand. Trials HD is another easy to learn, hard to master puzzle game – you’ll lose hours on it before you realise – and Shadow Complex is an old gamer’s side-scroller brought into the present. On the DLC front, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City is literally a standalone game and shouldn’t just be considered DLC; hopefully we’ll see more of that type of content rather than extra costume packs and other money-wasters.
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts was the big loser; a celebrated game series simultaneously reintroduced and brought back fifteen steps. A decent start was crushed by a crap 3D world and the unnecessary inclusion of VEHICLES (yay, vehicles!) and shows you just how wrong Rare got it.
Best Sony PS3 exclusive game of 2009
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Runners Up: inFamous, Killzone 2, God of War Collection, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
Big loser: EyePet
If only Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull was handled by Naughty Dog; we might have gotten something closer to what Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was and less (spoiler alert!) aliens.
The gameplay is solid, there’s a very rich multiplayer mode that doesn’t feel tacked on, and we have a chauvinistic, cocky, pigheaded bastard of a main hero…who you will LOVE. As a fellow reviewer has pointed out, “Uncharted 2 is a 10/10 game after two minutes of the first level.” Much like Modern Warfare 2, you’re constantly running, jumping, and fighting with zero let up; it’s an action movie that you get the privilege of controlling.

To summarise: this is the game that makes me want to buy (or at least borrow) a PS3. No other game will ever make me say that.
inFamous was solid, but releasing it at the same time as Prototype drew too many comparisons to make this a contender for Sony’s exclusive prize. Killzone 2 is a solid shooter, and Sony’s answer to Halo; well worth picking up. Hitting up that familiar (especially this year!) sense of nostalgia, the God of War collection is worth a purchase if you’re new to the series and getting drawn-in by the marketing for God of War III; the updated graphics make it appealing to old fans as well. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time delivers another solid sequel the addictively fun series.
I know the Blonde Lusty Team loves it, but the big loser for Sony is EyePet. Imagine what that game could have been if released with Sony’s motion controller/camera bundle, codenamed Gem, next year…
Best Nintendo Wii exclusive game of 2009
New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Runners Up: House of the Dead: Overkill, Mad World, Dead Space: Extraction
Big loser: Nintendo in general. Can we move on now?
I’ve already admitted to being biased, so I’ll flat out say it: the Wii is useless. An SD console in this day and age is enough to warrant that claim; the introduction of Microsoft’s Project Natal and Sony’s Gem systems next year is the icing on that cake. The amount of party games and other shovelware is beyond ridiculous and Nintendo’s ever-slipping market share is starting to show that consumers are clueing into that fact.
That gripe aside, a lot of games are riding the nostalgia wave this year, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii is the most unashamedly so. This is Super Mario Bros. 3, but with 4-player multiplayer!
…and that’s all I got. I don’t need to sell this game, do I? You’ve already bought it.
Our runners up? House of the Dead: Overkill is perfectly tongue-in-cheek and extremely fun and funny to play. Mad World seemed to get lost amongst party games and didn’t get the respect it deserved (try putting it out for the Xbox 360 and PS3, Sega!), and Dead Space Extraction is another solid on-rails shooter that has spectacular graphics; forget you’re spazzing out with motion controls for a second and you might think you’re playing an HD console.
The big loser? I think we’ve already covered that. To conclude: Nintendo, this isn’t 2006. A vitality sensor isn’t an innovation, it’s pointless. How about an HD console in the very near future, and less gimmicks in general?
Best handheld game of 2009
Scribblenauts

Runners Up: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Canabalt, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Big loser: Every single app on Facebook that doubles as a game.
For all the loathing I focus on Nintendo for the Wii, I’ll throw them praise for their handheld ventures; the DS is actually pretty cool. Most of our handheld entries come from that console, but Scribblenauts takes the prize this year very easily. Sure, it might be a bit rough around the edges at times, but the concept is unbeatable. Just try to find a word in the dictionary that doesn’t have an in-game model. You won’t. Fans of puzzle games and those with great imagination will lose themselves in this game.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars gets a mention purely because any game that gives you an updated version of Drug Wars is a-ok in my book. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story gets a nod for its creative setup, as does Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box.
If you can’t tell, by this point of our proceedings, I’m (i)Phoning it in, so the last nod goes to Canabalt – go grab it from the App Store and you will not be sorry. It’s simple, but hilariously fun – check it out online first if you don’t believe me (and Merry Christmas! Don’t say I didn’t get you anything.).
The big loser? Technically not a handheld device, but accessible on mobiles, I’m lumping together every single “game” on Facebook and giving it one huge raspberry. I’m looking specifically at you, Farmville!
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So that’s it for 2009. I’m by no means an expert when it comes to Nintendo or Sony, or arguably Microsoft or video games in general, so if you thought I got it wrong (or right!), let’s hear why in the comments. I’m also very keen to see your own personal top 5 and bottom 5 games for the year, so what are you waiting for? Put ‘em up!
*And nope, I wasn’t kidding. Here’s Jimmy Kimmel to explain and provide you with yet another Christmas pressie — probably NSFW, but not too bad.



















































Categories: general blog Tags: family



This week saw SAG reject a voice acting contract with major video game publishers (over 70 of ‘em, in fact) largely due to what’s been classified as “atmospheric” work.