The Top Ten Game News Stories of 2006

[Kaspian]

As the seemingly endless parade of year end top ten lists march on, the Armchiar Empire has chimed in with their picks for the top ten news stories in 2006 (http://www.armchairempire.com/Features/top-10-news-2006/title-page.htm). Some of the entries focus on very specific events, while others look at overall processes that slowly unraveled over the last twelve months. Among the issues discussed are system launches, game announcements, and a few debates that gained traction over the year.

[Claus DuBois]

Something tells me that there are way way way too many game news websites. There are so many, that they all struggle to come up with a new list of something only to realize that all the other sites also struggled & surprise surprise came up with the same new list. Next year it will be the "top ten websites that reported the top ten websites that reported the top ten news stories in 2007" all of which is to say that it seems that all the reporting websites should receive a dubious aheivement award for exceedingly underacheiving in creativity". Be the best or go home!

cheers

[Spigot]

That's why my one and only news source is Evil Avatar. If it's not good enough for EvAv, I don't bother with it. As it stands, I already am soaking my brain in FAR too much gaming info that I can't share with anyone in real life aside from my brother and one or two friends. ARG!

I like that list though, Kaspian. The item about crappy gaming journalism is definately true. Thankfully it seems as though most of the reputable sites have really tightened the literary belt of late, but I still can't wait for gaming journalism to realize that they don't have to do puerile jokes and stream-of-consciousness rants to review a game.

And Kane... sweet, tiberium-enhanced Kane. I really need to go back and play through the NOD campaign of Tiberium Dawn.

And why wasn't Okami in that little blurb about games being art? Sure, there's the article on Clover, but Okami = Art as much as anything to come out so far. Sigh.

The rest of the stories were good, but those were the ones that stuck out for me. And man, do I want a 360. Not as much as I want a Wii, but the 360 is at that tipping point where there are enough games that I actually am interested in that if the price were to drop a bit, I could see myself getting one before 2007 is over.

[51|RandoM]

As it stands, I already am soaking my brain in FAR too much gaming info that I can't share with anyone in real life aside from my brother and one or two friends. ARG!

Don't you hate that? Friends/coworkers know I'm a hardcore gamer, so they'll ask for information about this or that platform/upgrade/game, but they can't actually discuss any of that stuff. They just nod, look puzzled, take a note sometimes and then go about their business.

Then, just the opposite, you go into a place like gamestop and they just assume you don't know jack shit about gaming... which only really would put you like one rung below them anyways.

"This is a PC game, do you have a PC?"

I did before I walked in here, though it might've been stolen while I stood around listening to you talk on the phone before getting around to actually trying to ring me up.

"This has high requirements, how new is your PC?"

My PC is smart enough to do your job, but also smart enough to not want it, so I think it won't have any problems running this game.

"Do you want the strategy guide?"

I already bought the strategy guide, but they called it "The Internet."

"Do you want game insurance?"

Does it cover me if the game sucks?

"Ummm, no."

Ok, I don't want it then. The media will get used exactly once to install the game on my PC and then it will never ever be used again thanks to my good friends at gamecopyworld and their handy supply of no-cd cracks.

Usually... Usually at that point they will wise up and not ask me if I'd like to reserve a copy of Madden 53, since even though every store on the planet will get 1000 copies on release day, I might have trouble getting one... assuming I played Madden, which I don't<spit>.

I mean, what is the deal with reserves anyways? You want me to reserve something, ok, reserve a copy of the next Devil Summoner game, cause I know you're only going to get like one copy of that and it is probably going home with the assistant manager.

"We can't do a reserve on that, sorry."

Ok, fine. Then tell me why I should come in here once to reserve a game and then come in again to pick it up? Why shouldn't I just pre-order it online and have it delivered to my door? I don't have to come in here once, much less twice, I don't have to sit through this same spiel again.

"Beats me"

That's ok, I'm going to tell you why. I come in here to make impulse gaming purchases. You know what happens when I come in here on an impulse expedition and you ask me

"Did you reserve a copy?",

and when I say no

"Sorry we only have reserved copies."

It makes me ask myself why on Earth I continue to step foot into this, the 7th level of videogame hell.

Oops, sorry about that, got off on a bit of a tangient.

[The Continental]

While the emergency workers clean up the bodies from RandoM's thread derailment, I'd like to comment that seeing that list of top 10 news stories made me realize just how uneventful the year in gaming was. Considering this year saw two new console launches and another hit its stride, that's kind of sad.

[Stupid Fat Hobbit]

As it stands, I already am soaking my brain in FAR too much gaming info that I can't share with anyone in real life aside from my brother and one or two friends. ARG!

Too true. Personally, I read EvAv, and one other gaming site and even my friends who are gamers are so much less up on the news than I am that most of our conversations consist of me relating the news to them, rather than discussing anything. You'd think it would be nice to be the one guy in the group who knows stuff, but no. It is a terrible, terrible burden. Terrible.

Anyway, about the article... it was moderately interesting, but did it really need to be on ten seperate pages? It's worse than a Tom's Hardware story.

[Spigot]

Hee hee. That spiel is waaaay too familiar for me, Random. I have a good EB near me where the manager knows me and I don't have to put up with that kind of crap but if I go in on the weekend when he's not there or to a different store where I'm not a regular, ye gods...

I was buying Zelda and MGS3: Subsistence this weekend at the EB near my in-laws. While I was buying them, the assistant manager said, "You'll be getting the strategy guide, right? 20% off!" "No. I don't buy many strat guides and I do have the internet." "Well, you ARE getting the damage protection, right?" I just looked at him and said, "Hell no! I actually take care of my games."

At which point he said, "Oh, you're one of THOSE," as if I was some unclean leper who stumbled into his store with open pustules and missing digits.

When I informed him that I'm basically a fixture at the EB near my house and probably could quote him EB Canada's business policies dating back to the late 90's despite never having worked for the company (yeah, I have no life), he stopped trying to upsell me on crap and just gave me the bloody games and let me leave the store.

Punk kids.

ANYWAY... Good article. I didn't mind the 10 page layout though I didn't notice the little detail box in the corner of each page until I got to the #1 news story. Sigh. And the #1 story had a LOT of spelling mistakes.

PS. Happy New Year, you louts!

[TrackZero]

While the emergency workers clean up the bodies from RandoM's thread derailment, I'd like to comment that seeing that list of top 10 news stories made me realize just how uneventful the year in gaming was. Considering this year saw two new console launches and another hit its stride, that's kind of sad.

Yeah, I mean, it's always so disappointing when we're in a gaming golden age, with so many awesome titles coming out you can't even keep up with them. Yet noone is making "eventful" news to waste time discussing instead. Pfft, good riddance 2006! /sarcasm

[TrackZero]

Too true. Personally, I read EvAv, and one other gaming site and even my friends who are gamers are so much less up on the news than I am that most of our conversations consist of me relating the news to them, rather than discussing anything. You'd think it would be nice to be the one guy in the group who knows stuff, but no. It is a terrible, terrible burden. Terrible.

Thankfully I work with LiquidRain, so we discuss the odd news stories that come out. But yeah, I generally find myself just telling my gamer friends what's happening, more than any actual discussion. Unless it's a title they picked up (and they're usually behind the curve by a few months).

[Varsity]

A top ten ordered by quality would be much more interesting.

[Kamalot]

Phil Harrison and Kaz Hirai found themselves on more than one occasion trying to convince the press that the controller had been in development for quite some time. It was interesting that with all this, many seemed to have forgotten the tech demo from a year earlier where Sony was pouring virtual glasses of water with motion sensitive controllers.
I was under the impression that the water demo was done with an eyetoy and special cups, not motion sensitive controllers. Can anyone confirm this?

[Triprotic]

You'd think it would be nice to be the one guy in the group who knows stuff, but no. It is a terrible, terrible burden. Terrible.

Very true, not just for computer game stuff either.

[Evil Avatar]

That's why my one and only news source is Evil Avatar. If it's not good enough for EvAv, I don't bother with it. As it stands, I already am soaking my brain in FAR too much gaming info that I can't share with anyone in real life aside from my brother and one or two friends. ARG!

I don't normally approve other sites "Top 10 this" or "Top 10 that" articles, but it has been a slow week for gaming news.

I have noticed when browsing around that we really cover the bulk of the important gaming news.

I think the only thing we missed that was super cool was the release of the Armed Assault demo (http://www.armedassault.com/). And if I can find a site without a 30-minute wait to download the file I'll be checking it out.

[The Continental]

Yeah, I mean, it's always so disappointing when we're in a gaming golden age, with so many awesome titles coming out you can't even keep up with them. Yet noone is making "eventful" news to waste time discussing instead. Pfft, good riddance 2006! /sarcasm

I think your usage of "gaming golden age" allowed it to just barely edge out "PC gaming is dead" as the most overused and inaccurately applied gaming zeitgeist.

I was referring more so to the fact that there weren't many huge games that seemed to transcend all the platform fanaticism and have everyone agreeing that they were just really good games. Zelda and FFXII could have done it, but Zelda seemed mired in the GC/Wii controller mess, and FFXII just seems to have been overlooked for being a PS2 game. But thanks for jumping down my throat Track. :)

[TrackZero]

I think your usage of "gaming golden age" allowed it to just barely edge out "PC gaming is dead" as the most overused and inaccurately applied gaming zeitgeist.

I was referring more so to the fact that there weren't many huge games that seemed to transcend all the platform fanaticism and have everyone agreeing that they were just really good games. Zelda and FFXII could have done it, but Zelda seemed mired in the GC/Wii controller mess, and FFXII just seems to have been overlooked for being a PS2 game. But thanks for jumping down my throat Track. :)

I didn't mean to jump down your throat, but you're far off base. If your two examples at FF XII and Zelda not being "mega hits", then that's no basis at all. It just means the old standards didn't sucker people in as much anymore. We've had Gears of War, Guitar Hero II, Elite Beat Agents, Every Extend Extra, Oblivion, Company of Heroes, etc, just to name a few of the awesome titles that came out this year. There's simply game after game that looks great, and I don't have time to play them all. So yes, it's a gaming golden age, as I didn't find myself waiting large stretches of time to find stuff to play this last year.

As for a unifying game...try Gears of War. 2 million copies sold within a month of release, and I personally know a bunch of people who bought 360s just to play it. That's exactly what you can hope for in a huge game. As for "transcending gaming fanatacism". Sorry, that doesn't happen. Especially in this day and age of brand loyalty. Name the last game that performed said feat.

[ElectricMonk]

The lists of things that were relevant to the tiny group of game journalists in a year may be the most useless list ever.

I mean what gamer actually cares that e3 has gone away?

[Spigot]

The lists of things that were relevant to the tiny group of game journalists in a year may be the most useless list ever.

I mean what gamer actually cares that e3 has gone away?
This past year was the first time in several years that E3 actually seemed relevant. Go figure that it was the final E3.

I'm not terribly sad about the demise of E3 though. Just spread the hype out throughout the year instead of condensing it into one short show.