Video Game Power Rankings #8

Just as it was tough to really get a grasp on the world of video games following an E3, it’s equally tough to get a grip on what’s going on out there the week after E3, because is a giant regurgitation of the previous week. That being said, we will try and cope. It’s going to be a little scatter-shot this week but here’s the Power Rankings for the week that was.

1. (-) Dead Rising 2 – So we start out the rankings with devastating news: Dead Rising 2 has been delayed. NOOOOOO!!! I guess this isn’t terrible news. This is going to be a busy summer/fall for games, so waiting for Dead Rising 2 is fine. Of course, there’s that little Bungie game coming out around the same time, so we’ll see how that affects things. It should affect my buying it on Day One.

2. (-) E3 No-shows – E3 2010 is in the bag and only makes one appearance on the power rankings but there were some games that were absent. Was there anything you were hoping to see that wasn’t there?

3. (-) Are Games Art? – We return to this topic not because Roger Ebert has said something recently, but because a new book, Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter. The reviews are mostly positive and this is a book I’ll be adding to my reading list. The topic examined here isn’t only “are games art?,” but also “for games to be considered art, we need better video game criticism.” Blogs were going in that direction, but now those moments are harder and harder to find.

4. (-) Crackdown 2 Demo – The Crackdown 2 Demo hit Xbox Live. I downloaded it, played my 30 minutes (I didn’t bother with the trick to get unlimited demo time) and then I was done. If this wasn’t a sequel, but a brand new game, I think I would have played the demo and moved on, probably not going on to pick up the full game. Bill Harris didn’t care for it, either. The Crackdown Franchise (as it were) has built up a lot of emotional goodwill with me, but if the reviews start coming out negatively, I will definitely wait to pick this one up.

5. (-) Transformers War for Cybertron – On the other end of that spectrum, the Transformers game (which also had a demo recently) is garnering a lot of word of mouth and momentum.

6. (-) Slayer Pinball – Never have so many non-gamers lost their collective minds for a game since Slayer Pinball on the iPad. (On a side note, after a mention on the Gamers with Jobs podcast, I looked into the niche of “Virtual Pinball Machines.” I’ll stick with Metroid Prime Pinball and be happy, but for these guys, this stuff is SERIOUS)

7. (-) Ni no Kuni – If Slayer Pinball got non-gamers hot and bothered, Ni no Kuni got Japanophiles equally so. (Plus it has a DS version!) Pretty.

8. (-) Retro Electronics – Yes, this has been a slow week. Nevertheless, these redesigned electronics as retro 70’s devices is still pretty cool.

9. (-) BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHRRRRRRRHHHH – Make the vuvuzelas stop, daddy!

10. (-) Apologies – I can’t get the vuvuzelas out of my head. I apologize in advance.