Merry christmas to everyone !!Heres a few of my many many christmas pictures I took today. Some of the presents, some of the the food, a couple of the drinks and the sweet sweet 4x4, V6,new Jeep that my grandfather drover here in that I couldnt testdrive because of alcohol. Next time Jeep, next time!

I spent the whole day with my family and close relatives and now I´m going to finish it off with some Guitar Hero 3 with my brother! What better way to celebrate christmas than in front of that game with close family!

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Monkey Island, The Flash Movie

Or, Monkey Island in five minutes !

I just felt I had to celebrate and honor this awesome piece of fanart for The Secret of Monkey Island, one of the best adventuregames ever to be created. Basically its the whole game of Monkey Island 1 animated and narrated in 5 minutes. So you could say its an animated flash of a speedrun in MI1. And its beyond awesome. I laughed so hard watching this for the first time I could hardly sit on my chair and now I watch it at least once a day. Its made by Majus Arts. A German guy who likes to do stuff like this and the version I´m going to link to is the English version of it since its originally German. If you grew up with PC adventure games like I did you will find this extremely funny. If you did not play through Monkey Island once a week growing up like I did its still a piece of art nobody should miss out on.

Monkey Island - The Flash Movie / http://www.majusarts.de/

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The Angry Video Game Nerd

For supplying us with rants on old golden games we love to hate

This man has grown on me over the year. First off he might appear to be an immature nerd whos just using foul words to describe bad games..and thats exacly how he wants to be remembered. James Rolfe is the man behind the character and hes a genious. His character "Angry Video Game Nerd" likes to take an old game (for example a NES game) and complain about it for 5-10 minutes. And its awesome. Once you´ve watched some of his videos, realized hes only playing this immature and once you start to recognize what games hes playing andthe frustration you also felt playing this games when you were younger it starts to really get funny. AVGN is pretty much a well known Internetphenomenon by now and he deserves a place on any "Best of 07" list.

The Angry Video Game Nerd / CineMassacre

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2: Bioshock

Platform: Xbox 360/PC | Developer: 2K Games| My Score: 9.5

Its so hard to describe what made Bioshock one of the best games ever (yes ever!). Theres so many parts that comes together to create this experience. The actionelements, the horrorelements, the story of a city on the bottom of the ocean built by a man with deep political issues with the world, the story of a man whos plane crash on top of a lighthouse leading down into this ghost city where everyone still alive has gone mad on a drug called Adam. But first and foremost its the freedom that makes Bioshock. You play this game exacly how you want to. You can run and gun, you can stay back and use Plasmids, you can hurry on with the story or break into some abandoned stripclub and experience some sidestory of the stripperghost still in there. You can chose to upgrade your hacking skills to hack the securitysystems of the city or you could try to create your own anti-electronics ammo. You create weapons, you create ammo and you really create your own game experience. This legacy of "blast through the door, lockpick it, hack the security systems, find a nearby vent and crawl in e.t.c" originally came from the mastermind of this game and his friend Warren Spector. Bioshock is a new Deus Ex and a new System Shock in many ways but its free from any things that might have hindered the experience in those games. Then theres the Little Sisters and Big Daddies. 2 of the best gaming elements concerning moral choices ever in a videogame, then theres the artdirection...I need to stop here. Read my full review !

1: Super Mario Galaxy

Platform:Wii | Developer:Nintendo | My Score: 9.5

I just sound silly everytime I describe my love for SMG. The best platformer ever, one of the best games ever created, the best mariogame ever created. The list goes on. This is the pinnacle of the INSANE gamingyear that was 2007. In fact this is one of the most important games in the history of gaming. Nintendo takes Mario to platformpuzzles we never thought we would see. They experiment with gravity in so many ways your mind will be orgasming every second. You walk outside of spheres, inside of them, under stuff, over stuff, upside down, downside up, on giant robots, inside of 2D platforming levels inside of a 3D cylinder floating in space. And when you think you´ve got whats coming next they launch you off to something that completely blows your mind all over again. Every level inSMG feels like it could fuel an entire game but you only get a couple of minutes with it until they launch you off to the next "game". Then theres the Marionostalgia factor thats very high but not all all a must. Then theres one of the best soundtracks ever crafted, then theres the ending. Something that far to few has brought up about this game. The ending to SMG is so beautiful. This long epic cinematic of love, hope, galaxies, stars, worlds dead and worlds reborn, friendship and tradegy. Its quite insane actually seeing as this is "only" a Mariogame. On top of that its actually on the the best looking games to come out this year, all platforms included and its the best looking Wii game for sure. Anyway, I could of course go on and on forever about this game, theres to much good to be describing it all here. Read my full review of it !

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6: Assassins Creed

Platform: Xbox 360/PS3 | Developer:Ubisoft Montreal | My Score: 9.0

Insane productionvalues and a very talented team results in this piece of art that often is the most beautiful game I have ever seen both in terms of design and raw technical graphics. It revolutionizes the way we play platforming with insanely smooth Freerunning controls and its combat thatis both new, creative and very very fun. The sandbox gameplay works very well together with the games thick atmosphere and perfect audiovisual presentation and the story ties in very well with questions of motives, morale and religion that very few other games comes close to. All in all its a very unique experience !

5: Super Paper Mario

Platform:Wii | Developer:Nintendo/Intelligent Systems | My Score: 9.0

Contains everything you could possibly want from a Mariogame, a platformer, an RPG and an Adventuregame. Takes elements from all of this and combines it with truckloads of really funny humor (the funniest game of the year next to Portal), and this ability to flip between 2D and 3D that is completely mindblowing every time you see it. The graphics are super beautiful, the sounds and music are top notch, the story is very deep and engaging and the dialogue is extremely well written. Its one of the best playing, best looking games on the Wii for sure and a must have for any Mariofan since the nostalgialevels are off the charts. At the same time it feels very fresh and very revolutionary.

4: Portal (Orange Box)

Platform:X360/PS3/PC | Developer:Valve | My Score: 9.0

Theres so much more to Portal than what first meets the eye. First off its the most cleverly designed and down right best puzzlegame since Tetris. It will make you think in ways you have never thought before to get through all of the puzzles. It will completely blow your mind every time. You will manipulare your surroundings in ways you never thought possible. The thing that really makes Portal one of the best games of the year tho is the humor. The script in this game might be one of the funniest ever. The subtle humor here is so downright awesome it will make you play through the game again and again. Some of the quotes from Portal are without doubt some of my alltime favorite quotes now. Play it to believe it!

3: The Darkness

Platform:X360/PS3 | Developer:Starbreeze | My Score: 9.0

The story of Jackie, his struggle with the darkness, his inner demons, his family and loved ones and with the New York mafia is a tale to remember forever. The story in this game is breathtaking, beautiful, frightening and very engaging. All set in one of the best versions of the NY subway, backalleys, apartments and docks ever crafted. Then theres the depths of Jackies Darknessinfested mind wich works to create this really great combination of Max Payne meets Silent Hill. The action is spot on and the gunplay combined with the Darkness powers makes for a solid actiongame. The soundtrack is one of the best of 2007 and the dialogue, voiceactors and cutscenes are all top notch. Unique touches like shooting out lightsources, doing sidequests in the somewhat "freeroaming" city and experiencing both the legendary ending that will make a grown man cry as well as the most beautiful interaction of a digital male & female ever makes this the 3rd best game of 2007!

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10: Mass Effect

Platform: Xbox 360 | Developer: BioWare | My Score: 8.5

BioWares epic spacesaga that has been developed for almost 4 years. Every game that has come out of this great RPG developer has lead up to this point. The result is one of the best games of 2007 with deep story, complex characters, beautiful graphics, a deep dialoguesystem and so much spacegeekness that any fan of RPGs will fall in love at first sight. Awesome presentation and really fun combat boosts it along even further.Knights of the Old Republic on crack!

9: Forza Motorsport 2

Platform: Xbox 360 | Developer:Turn 10 | My Score: 8.8

Probably the best looking, best sounding most detailedpacked and smoothest Racinggame ever. Theres so much cars and so extremely many ways of tinkering with them its about as close to real life that you want to come. At the same time the game is very accessible and can be adjusted to fit every type of racing gamer. Everyone with even a remote interest in cars will find that they are modding and driving the cars of their dreams in hours wether it be a Subaru or a Saab. This combined with the great onlinefeautures, the extremely deep paint/decal modding and the top notch presentation makes this one of the best games of 2007.

8: Guitar Hero 3 - LoR

Platform:X360/PS3/PS2/Wii | Developer:Neversoft | My Score: 9.0

The ultimate version of the ultimate party/rythm game. This is Guitar Hero cranked up as high as it gets with a really earthshaking songlist, with difficulty cranked up to insane levels, with bossbattles, battlemode, onlineplay, superb graphics and with all the finetuning of the furmula that you could possibly want. Online leaderboards, downloadable songs, a new cordless guitar and yea, again, the songlist speaks for itself. Muse, Dragonforce, In Flames, Guns N Roses, Rise Against, Killswitch Engage, Santana, Rage Against The Machine, Weezer, Red Hot Chili Peppers and much much MUCH more. This is probably as good as Guitar Hero is ever going to be.

7: HL2-Episode 2(Orange Box)

Platform:X360/PS3/PC | Developer:Valve | My Score: 9.0

One of the parts that makes up the best value in gaming history AKA The Orange Box. This continuation of HL2 is probably as good as Half Life has ever been. The drama, the immersion, the story, the characterinteractions, the pacing and the raw action. Valve nails everything that they are so good at and delivers a shooterexperience unlike any other. The HL2 story is driven forward masterfully and the relationship with Alyx is evolved further. Its often beautiful, gorgeous and sad but also heartpounding and when Valve adds the heavy electobeats at just the right moment the action is a pure joy to play. Bring on Episode 3 NOW!

I have currently started working on my top 10 list for 2007. The 10 best games I personally played over the last year. Stay tuned for more info.

In case someone didnt know by now:

http://www.jeffgerstmann.net

Spread the word..

First off. Thanks to Kevin Van Ord for saving me and allowing me to finish the game (read the post a couple of posts below this one for more information on the "several controllers plugged in" bug).

Assassins Creed was hands down one of the most beautiful gamingexperiences I´ve had in a great while. This game has taken way to much negative criticism. Way more than it deserves. I got 810/1000 achievmentpoints out of the game and I enjoyed every minute of climbing every High Point, saving every citizen and asassinating every person. The atmosphere, graphics (wich really runs in circles around most of the games out there, its sooo sharp), animation, sound, musical score and insane productionvalues comes together with the really innovative combat and great freerunning to create a really unique experience. You need to be able to appriciate the slow pacing and the sandbox formula to fully enjoy the game. Something I fear to few has been able to do. For me personally it was the ability to create my own experience that really made it so fun. The way I could just climb around, walk around and explore these cities. The story was very interesting and the theme felt very fresh. It really gave me some insight in this part of history and religion that I really wasnt to enlightened on before. More games needs to touch on stuff like the Holy War and the crusaders.

The missiondesign was repetative, sure. But it didnt bother me nearly as much as it bothers many other gamers. I was never forced to do it all. And to people that feels like there isnt much of a game in there, that the game plays itself. Well, you´re probably the type of gamer that needs to shoot stuff, run fast, and that just cant sit down and enjoy some cinematic, easy on the nerves entertainment.

If you can relax and take the game for what it is, you will have a really good time with AC. If youre willing to stay long enough to really dig into the atmosphere of the cities and overlook some bugs, some AI issues that really is very hard to avoid as a developer when making a game of this nature and a huge glitch near the end if you have more than 1 controller plugged in.

I´m to lazy at the momen to write a full review like I planned in the beginning but In the end I give it a 9.0. One of the top 10 games of 2007. Feel free to prove me wrong. The Discussion is open to everyone.

THUMBS UP! Right of the bat it feels like the best Burnout ever, and I´m a VERY big BO fan thats very picky about my Burnout. The freeroaming, the online, the city, the beautiful crashes. It all comes together beautifully. Races are even MORE intense than before with more camerashaking and soundeffects sounds SO HEAVY this time around it feels like a 747 is crashing into my house (remember that scene from the new War of the Worlds?). I´m gonna Download the PS3 demo as well to compare them and see wich version I´ll get in January but the 360 one was rock solid so I cant really see how it can get any better. If you like Burnout download it, get online and spin some donuts. Totally worth it !

So I finally make it to the last part of one of the best games of the year, Assassins Creed, and I run into to somuch bugs I cannot complete the game...what....the...****??! I have tried to restart the savegame, the game iself and the Xbox 360 but the INSANE bugs remain. I ride to "the last part" of the game and when I get there I either fall through the world in an endless free fall or I run into a 2nd copy of myself. This is like the wierdest bug I have ever witnessed in a game. A 2nd copy of myself spawn at a checkpoint and I control both version of myself at the same time. I can also kill one version of myself with the other version of myself and thereby die. The AI of all the enmies in this area dosent exist, they stand there in their original position without ANY kind of AI. When I manage to avoid the holes in the world, manage to steer BOTH versions of myself onward and manage to take out half an army of Crusaders because they lack AI it turns out theres nothing more to do there. The objectives I had there has been wiped away so I can only run around there or reload my earlier save and go through it all again. Of all wierd bugs Ive ran into over the years this kinda takes the prize. The last part of the game is totally and utterly incomplete. This level of the game is like an early early alphabuild with gaping holes in the ground, lack of AI, a totally crazy "aggrometer" wich keeps flipping between "almost hidden" and "in combat", objectives that dissappeares and a 2nd version of the player spawning at the first checkpoint. And since restarting everything dosent help (I even tried replaying a big part before that place) this means I cannot complete Assassins Creed...wich is REALLY a bummer since I have enjoyed this game ALOT...... Anyone else experiencing this on the 360 version? What is going on here? Its like those REALLY buggy games people make fun of. What happened? I havent heard anything abou this in any review so far but for me its like taking the game back to 2004 and trying to play it when I try to play the level...