Project Natal video from CES

At the Consumer Electronics Show today, Microsoft's full-body, controller-free, motion/voice-sensing device was announced as as a fourth quarter (holidays) 2010 release. Here's the video that was shown during the announcement.

The most overrated games of 2009

There are lots of year-end "best of" lists out there. Yeah, this one's more important. If you're planning to pick up some of the 2009 games you missed at the time, avoid these. I wish I had.


5. Lord of the Rings: Conquest


Critics didn't give this stinker a lot of love, but it had much better sales than some of the best games of the year, and I can understand why. It's a proven developer with a great franchise license.

The idea was an enticing one: Take the formula that worked so well in the Star Wars Battlefront series and apply it to Lord of the Rings. You and your friends can re-create the epic battles from the films while playing as one of hundreds of warriors on a sprawling battlefield.

Battlefront is one of the best-selling game franchises of all time for a reason. That formula works. Why wouldn't you snap up this game without a second thought? Even the most skeptical gamer expected it to be more of the same, but with Aragorn instead of Luke Skywalker.

It's astounding that it managed to turn out so bad. The presentation is ugly and simplistic - worse than last-generation games that use the same gameplay engine. The controls were changed to a more counterintuitive layout, and it's simply not fun in any way at all.

I wouldn't have thought it was possible for anyone to do so poorly with such a sure thing. But then I played it.


4. Spongebob's Truth or Square


This game didn't get great scores from game critics, but it scored highly enough that some parents could be fooled into thinking this game is playable or watchable.

It isn't.

Here's what I said about it at the time:

The 3D camera hates you, your family, and everything you stand for, and seems to actively try to ruin the game for you by always managing to lock into the worst possible position. ... My 6-year-old, who is a huge fan of the show and has no trouble with far more sophisticated video games, gave up on playing it within minutes. There are segments that even I struggled to finish. Eventually, my son asked to stop watching the game because he was so upset by how often Spongebob was dying.

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3. UFC 2009 Undisputed


Several critics picked this mixed martial arts sim as the sports game of the year, and I would agree if it didn't feature one of the most convoluted control schemes in the history of console gaming.

Here's what I said about it at the time:

I'm pretty sure to block a knee strike in a standing clinch you have to hold down the left bumper, the right trigger, make a gentle 75-degree sweeping motion with the right stick, do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around. And when you have dozens of contextual blocks and counters like that to learn for each situation, and have to execute each with split-second timing, that quickly becomes, er, what it's all about.

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2. Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood


This highly rated, cinematic old west shooter is a fun game to watch. Playing it? Not so much.

Here's what I said about it at the time:

The game expects you to know what's coming next and wants you to do it fast. So you'll find yourself dying and restarting at the most recent checkpoint a lot as you learn the script and figure out what you're supposed to be doing when. ... It's mystifying that Bound In Blood focuses on two brothers, allowing you to choose to play as either one, but does not allow two players to go through the story mode together. That's on the same level of wacky as the Fantastic Four game a couple of years ago that didn't allow four players.

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1. Borderlands


There's one way to enjoy the RPG-shooter Borderlands: Online with four friends.

Try to play it any other way, and it's going to be dull, silly, and annoying. In single-player or even two-player splitscreen, the game's many problems, like the poor control scheme, repetitive missions, awful story, and looping, trying-too-hard-to-be-funny dialogue, become a lot more obvious.

It's a decent, multiplayer shooter with an interesting look. Play it with some friends, and you might enjoy it - at least in bursts.

The fact that it's often mentioned among the best games of the year is what makes it the most overrated game of 2009.

AP's top video games of 2009

Here's The Associated Press roundup of 2009 in video games, along with its top 10 games of the year and the game of the decade. If, like me, you've played a lot of these games, you're likely to be nodding in agreement as you read. It certainly won't spark the kind of reader revolt that Gamespot's winners have in the past few weeks.



'Uncharted 2' tops a turbulent year in video games
By Lou Kesten, The Associated Press


The idea that video games were recession-proof turned out to be a myth this year, leading to declining sales, shuttered studios and thousands of newly unemployed developers.

Stalled fortunes also meant less risk-taking from game publishers, who released plenty of sequels and other titles based on proven formulas. But the news wasn't all bad — at least for consumers — with Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo all cutting prices on their flagship consoles.

Creatively, Sony and its in-house studios had a spectacular year, releasing three of 2009's best titles as PlayStation 3 exclusives. And Xbox 360 owners had plenty of first-rate games to keep them busy.

1. "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" (Sony, for the PlayStation 3): Like an interactive version of a classic Hollywood action movie, this globe-trotting treasure hunt delivers thrills, romance and more hairbreadth escapes than the entire Indiana Jones series.

2. "Assassin's Creed II" (Ubisoft, for the Xbox 360, PS3): Renaissance Italy is the breathtaking setting for this intricate tale of conspiracy, murder and revenge. The tantalizing glimpses of a larger, centuries-spanning power struggle create high hopes for the next chapter.

3. "Dragon Age: Origins" (Electronic Arts, for the Xbox 360, PS3): Developer BioWare takes the elements of Tolkienesque high fantasy and recycles them into a gritty, sophisticated epic with plenty of surprising twists.

4. "Batman: Arkham Asylum" (Eidos, for the Xbox 360, PS3): The Caped Crusader gets trapped in Gotham's nuthouse, where he has to endure the taunts and traps of The Joker. Cleverly designed challenges make this the best superhero game yet.

5. "inFamous" (Sony, for the PS3): The second best superhero game this year is the origin story of a guy named Cole who can control electricity. The option to choose between heroism and villainy adds even more playability to an already stirring adventure.

6. "Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time" (Sony, for the PS3): Insomniac Games' critter and robot pals are the most reliable characters in games (sorry, Mario), and their latest romp across the galaxies is as clever and colorful as ever.

7. "Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story" (Nintendo, for the DS): Mario did co-star in this lighthearted role-playing game, in which he and his brother explore the innards of their old foe, Bowser. It's every bit as wacky as it sounds.

8. "Borderlands" (2K, for the Xbox 360, PS3): Gearbox combines the first-person shooter with role-playing elements in this addictive game. It's set on a hostile planet populated by bandits, rabid dog-beasts and giant insects. Fortunately, it provides all the firepower needed to deal with them.

9. "Forza Motorsport 3" (Microsoft, for the Xbox 360): Fans of hardcore racing simulations already love the "Forza" series, but developer Turn 10 has now made it easy for even the most inexperienced driver to take the wheel of a high-performance vehicle.

10. "Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars" (Rockstar, for the DS, PlayStation Portable): Rockstar Games delivers a handheld chapter of its "GTA" crime saga that's nearly as immersive as its console-based cousins.

Honorable Mentions:
"Shadow Complex," ''Scribblenauts," ''Professor Layton & the Diabolical Box," ''Demon's Souls," ''Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor," ''DJ Hero," ''The Beatles: Rock Band," ''Rock Band Unplugged," ''1 vs. 100."

Game of the Decade: "Rock Band 2."
Harmonix Music Systems provided an entirely new type of video-game experience with "Guitar Hero," giving all of us the chance to live out our rock-star dreams. "Rock Band 2" is Harmonix's fullest realization yet of that ideal — and the one game I keep coming back to whenever I just want to have fun.