2010 Reconsidered

2010 seems like one of those years where you got out of it exactly what you put into it.

If you stood here, and told me that this was one of the best years for gaming in recent memory, I’d probably not come up with a particularly good argument to dissuade you. On the other hand if you furiously posited that the final trip round the sun for the first decade of the new millennium was a categorical let down from a gaming perspective, I’d be equally challenged to wage war against your perspective.

What have we learned from this? I am terrible at arguing with people. Also, that it was a complicated year that is not easily defined.

I realize on Monday, I sounded fairly down on 2010. It was, perhaps, a knee-jerk reaction to a gut-check feeling. I’m not exactly moving off that position, but I think that my initial negative perception may have been built on unreasonable expectations. Considering how consistently we saw new and relevant releases hitting the shelves week after week, I walk away feeling like we should have seen a commensurate increase in the overall number of really great games, but that didn’t really happen.

That said, there was no shortage of entertainment to embrace this year, it’s just that it was usually dispatched in bite sized chunks rather than with any kind of grand fanfare. All things considered, for someone like me who usually just enjoys a game for a week or so anyway, this was at times a kind of perfect year.

As a habitual non-finisher of games, I completed a surprising number of titles this year, including Singularity, Mass Effect 2, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, God of War III, Force Unleashed II, Heavy Rain and what will likely go down as my personal game of the year, Starcraft II.

I should also not lose sight of the countless hours I put into the games that really avoid being defined by a finite end. 20+ hours into Just Cause 2, 30+ hours into Starcraft II multiplayer, 40+ hours into Rock Band 3, 50+ hours into Civilization V and who knows who many hours into Cataclysm already. And, though Red Dead Redemption, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Halo: Reach, Minecraft, Final Fantasy XII, BioShock II and other titles only marginally registered on my radar, there’s no denying that there was a vital fanbase that embraced these games.

Yes, this was also the year of Elemental, Crackdown 2, Alan Wake, Mafia 2 and Fable III; games that failed to deliver, but there were also an equal number of games that seemed to slink under the radar and be a prize of discovery, like Darksiders, Transformers, Super Scribblenauts and Metro 2033.

No, I think I may have been too quick to judge 2010 as a disappointing year. It was a year instead that simply wasn’t obvious. If you sat around waiting for commercials to tell you what to play, it’s probably easy to have been disappointed, but if you explored the full landscape of the industry then you had the opportunity to be pleasantly surprised again and again. Like I said, for 2010 you got out of it exactly what you put into it.

Comments

It was the year of the shrug, maybe?

Mount and Blade: Warband, Minecraft, and City of Heroes: Going Rogue kept me sated.

Civ5, the only big name I purchased, was disappointing for me.

However, if someone could just port MechWarrior2 to Win7 with awesome net code, I could hear "Colmar "... I would be stuffed.

I am happy with my 2010 gaming year. It was very full compared to 2009.

I agree with you on the getting what you put in though. Nice read!

I'm happy with 2010 solely on the innovation of Rock Band 3. Before you say something about it being a sequel, I'm referring to the combined innovations of adding a keyboard peripheral (which is totally awesome) and the new "pro mode", specifically pro guitar. Pro guitar is one of the single most innovative things I've ever seen in gaming, period. Yes, it's expensive, but we're not talking about price here. We're talking about pure innovation. Rock Band 3 wins this year for me, hands down.

I was really surprised by Mass Effect 2, having never played the first one, as well as the excellent DLC offering "Lair of the Shadowbroker" and few repeat plays of Dragon Age.

For the most part, though, I spent time playing some real oldies: Baldur's Gate 2, Planescape: Torment, Knights of the Old Republic, and Thief: Deadly Shadows. Hopefully, I can finish at least one of those before January 1st. Planescape, so far, seems to be the winner there.

Starcraft II - Great.

Cataclysm - Great.

Civilization V – Massively disappointing bordering on Masters of Orion III bad. The AI pooped all over itself! I’m sure the AI will be taught how to play the game eventually, but until it is, this year is going down as the year they broke Civilization.

(And don’t even mention the Civ V DLC to me. Grrrrrr.)

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 rocked my world this year. I've never been into online FPS like I have with this one. Over 250 hours put into it. Can't wait for Vietnam.

Other than that, I've enjoyed some games (Assassin's Creed 2, Heavy Rain, Limbo, etc.) but nothing else blew me away.

It was an OK year, but some of my biggest franchise developers were no-shows this year.

No Insomniac, no Naughty Dog, No major releases from NIS.

On the other hand, developers I buy fewer games from released more this year... Starcraft 2, which I didn't buy, and World of Warcraft Cataclysm, which has unfortunately dragged me back, both released from the normally one-game-per-year-max Blizzard.

Highlights of this year were Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse, ZHP: Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman (A minor NIS game), Dragon Quest 9, Sly Cooper Collection, and Final Fantasy 13.

Biggest disappointment other than the lack of Insomniac and Naughty Dog games was Final Fantasy 14. But I have hope that it will improve.

I did pick up a ton of budget titles and things I had missed from previous years though, so overall even with finishing a bunch of games, my backlog has grown this year.

If you talk about the games of 2010 and you don't mention any indie games at all you might have missed the big thing that's going to define the big thing of this year when it's looked back on in later years.

2010 was the year that I became a 100% budget gamer. The only game I picked up brand new was FFXIII and that was with a bunch of trade in credit. My gaming habits have changed so throughly due to the rise of Steam and the advent of multiple Steam sales, that I have fallen into playing older games. I did get to dig into a few new titles, Darksiders, Dragon Quest IX and FF 13 were all great. After this upcoming Steam sale I foresee my backlog growing even more and I plan on making 2011 the year of the Purge! Still a fantastic year to be a gamer. I can't wait to play everything next year that I missed this year.

This has been the year of XBLA for me. Rock Band 3 and Mass Effect 2 may be vying for my personal GOTY spot, but the rest of the field is largely populated with downloadable titles. I daresay I've spent more on XBLA games than I have on retail games in 2010.

2010 is The Year I Really Started Using Steam Extensively And Spent Lots Of Money In Very Small Chunks That Really Add Up If I Think About It But I Rather Wouldn't.

Plus Mass Effect 2.

Chtulie wrote:

If you talk about the games of 2010 and you don't mention any indie games at all you might have missed the big thing that's going to define the big thing of this year when it's looked back on in later years.

I was just thinking this.

For me, 2010 was the year I dove into digital distribution. (Late to the party, I know)

I still like to get certain games on disc when possible (e.g. Fallout 3 GOTY) but this year I bought way more games through Steam than on disc and that's new to me.

This was also the first time a Civ game came out and I didn't buy it right away. I'll wait for the inevitable Complete Edition.

It doesn't help that the second half of 2010 was delayed to the first quarter of 2011.

Duoae wrote:

It doesn't help that the second half of 2010 was delayed to the first quarter of 2011. :)

This is hardly the first time that's happened, though.

I came away happy from 2010 on the games front. I could easily list a dozen games that knocked my socks off, but I'll just say that Deadly Premonition and Red Dead Redemption alone made it all worth it to me.

wordsmythe wrote:
Duoae wrote:

It doesn't help that the second half of 2010 was delayed to the first quarter of 2011. :)

This is hardly the first time that's happened, though.

I disagree, this is most definitely the first time the second half of 2010 was delayed to the first quarter of 2011.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:
Duoae wrote:

It doesn't help that the second half of 2010 was delayed to the first quarter of 2011. :)

This is hardly the first time that's happened, though.

I disagree, this is most definitely the first time the second half of 2010 was delayed to the first quarter of 2011.

Maybe, but I wouldn't be surprised if a project manager for DNF would agree.

I thought this was a great year. It started in January with Mass Effect 2, and from then on I had a steady stream of things that were at least interesting, if not spectacular. I enjoyed BioShock 2, Heavy Rain, God of War III, Alan Wake, Red Dead Redemption, Blur, NHL 11, NCAA 11, Madden 11, Starcraft II, Bad Company 2, Super Street Fighter IV, Black Ops, and many more. Granted, I'm different than a lot of you in that I usually buy things new (and the Amazon credits really help in that regard), but there was plenty to like if you wanted to find it.

Different strokes, I guess.

Chtulie wrote:

If you talk about the games of 2010 and you don't mention any indie games at all you might have missed the big thing that's going to define the big thing of this year when it's looked back on in later years.

Thirded. Rolled into that somewhat is mobile phone gaming, which is often indie, but more than just that. Mobile gaming changes where we play, and upends the way developers receive compensation. I think 2010 will be remembered as the year that gaming 'arrived' to smartphones and other devices (in terms of the amazing quality on offer this year, and sales). Angry Birds was referenced directly in prime-time TV. When's the last time that happened -- Pac-Man? Tetris?

Forget the Wii, Kinect, etc. In 10 years time what brings gaming to the most people will be having it in their pockets, on ubiquitous devices.

Schmutzli wrote:

Angry Birds was referenced directly in prime-time TV. When's the last time that happened -- Pac-Man? Tetris?

Off the top of my head? Codblops.

wordsmythe wrote:
Schmutzli wrote:

Angry Birds was referenced directly in prime-time TV. When's the last time that happened -- Pac-Man? Tetris?

Off the top of my head? Codblops.

In the news? I was thinking about shows, like Modern Family. I guess COD was in Family Guy but that doesn't count for arbitrary reasons.

Schmutzli wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:
Schmutzli wrote:

Angry Birds was referenced directly in prime-time TV. When's the last time that happened -- Pac-Man? Tetris?

Off the top of my head? Codblops.

In the news? I was thinking about shows, like Modern Family. I guess COD was in Family Guy but that doesn't count for arbitrary reasons. :-)

I've seen the Wii referenced directly in a number of shows over the last few years. Specifically, I can say that it showed up in FlashForward but I know it's been in other things.

OK, I guess I don't watch enough TV. I'm just pointing out that mobile gaming is taking the conversation to new places, or at least places where gaming has been featured less often. I've turned friends onto Plants vs. Zombies that would never have grabbed it from Steam, XBL, or popcap.com, for example, because they were looking for something after Angry Birds - their first game since Tetris on a calculator.

But I'm not just talking about 'casuals'. Mobile gaming made great strides 2010 for all of us.

It has been an odd year. Just rattling off a quick list of games I played, enjoyed, loved or at least liked enough to play and stay interested in along with hours invested in some of the games. I'm going to italicize games that are direct sequels to something I've played a year or two earlier. That means out of the 21 games I rattled off the top of my head as notable almost half are sequels. Some of them not terribly different than the game I played before. The unique experiences to be had this year were fewer, in my opinion.

Wii
Kirby's Epic Yarn (sequel, but completely different game)

360
CoD BLOPS (5 hours)
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit (4 hours)
Fallout: New Vegas (40 hours)
NCAA Football 11 (~50 hours)
Red Dead Redemption (5 hours)
Battlefield Bad Company 2 (60 hours)
Just Cause 2 (20 hours)
Halo Reach (~10 hours)
Skate 3
Mass Effect 2 (30 hours)
Monday Night Combat
Transformers: War for Cybertron
Limbo
Dragon Age: Origins (40 hours)

DS
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Miniland Mayhem (~5 hours)
Dragonquest IX (20 hours)

iPhone
Angry Birds (10+ hours)
Plants vs. Zombies (10+ hours)
Cut the Rope (4 hours)
The Creeps (3 hours)
Shibuya (3 hours)
Chu Chu Rocket (~5 hours)
Game Dev Story (15+ hours)

If you talk about the games of 2010 and you don't mention any indie games at all you might have missed the big thing that's going to define the big thing of this year when it's looked back on in later years.

That's an interesting statement, but painfully non-specific. Like what, for example?

2010 was a fantastic year for video games.

My three favorite games were without a doubt Starcraft II, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Bayonetta.

IMAGE(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu231/BNoice/sc2.png)

Starcraft 2 for the countless hours of multiplayer and all the extraneous stuff that went along with it (the GWJer tournament, GSL, Day9 Daily etc.) This is a game I will probably be playing for years. Nuclear launch detected!

IMAGE(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu231/BNoice/SMG2.png)

Super Mario Galaxy 2 because when Nintendo brings their A game it's absolutely ridiculous. It was game design brought to a whole new level with each world exploring new game mechanics and stretching them to new heights. What a joy.

IMAGE(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu231/BNoice/Bayonetta.png)

And Bayonetta because Kamiya reminded me that video games can be just that; games. It loved the fact that it was a game, making items was a game, the credits were a game and it CELEBRATED video games with countless homages bringing back a flood of memories. Just dripping with fun, depth, charisma and creativity. More importantly it begged me to master it and I heeded it's call playing through four times and I plan on going through it many more. A much needed reminder in the sea of interactive movies we "play" these days. Just brilliant.

iOS gaming really found it's stride in 2010 as well. Sure we still got the shameless rip offs from Gameloft but we also got Game Center from Apple, Infinity Blade, Cut the Rope, Game Dev Story, DoDonPachi and Tilt to Live just to name a few.

Gah and games like Limbo, Kirby's Epic Yarn and Heavy Rain and ahhhh too many games. 2010 was so good and 2011 looks even crazier. What a time to be a gamer

They were talking about Bayonetta on Giant Bombcast this week, and while it always seemed to be on my personal radar, I never picked it up.

The praise they (Giant Bomb) lavished on it was enough to push me over the edge. To my surprise, when I went to Amazon.com to order, it was only $15 and some change. Bonus!

2010 was definitely a good year of gaming for me. I got back into LotRO. I discovered some little gems in Chime, Plants vs Zombies, Angry Birds(Next year I upgrade my phone plan almost entirely for this game, I'm so horrible). GoG has given me the joy that is Bioware RPGs from the late 90s and early 2000s. Starcraft 2, M&B:Warband, Rock Band 3 have been absolutely fantastic to play.

But with all of that said, those periods of sheer joy have been punctuated with months of absolute 'meh'. So I suppose when it's all said and done, this has been the year of the rollercoaster, or perhaps the year of the Carnival Viking Ship ride.

Elysium wrote:
If you talk about the games of 2010 and you don't mention any indie games at all you might have missed the big thing that's going to define the big thing of this year when it's looked back on in later years.

That's an interesting statement, but painfully non-specific. Like what, for example?

IMAGE(http://www.rgbfilter.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/minecraft.jpg)

Probably my GOTY. Maybe Super Mario Galaxy 2 or Rock Band 3, but probably going to be Minecraft.