This is quaint: releasing any type of video game blog content this week that isn’t E3-related. Ahh, but we’re pioneers here at Buttonmashing dot com. We continue to blaze new trails. So on with the rankings:
1. (1) Red Dead Redemption – The Western-fueled excitement has not died down. This game is still dominating Twitter/Facebook/Your favorite social network. The podcasts are still talking about it and “best Rockstar game ever” has been floated out there more than once. My non-hardcore gaming friends are playing it or asking me if they should be playing it. http://kotaku.com/5556788/my-highlight-of-red-dead-redemption-isthis-song
2. (-) E3 – Sorry, guys, it’s unavoidable. E3 is going to dominate the discussion for another week or two, and even if we mostly ignore covering the majority of the fire hose of data that comes out this week, we can’t avoid it entirely. So for something a little different, here are ten titles from last year’s E3 that haven’t been heard from since.
3. (-) – Fallout New Vegas – New Vegas returns with a vengeance. We’ve talked about the pretty FNV collector’s edition that is going to be available in a previous Power Ranking. Now, to complicate matters, there will also be retailer-specific perks for preodering the game. UGH. Enough with that crap, let’s all watch this video full of gameplay. I need this game in my brain right now (if you’re reading this in a feedreader, you’ve got to come to the site to enjoy the Fallout video goodness):
I’m drooling post-apocalyptic drool.
4. (-) iPhone 4 The new iPhone was announced to the thronging masses to rapturous cheer. The feature prominent in this year’s rip-off iteration is the gyroscope! Yay for awkward gameplay while you’re on the bus! You thought yelling “BLUE!” into your DS made you look weird.
5. (3) Super Mario Galaxy 2 – Yes, this is strictly personal. It’s on here again, this time because as I watched my six year old nephew play SMG2 and I realized that Mario and Nintendo is once again shaping the gaming minds of the next generation. And they are LUCKY.
6. (6) Steam on the Mac – Steam is still hanging around, this time for the addition of Team Fortress 2. Every TF2 player loves them some goofy hats, so I’m sure the free ear buds, usable on any player, was quite the hit.
7. (-) Hulu to Xbox360/PS3? – Netflix Instant Watch may have been the consumer killer app for the 360 (and PS3 and now Wii) but you throw Hulu on there? Well now you’ve got a bona fide media/entertainment/why would I ever leave my leaving room piece of electronics there.
8. (-) Kinect – Even though this is probably going to dominate next week’s E3-heavy VGPR, the news came out Sunday that Microsoft had changed the name of Natal to “Kinect.” Aside from the phonetic failings, why are we teaching our children bad spelling? MICROSOFT YOU’RE RUINING IT FOR EVERYONE. Also, the name itself is wrecthed and if they play Stereo MC’s “Connected” (see how I spelled that, Microsoft?) while they show it off, I’m going to puke. (I’m also going to wish I was 18 again because the song is OLD).
9. (-) You got 384 pounds of meat – I shed no tears that Farmville has been hemorrhaging players. But who cares?! Frontierville (aka The Oregon Trail, Facebook edition) is on its way!
10. (-) Dungeon Siege 3/Obsidian – I played the first Dungeon Siege a lot more than it deserved. It was a paint-by-numbers Diablo 2 clone in 3D. It lacked heart and soul. I ignored Dungeon Siege 2, but when I heard that Obsidian was going to be developing the third game, my ears perked up. Count me in as interested. Even if Alpha Protocol didn’t exactly deliver.
Honorable Mention: Alpha Protocol was it as bad as originally thought? Sort of? Maybe?