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Street Fighter and me, part I: The Beginning

The street fighter hype has been rising in the last 6 to 9 months with the upcoming Street Fighter IV for consoles and the release of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix. I love fighting games (even thought I'm not that good at them) and I owe it all to this game. Without Street Fighter 2, the genre might have never existed.
I clearly remember the first time I played SF2 at the arcades, which was not even a normal version of the game. It was a hack and I got my ass kicked. I remember choosing Zangief (not sure if my subconscious was playing any homo-erotic games in my head) and playing against Ryu. The match was obviously not fair, myself as a n00b vs. a overpowered, multi-hadoken computer character. If you are not sure what am I talking about, look at this video

And in spite of that traumatic first experience, I kept playing street fighter. On part II: more hacks.

Best of 2008 - #1 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)

It is so hard to write about a game that has been talked about for so long and about a series as legendary as Metal Gear Solid. It is even harder to explain how MGS4 is an experience that goes beyond any other game I've ever played. There's nothing out there that even compares to this game, the graphics and cutscenes are phenomenal, the soundtrack is an instant clasic (I still have the "old snake theme" carved in my brain), the voice acting is amazing and the story is... well... typical MGS. Kojima has also been able to give Snake's story an ending. Whether you are happy or not, it is over and he managed to tied many loose ends in this game.
If you have a ps3 and haven't tried MGS4, you owe it to yourself. It will be hard for a game to top what this one has accomplished.

Best of 2008 - #2 Burnout Paradise (PS3)

I had always been curious about Burnout before playing Paradise. Ironically this rendition of the franchise is quite different to "traditional" Burnout.
Paradise city is an open world where you need to go around and find the challenges in road intersection. Previously you'd just select them from a menu, which would also allow you to automatically re-try the levels, thing you can't do in Paradise and got harsh criticism for it. The fact that you can fail a mission and that you have to travel back to the original intersection can be annoying, but Paradise is such an awesome game that this little annoyance can be ignored.
The other major accomplishment for the game is the seamless online integration: you press right o the d-pad and you are online. No lobbies, no configuration... just plain simple.
I've put 40+ hours on the game and its expansion packs (which were all free) and can't wait for the next ones. I've never expected to enjoy this game so much, but it does things so well that is no surprise why it gets so much praise.

Best of 2008 - #4 Little Big Planet (PS3)

This is my "public apology to Little Big Planet": some time after the game was released I got stuck in "The Mines" and I just couldn't complete the level. Believe me I kept trying and trying and trying. From that frustration I made some comments about how a platformer can't have such imprecise controls, that it was basically broken.
Now I publicly take all that back: Little Big Planet is awesome and every PS3 owner should give it a try. The fact that I'm a dumbass gamer and can't use some of the game's mechanics, is no excuse to ignore the game accomplishments.

I still think the controls are a bit floaty, but you get used to it and learn to use it to your advantage. I think people like me that have the Mario walk/run/jump mechanic so carved in the brain will have the same learning curve.

The game does so many things well: tons of free downloadable content, user created content, online multiplayer, great content creation tools, fantastic presentation, awesome soundtrack, unique and fun levels, quirky humor and the list would go on and on.

Sony took a huge gamble on this and I hope they can build on the platform. I think the franchise has a bright future ahead and can't wait to see more of it.

Best of 2008 - #4 Professor Layton and the Curious Village (NDS)

I have already praised this game on this blog post, which leaves very little to add. I just beg Nintendo to confirm that the other 2 games are being localized.

EGM shuts down, 1UP loses 40 staff

It all started with a tweet from John Davison, founder of What They Play, pointing to a news story in paidcontent.org. Pretty soon it was confirmed by other sources and 1up.com themselves, one of the longest running videogame magazines is now gone. January 2009 was their last issue, so if you happen to find a copy you might want to grab a piece of sad history.
To makes things worse, 1UP.com has been sold to Hearst (owners of UGO.com) and 40 staff are now out of a job. Among the people leaving are Ryan O'Donnell (1UP Show co-creator) and the outspoken Shane Bettenhausen. 1UP yours, 1UP FM, the show and the rest of the podcasts have been cancelled, silencing one of the most professional, hard working and passionate teams in the industry.
With much left to say, everybody wishes all the 1UP crew (those leaving and those staying) the best and let's hope you guys find new ways to confirm weekends.

Best of 2008 - #5 The World Ends With You (NDS)

Let me start saying this is one unorthodox game: you collect pins that gives use special abilities, the brands you wear determine your strengths/weaknesses, there are fashion trends that you can influence to your benefit, battles occur in realtime on both screens at the same time. If all these hasn't scared you away, you have one hell of a game awaiting you. In TWEWY you play as Neku and a couple of other characters who must defeat the "noise" in Shibuya. The noise are enemies that feed from the bad emotions from the world. And let's just leave it there, the story is actually quite complex and it is not worth revealing too much at this point. The important thing is that you are Neku, you collect pins and you battle monsters. The music in this game is fantastic, if you enjoy j-pop. If you never heard this genre but are open minded, this game might help you discover a whole new musical world.
This is one of the best RPGs I've played in a long time and definitvely one of the best games on the Nintendo DS. It is not a game for everybody, but if you can overcome its quirks and surrender to its weird charm, you'll have a blast battling noise in Shibuya.

Best of 2008 - #6 Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Wii)

I don't think there's much to say about Brawl that hasn't been said before.. It is a game that was unveiled daily by a blog and left almost nothing to surprise, a fighter filled with Nintendo fan service and it even includes a "story/platforming" mode that features all the characters. If you have a Wii and you are a hardcore Nintendo fan, you must own this game.

Best of 2008 - #7 Pxeljunk Eden (PSN)

I've already talked about this game on this post, and I still find it hard to describe. PixelJunk Eden is an amazing platform, like nothing I've played before. All I can do is recommend you to have a look in YouTube to see how amazing this game is.

Best of 2008 - #8 Dead Space (PS3)

Dead Space will remind you of many games: Resident Evil, Half Life, Resistance and list will continue depending on what other games you've played.
You control Isaac Clarke, an engineer member of a spaceship responding to a distress call sent by the USG Ishimura, a massive mining ship (it actually cuts giant chunks of planets to extract its minerals)
Of course, when Isaac and the crew arrive to the Ishimura, they are welcomed by a series of horrible ailen-like monsters that they must defeat.
Where the game shines is in its presentation, the first thing you will notice is that there's no hud. All the information you need will be displayed on Isaac's suit (Energy) and on each one of the guns (Ammo). All the cutscenes are either displayed via the suit's holographic projector or in game as you encounter different characters in the Ishimura. You also collect diferent logs along the game (audio, video and text) which add so much to the game making the experience richer. Even the "weapons" are actually tools that have other pusposes than "killing the monsters". All of them (including your suit) can be upgraded using "Power Nodes", which add an extra level of strategy deciding how are you going to spend them.
The atmosphere is amazing as well: flickering lights, far away noises, dark corridors make this game very scary.
With all these said, I can't recommend this game enough.