VGPR

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.

I’ve decided to move the VGPRs to Monday to give me a chance to digest the week’s news over the weekend and work on the post during that time as well. So here is week #2’s Video Game Power Rankings (number in parentheses is the previous week’s ranking)

1 (1) Halo Reach – Halo Reach Beta is in full swing. I’ve got it, I’ve played it, and for the most part I like it. It’s amazing to me the sheer numbers of idiotic Halo players that already permeate the Beta, but it’s only going to get worse, as the beta opens to Silver Xbox Live members this week. Great. At least we got the Invasion game mode, which is quite fun to play.

2 (9) Bungie/Activision – This story broke just as the first Power Rankings was being put together, so it was left off the list (but added later by Nat). This just barely loses to Halo Reach for hopefully obvious reasons. The ten year agreement will let Bungie “bring [their] next gaming universe and IP to the largest possible audience.” Not sure what Activision brings that Bungie couldn’t do on their own (besides possibly the PS3 audience) but it will be interesting to see if Bungie is serious about new IP or not. I, for one, will give them the benefit of the doubt. They’ve earned that much.

3 (-) Fallout New Vegas – For a game that isn’t coming out for a little while, Fallout New Vegas sure got a lot of press last week. Joystiq has a preview, highlighting such things as a new VATS that includes melee attacks which warms my cold, dead, post-apocalyptic heart.

4 (8) Infinity Ward/Activision – This was another item I left off the list last week but include now because the shock waves of this announcement are still being felt.

5 (-) Guild Wars 2 – I include Guild Wars 2 here at #5 out of respect for the original and for the brief burst of Guild Wars activity I saw on Twitter last week. I can’t believe how long and strong GW has survived. Even though it’s been years since I last played, I have a small place in my heart for the original non-MMO MMO.

6 (-) Alpha Protocol – Alpha Protocol is coming out soon and the marketing machine is starting to ramp up. Videos galore abound.

7 (2) Ebert and games as art – This one lost a little steam over the past week, but I had to keep it in the rankings just so I could link this post, which has the most definitive wrap-up of blogger response to the Ebert dust-up out there.

8 (-) Alan Wake – The game isn’t out yet, but that doesn’t mean the plans for “DLC” can’t be (rightly) criticized.

9 (-) Frozen Synapse – I don’t remember where I heard about Frozen Synapse first, it could have been a podcast (probably the GWJCC) but it seemed like all of a sudden a whole lot of people were talking about the game. I quickly realized this game is certainly not in my particular wheelhouse but it is going to be popular nonetheless.

10 (-) The New New Super Mario – The Power Rankings for the Week That Was wouldn’t be complete without the mention of FotB Zack’s “If Mario Was Designed in 2010” going viral.

Honorable Mention: The new Steam Client will be available for Mac this week and E3 is just around the corner.