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.

Video game watchdog group closes doors

The game industry is losing an important component this year, with the closing of the National Institute on Media and the Family.

The nonprofit wasn't about censorship, it was about research and reporting. Its annual report card on video game violence helped lead to the creation of the ESRB, which helps parents figure out that Super Mario Galaxy may be a better Christmas present for their 8 year old than GTAIV.

If anything, the group has helped prevent censorship by bringing the problem to light in a way that allowed the industry to regulate itself, before someone came in and did it for them. The game industry owes them a thank you, and so do parents.

Dear Spike TV: Stop helping

What's worse than letting Spike TV pick the best video games of the year?

Letting Spike TV pick the nominees, then letting Spike TV viewers vote on which game should win each category.

You wind up with "best voice acting" nominees that were clearly chosen based on the name recognition and the physical attractiveness of the actor, rather than their performance. And then the viewers swoop in and vote for Hugh Jackman in his awful Wolverine game, or Megan Fox in her awful Transformers game. Because it's Hugh Jackman and Megan Fox.

The game of the year didn't even win its own genre subcategory. But, hey, there was music and celebrities.

It's hard enough to get the mainstream to take gaming seriously as an art form. Having an awards show like this in the spotlight every year isn't helping.

Maybe Spike's just ahead of its time with this approach. Maybe three years from now Academy Awards will be decided by whoever looks best in a swimsuit.

Mass Effect 2 voice cast is a TV geek's dream

Looks like I'll have another broken hand in January, when Bioware's next role-playing epic debuts, featuring one of the most incredible voice casts in gaming history.

Now Playing: Smackdown vs. Raw 2010

As anyone who has ever seen the internet, ever, can attest, there are positives and negatives to letting people create and upload their own content.

On the plus side, there's stuff. A lot of stuff, and all right there. Some of it's even really good. On the downside, the bulk of it is so bad you feel dumber for having seen it.

That's the case with THQ's new WWE game, which allows players to create wrestlers or storylines and offer them up to be downloaded by others. It's a terrific idea, one of those things where you wonder how it could have possibly taken this long for someone to do it. Now you have an endless supply of soap opera-style, user-created storylines and created wrestlers based on everyone you can possibly imagine. No longer will you have to dream about Britney Spears vs. President Bush in a steel cage match. You can live the dream.

Like I said, it's a great idea. The reality of it? Less great.

There are thousands and thousands of user creations, and as you'd expect most of them are bad - the kind of bad that makes you sad about the future of the human race. There's a search mechanic which allows you to filter by keyword and rating, but this ain't Google. Do a search and you might find a created wrestler that was uploaded three months ago and has one 4-star rating (by the person who created it) ranked higher than one that was posted six hours ago and has 17 4-star ratings. The search engine sees no difference between the two.

What's more frustrating is the fact that the menu

...

stops to load

...

every time you hit

...

any button at all.


Scroll down a five-item list and you have to wait for it to load. Click to look at the ratings for a creation and you have to wait for it to load. Hit the "back" button to return to the previous screen and you have to wait for it to load and the game erases all of your search settings, which you then have to re-enter.

Poke around for long enough and you'll see that there are some amazingly creative people devoting a lot of time and talent to the things they're uploading. It's almost enough to make you wish they had been the ones building the menu system.

Until you see "Britney Spears" spelled with two Ns and a Q.

Dragon Age broke my hand

Why do you hate me, Dragon Age?


I give and I give, and all you do is torture me with your evil radial menu.

It's all seductive and easy to use: just point the right stick at what you want and hit the button. Simple. Addictive.

You forget it's even there and that you're using it constantly for 10 hours straight - until you turn off the game, break free from its spell, and realize that your thumb separated from your hand somewhere around the 100th hour of gameplay.

But the physical pain is nothing. What really hurts is not being able to play.... and being forced to sit there and watch while my wife plays.

Who am I kidding, Dragon Age? I can't stay mad at you.