Viewing Thread:
"Has 2007 been a good year for games?"

Ok, I know, we're not done yet, but with all the big names announced for the end of the year now and everyone having a good idea about what the next few month involve, we can get an idea of what 2007 has been like for games.


CONSOLES
It started well for Microsoft. Still raking in money, despite the Wii launch, they were out in front by a long way. Even when the PS3 finally came along, the 360 looked as strong as ever, thanks to an amazing year for games. Halo 3 was obviously the main highlight for many, which more than doubled sales of the console at launch.

Nintendo just saw the Wii userbase grow and grow. I don't think they realised just how popular it was going to be, and it now looks like it'll be the number 1 console for Christmas, even after all the nay-sayers made fun of the low-res graphics and 'gimmicky' controls.

Sony, however, are keeping a brave face on things. Their console has sold fairly well on it's own, but once you put it up against the figures from the other 2 then it looks pretty bad. Some PR mess-ups and the price of the console itself haven't really helped, but it's still the lack of games which let the PS3 down.

GAMES
Well, who can mention 2007 without talking about Halo 3? On the news, in the papers and all over the media, this game was always going to be a money spinner for Microsoft, even if the game turned out to be worse than expected. In my eyes it does a pretty good job of improving on the last 2 games, though. Elsewhere on the 360, we've seen Forza 2's paint jobs, PGR4's bikes, Gears of War almost stealing Halo's thunder and yet another FIFA Football game, this time actually making some decent improvements. But we’ve also had games such as Viva Piñata, Crackdown, Need for Speed Carbon and the fantastic GRAW 2.

Sony’s problem seems to be convincing third parties to make games (then getting them to make decent games). We should have a new Gran Turismo by the end of the year, but for now we have Motorstorm and Fall of Man as the stand out titles, with online-only Warhawk and the Graphically excellent but slighty shallow Heavenly Sword following up behind. Hopefully Sony will address the issues with more original releases in 2008.

Nintendo, by their very nature, tend to have plenty of exclusives. Metroid Prime 3 has all the makings of a classic, as does Mario Galaxy, but from their released games, Mario Strikers Charged, Elidees, Super Paper Mario and Excite Truck (arriving far later over here than in the US and Japan) all make their mark, not forgetting a re-hash of the best Resident Evil game to date which made it even better.

So has it been a good year? Yes, unless you only own a PS3, in which case you’ll still have had fun, but you might be looking a little green-eyed at the competition.

i think that 2007 was the year of the xbox and wii.... but i think in 2008 the playstation3 will own both of these consoles and be number 1 ...as alot of games have been delayed for a 2008 realese especially ones that everybody is talking about...like mgs4 for example =D

Let's hope it is also free.

Going on the fact that there is at least 5 games I want for the 360 released in November I guess 2007 must be a pretty decent year for games. :0)

Yeah hopefully they will add some plasmids back in like Sonic Boom as i had looked forward to it.

I hope the addition content is for PC and 360 and not just for 360

Chippxero wrote:
> I was reading through and thought "yeah he's mentioned some
> of the decent titles this year" then it hit me that one
> game is missing and i thought, "Shame on you"
>
> Bioshock, this was a fantastic game, sure it had no
> replayability really and didn't quite match up with what was
> promised but it was still a hell of a game.

Yeah, oversight on my part. Bioshock, from what I've played, is pretty stunning. The best news is that they're going to support it ongoing with some downloadable content to give you more missions/scenarios etc

I was reading through and thought "yeah he's mentioned some of the decent titles this year" then it hit me that one game is missing and i thought, "Shame on you"

Bioshock, this was a fantastic game, sure it had no replayability really and didn't quite match up with what was promised but it was still a hell of a game.

I noticed that there is no mention of PC titles really.

Quality titles:

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
The Orange Box (HL2:EP2, Portal and Team Fortress 2)
Bioshock
World In Conflict

All of the above where epic and a great play through, for a PC gamer with a half decent rig these titles gave some damn good memories and moments.

Unfortunately there were a few titles that were a big let down.

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

I don't get how they managed to go wrong with this, they took two ideas that are great "Battlefield" and "Quake" and came out with something that was small and very very average. What should have been a hit during summer became a late average forgettable game.

Halo 2

Too late, graphically it looks like 2002 and plays terribly, poor story, graphics, gameplay and a stupid vista only release made it fail.

I really do think it's too early to evaluate games for the year too as most of the gems are held off till winter anyway and most formats have some damn good titles coming up

Mario Galaxy
Metroid Prime 3
Assassins Creed
Mass Effect
Call of Duty 4
Unreal Tournement 3

And there are probably a few more due that i have forgotten about.

Feb or March I think?

When did God of War II come out?

Where the limitations of the monatary system allow, I'd like to think I was a 'die-hard Nintendo fan'

I happen to think Nintendo have taken steps in the right direction for the first time in many years by making the console more accessible to the mass market. I do think they could have done more, but I'm happy at the moment.

As for their 're-hashes' - I find that games that change too much from their originals often lose something - after all, Rising Sun and European Assault were rubbish compared to the graphically inferior Frontline Medal of Honor game.

Nintendo seem to manage to keep most of what made a game great, whilst adding more to it to make a new or unique adventure. After all, Fludd wasn't that bad in Super Mario Sunshine, and look at the new approach all the critics seem to like in Galaxy. Ocarina of Time was a great leap from A Link To The Past, and although of the same franchise, the games were very different. Pikmin 2 was the preferred game in the series. Super Paper Mario is very different to previous Paper Mario games. And I'd be suprised if anyone could tell me Wii Sports wasn't fun - especially as it costs nothing to play if you have a Wii!

Not everything about Nintendo is great - but if you look at how many franchises they own and how many they have recently created, compare them to those of SCEE and Microsoft Game Studios, and look at the ratio of good to bad games, I'm sure most people will agree that Ninendo have made a great effort over the last few years.

Garin wrote:
> pb wrote:
> Look at the lineup of games on the NES, on the SNES, on the
> N64,
> it's not all that different to what we have coming out or even
> out now on the Wii. I can't see the problem.
>
> If what you want is true, I'd say its a very big problem. 5th
> generation console and they're releasing the same stuff again?
> :) So much for Nintendo the innovators.

Same franchises...

But then there are all the new things which the diehard fans are (apparently) complaining about. Apparently they want everything to be the same as on the 8 or 16 bits. I was pointing out that the franchises are still there (in addition to the new stuff) and Nintendo aren't mucking about with them too much in most cases.

Nothing's changed. Prime and the NES original feel like the fricking same game.