Apocalypso's Atomic Arcade: 1/31/10

2010/02/06

Fallout: New Vegas Coming Mid-2010, New Trailer

I seem to recall a while back, in fact it was last month, that this title was said to be coming this year. Now the word is that Fallout: New Vegas will be coming in “Fall” this year, but by saying, that they’re referring to the Northern Hemisphere, so to clear things up a bit for us down in the Southern part of the world: somewhere in the middle of 2010. I remember reading it was about June, but Fall could mean somewhere in a three month target.

In addition to this, a trailer for the game has been released, showing a glimpse of what the trip to Las Vegas, or what’s left of it, will be like.

Fallout: New Vegas

New Vegas is being developed by Obsidian, published by Bethesda, and it should be out this year. The game is not a sequel to Fallout 3 or any other Fallout title, but is classified as more of a spin-off title in the same series or universe. It does take place on the West Coast of the former United States, more akin to the first Fallout games, and unlike Fallout 3 which took place for the most part on the East Coast, in Washington D.C.

I’m a little doubtful about the Fall release date actually. Even though it’s been in development for some time, we’ve hardly seen anything of the game, although, the word is we’ll be hearing and seeing more of it soon. So things could be looking up.

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Source: Fallout: New Vegas Teaser - 1up.com

Video Game Deals on Amazon

This edition of VGD’s or video game deals has a good deal on The Beatles Rock Band Limited Edition Premium Bundle, where you can save $21, and there’s some deals on new games that are yet to be released as well like Metro 2033 and Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition.

Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of WWII [Game Download] - $10.65 - Save $9.34
The Lord Of The Rings: Shadows Of Angmar - $9.39 - Save $5.85

PS2

Code Lyoko: Quest for Infinity - $20.17 - Save $9.82
Cars Race O Rama - $19.82 - Save $8.00

PS3

Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince - $16.98 - Save $14.50
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 - $9.96 - Save $13.53
DiRT 2 - $44.99 - Save $7.99

360

The Beatles: Rock Band Limited Edition Premium Bundle - $139.00 - Save $20.99
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition - $131.99 - Save $6.00
Metro 2033 - $56.99 - Save $3.00
Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition - $46.99 - Save $3.00

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Source: nowinstock.net

Rock Band Megadeth DLC: Rust in Peace

Like I’ve said time and time again, I couldn’t care less about these music games, even though I’m a big fan of music in general. But this is something I do care about: There’s a Megadeth DLC coming to Rock Band in the coming week, and all the tracks are from the 1990 classic, Rust in Peace: the album considered by many to not only be one of the band’s best, next to Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying, but also one of the best thrash metal albums ever.

I tend to agree. I’d also be inclined to put Countdown to Extinction up there as well.

The track list, if you don’t know all ready, includes most of the songs off of the album, and as you can see it includes some of their best known songs like the two singles, "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" and "Hangar 18" . The only one it seems to lack is the bonus track of “My Creation”, but it wasn’t that good anyway.

"Holy Wars... The Punishment Due"
"Hangar 18"
"Take No Prisoners"
"Five Magics"
"Poison Was the Cure"
"Lucretia"
"Tornado of Souls"
"Dawn Patrol"
"Rust In Peace... Polaris"

Source: 1up.com

2010/02/05

Mass Effect Redemption #2 Comic Out Now

There’s a Mass Effect comic series by Dark Horse called Redemption, and apart from the news that there was an offer recently for the first issue being free for iPhone owners, there’s now word that the 2nd issue is available now.

“Dark Horse Comics, famed publishers of Star Wars, Hellboy, and other amazing comics are teaming up with BioWare to produce Mass Effect Redemption. A new comic book series set in the events following the Reaper's desperate assault on the Citadel: Shepard has gone missing since destroying Sovereign and preventing the Reaper invasion, but Liara T'Soni is intent on finding the Commander.”

You can download a preview of it on the main website in PDF format, and you can even get the full version of it on Amazon.

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http://masseffect.bioware.com/market/books/

TrailerBlazer: Metro 2033

This is the one of those cool trailers I watched live on The Verge the other night, which was stacked full of them, including BioShock 2. I’m thinking this is the 3rd trailer that was talked about the other day.

This trailer shows off some stuff like a mounted flamethrower, kind of like a massive machine gun but not. That’s the one thing that caught my attention. It’s looking awesome, this game.

By the way, I was reading the other day that on THQ’s online store, they are giving away Red Faction: Guerrilla for free when you preorder Metro 2033. Initially it was thought this was an exclusive deal, but now you can also get the same deal on where else but Steam. I saw this on Metro 2033’s Twitter page.

Well, according to Steam, it’s 1 month, 1 week, 5 days and 3 hours to go (while typing this). Waiting…

TrailerBlazer: The Secret World

The Secret World Kingsmouth Trailer

The Secret World is a title that was previously referred to by the working titles of Cabal and The World Online. They showed a trailer of this game by Funcom on The Verge recently.

You know, I’d never really paid much attention to this one, but clearly it’s all about zombies or similar looking monsters even though the narrator of this trailer refuses to call them by that name, and it’s been in development for years all ready. The turn off for me is that it’s an MMO, seeing as it’s being made by the same people who made Anarchy Online and Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures.

Moving on, then. Sorry, but MMOs just aren’t my thing.

2010/02/04

Aliens vs. Predator Multiplayer Demo Out Today, Available on Steam for PC

There were rumours on the net this week (I remember reading about in on the 2nd) that the AvP demo would be coming out this week. There was promise of a demo quite a while back all ready.

Initially That Videogame Blog spotted that it would be released on Xbox Live this week, but it’s since been revealed that the demo will come out on all platforms including the Xbox 360, PC, and the PS3.

The catch? It’s multiplayer only, obviously and sadly meaning no singleplayer. It should be on Steam, Xbox Live and PlayStation Network as I’m typing this. The good news accompanying the announcement from Sega is that new screenshots and a trailer have been released as well. I’m going to have a look at those some time.

The demo is said to include one map from the game, with one game type, deathmatch, and all three species, the marine, the Xenomorph (Alien), and the Predator being playable.

So, it is a pre-release demo after all, just about two weeks before the full release, which should happen on the 16th of February, 2010.

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Sources: That Videogame Blog - Big Download - Shacknews

TrailerBlazer: BioShock 2 Launch Trailer

On The Verge on Wednesday, it was stocked full of trailers, but good ones. Usually it’s one or two worthwhile games a week, but this episode showed trailers for about three or four games that I’m waiting for this year.

BioShock 2 Launch Trailer

One of these was the launch trailer for BioShock 2. It shows the Little Sister running from a Splicer, only to be saved by none other than the Big Daddy, except it’s your character, the Prototype Big Daddy, and he drills that Splicer, baby!

Then there's a bit of peace and quiet before another full fledged ambush from some more Splicers, including what looks like Coach from Left 4 Dead 2 – this big African dude who takes on the Big Daddy and actually kicks his @ss for a while before being shocked while standing in a puddle. He had your number, big guy.

And then there’s another of the main characters, and antagonists, in the game, the Big Sister, who breaks the glass ceiling overhead, drops down and floods the whole room, before she and the Big Daddy clash in the middle before a screen comes up reading “We Will be Reborn” and then going to black.

BioShock 2 should be out on the 9th of February 2010, or Tuesday next week, on PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.

Local Video Game and Technology Deals at Incredible Connection

Today I received a brochure from Incredible Connection in the morning paper, The Cape Times. Yes, as it turns out, February is Trade-in& Upgrade month at Incredible Connection. I now remember this, because last year this time I went there and traded in my old CRT monitor and got a few hundred rand off of a 19” Acer LCD screen, which has given me no problems whatsoever so far in the year I’ve had it.

Now this year there are some new deals, and I’m going to just put a few of the ones that appeal to you and me here:

The one that will likely interest you is this one. You can trade in any console whatsoever and receive R500 off of an Xbox 360 Elite, which usually sells for R3199,95. The trade in price would then be R2699,95, and the Elite comes bundled with two games – Batman: The Videogame (not Arkham Asylum, unfortunately) and Pure.

So if you have an Atari 2600 lying around, you can get rid of it and get this. But from watching The Verge the other night, it seems some people still play with these old systems. Up to you…

You can also trade in any handset or cellphone and receive R1500 off of a BlackBerry Storm 9520. That’s another big deal.

There are other deals on cellphones, digital cameras, printers, monitors, and lots of other stuff. No PC or console games, though.

You better hurry though, because this Trade-in& Upgrade deal only lasts from today (Thursday, the 4th of February) until the 7th (Sunday). Only four days, but I seem to remember the last time it was longer. Oh, well.

By the way, you can also check out the Incredible Connection Blog for this information as well.

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Incredible Connection Blog

www.incredible.co.za

New Duke Nukem Forever Footage Surfaces

Recently a new video on YouTube popped up, showing some gameplay footage of Duke Nukem Forever. But it wasn’t like the Demo Reel footage, which showed the latest build of the game, and the Unreal Engine 2.5 in action.

This was apparently footage collected from different sources, like footage from the E3 1998 trailer, as well as newer stuff. It's not an official trailer, even though it has logos at the beginning. As far as I know, Gearbox didn't have anything to do with this game. They were supposedly working on Duke Begins however. Odd to see that. I guess it just proves it's unofficial. But it does look like DNF.

I went over to YouTube to see it, but the video that was posted on other blogs that have covered the story has been taken down, and this message was in pink at the top:

“This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by 3D Realms Entertainment.”

Damn, I wanted to see it!

Apparently this might be the guy who caused it to be removed:

“I WANT MY VIDEO REMOVED FROM THIS SITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am the creator of that video! get that off of here! There is a huge possibility i could get in trouble with george!!!!! How do I contact the people of this site!”

Yeah right. You can still find others on YouTube search results. Whether they’ll work or not or have been taken down, I’m not sure. I’m not going to embed it here in case.

Update: I watched it. Some of those videos on YouTube still work, so get there while you can. There's the short version at 1:34 with some really crappy music, and then there's the full thing which clocks in at just over 3 minutes. That's the trailer you want, since it has sound, music, and not to mention Duke Talk!

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Source: YouTube - Kotaku

2010/02/03

Apocalypse Then: The Sims

10 Years of The Sims

I was just reading the other day that the 31th of January was the tenth anniversary of The Sims!

This title was apparently released on the 31th of January, 2000.

I remember waiting in my room one evening for my dad to get home because he was going to buy it for me as a gift one day (probably good grades or something).

Who can believe it’s been ten years since then? The game has since had numerous expansions, addon packs as well as two sequels in The Sims 2 and The Sims 3, and no doubt more expansions and addons to come (for The Sims 3 anyway). Out of all of these I only bought two for The Sims, and two for The Sims 2. Livin’ Large and Hot Date for The Sims, and University and Nightlife for The Sims 2.

Countless hours I’ve spent ordering the b@stards around, and living vicariously through my virtual avatar. And not to mention countless hours of sleep lost as I stayed up late into the early hours of the morning playing this addictive title.

Hey, some of you may still think The Sims is a girl’s game, but it hasn’t done badly, considering it’s the best-selling PC franchise of all time, and last year The Sims 3 was the best selling PC game, even beating the mighty Modern Warfare 2 on that particular platform.

Borderlands: New DLC Revealed, Retail Packs

Until now, the recently released DLC packs for Borderlands have only been available online. But this month, on the 23rd of February, retail packs for the PC and Xbox 360 versions will be available. You can preorder them now at Amazon. The packs no doubt include The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned and Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot. No word so far on a PS3 version.

In addition to this, the third DLC pack, The Secret Armory of General Knoxx (parody on Fort Knox, you think?), will be released sometime this year, probably not that far off considering the close proximity of the other releases. This latest DLC pack will increase the level cap past 50. Regrettably it doesn’t look like this DLC content will be available in the Borderlands Add-On Pack mentioned above.

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Sources: Kotaku - Gamepro

Metro 2033 Details: Upgrade Weapons, Idle Animations

4A Games has been very talkative on Metro 2033’s twitter account, and instead of just superfluous fluff, a lot of details on the game have been given, and the latest titbit is about the weapons in the game.

Of course the games contemporary, and dare I say it, rival, Stalker, boasts a large selection of different weapons to use, and after Shadow of Chernobyl, even upgrade.

Well, Metro 2033 is going to feature the same sort of thing. According to them, you can upgrade you guns with silencers, scopes, extended barrels and more. Upgrading guns is probably just as fun if not more so than shooting them, and that was one thing I liked about Stalker: Clear Sky, despite its many other problems. You can see on the picture above that it looks as though you can attach bayonets for close quarters combat as well.

Then they go on about something called idle animations. What this means is when you stand still for too long, or the gun stands still (AKA not firing it), then the player character will do some things with it. In some games (Soldier of Fortune comes to mind), the player will start to play with his weapon (stop it, not that weapon), or sway his arm around, point the gun around, etc. So I assume it’s something like that.

Nothing revolutionary, but some games have it and others don’t. Some people I know hate idle weapon animations because they’re distracting.

In other related news, the Metro2033.com site had to be taken down because of a major influx of traffic. So the teaser website is back up again.

And some people still think that this is one game which nobody knows about. I think it’s still garnering enough attention. Proper singleplayer campaign, no multiplayer, and it looks awesome.

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Source: Metro 2033 on Twitter

Apocalypse Then – Unreal II: The Awakening

Even though I did an article on this last year, I only found this out later, so I decided to still along and post this, seeing as it’s better.

On this day, the 3rd of February 2003, Unreal II: The Awakening was released.

The game was developed by the now defunct Legend Entertainment, not Epic, and published by Atari and used the Unreal Engine 2.0. The game saw a release on PC, and the Xbox a year later.

Unreal II, for short, is a FPS title loosely based on the Unreal series. The game bears no real relation to Unreal besides the Skaarj – the iconic enemies from the first game. They are bladed brutes which are reputed to stand eight foot tall, and unlike the first game, some wear armour and come in different colours, but are encountered only occasionally.

Besides this, it’s said that the ending bears some resemblance to the first game. And the company name “Liandri” crops up as well, and there is a glimpse near the beginning of the game which shows you how the Unreal Tournament was formed.

Unlike UT, Unreal II was initially singleplayer only until Unreal II: eXpanded MultiPlayer was released.

In the game you take the part of John Dalton, a former marine and now Marshal with the TCA (Terran Colonial Authority). Basically he’s like a police officer instead of a soldier, and in the game you go from planet to planet to retrieve pieces of an artefact. And along the way he fights different enemies, but also including others, mainly mercenaries or aliens of some sort. You even get to team with others against enemies at some points in the game.

Aida: the first officer and prime piece of ass on the ship

But to me the among some of the most interesting parts of the game were aboard the ship, the “Atlantis”, with the other characters, Ne’ban, Isaak, and Aida – the eye candy in the game. You could chat to them, and find out their insecurities as well as information on the game’s locations and weapons that you might not have otherwise have known. You find out that Aida has a strong dislike for Isaak because of a past incident that took place.

[spoiler alert] In fact, I was quite devastated at the end, after becoming attached to these characters, and having to watch them die. [spoiler alert]

Apart from all this, I imagine that the graphics in the game were a major selling point. It might not have been as highly regarded as its predecessor or the Unreal Tournament spin-off series, but it was still quite enjoyable to play, although quite short, linear, and little in the way or replayability, even though I did play it through two or three times years ago.

It wasn’t a bad game, but just kind of unrelated and disconnected in a way, because of its story. It’s still something that hasn’t been rectified to this day seeing as there’s been no Unreal 3 released, since Epic went on to focus on Unreal Tournament and Gears of War titles.

You can pick up Unreal II: The Awakening here if you want to play a classic.

2010/02/02

Video Game Deals at Amazon: Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition, Demigod Collector’s Edition

There’s some good deals on Amazon just lately, and I noticed that at least a couple of these are special editions of some popular games. There’s a deal on the Xbox 360 Prestige Edition of Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2, where you can save $12. Okay, so it’s still a lot to pay, but remember there was a time when you couldn’t even get the Prestige Edition on Amazon because it has sold out on at least one console.

Then there’s Demigod Collector’s Edition where you get about 25% off with $10 discount. Other games that caught my eye that have deals on them at the moment are Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince and Divinity II: Ego Draconis for both the PC and Xbox 360.

Most of these you can save about $10 or more on. Some other titles below you can save $20 off, but whether they are worth playing is up to you.

Next Life - $7.52 - Save $14.97
Divinity II: Ego Draconis - $37.00 - Save $8.00
Dream Pinball 3D - $8.62 - Save $6.37
Demigod Collector's Edition - $29.98 - Save $10.00

PS3

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Standard Edition - $29.99 - Save $20.00
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising - $44.99 - Save $8.00

Xbox 360

Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince - $18.13 - Save $16.00
Open Season - $19.82 - Save $20.17
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition - $137.99 - Save $12.00
Divinity II: Ego Draconis - $39.99 - Save $15.49
Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad - $8.98 - Save $17.00
Pro Evolution Soccer 09 - $18.43 - Save $7.97

PSP

Ghostbusters: The Video Game - $19.99 - Save $9.50

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Source: nowinstock.net

Metro 2033 Website Re-launched, New Trailer

I learnt on Twitter that Metro 2033’s website has been re-launched and that a third trailer is now on Gametrailers. The website was re-launched in anticipation of the trailer hitting.

Can’t wait to see it. It’ll likely be shown on The Verge, for those of you who watch it. When I see it, I’ll post about it sometime. I make sure to watch these things first though.

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Source: http://twitter.com/Metro2033

Release the Payload: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat [New Releases]

At the beginning of the week I had a post up about all the games that would be released this week, and this is just a follow up post detailing worthwhile games that should be released today (they aren’t always).

Today sees the release of a game I’ve been dying to get since I finished Stalker:Clear Sky for the second time last year: Stalker: Call of Pripyat.

Despite some interest, I can’t help but feel that this one has been overlooked slightly because of the following titles. I guess if you’re an MMO freak, or a console person you won’t like CoP seeing as it’s a PC exclusive. By the way, the European (UK, Scandinavia, and Italy) and Aussie versions will follow later this week, on the 5th, and I’ve even read that the game will be released in Greece too, and the publisher will be hell-tech.

Also out today is White Knight Chronicles and Star Trek Online.

You can get the following games from Amazon (check my Amazon aStore to save time) and Direct2Drive if you haven’t all ready.

2010/02/01

System Shock 2’s Ending Wasn’t the REAL one

You remember the classic, System Shock 2, right? Irrational Games’ Ken Levine says that the ending that happened, wasn’t supposed to end that way.

As far as I can recall, the player defeats SHODAN, and then it skips to a cutscene where the player is given the choice of teaming with SHODAN to rule the universe, or take her (or it)out, which is what he does, because you don’t really have a choice in the matter.

Then the player is back aboard one of the ships, and sends a message to the pod that was ejected from the Von Braun earlier on, which contained Tommy Suarez and Rebecca Siddons, who managed to escape. They were about to return to the ship when Rebecca all of a sudden looks and sounds like SHODAN (probably a lot to do with the hair and the voice), and so one assumes that SHODAN ends up back on the ship with or without Tommy.

If you thought it was strange that Rebecca turned into SHODAN, then you might remember that she was bitten by one of those creatures - I think it might have been the arachnids. So I suppose left unchecked it may have possibly changed her in the end, seeing as those creatures were basically SHODAN’s “children”.

System Shock 2's Ending

Ken Levine says that’s not the ending he had in mind, as he had written a script for a different one. He says that time constraints, differing ideas, and lack of communication resulted in the ending we know to the great title. This wasn’t the only thing that was changed or taken out of the game, as other features and even story ideas have been revealed by Irrational that didn’t make it in to the final release.

The ending also suggested that there might be a sequel, which to this day hasn’t happened, although I’m praying to the gaming gods above that the game that Irrational is going to unveil sometime just might be System Shock 3, even though most think it’s an X-Com game, which he says you shouldn’t believe. The chances are slim, but wouldn’t it just be the greatest piece of news this year if it did happen?

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Source: Irrational.com - Kotaku

Metro 2033 Does Full Russian Speech with Subtitles

You know when you play S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and most of the dialogue from characters in the background is in Russian? Like when you’re walking along and a bunch of people are sitting around a campfire, for instance. They speak their native tongue.

And then there’s the speech in combat, particularly in Shadow of Chernobyl, where they speak in Russian.

Then you get the people who are important to the whole plot and talk to the player, and speak English in that typical accent for the most part. And of course there’s the written dialogue which is almost always in English.

Well, in Metro 2033, set to come out next month, there is an option to turn on full Russian dialogue, accompanied by subtitles, when characters are speaking. So that’s like watching a foreign film that has subtitles. I assume that the subtitles in Metro 2033 will be in English, otherwise if it were Russian speech and Russian subtitles – that would be pretty hardcore right there, if you don’t understand a blind word of Russian, anyway.

And it’s also been confirmed that other international versions will have subtitles in their native tongue. And the French version even has an option to turn on spoken French dialogue. I don’t think many developers have really ever bothered with doing much of this. Subtitles maybe, but recorded dialogue for different territories playing a game…

So far Metro 2033 supports English, Russian, and French dialogue, and maybe more.

Hey, in related news, Metro 2033 has been featured on a list of 15 “under the radar games for 2010”.

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Source: Metro 2033 on Twitter - Destructoid

2010/01/31

Video Games Coming out This Week (01-31 – 02-06, 2010): STALKER: Call of Pripyat

AAA’s Pick of the Week: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

The PC certainly has the best when it comes to number and selection of games this week. The title was released in most of Europe last year, but S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat has finally come to the rest of us. By the way, doesn’t the box art remind you somewhat of Half-Life: Opposing Force? It should be out on the 2nd of February, which is this Tuesday.

Then there’s also Star Trek Online in its different versions, as well as The Sims 3 High-End Loft Stuff.

As for the consoles. Not much, I’m afraid.

Available links as usual go to Amazon, Direct2Drive, Steam, etc.

Global Agenda (Steam)
Making History II: The War of the World
Mystery 5 Pack
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
Star Trek Online
Star Trek Online Collector's Edition

Star Trek Online at Direct2Drive - Star Trek Online Digital Deluxe Edition at D2D

Star Trek Online Timecard
The Sims 3 High-End Loft Stuff
The Tudors - Game Download

Xbox 360

Chime (XBLA)

PlayStation 3

White Knight Chronicles

PSP

Armored Core: Silent Line Portable (PSN)
Puzzle Chronicles

Nintendo Wii

5 in 1 Solitaire (WiiWare)
Family Party: 30 Great Games: Winter Fun

Nintendo DS

Imagine: Reporter
Puzzle Chronicles

iPhone

Assassin's Creed II

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Sources: Shacknews - Gamespot

The Sunday Times: The Games of the Decade

In today’s Sunday Times magazine, a feature article was written on the best games of the decade. The cover might have been a bit misleading seeing as it read “10 Best of the Decade” when in fact it should be noted that it’s 10 (as in ten years) – Best of the decade. Some might have thought that it was the ten best games of the decade, but there were a number of titles mentioned by Matthew Vice, a writer who often contributes on NAG’s website, mainly reviews of games.

Now the article was long, and I had enough trouble trying to scan the cover seeing as it’s bigger than my damn scanner, so I don’t know about scanning the pages.

I will say that mentions for games of the decade included went as follows:

2000

Silent Hill, Phantasy Star Online, The Sims, American McGee’s Alice

2001

Devil May Cry,Max Payne, Halo: Combat Evolved, Ico

2002

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, The Elder Scrolls III, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Walker, Battlefield 1942

2003

Soul Calibur II, Prince of Persia, Call of Duty, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

2004

World of Warcraft, Half-Life 2

2005

Guitar Hero

2006

Gears of War, Dead Rising

2007

Assassin’s Creed,Overlord, Mass Effect, Final Fantasy XII, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

2008

No More Heroes, Little Big Planet, Mirror’s Edge, Dead Space

2009

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Red Faction: Guerilla, Scribblenauts

More Hot Picks:

2000? Thief II: The Metal Age?

2001

Black and White, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

2002

Resident Evil (GC remake), Ratchet and Clank, Metroid Prime

2003

Jak II, Zone of the Enders 2: The Second Runner

2004

Fable 2, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Katamari Damacy (No Doom 3?)

2005

Resident Evil 4, Timesplitters: Future Perfect (No F.E.A.R.?)

2006

Okami

2007

Tomb Raider: Anniversary, Mass Effect (mentioned twice), (No STALKER?)

2008

Race Driver: Grid, Far Cry 2

Guitar Hero, BioShock, and Modern Warfare 2 were highlighted as being some of the most ground-breaking or best of the best games of the last ten years.

As you can see, there may have been a few omissions, but then again that’s the fun about lists and articles like this. It’s all down to each person’s opinion. I’ll be honest: there are a lot of games in the article that I don’t care about, and there’s some games that weren’t mentioned at all that I enjoyed.

In addition to all this, the Nintendo Wii was considered the most innovative piece of hardware from the “noughties” (I hate that term).

Apocalypse Then: SimCity 3000

Earlier on in the month, I talked about the fact that it was Will Wright’s 50th birthday (the 20th of January). On this day in gaming, the 31st of January, 1999, one of the titles in one of his most successful franchises was released: SimCity 3000.

The game, a city-building simulation, and the sequel to SimCity and SimCity 2000, was developed by Maxis and published by EA, and released for the PC, Mac, and Linux. Later on a special edition of the game was released under different names in various countries.

The designer was credited as being the legendary Will Wright.

I got the game and played it myself for a while back in 1999 when it was nearly brand new. I remember once I left the game running on my dad’s PC in the study for the whole night because I hadn’t figured out how to save a game or something and so I didn’t want all my effort going to waste by exiting the game.

Although I’d even played the original SimCity years before, this was likely the best one I’ve played, and I haven’t even touched it in years. To be honest, I prefer The Sims, a series which started a little over a year later.

It was eventually succeeded by SimCity 4, which made a cameo appearance of sorts in The Sims 2, or rather the expansion, SimCity 4: Rush Hour, did.

You can pick the game up here if you want to play a classic.