2011: The Year in Review for Videogames

It was a good year for videogames no matter which genre is your favorite. It was so good, in fact, that this year I had to split up my year end awards so that two games can receive top honors. One is my "favorite" game, the other, what I consider to be the "best". And the crazy part is that Skyrim, that of multiple GOTY awards already, of which I have glowing praise myself, and that which will probably devour close to 200 hours of my time, is not even one of those two. So yeah, it was a good year.

As always, there were numerous games I didn't get around to this year, but I think I did a good job of getting to my biggest priorities and feel fairly confident that I have a good idea of what deserves to be recognized the most. The biggest exceptions are as follows:

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has its proponents and its critics, but by most accounts it's the best Zelda games in years, which is saying something. Dark Souls is the spiritual successor to Demon's Souls, which I did play, and I gather that they're pretty similar. The calling card for both games is difficulty, and while I've read some intelligent essays claiming that difficulty is the brush with which the game's designers painted their experience, I'm not convinced that Dark Souls' defenders aren't suffering from some kind of Stockholm syndrome. Rayman: Origins takes the same title that Kirby's Epic Yarn took in last years' article: The Charming Platformer With Outstanding Art Direction Ostensibly Aimed at Kids but Secretly Good Enough for Any Adult to Enjoy That I Didn't Get Around to Playing Award. It's a niche category. L.A. Noire was very highly anticipated, and was bound to disappoint some. It was similar to Heavy Rain in that it was ambitious and unique, and despite its flaws managed to move videogames forward.

And now, on to the games I did play!

The Problem Facing Video Games

I've started reading Reality Is Broken, a wonderful book (so far) about the vast untapped potential of videogames to change our world for the better. The book inspires confidence in gamers such as myself, and more importantly, fleshes out some really interesting directions for the future of the medium. I won't go into too much detail yet, because I've only read a few chapters, but I highly recommend it to anyone. Especially non-gamers, because it will challenge your preconceived notions about games.

However, as happy as I am while reading this book, my brain bursting with the feeling I get when I am excited about the future, I click on my favorite gaming site to a bit more grim of a picture. I'm specifically referring to Bulletstorm, a violent game that, by all accounts, is as stupid as its title. While I haven't played the game, my understanding is that it's crude, brainless, and again, very violent. This wouldn't be much of a problem, except that the game is getting good reviews. There are good reasons for this: the well-designed "skillshot" system rewards player creativity in their kills, and by all accounts, it's just plain fun. The problem comes with the fact that non-gamers could never take a game like this seriously, and why would they? I don't. I think this game could best be classified under "guilty pleasures", and yet many of the reviews have it among the best games of the year so far. To put this in perspective, this would be like Independence Day being nominated for Best Picture in 1996. Sure it's fun. Sure the special effects were great for the time, and the movie did some things very well. But you would never put that among the best movies of that year.

To take a step back, reviews aren't everything, and it's still only February. But I want to ask more from my games than that they be mindless fun. I want to be engaged in every way. I want a new game to have the potential to change my life, the way Pulp Fiction, The Great Gatsby, and Elephant by the White Stripes have. Were there elements of those three things that were fun? Sure. I certainly enjoyed them a great deal. And there are even some games that have begun to creep into that category like Half Life 2, and Shadow of the Colossus. But for now, and until games are taken more seriously (hopefully Reality is Broken will help) I will cringe every time a game like Bulletstorm gets a very good rating.

Red Dead Redemption analysis

Rockstar Games, a company known more for its various controversies over the years than the actual games it produces, is the best kept secret in videogame storytelling. Everyone knows Bioware can spin a yarn, with epic franchises like Mass Effect, Jade Empire, and Knights of the Old Republic under their belt. Naughty Dog has received much praise for their Uncharted games which achieve witty dialog and explosive action on par with the best summer blockbusters. But for some reason, no one talks about Rockstar, even though Grand Theft Auto 4 and Red Dead Redemption feature two of the emotionally moving stories in games I've ever played. I wrote about GTA4 in my old blog, and I would still probably take that game over RDR in the story department, but saying that is like saying you’ll take Up over Toy Story of the Pixar movies: it’s debatable, very close, and either way you win.

I've previously mentioned that Red Dead Redemption is a great game in my 2010 year-end games review. In a nutshell, if your heart of hearts desires nothing more than to play cowboy in a more adult and historically accurate setting than the front yard of your parents’ house, there is no better game. So if you haven’t played the game yet, or don’t plan to, that’s all you need to know. There are enough reviews out there to tell you it’s a good game. I’m telling you right now, it’s a good game. What follows is more of an analysis along the lines of literary criticism. If you still plan to play this game, be warned there are major spoilers, but for the rest of you, read on.

The White Stripes Retrospective (Part 2)

As previously mentioned, The White Stripes have announced that they are ending as a band, and this makes me very sad. To cheer myself up, I'm reminiscing the good times of one of my favorite bands of all time by going over what made each of their albums so great. Today I'm reviewing the last three of their albums: Elephant, Get Behind Me Satan, and Icky Thump. Please enjoy The White Stripes' career with me and check out part 1 of this review here.

Elephant
I don't think there's a better opening track to start an album than Seven Nation Army. It starts with a simple but ominous bass riff, followed by steady drums, then vocals, then it builds to a rocking chorus which will have you jumping around the room if you're not careful. Just a tour-de-force to begin what I believe to be the best White Stripes album, and very possibly the best album of the decade. The band expresses more range than ever, using quiet acoustic guitar in You've Got Her In Your Pocket, and tender piano in I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart, but never abandoning their roots with rocking songs like The Air Near My Fingers and Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine. Interestingly, the White Stripes also experiment with a solid punk vibe, radiating pure manic energy with Black Math and Hypnotize.

The White Stripes Retrospective (Part 1)

As previously mentioned, The White Stripes have announced that they are ending as a band, and this makes me very sad. To cheer myself up, I'm reminiscing the good times of one of my favorite bands of all time by going over what made each of their albums so great. Today I'm reviewing the first three of their albums: The White Stripes, De Stijl, and White Blood Cells. Please enjoy The White Stripes' career with me and check back soon for the rest of their illustrious career.

The White Stripes 

The band’s self-titled debut album is in many ways its purest effort. Most of the songs are unapologetic blues-infused garage rock with powerful guitars offset by Jack White’s wailing vocals. The opening track Jimmy the Exploder could not be more aptly titled, plowing its way through all resistance with Jack’s signature explosive guitar riffs. The band wears its influences on its sleeve, doing covers of Robert Johnson, Bob Dylan, and Louis Armstrong, but the album really shines in their original efforts on songs like The Big Three Killed My Baby, which is about Preston Tucker being squeezed out of the auto industry by the Big Three auto companies – GM, Ford and Chrysler. Being from Detroit, this was probably an important issue to Jack White, and you can hear the resultant anger in his voice as he sings “Better ideas are stuck in the mud / The motor’s running on Tucker’s blood / Don’t let them tell you the future’s electric / ‘Cause gasoline’s not measured in metric”.

The White Stripes Retrospective (Introduction)

Today the White Stripes - one of my favorite bands ever - announced that they were ending as a band. This was particularly disappointing for me, not only because they occupied a good 4-6 year stretch as my current undisputed favorite band, but because I regrettably never got a chance to see them perform in person. Their simplicity and depth were mesmerizing. Their creativity and range exciting. As a sucker for modern bluesy rock, how could I not love the little band from Detroit? They will be missed.

In honor of Jack and Meg, as well as their red, black, and white band, I will be going on a tour of the White Stripes' history, from their debut, self-titled album in 1999 to their experimental final record Icky Thump in 2007. Check back here frequently for updates on this fantastic band, especially if the only songs you've heard by them are Fell In Love With a Girl and Seven Nation Army (both of which are amazing videos, by the way). You can see part one here.

Tapes 'n Tapes

Tapes 'n Tapes is a band from my hometown of Minneapolis, but despite this, I have been a little late to their scene. I tend to be cautious when scoping out new bands for some reason. I have to hear at least 2-3 songs I like by a particular artist before I dive into their discography, some exceptions notwithstanding. Depending on how much I like those songs, and how far their discography extends, I'll download either part or all of their complete musical works. With Tapes 'n Tapes, this decision was easy: I downloaded all of their music.