So, gaming wise, how was 2010 for you? Did you have any games that came out the year just gone to blow you away? Anything that dissapointed you?
2010 had some big news in various forms.
- Nintendo announced the 3DS, the succesor to the DS with inbuilt, glasses free 3D.
- Gearbox ended the long running joke that was Duke Nukem Forever by taking a hold of the IP, and putting into more capable hands that means we should actually see a release within the next year or so.
- The whole Activision/Inifinty Ward saga.
- On the subject of COD, Black Ops managed to stir up some controversy of it's own.
- A decade of waiting finally saw Starcraft get its sequal. Well, 1/3 of a sequal anyway.
- Indie darling Minecraft went mental.
- On a similar note, iPod/iPhone owners went crazy for some Angry Birds.
- Kinect and the Playstation Move release to help Microsoft and Sony respectively move in on Nintendos motion control market.
So, how was your 2010?
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2010 was a little bit of a mixed bag for me.
On one good hand I had;
- Darksiders
- No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
- Bioshock 2
- Super Street Fighter IV
- Halo Reach
- Assassins Creed Brotherhood
- Serious Sam First & Second Encounter HD
- Fable III
- Duke Nukem Forevers announcement. <3
- Marvel Vs Capcom 3, with Dante and Deadpool announced. <3
On the middle of the scale hand;
- Heavy Rain
- White Knight Chronicles
- Aliens Vs Predator
- Starcraft II
- Sonic And Sega All Stars Racing
- Final Fantasy XIII
- C&C4
On the dissapointing hand;
- Ninja Theory deciding that Devil May Cry needs a reboot, because it was 'too over the top', making the combat (from all current reports) slower, removing the ever vital style meter, and re-designed Dante to look like a ****ing meth-addict who loves Twilight/the lead producer self inserting himself. Seriously Ninja Theory. Go die in a hole. Your games are all glorified QTEs, and why Capcom ever let you guys get anywhere near DMC I'll never know.
- Sonic 4, for simply not truly capturing the spirit of the original games like Sega said they were aiming for.
- King Of Fighters XIII for not having Vanessa in it.
- Blizzard, for releasing a new WoW expansion to steal even more of my social life away.
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II for playing like an expansion to the first game. Good game, just oh so incredibly short.
One the (how many hands do I have?) I didn't get to play you this year and wanted to;
- Red Dead Redemption
- Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
- Alpha Protcol
- Transformers: War For Cybertron
- Crackdown 2
- Kirby's Epic Yarn
- Vanquish
- Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
- Sonic Colours
- Donkey Kong Country Returns
- Splatterhouse
But at the end of the day, the year just passed heralded the release of a game that has cemented itself a place in my top 3 games of all time.
Bayonetta.
I seriously could not pick a fault with Bayonetta if you asked me to. I can understand that not everyone will like Bayonetta, whether it's the combat, the style of the game or Bayonetta herself that pushes you away, but for me, the game is quite literally perfection.
The graphics are superb, with the areas presented so damm beautiful in their own ways. The characters and enemies are all well designed, and well animated, expecially for the various Climaxes and Torture attacks.
The combat flows so incredibly well, and feels like a natural evolution to the DMC style that Hideki Kamiyama started all those years ago. The difficulty is perfectly tuned every step of the way. And oh dear lord, the boss fights with Jeanne make me happy in places only my doctor should know about. <3
The soundtrack is fantastic, from the atmospheric choir pieces, to the it shouldn't work as well as it does mix of Fly Me To The Moon. The voice acting all works fantastically as well.
And finally, Bayonetta herself. I love everything about her. The design, the personality, the way she walks, the way she talks, everything. Her sass towards enemies, playful flirting with Luka, the stubborn maternal instict with Cereza, the catty fights with Jeanne, lamenting killing a boss before without leaving time for "pillow talk". Everything is nailed down perfectly. So thank you 2010 and Platinum Games, for giving Bayonetta to me.
But where is Mass Effect 2 mang. Seriously thats my game of the year for finally blurring the lines between good and evil with the Renegade/Paragon prompts.
Good
Mass Effect 2. This is the ultimate game. Mass Effect 3 has to provide me with a blow up Tali doll.
Bayonetta. She is awesome and its the first japanese roaming beat em up I can play.
Sonic and Sega Racing. There is something satisfying about beating Sonic as Alex Kidd.
Halo Reach. Loved this.
Super Street Fighter IV. Love it.
Middling
Call of Duty Black Ops. Great story. But its too much like any other CoD. Zombies are awesome again though.
Havent had the time to play/get these:
Red Dead
Toy Story 3
Sonic Colours
Vanquish
Disappointments.
Sonic 4. I cant like this game. Why cant Dimps go away?
Fable 3. Its just such a bizarre game. I mean it has a great story but the King segment is so short. Plus it still doesnt play as nicely as Fable 1.
Got a PS3. Waiting for a game to tear me away from the 360 though.
Why I'm looking forward more to next year
Mortal Kombat. And its looking like a serious contender to Super Street Fighter IV.
Gears 3. Reverse Horde mode. YESH.
Portal 2.
Marvel V Capcom 3. I mean it has Deadpool, Ameratsu and it might have Haggar.
The Last Guardian.
Mass Effect 3. I know it probably wont make it this year but I can dream.
2010 got off to a slow start for me[considering I couldn't bring my consoles with me to college...dang grades]. But let's see we had:
NMH2
Bayo
SSFIV
GT5
BB:CS
NBA JAM
Sonic 4
Don't believe I got any other games in 2010 actually. Hmmm...interesting. Still though good quality stuff right there.
NMH2 - was my most hyped game coming into 2010[just ahead of Bayo], and I bought this game on the release date[even if I couldn't play it for another 4 months >.<]. After finally getting to play it, I was so pleased. While it did have some things I wish were improved upon, the game as a whole lived up to my expectations.
Bayonetta - ,which came out before even NMH2, wasn't even in my possession til mid summer[around July I believe] and boy was I in for a treat. First off, I don't play hack 'n slashes. If you want to put NMH in that genre, then that was my first game of the genre, but Bayo was something I had never experienced before. Over the top to the extreme. And insanely difficult for me, considering these types of mechanics had never been something I dealt with. In the end...easily one of the best games I played this year[top 3].
SSFIV/BB:CS - For the insanely competitive fighting game fan inside of me, 2010 was probably an even bigger year than 2009. SSFIV was just an all around improvement on SFIV. In every aspect. And BB:CS...might've been an even bigger/better jump in improvement to CT than SSFIV was to SFIV. However, I did discover that BB:CS was rather exploitable in its highly competitive play end. Soooo much memorization in combos and imbalance. SSFIV beats it out as my fighting game of choice for the year.
GT5 - OHH EMM GEE!! Finally! Good.Lord. Polyphony...took you guys long enough. But since playing this gem of a game, I completely understand PD's reason. I'm going to go ahead and give this game my nod as 2nd favorite game of the year. And what's so funny...is i'm not really that far in it yet. Game offers so much for single players and people that love racing online. The amount of detail and number of cars to choose from in this game is really too much. Considering the majority of the cars are cycled through the in-game used car dealership...you don't even see most of the vehicles til you're fairly far into the game. Love it, love it, love it!
Sonic 4 - Wasn't really all that hyped for this game. I mean...I usually just stick to the Sonic games I know are great and play them over and over. But I did kinda get excited closer to release. And ended up buying this game. Must admit...I had fun. Haven't played it much since beating it, but it's definitely not as bad as many people probably expected it to be. Of course it has its handful of flaws and the unfortunate and somewhat unfair affiliation with past Genesis titles that it couldn't possibly live up to...but yea...I suppose I can deal with that. lol I'm going to keep an eye on this Sonic 4 title's future episodes and see what becomes of it.
NBA JAM - "Kaboom!!" Do I really even need to say anything about this? I mean...really though. It's NBA JAM. Feels almost exactly like the original...now that is something to be happy about.
So yea...a rather decent year in gaming. Sucks I didn't have much time to really get into stuff[like 2009...man...that year rocked my world] though. I'm looking forward to 2011 being even more ridiculous than 2010 though. Can't wait.
Also...JT and Gyser...*high fives*. I agree on pretty much everything you guys said as well. Woop woop!
But where is Mass Effect 2 mang.
I brought the first Mass Effect the day it came out and since that day I've played maybe 1 or 2 hours worth. It's not that I didn't enjoy it. I loved what I played. It's just other games demanded my attention more at the time, and I've just never gotten back into it. And I HATE going in to a sequal (especially one like Mass Effect 2 where what you did in ME1 has quite an effect on ME2) without having finished the first one, even if only once through.
i played a lot of games but......i feel so depressed at not finishing final fantasy 13 its sooooo cool and i love it a lot but why cant i kill the end boss he's just such a horrible meanie.
-___- i feel incomplete.
Had to edit in something. I completely forgot that Serious Sam First & Second Encounter HD were 2010. <3
Here's our (mine and my partners) picks this year, in a nice, long, well thought out article. This seriously took almost an entire 24 hour to come up with and put together. Stayed up till 3am last night readying it up. So, hope you all enjoy.
its very good jinsoku, though its a toughy choosing between bioshock2 and halo but i agree with it, halo is just too awsome... and i loved dead rising2 and everything else you mentioned but what i dont agree with is alan wake, my sister loves that game but it creeps me i couldnt pass the fist part in the game. i would've chose residentevil 5 if i were you. or silenthill.
Most RE fans hate RE5 for not being a true game, SF...as much as I enjoyed it, I do know it wasn't a true horror game for those who are into that particular atmosphere/style of game more than I am - I'm a fan of the story more!
RE 5 also wasn't this year. 
2010 was a very good year. I got 3 games (FF VIII, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, and NBA2K11) and was absolutely blown away by 2 of them. FF VIII didn't get enough play by me to either "wow" or "disappoint" me. The other two games are quick enough for me to spend a couple of hours and make progress. FF VIII is going to suffer the same fate that Star Ocean suffers--if I'm not in the mood to play it during the months of July and August, it just doesn't happen.
It was also cool that I got to play SA:DX for the first time due to its release on XBLA. I've made some progress on the missions that are new to me and have recalled the frustrations of raising chao. :p
This casual gaming fan had a good year.
Most RE fans hate RE5 for not being a true game, SF...as much as I enjoyed it, I do know it wasn't a true horror game for those who are into that particular atmosphere/style of game more than I am - I'm a fan of the story more!
oh really.... but resident evil games never scared me, they only make me jumpy, and the beginning of RE5 sure did that with the huge moster thing. but i guess if its not this year than okay it shouldnt make the list.
"FF VIII is going to suffer the same fate that Star Ocean suffers--if I'm not in the mood to play it during the months of July and August, it just doesn't happen"
i loved both games, i'm a bit like you i guess there are games i just keep hanging i dont know if i'll ever finish ff13 so thank god for video walkthroughs i can see how it ends... but i had to finish star ocean the last hope it is just wonderful and lots of fun. i hope you enjoy it dear 
the story is interesting though i probably wont play the game again.
Games that I enjoyed this year? Mass Effect 2, Heavy Rain, Bayonetta, Fallout: New Vegas, MGS: Peace Walker and Bioshock 2. Alan Wake was okay but I had higher expectactions.
As for utterly terrible games I had the misfortune to actually bother playing? Final Fantasy XIII. Game was absolutely terrible.
final fantasy 13 was great, it just takes a special taste to enjoy and a good understanding. ff12 is the one that sucked.
FF XIII not that popular on here is it? Man that was one of my favorite games to come out this year.
Why 2010 rocked:
-Final Fantasy XIII Seriously I couldn't get enough of this game. Sure the characters are hit or miss, but the overall story was pretty epic and the gameplay was oh so satisfying. It's probably the only game this year where I actually spent time unlocking every achievement.
-Dead Rising 2 An improvement over the first in every possible way and I loved that game.
-Sonic Colours 3D Sonic that's actually fun to play? I guess the world ends this year.
- The 3DS and Resident Evil Revelations announced Resident Evil is probably one of my favorite franchises, and the anouncement of a new resi game for the new 3DS makes me giddy. I loved RE5 (though I thought it was a bit short) and getting to see my man Chris again is so exciting!
-Halo Reach I am not a huge FPS fan, but I do enjoy a good Halo game. I may suck at multiplayer, but the single player was so much. It makes me forget all about ODST.
-DragonQuest IX May not be as pretty as the previous DQ VIII but feels like a full true sequel in every other way. Character designs are top notch and the story was pretty charming too. Tag mode is the greatest thing ever!
Why 2010 was so-so:
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker This is not a bad game, in fact it is a really good game. However it never really feels like a true MGS game. The story is entertaining, but never mind blowing. The secondary characters might as well never exsisted. The bosses (a highlight of the series) were nothing more than really long shot a thons with singing vehicles. Also is it just me or were some Snakes moves missing from previous games. Still Multiplay was fun!
Monster Hunter Tri There is nothing wrong with this game fundamentally. It plays like anyother MH game, and offers some serious thrills. Compared to Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, however, MHTri seems suprisingly bare.
Bioshock 2 A solid game for sure, but its basically the same game as Bioshock with a weaker story.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 Dual lightsabers is just cosmetic and the story was almost horrid. The gameplay itself was a blast, and the Force Powers were so dazziling.
Why 2010 sucked:
Meadl of Honor Again I may not be a FPS fan, but I do enjoy the MOH series. However this game was as bland as bland could be. Throuhgout my entire single play experience the game never rose above that "me too" experience. Multiplay may be better, but I don't enjoy Multiplay FPS so there!
Metroid Other-M Something is seriously wrong with this game. I am a huge Metroid fan but I absolute could not stomach all of Samus' whinning to actually enjoy this game. I want my badass bounty hunter to be... you know... badass. Sure she could do badass moves, but I couldn't make her do badass moves. Alot of the moves in this game are automatic, which kinda kills the feeling of dellivering a finshing blow on a difficult enemy. Also the level design is lacking in its Metroidness. next time Nintendo if you still want outsiders doing Metroid hire the Castlevania team, at least they know what they are doing.
Devil May Cry Redesign There nothing I can say that hasn't already been said. I guess what really makes me mad is the fact Capcom are going to let the team plow ahead with the redesign depsite fans crticisims. Way to alienate your fanbase there Capcom.
My Crappy XBOX The damn thing tore up on me. Not the three rings of death, but a damn E 68 error. That's a hardrive failure. My Xbox plays fine without the HD pluged in, put in though I get a black screen. I guess that means I've lost all my saved data (see my FFXIII statement to realise how mad I am). Seriously why couldn't I just get the three rings like normal people. Pisses me off!
I tend to play games at least a year out of their date, so my 2010 was largely what one would have gotten out of 2009:
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks - It took a curiously long time for me to finish this game. Maybe it's the "play one Zelda and you've played them all" mentality I have, but there wasn't that much to engross me. Yes, the superficial gloss of riding on trains was entertaining (at least, until I became a regular train commuter in real life), but beyond that, it was everything I'd already come to expect of the series. I put it down due to extreme hatred for rabbit collecting and came back to it solely to finish it off: a game so neutral, it was numbing (GameFAQs voting Majora's Mask the game of the decade made me vomit, by strange coincidence).
Chrono Trigger DS - I may never understand the popularity of this game. If I'd perhaps played this game upon its original release in 1997, it may have been scoped through nostalgic lenses, but playing it with no impressions other than a general consensus of its greatness left me with a very different opinion. I can't count how many times I lost track of the plot as I was shunted back and forth through time. The expectation of grinding like a millstone to overcome Lavos was vexatious. There were many good points to this game, but they were swamped in a morass of "What am I doing now?" moments that made the overall presentation seem far less than stellar.
Golden Sun II: The Lost Age - Comparatively old, yes, but I finished the first one years ago, tried immediately to start the second one, and found my password didn't work for some reason. When I heard a DS iteration was coming, I decided to give this another go, but egads! I could barely stand the arduous levelling up in Chrono Trigger; this thing had me grinding away my life. And if Chrono Trigger had an incomprehensible plot, it was still considerably better than Golden Sun II's. All this game had me do was wander from village to dell, looking for...um...you know, the thing...actually, what was I seeking? At least the first game gave me a clear set of villains to beat in a climactic clash at the end. I traded this game in out of disgust well before finishing it.
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth - As a law student, and a dorky one at that, I have several heroes of jurisprudence: Louis Brandeis, Benjamin Cardozo, Lord Mansfield...and Miles Edgeworth. Honestly, this game surpassed all of my expectations, providing nearly everything except an actual courtroom. The guilty humour Edgeworth's questions at their own peril; maybe playing the other three AA games (yes, there is only the Phoenix trilogy and anything else to the contrary is false) made the pattern recognition a little too easy, but the game was cleverly presented and was never lacking in suspense. It's also nice to see lawyers who don't rely on spirit channelling or trying to read too deeply into body language (but there is so much wrong with little Franziska...so much wrong).
Team Fortress 2 - My school's computer club was devoted to high-minded pursuits of computer science. Namely, playing Quake II for three to four hours after classes. I heard of TF2 in 2007, but made no connection until a friend of mine told me that it was an evolution of the Quake series. I picked it up in June 2010, starting with a free weekend, and never looked back. Now, over 600 hours later and with 75% of the achievements unlocked, I guess I have to say I like it. I might even go so far as to say I'm a force-a-nature.
Ace Attorney 4 exists and is good...Apollo lives and will probably be in 5, Move on with your life, wouldja! D
Games of 2010 I love:
Mass Effect 2
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Phantasy Star Zero
Super Street Fighter IV
Sakura Wars
Sam & Max: The Devil's Toybox (one episode in and loving it)
Games I liked but was left wanting of 2010:
Fable III
Fallout: New Vegas
Halo Reach
Crackdown 2
Games I have yet to play of 2010 but own:
Fragile Dreams
Deadly Premonition
Infinite Space/Line
Mafia 2
Blazblue (have played, though not really much yet)
Amnesia
Super Meat Boy
Games I still want to buy of 2010:
Yakuza 3
Heavy Rain
Red Dead Redemption
Golden Sun
Dragon Quest IX
Bayonetta
Sonic Colours
Metroid: Other M
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Red Steel 2
Sin & Punishment 2
No More Heroes 2
Enslaved
Batman Brave and the Bold
3D Dot Game Heroes
Demon Souls (released this year in Europe)
Games of 2010 I have no interest in, at all:
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2
Final Fantasy XIII
CoD: Black Ops
Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions
Darksiders
Games I completed in 2010:
Dragon Age Origins
Mass Effect 2
Far Cry 2
Modern Warfare 2
Prototype
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Halo ODST
Halo Reach
Fable II (for the third time)
Fable III
Indy game Ben There, Dan That
And Tekken 6's Scenario Campaigne mode
Stickghost's Top 3 Games Of 2010:
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Sonic Colors
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City (well, the PS3 version at least.)
Actually, that was ALL the games I played from this year. Of course, I didn't have a job for over 3/4ths of the year so I didn't exactly have money to just be throwing around. There's definately more games I want to buy...
Dead Rising 2: Loved the first one.
Razing Storm: Loved the arcade version, and I LOVE lightgun games (if my website is anything to go by) so this is as good as bought, and damn it, I would have if my PS3 wasn't still broken.
That Gunblade NY and LA Machineguns pack (whatever it's called): I mentioned I LOVE shooters, right? I'm surprised I haven't bought this yet. Actually, I went out to buy it, didn't find it, and have been too lazy to go again yet.
Sonic 4: Duh. Again, my PS3 is out, and that's my online console.
For all your lightgun shooting needs and some other insanity too.
Forgot about Peace Walker! Brother got it me for my birthday too. Good thing he doesn't go on these forums, or he'd be pissed!
