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It was the year of big name sequels in gaming. But isn’t every year? There were big hype machine titles that were disappointing. There were virtual unknowns that were very surprising. There was big news in the portables scene. All in all I suppose it was a very good year.

News and Disappointments
Probably the biggest news earlier in the year were the announcements of new handheld consoles from Sony and Nintendo. Also surprisinly, both were announced to appear by the end of the year. Nintendo DS was a high Christmas seller with its dual backlit screens, one of which is a touchscreen. Backwards compatibility with GBA titles made this a highly seeked item and safe upgrade. I myself, was not really impressed with DS. I don’t get the point of having two screens when it is really impossible to look at both at the same time. Having to look up and down between screens isn’t really all that different from hitting a button to see another screen pop up. And the touchscreen seems like more of a gimmick, with probably only a handfull of titles that will make innovative use of it. Meanwhile, the Sony PSP didn’t make it out here yet, but is out in Japan and selling on eBay. The Sony PSP touts more options, being more capable with graphics, uses a large proprietary disc, and shorter battery life. I dont really plan to get either of these, as my GBA SP sits collecting dust, but if I were to consider it, I’d definitely want the Sony PSP.

Another announcement that was a little sudden was Sony’s PS2 console getting smaller. And really small it was. It’s so thin and compact, the controller almost looks bigger than it. Sony got rid of the hard drive bay, so no hard drive upgrades are possible. Which unless you want to play FFXI on PS2, there’s no other use for the hard drive. Way to support your peripherals Sony! The slim version also has the network adapter built in. The new model does phase out the older one, so those that still wanted a PS2 with hard drive for FFXI or loading games on it may be out of luck.

Electronic Arts shocked the sports gaming world by announcing they have secured a 5 year deal with the NFL to make games exclusively. This left me very disappointed as I was never a fan of Madden NFL, and much preferred Sega’s ESPN football. Then later, they purchased 20% shares of Ubisoft which many feel may result in a takeover sometime later. Then EA bought rights to the Arena Football League (in case a 1% chance someone will make a AFL game that will take away 1% of EA’s football market). And just recently, EA made another shocking announcement that they secured the ESPN license for 15 years. So now Sega can’t use NFL players and teams, and they can’t use the ESPN presentation they had the last two years. I’m very disappointed at the way EA has been throwing their weight around. It’s even more apalling to me than Microsoft buyouts. Maybe EA has a vendetta against Sega. Ever since the Genesis days, EA refused to pay Sega manufacturing costs to make cartridges so EA made it themselves. Which is why the EA carts had a larger shape and a funny yellow tab. Then EA decided not to make any games for Sega’s Dreamcast. Sega retaliated by acquiring a developer to make sports games for them. Which resulted in the ESPN/2K series that really cut into EA’s market, and in my opinion, Sega produced every sports series better than EA did, although sales would be in EA’s favor. Boycott EA!

Sony would announce several delays to Gran Turismo 4, and then announce they will be taking the online mode out. More disappointments, I decide not to purchase this when it is released.

Acclaim goes bankrupt. Their properties are picked up by several publishers. One of note, EA got hold of Criterion which develops the Burnout games. Burnout 3 turned out to be the racing game of the year. More of EA domination.

Xbox
Biggest release of the year was without a doubt Halo 2. It was hyped for a long time, and had big marketing. They decided to make it worldwide midnight release, and video game geeks from all over the world lined up at their local game store to get one. The game sold $125 million in the first day, setting the record for video games, and being the envy of the movie industry (most movies don’t make that much in its entire release time). Biggest feature of Halo 2 is Xbox Live mode, which also set a record for online users.

Team Ninja of Tecmo also supplied the Xbox with two great titles: Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive: Ultimate. Both are incredibly beautiful, unsurpassed on the Xbox scene. Ninja Gaiden was hard has heck, but so worth the effort. Dead or Alive is a fighting game that emphasizes a lot of sexy graphics, simplistic controls, and large multi-tiered environments. Ultimate contains an unaltered Dead or Alive 1 from the Sega Saturn, and a revamped graphically impressive Dead or Alive 2. Both offer online play for the first time, and is loads of fun.

Fable was a highly hyped RPG that didn’t live up to its expectations. The game’s emphasis was on ‘with choice comes consequences’. Your actions in battle decide how you will appear and what skills you develop. Your actions with other characters will result in how they react to you. You can be evil and the villagers will fear you, and your eyes will turn red and appear menacing. Or you can be extremely good, well loved and glowing from the aura of your goodness. It’s not a terrible game, its just not everything they promised.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. Splinter Cell already established itself as a major Xbox franchise. It was one of the best games on Xbox graphically and gameplay wise. This sequel proved to best itself. The biggest surprised was that the tossed in a multiplayer mode. The bigger surprised was it wasn’t just some typical deathmatch thing, it was amazing. The tools and gadgets of multiplayer game make it so original and innovative. Pandora Tomorrow is worth the purchase even just for the multiplayer mode.

Burnout 3: Takedown. Burnout 2 was okay. Burnout 3 is awesome. It was voted unanimously the racing game of the year by most major reviewers. And deservedly so. It packs such high energy in its incredible speed and high impact crashes. Going Xbox Live is even more incredible as the competition picks up. This is a true arcade racer. Don’t expect any real car models, upgrades, or import models here. It’s just a car and the competition, high speeds and crashing into each other.

ESPN NFL 2K5. I always talk about how Sega’s football game is so much better than EA’s Madden, so I won’t get into it much. Better graphics, gameplay, online play, and only 19.99 at release.

Other games I really enjoyed: Def Jam Fight for NY, NFL Street 2, Fight Night 2004, James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, NBA Ballers, Full Spectrum Warrior, Mortal Kombat: Deception, A Bard’s Tale, Spider-man 2, ESPN NBA 2K5, and ESPN Baseball.

Games I didn’t like: Star Wars Battlefront, Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, Sudeki, SRS Street Racing Syndicate

more to come…