Previous HUDs:
11/17 - Let's Start a Fire!
11/7 - Big Games Storm
10/31 - OMFG It's a Girl! Edition
10/24 - Scary Stuff Edition
Approaching Critical Mass
The general consensus around here is that there are way too many games out right now. Too many sequels, too many shooters, too many downloadables, too many everythings. This week, we ask our journalists whether quality is being sacrificed, which good games were totally overlooked this year, and (even though we're struggling for time to play games that are already OUT) what their most anticipated 2009 releases are.
- Robin
(1) What did you play over Thanksgiving weekend?
I actually didn't get to play anything on Thanksgiving day, but the two days leading up to the holiday were filled with Hasbro Family Game Night. It seems like a great game to bring family and friends together. Yes, my family and friends really are that cheesy... and we had a great time!
I mostly played "rake mom's yard" and "do carpentry at sister's new house" – not really AAA titles, to be sure – but I did manage to squeeze in some Mirror's Edge and Fable 2. Hoping to dedicate an entirely inappropriate amount of time to those two pursuits this weekend.
Well, being Canadian, Thanksgiving has long since come and gone but I was playing the finish college game while my colleagues were munching down on roasted bird. The "finish college" game included three back-to-back-to-back final bosses (exams) in one six hour block. I nearly was taken out of the fight but luckily regained all of my HP by hitting the local bar with my squad.
Fallout 3, Streetfighter II HD Remix, Sacred 2, Left 4 Dead. It felt good to play quite a few titles.
I played Hasbro Family Game Night. My mom beat me in Battleship. I beat her in Connect Four.
Largely took a break from video games over the Turkey break -- outside of trying to play Left4Dead on split-screen on my mom-in-law's 32-inch TV. It was still fun, but not as fun as playing with other people online -- when you get the whole TV screen to yourself.
I spent the later part of last week (and part of the weekend) plowing through Prince of Persia on the PlayStation 3. Without a doubt, it's one of my favorite games this year, just an absolutely breathtaking experience from beginning to end. It is a bit on the "easy" side, but a videogame doesn't have to be "hard" to be fun; the simple act of playing it was a thrill.
I went back to playing Saint's Row 2 since I never was able to give it the time and dedication the game deserved. That is, when my friends weren't pestering me to join a game of Gears of War 2 or Left 4 Dead, which I absolutely had a blast playing.
Chris Taylor
The Thanksgiving holidays didn't really affect me, being English and whatnot, so I had plenty of time to play games. A new one to my collection is Chrono Trigger DS which I absolutely adore. I've also been playing Left 4 Dead for sometimes 6 hours at a time, which I don't often do. I had to play Shaun White Snowboarding which was so boring to felt like throwing it out of my window to be crushed by a passing car. Oh, and more Fallout 3 of course.
Rock Band 2. Downloaded a bunch of new stuff (Foo Fighters, The Killers, Nirvana) and made a dent in the world tour mode on guitar and drums.
Reader Comments (2)
While I understand the sentiment, that a lot of great games dropping at the same time feels a little overwhelming, I don't think it's really that logical. After all, it's not like you those games stop being good in January, February, or March. If you feel like that time period is such a release wasteland, why not just hold off on buying the games that you don't have time for at the holidays until sometime the next year? You can probably even get them cheaper then...
No one excited for Heavy Rain?