PixlBit

The 3DS was released this year. Minecraft came out of beta. The highest rated games were Batman: Arkham City, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Portal 2. Here's a list of what I put the most time into that year followed by stuff I played later and then a wish list. 

The Philadelphia Phillies baseball club played its wild card playoffs this week and the play times fell on days I could actually watch them. Other than that, there were the games. I think I'll go in order of time played this time. 

2010 was certainly the year of the Wii even though it came out in '06. The top four spots for world wide sales are Wii games with Wii Sports being number 1. Microsoft and Sony tried to imitate Nintendo's success by putting out motion control devices this year with Kinect and Move respectively. Niether did much for thier respective systems. I started blogging this year at 1UP.com. Here are some stuff I played that I would replay and some stuff I missed I'd like to play. 

I just got two of my favorite TV shows of the 2000s from Amazon, Venture Bros. and The Mighty Boosh, that I wanted to watch but now there's no time for them. Instead, my regular goto without a tv show to watch during meals at game time, is Fail Army on youtube. Why this is endlessly entertaining, I'm not sure. The psychology of it elludes me. But it is constant source of hilarity even topping other distractions like sports highlights, hobbyist vids, and miscellaneous trivia. It's like the sauce on the sandwich of gaming. Details below. 

I remember this year mostly for the being disappointed with the World of Warcaft MMO. I wanted another another strategy WoW. But there was also the release of the DS, which got me back into handheld gaming, and cueing up for my first midnight release for Halo 2. The rest of the world was buying GTA: San Andreas and Pokemon FireRed/Leaf Green, numbers 1 and 2 in sales respectively. Half-Life 2 was a notable winner on Metacritic. Here's some stuff I played and want to play. 

"I dont' need no stinkin' badges" you might say, but they're really nice to get in video games, and they have cool designs. I got several this week I'd like to share in addition to making comments on all the others things I played this week. It's self indulgent, I know, but maybe one of these games will spark some conversation. Onward.

Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire retook the sales crown in 2003 making it five years since '98 that the franchise won it. Mario Kart Double Dash, a game I always wanted for its co-op but never got, was #2 in '03. Steam was fully released out of beta and Call of Duty began. Here are the games I'd like to play again or for the first time. 

Pokemon finally got topped in sales by Grand Theft Auto this year with Vice City #1 and GTA III #3 in the U.S. . Critical acclaim went to GameCube's Metroid Prime and Zelda: Wind Waker. The Sims topped all-time PC sales beating out Myst this year. Microsoft bought Rare and Gametrailers began online. Remember Gametrailers? I used to check out that site all the time. Now for games I wouldn't mind playing again or for the first time. 

Specifically the Irkens from Irk, and more specficially, Invader Zim, voiced by Richard Horvitz (Chaos in Skylanders). This 2001 animated TV series didn't even make it through its second season, but its still pretty good. It especially appeals to me for its angular design, wild humor, surrealism, and sometimes dark tones. Zim is assigned to take over Earth and he assumes the disguise of a middle schooler to hide his secret. Dib, a fellow student, is not convinced and seeks to expose him. Another selling point for me was the voice of Kevin McDonald from Kids in the Hall as one of the Almighty Tallest, co-leader of the Irks and Zim's boss. Oh, and there were more aliens in the games I played this week. 

GameCube, GBA and Xbox were all released. Pokemon games won all sales awards across the board, again. Amongst the highest critically were: Halo, GTA III, Grand Turismo 3 and Final Fantasy X. Dreamcast was discontinued this year, which was probably when I got one on the cheap as GameStop started shipping them all back to their warehouses. I probably got a Xbox on the strength of Halo, Gamecube for the Rogue Squadron sequel, and a PS2 for the Red Faction port. Here's a bunch of games I played around that time, then alter, and then ones I'd like to play now.