1. Wind Waker

2. Half Life 2

3. Metroid: Zero Mission

4. Super Smash Bros. Melee

5. F-Zero GX

5. Fallout: New Vegas

6. Bastion

7. Rock Band 2

8. Batman: Arkham Asylum

9. Advance Wars: Dual Strike

10. Viewtiful Joe

There.  We good?  We good.

The year is 2X48, and the streets of the world are in disarray. You play as Jack Priest, a man who has seen his streets too dirty for too long. When his wife and young son are taken by the ooze on the streets known only as "the grime", Jack knows what he must do.

This game is an amazing mix of Second person shooters, RPGs, and space shooters. The first third of the game is spent cleaning up your city's streets (obviously modeled on Merced). The second act is spent assaulting the grime's lair, and the final act is spent attacking the grime's homeworld of Grimeoklua. The story flows seamlessly, and the character of Jack Priest(voiced by Nolan North) is truly a realistic and sympathetic character.

Dialogue sample:

Jack: You grimes killed my family! I will have my revenge!

Truly this writing is the work of pulitzer prize winning novelist Eudora Welty, a newcomer in the gaming scene. However, she really knocks this story out of the park.

If you buy one game in your life, buy this one.

SCORE: 9745/9747

I grew up a poor youth in urban Pennsylvania.

Most days, I would spend time on the local playground, because it was the only place I could afford to go to.

I would spend most of time playing basketball by myself, becoming quite proficient over the years.

While I was happy, my poor socioeconomic condition kept me relatively friendless, but at least I was independent.

One day, a group of ruffians that were up to little good began to create some trouble in my usual basketball court.

Naturally, I thought this boorish behavior could not stand, and I unfortunately got invloved in the fisticuffs.

My mother, shocked at what happened to me, completely overreacted. She sent me to live with my aunt and uncle, so I would not end up a ruffian myself.

As I pulled up to my new abode in California, I yelled to the cab driver that I would smell him at another time.

I arrived to my new life. I arrived to my new quarters. Who knew what kind of life awaited me here?

And that, my friends, is how I became the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

I have never played an RTS before.

Yeah, I call myself a mainly a PC gamer, but I have never actually gone out and bought an RTS title. I love turn based games, like final fantasy tactics and Advance wars.

But hold it, for a second, let's talk about about Advance Wars. You need to master how to control specialized infantry units, aerial untis, different commanders, naval units, CO powers, dual strikes, and long range artillery to ANY good at the game. Advance Wars: Dual Strike may just be the most complicated game I have ever played.

Until Now.

Starcraft 2 is like Advance Wars, but without the cushion of planning your turn carefully. It is possible to excell at Advance Wars by just going through an algorithm of every possible move the enmy could make, then adjusting your strategy accordingly. It is a lot like chess, where the advantage of time to plan occurs.

Not in Starcraft 2.

You must be constantly and fluidly thinking every move that you do. No longer is there time to strategize while your enemy doesn't move. Every moment you are planning, your enemy is doing the same. This is the brilliance of a balenced and challenging RTS.

Starcraft 2 may just be the most balenced and challenging of them all, or so I have heard.

Look how much.....Stuff...Is happening in the following picture

If you haven't played an RTS like me, this image may be frightening. However, after going through the single player and tutorials of Starcraft 2, I can safely tell you that the game does a fantastic job of teaching you how to play. Yes, it is complicated. VERY complicated.

However, once you get a handle on the comlexities of the game, it feels incredibly rewarding to be commanding multiple millitary fronts that you yourself created.

Here are some important lessons I have learned from the game that will help out all my fellow RTS noobs.

1) Protect your base

I can't tell you how many times I went all "Leeeeroy Jeeeenkins" and sent a big army to my opponent, only to have my base be destroyed while all my units were away. START by creating a good defense.

2) Send scouts.

Scouting will give you helpful cues on your minimap if your enemy has mobilized

3) Don't block your base

I went a little crazy with setting up some helpful cannon untis for the protoss race. Unfortuanately, I also blocked me and my friend in our base, forcing us to build two new bases outside our defenses. Oops.

4) Build a wall

As a terran, always build a wall with some supply depots. Supply depots can be collapsed, allowing your tanks and thors to pass through, but can be raised up to block out enemy ghosts.

5) Build detectors ASAP

Nothing is worse than getting nuked. Make sure you can destroy any ghost before they can nuke you.

6) Keep on building

The most, and I mean most, important thing to do in starcraft 2 is to keep collecting gas and minerals and building units. Even if you think you are safe, you are not. Spend up ALL your resources building and upgrading your units. You should never have over 300 minerals.

7) Don't get discouraged.

You will lose most of your games. Its just a fact. Don't get angry. Watch the replay of your match, and see what tactics your opponent did to defeat you. Use this knowledge in future matches!

In conclusion, Starcraft 2 does a great job of teaching newbies how to play and master the game. The game takes a while to master, but once you do, the thrill of victory is worth it!

It finally happened.

I have now logged 100 hours of Team Fortress 2 on the PC.

When I first got the Orange Box for the PC back in November, I finally had it with nintendo not delivering the kind of gaming experimence I wanted.

So, I turned to Steam, Valve's own community program, and made a Profile

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198014896012

Let's check my orange box stats. Note that I had never played FPS's on the computer before the Orange box.

Half Life 2: 24 hours

Half Life 2: Episode 1: 5 Hours

Half Life 2: Episode 2: 6 Hours

Portal: 3 Hours

Team Fortress 2: 105 Hours

So lets recap, for a $30 game, I have logged 143 hours in total, bringing the grand total to 20 cents an hour of gameplay.

Here's what a smart person said what Modern Warfare 2 would look like if it were run by Valve(Right click it and press "view image" to see it all)

Wow! What a concept.

Team Fortress 2 has an insane number of downloadable maps, game modes, and a lighthearted tone that stand in stark contrast to what most millitary shooters.

Buying a new computer($200), upgrading my graphics card and Power Supply($70 total) basically gave me access to gaming's best value. Thanks, Valve.

Most of all, I want to thank Valve for their dedication to providing awesome games with a huge amount of free content, provided by themselves and the public. I love how valve encourages their communities by praising them in much updated blogs, showing that they really care.
http://www.teamfortress.com/

http://www.l4d.com/blog/

Most of all, I love the steam platform. Steam allows me to make friends, see stats, earn achievements, and download games, just like xbox LIVE does for a fee. But...Steam is free too!

I know I'm ust blindly praising Valve at this point, but they just do so many things right that I can't help myself. The headlines just scream about Ubisoft, Activision and EA abusing gamers with some kind of DRM or unpopular firing. However, they do not address someone who is doing everything so correctly, so non-corporate like.

Three cheers for Valve, the best video game company in the world.

To me, the answer to who has the best exclusive content is obvious to me, and it might surprise y'all.

No doubt about it, it's the PS3. If going by just individual scores, this becomes apparent. Off the top of my head I can think of Uncharted, Resistance, Ratchet and Clank, Little Big Planet, God of War, and Metal Gear Solid 4 as examples.

Nintendo also has a strong lineup of exclusives, but sometimes, they miss the mark or are too gimmicky (Mario and sonic.....At the Olympics??? You gotta be kidding me.)

When it comes to Microsoft, they do not have many exclusives, purely for the reason that their games can be ported to the PC so easily and cheaply. Heck, Microsoft even released Gears of War and Halo on PC's.

So, in this era of few exclusives and most games being developed for PS3/Xbox/ maybe PC, it's up to Nintendo to make their best games constantly to stay ahead.

...Except they haven't. AT ALL. Since 2008, Nintendo has only released 3 major-franchise-big-fat Wii exclusives that were NOT remakes or ports or recycles(Animal Crossing City Folk) : Super Smash Bros Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii

(On a related note, I am declaring New Super Mario Mario Bros. Wii as the most lazily titled game ever. "Hey Jeff, what should we call this new Mario game on the Wii? Duuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhh......." Its like calling Super Mario Galaxy "Super Mario 64-on the Wii and IN SPAAAAACE!!!!)

So what does a Nintendo gamer like me do? Go to the PC of course. But that is beside the point. The point is that Nintendo really has to knock it outta the park with their big releases this year.

I am most excited for Metroid: Other M(Also a lame title, but oh well), and we'll see how SMG2 turns out. Call me crazy, but I didn't like Super Mario Galaxy that much. It was okay. Nothing mind blowing, but a solid game.

Metroid: Other M(groan) looks like a return to my favorite games in the series: Metroid Fusion and zero mission(Call me crazy again, fanboys, but I really don't like super Metroid for reasons I'll explain some other time). It combines the awesomeness of the 2-D Gameboy games with the visceral action of the 3-D games like Prime. I'm really looking forward for this game to stop the drought of new seclusive Wii games.

As for Zelda, I've learned the one thing to do is to never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever ,ever expect it to be released on time. As a younger man, I waited so long for Twilight Princess that I almost held it as some kind of mystical creature that would solve my problems and give me free lollipops. When I actually bought it, I held it in my hands and almost couldn't believe that it existed. For the new release, I'm going to put my expectations lower so I can relive my experience of being surprised by Ocarina of Time.

I hope that with the release of these games, Nintendo can show that they haven't become lazy (too late). I hope that after this year, they enough enough releases for the next year as well. What good would it be to get so many exclusives this year and have to wait another 2 years for any of them? We would be right back in the same position.

NEXT TIME: Why I hate Super Metroid and why the GBA games were so much better.

MARIO. IS. GRABBING. HIS. CROTCH.

Not only that, but he is doing unspeakable things to Yoshi!

WHAT THE HECK NINTENDO?

Why did you make your mascot do this? ON THE COVER OF THE GAME. Have they lost their minds?

Yes. Yes they have.

Why?

BECAUSE MARIO IS GRABBING HIS CROTCH FOR DEAR LIFE!!!!!

Let us anylize this image for a minute. You have your regular space theme, the lumas, blah, blah, blah.

But look at Mario. There is no harness on yoshi, not any kind of handle or saddle that he could concievably hold on to. He is just having the time of his life grabbin' where the sun don't shine. Yoshi is enjoying it too.

I mean, couldn't he have the other hand in the air, I don't know.

I'm now number 523 in the world!!!

I can consistently get an FC(Full Combo, no notes missed) on Paperback Writer, and I'm moving up in the ranks. If a friend with a camera comes over, I will definately try to post it by Sunday.

Keep on movin'

I've been playing The Beatles: Rock Band lately. I'm number 1065 on the solo play Drum leaderboard. The only things stopping me from a higher score are the EXTREMLEY hard trio of songs on drums: I Feel Fine, I wanna be your man, and Get Back are are SUPER HARD. If I could just practice those, I could get 5 stars on every song. THEN---hopefully I'll get around number 500!

Finally, hours of wasting my life playing plastic drums will mean.....Ummm, something. If you want to see videos of me playing Rock band drum songs, just comment and say that you do. See ya.

Do you miss the sense of awe you usually get from reading a
D_west blog post? Sure you are! I am too!

My new years resolution for 2010? BECOME THE MOST POULAR PERSON ON GAMESPOT.

How will I achieve this this goal I just thought of? SIMPLE, MY FRIENDS!

1: Free cash to anyone who comments

2: If I get more than 500 comments on any blog, I will personally bake a batch of cookies, go to gamespot HQ in San Francisco, and give said cookies to the editors.

3: Write thought provoking blogs....About D_west

4: Keep referring to myself in the third person

5: Not writing any thought provoking, game related blogs....wait..

6: using made up words such as "Thynebular" to sound edu-ma-cated

7: writing blogs WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT (at least once every decade)

8: Not insulting you, the reader. You dumb, dumb reader.

9: Write lists!

10: getting all three spots on the "gamer soapbox" for future blogs such as "Why the PS3 plays games", "The Xbox 360-There's a number in the title!" and "Where there's a wii, there's a Way!!!"

Hopefully, my resolution/dream can come true. I need YOU to make it possible. Please.

What's a gamespot again?

-Your Pal, D_west