Video Game Power Rankings #4

Let’s get right down to business:

1. (2) Steam on the Mac – As Nat mentioned, this should have been #1 last week, so in a face-saving manuever, I’m ranking Steam on the Mac as the #1 Video Game story this past week. It’s been great, but to be far it isn’t all roses. (FWIW, I’ve had the same issue with Steam locking up because it thinks a game is running, forcing me to force a shutdown. I hope this is an isolated incident). And I don’t know if it’s related, but Torchlight sales have surpassed 500k.

2. (-) Red Dead Redemption – Red Dead Redemption probably has a legitimate gripe with being #2. Everyone (and I really mean everyone) is talking about it. From its sprawling game world to disgusting hilarious achievements, this game looks to have it all.

3. (4) Super Mario Galaxy 2 – The unwashed masses didn’t get to play it until yesterday, but that hasn’t stopped everyone from talking about how great this game is. Mine should be in hand sooner rather than later.

4. (-) The Prince of Persia – With a movie coming out later this week, the Prince of Persia is a rather popular topic. Maybe you fancy a new PoP game? Perhaps a Flash game in your browser? Maybe something a little old school? Prince of Persia never met a platform it didn’t want to release a port of its seminal platformer. (I still play my Gameboy Color Prince of Persia on my GBA SP)

5 (-) Pac Man Anniversary – This has been a week of anniversaries (Empire Strikes Back, among others) but the Google homage to Pac-Man was one of the best. Playable Pac-Man in a logo!

6. (-) Mass Effect 2 – ME2 missed the cut last week with the announcement of new DLC, but they make the list this week with the news that BioWare is going to bridge the gap between ME2 and 3 with DLC that will advance the story along. This sounds like a great idea, but I’m wary of the execution. We’ll see. There was also the title update that “optimized” the mineral scanning mini-game. This is just perfect timing — last time I played ME2 I spent a couple hours scanning planets and amassed probably more minerals than I’ll ever need. I could have used some optimized scanning.

7. (7) EA’s Online Pass – Not to be left out of the game, THQ is also going to follow the EA Online Pass model with it’s new ultimate fighter game, UFC Undisputed 2010. This is the new model. Get used to it.

8. (5) Guild Wars 2 – GW2 still holding down the fort on the list on the strength of this “Dynamic Events” post at the Guild Wars 2 site (via Tap Repeatedly).

9. (9) Alan Wake – Sorry, this is a cop-out. It’s late and dark outside and I want to go to bed, just like in the game. So it sticks around one more day.

10. (1) Halo Reach – I couldn’t let Halo Reach fall completely off the list, so I’ll mention that Halo Reach has a release date: September 14th.

Dropped out: Fallout: New Vegas and others.