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As 2010 comes to a close, it's time we take a look back on the year that was and see how it has impacted gaming. While many choose to have games-of-the-year awards or write about their most anticipated games of the following year, I believe it is important to take a moment to give a few quick shout-outs to the games, developers, and individuals who have made a significant positive impact on the industry at some point over the past twelve months.
With a shaky economy and more pressure than ever to follow the established norm, it is not difficult to forgive those who take a less risky path to success, but few of us would be the gamers we are today if not for the trailblazers who put everything on the line–be it time, money, or reputation–in order to advance gaming as an increasingly accepted form of art and entertainment. The following people, companies, and games should be commended for making 2010 such an incredible year to be a gamer.
iOS Developers
Arguably the fastest growing part of the industry is in the mobile games category. No more than a couple years ago, all of these games would be thrown into the "casual" genre and be immediately dismissed by gamers without a second thought, and usually for good reason. But now if you have that same stubborn mindset, I feel sorry for you, as you are missing out on history in the making.
Many gamers routinely complain about stagnation in the industry, moaning about how there are more games with a "2" or "3" at the end of their titles than there are new IP's. To them, I offer Game Dev Story, Sword & Poker, and Texting of the Bread.
Hey, who put their 360 in my iPhone?
What if you are more of a traditional gamer? Surely there can't be anything to match console games on a little phone/MP3 player! Well, you're wrong (if that's what you were thinking, else you were probably correct). No matter what kind of gamer you are, you will certainly find something to enjoy.
Were you a bit disappointed with Final Fantasy XIII this year? Square-Enix will make it up to you with Chaos Rings, a built-for-the-iOS RPG released with immense critical praise last April. More recently, Chair Entertainment (of Shadow Complex fame) met great success with Infinity Blade, a fantasy game powered by the Unreal Engine 3, i.e., the same game engine that the Gears of War and Mass Effect series used. On a phone. Impressed yet?
Before moving on, I want to give a special shout-out to GameLoft, who has been "borrowing" the concepts of mainstream console games for their iOS ones. While any console or PC developer would surely receive a lot of criticism for this, GameLoft is now one of the most well-known developers in the App Store.
Would you like to play Halo, Diablo, or Uncharted on your phone? Too bad, because it's never going to happen. Might I suggest N.O.V.A., Dungeon Hunter, and Shadow Guardian respectively instead? Not only are they disturbingly similar to their inspirations, but they are all very good. "Good" as in "high-quality." On a phone.
Oh, hello Mr. Drake. I didn't expect to find you here!
So, my hat (if I were wearing one at the moment) is off to you, iOS developers. Your innovative ideas, limitation-shattering technologies, and genuine appeal to all types of gamers is pushing the industry to new heights.
"Notch" and Minecraft
At what point can you declare a game to be successful? Is it when the game is awarded high review scores by numerous media critics? How about when people are so excited for it that they are willing to wait in line next to dozens of other smelly nerds to be the first to play it?
Minecraft received none of these accolades. In fact, at the time of this writing, it hasn't even hit the beta phase of development, so there are no comprehensive reviews of it yet. As a download-only title, I doubt you will see anyone lining up in front of GameStop for to buy it (but if you do, take a picture for the internet).
I couldn't have said it better myself.
So why have over 800,000 people paid for an unfinished game? The best explanation I can think of is a comparison to Grand Theft Auto III. Rockstar's game will always be fondly remembered for popularizing sandbox games, allowing the player to do what they wanted, whenever they wanted. Now take that sense of open-world wonder and add in the freedom for players to build whatever they desire as well.
Minecraft is a testament to the creativity we all have deep within us. As kids (and as adults for the most part), who has never fantasized about building his or her own castle or secret underground lair? Now we can tap into that imagination on a virtual level and share it with others online as well.
You can get a bunch of friends together over the weekend and create a full-scale replica of the Starship Enterprise if you felt like it. Someone even managed to build a giant computer that solved simple math problems. For those keeping score, that is a computer running within a game that is running within another computer.
Yes, some people have already built Pokemon's entire Kanto region block-for-block.
So what large group of masterminds funded by a high-profile publisher managed to come up with this ingenious game? Wait, are you saying it was just created by some guy on his own? (And why did I hear you say that?)
Yes, Markus "Notch" Persson deserves quite a bit of respect as the lone craftsman of this phenomenon, but I guess the hundreds of thousands of dollars the game rakes in every day is also pretty nice. Now that he has started his own development studio, gamers should be in for many treats as more features are added.
Thank you, Mr. Persson, for starting a new experience for gamers and for showing what the imagination of a single person can accomplish.
Team Meat and Super Meat Boy
While I do not consider myself as knowledgeable as I would like to be when it comes to the indie scene, the one game that I was looking forward to the most during Q4 of this year was not the new Call of Duty, Gran Turismo, or Assassin's Creed, but a little downloadable game from a couple designers virtually unheard of in the mainstream market. Team Meat's Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes managed to deliver what many consider to be the most significant 2D platformer since Super Mario World.
As a throwback to the days of ultra-difficult, mascot-based games of the early 90's, it is easy to see the love that went into Super Meat Boy. The game is constantly adding new obstacles at a perfect pace throughout the levels. Just as you think you have mastered one technique, the evil Dr. Fetus pitches you another curveball, ensuring you stay interested until the very end. Additionally, there are hidden warp zones that will take you on a nostalgic trip to your early gaming memories, complete with old-school graphics and 8-bit music.
You will also get double your daily dose of giant bloody saw blades every level.
Thankfully this prime cut of a game (see what I did there?) did not go unnoticed by the public. Even PETA created its own "Super Tofu Boy" Flash game, inadvertently bringing further attention to Team Meat's masterpiece.
However the main reason I wanted to give a shout-out to Team Meat is for their love of their fans. Despite being a team of only two people, the developers are answering every question and solving every technical issue that their customers send them, as well as retweeting the art and videos that their surprisingly large fanbase is making. Why aren't many of the more well-known developers and publishers this active with their communities?
Few can comprehend just how retro this game is.
Nevertheless, I cannot thank the folks at Team Meat enough for the incredible experiences I had with Super Meat Boy (other than the intense difficult most likely shortening my life by a few years). Here's hoping for more studios to follow their lead.
Who would you like to give a shout-out to and why? What games, companies, and people should be encouraged for what they did this year?