lost in games

What a year! One of the very best i can remember.

I could start by explaining what my decision criteria were for the titles nominated to be game of the year. I have to actually have played and finished the game. So although Super Mario Galaxy, Uncharted and Bioshock must be great games there are not on my nominees list as i have not played them.

Basically my game of the year 2007 is not based on release dates but on played and finished date and here are my top three games for the year 2007:

1. Okami (PS2) - A game that i enjoyed and loved a lot more that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. It simply stole my heart.

2. Call of Duty 4 (360)

3. Jeanne D’Arc (PSP)

There are many more that could have made it on the list like Farhenheit, SW:KOTR, Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction, Colin McRae: Dirt, and of course Portal.

Okami has shown me that we have a reason to go back and play titles on the PS2, Xbox and Gamecube. Maybe when we play Super Mario Galaxy in 2-3 years time we can really appreciate what a great game that was for its time.

Don’t give up on older games!

Memoirs of Giapanta Zolos
Atletico Madrid manager since 1 June 2007

After 20 matches i am in 4th position but barely, as there are 5 more teams really close to me while the third placed team Valencia are 5 points clear. Real Madrid (managed by El Rey Kokanza) is leading the title chase with Barcelona while Sevilla (managed by Bastian Tsangos) is 7th just 2 points behind me.

My Uefa Cup run is going really well managing to finish top of my group and now facing Empoli in the last 32 teams phase. If i go through i will probably be facing Werder Bremen once again (also faced them in Bremen in a fantastic 2-2 match in the group stage).

I have been busy in the January transfer market bringing a defensive midfielder and a defender. But alas, as soon as my expensive (13.5million) DMF signing played a couple of games, he went off to play for Cameroon in the African Nations Cup. And it looks like Cameroon is going through to the next stage. GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

It has been a tremendous season so far. But not without its hiccups. I have some complaints about the game.

1. Disallowed goals - In almost every match a goal is scored where the striker was either in an offside position or a foul was committed and the goal was disallowed. In almost every game! In real life this does not happen that often and it is really annoying.

2. Inconsistency - Match difficulty can be fairly inconsistent in the sense that you win games where you wouldn’t not expect to win while lose games you really shouldn’t. For example Athl. Madrid have the second best away record while having the 17th best home record. And every time a team visits Vincente Calderon there is a constant wave of attacks and pressure from the away team. It just does not make any sense me.

Despite some grievances however this is a brilliant game. And having two more human players to interact with takes it to another level.

Did i mention that Arsene Wenger feels that we could be friends?

Keith Stuart over at Guardian Unlimited’s Gamesblog declared PES the most disappointing game in 2007. I could not agree more. I have been a loyal supporter of the series since its PS1 days but this last iteration has been a disaster. I decided to punish Konami for releasing such a game by not buying it and instead opting out for EA’s football game which although not perfect has a lot going for it (pace and the Be a pro mode).

I just hope that Konami has now learned a valuable lesson that even their most loyal followers may desert the series if it stagnates. It is time they took it to the next-geneation we expect PES to be in. Smooth online play and with more options and less arcadey if possible. And also the presentation desperately needs to improve.

Fingers crossed for next year.

Have you played Portal?
No? Then go to your room and don’t come out until you have!
Yes? Then you have earned the right to enjoy this song (currently my ringtone) once again.

Me, i would just like to dedicate the song to Filaman, his 360 and his flat for giving me one of the most memorable gaming moments of my life.

Youtube

Lyrics - click link below

(more…)

It is for videos like this one the theatre mode was created by Bungie. And this is just a week since the game was released. Whatever next? Unbelievably lucky kill.

TO: SPIDEY
FROM: ZOLOS
2 October 2007

Hello there SPIDEY,

Long time since we fought alongside one another. We kinda lost our ways after that hard fight against the Brute Force. This is one of my first photos when we were travelling along Tsavo highway. One of our favourite rides. Do you remember? We had some good times together and many many kills.

I hope we can meet up soon and FINISH THE FIGHT!

Your comrade
Zolos the Arbiter