| Publisher | ID | Played | Enjoyed | Which Publisher had the Best Year Ever? 5. Capcom Last year I moaned that 2005 was nowhere near as magical as 2003 but in comparison to '06, 2005 was like some kind of luscious wet dream. This past year in gaming has been the dullest and driest yet with the wonderful little puddles of creativity all but dried up and relegated almost exclusively to last-gen hardware. Even Nintendo -- who pulled a landslide #1 spot on my list -- had more than a few sub-par games with Drill Dozer and Tetris DS. The rest, like Brain Age and Big Brain Academy were very fun and very pick-up-and-play but sadly none were play-and-play-again addictive for long. By summer it was only New Super Mario Bros. that kept my DS battery draining. I have yet to play anything on Wii long enough to form an opinion about it. On the console front it was Eidos once again
with a surprise offering. Tomb Raider: Legend was a fun summer romp,
Hitman: Blood Money was the best of the series and more enjoyable than
the rest, and Urban Chaos: Riot Response proved ridiculously entertaining.
Microsoft pulls in third thanks to the unique and addictive Viva Pinata,
marred by the totally underwhelming Gears of War. EA, who I despise
for driving Need for Speed into the And on Your Left And for the record I played 87 games in 2005, 40 in 2006. The decrease was half due to finally finding love and moving out, and half due to the muck of modern day gaming. |
| Activision | [A] | 1 | -- | |
| Atari | [A] | 2 | -- | |
| Capcom | [C] | 1 | 1 | |
| Dreamcatcher | [Dreamcatcher] | 1 | -- | |
| Eidos | [E] | 3 | 3 | |
| Electronic Arts | [EA] | 2 | 1 | |
| Funcom | [Funcom] | 1 | -- | |
| King Games | [King Games] | 3 | 1 | |
| Koei | [Koei] | 2 | 1 | |
| Konami | [K] | 1 | 1 | |
| LucasArts | [L] | 1 | 1 | |
| Majesco | [M] | 2 | 1 | |
| Midway | [M] | 1 | -- | |
| Microsoft | [MS] | 2 | 1 | |
| Nintendo | [N] | 8 | 4 | |
| Q? | [Q?] | 1 | 1 | |
| Rockstar | [RS] | 2 | 1 | |
| Sega | [Sega] | 2 | 1 | |
| Sprout | [Sprout] | 1 | 1 | |
| TikGames | [TikGames] | 1 | -- | |
| Ubisoft | [U] | 2 | 1 | |
| VUGames | [VU] | 1 | -- |
| Title | ID | Insta-view |
| December | ||
| Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS) | [K] | Another great Castlevania but the length and originality of the series are starting to wane |
| November | ||
| Viva Pinata | [MS] | Fast paced, addictive, and unique. The only flaw is that it's billed as a "kid's" game. A shame really |
| Elite Beat Agents (DS) | [N] | A tolerable US'd rework of Ouendan but not my kinda music. Still a fun and competent rhythm game |
| Those Burger King Games | [King Games] | Well worth the $4 price tag, they're a week's worth of laughs & surprisingly well produced |
| Thrillville | [L] | A great title for non-gamers, it's basically an intro to gaming and an enjoyable sim at the same time |
| Gears of War (360) | [MS] | Another shallow, stereotypical sci-fi romp jazzed up by really pretty visuals. Mildly fun online |
| October | ||
| Clubhouse Games (DS) | [N] | Didn't get to play nearly enough but definitely of the more casual Touch! generation variety |
| Phantasy Star Universe (360) | [Sega] | The demo was enough to remind me of my distaste for anything MMO-ish |
| Lumines Live (360) | Q? | Not nearly as slick as PSP original and the segmented modes are a little lame, but still groovy fun |
| September | ||
| Cooking Mama (DS) | [M] | A fun collection of unconnected minigames. Fun, hunger-inducing, but a little bland |
| Lego Star Wars II (360) | 100 times more of everything from the original but not nearly as captivating | |
| August | ||
| Dead Rising (360) | [C] | A wonderful, over-the-top zombie fest! Unclassifiable, wacky, and loads of replay to be had! |
| Texas Hold 'Em (360) | [TikGames] | I just don't get the whole craze over poker, video chat enabled or no |
| Flatout 2 | [VU] | Flatout BAD! Terribly mediocre racing game jazzed up a tiny bit by ragdoll abusing minigames |
| July | ||
| Painkiller: Hell Wars | [Dreamcatcher] | This was cool... three years ago. Boring, ugly, and only mildly fun stapling monsters to walls nowadays |
| June | ||
| Urban Chaos: Riot Response | [E] | Hilarious over-the-top FPS action bolstered by some surprisingly fresh gameplay. A surprise favorite of mine |
| Big Brain Academy (DS) | [N] | More approachable and fun than Brain Age, I still didn't get into a daily regimen with this one |
| GTA: Liberty City Stories (PS2) | [RS] | Much more playable on PS2 but uglier for it. Fun in a they-still-haven't-updated-GTA sorta retro way |
| May | ||
| Jaws Unleashed | [M] | Promising gameplay goes belly up in practice with lame missions and glitchy action |
| New Super Mario Bros. (DS) | [N] | ADDICTIVE! Never have I been so compelled to find everything in a Mario game. Not so innovative, but FUN! |
| Hitman: Blood Money | [E] | They just get better. More of everything here and much better for it. Now clean up that animation! |
| X3 The Game | [A] | Like any movie-licensed game before it. Generic "action" with terrible camera and lackluster gameplay. Lame! |
| April | ||
| Brain Age (DS) | [N] | The best non-game of the year, I really did get smarter... 'til I stopped playing |
| Winback 2: Project Poseidon | [Koei] | I'm sorry, this is just unplayable! The worst character control since the d-pad was the main form of play |
| Rampage: Total Destruction (GC) | [M] | More fun with a 2nd player, there's lots to unlock including the original games but it's just not that thrilling |
| Dreamfall: The Longest Journey | [Funcom] | What's so special? Sub-par graphics, terrible combat gameplay. Great storytelling but stiff animation ruins it |
| Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast | [Sega] | A handful of new modes/cars/extras/routes make taking Outrun for another spin |
| Tomb Raider: Legend | [E] | Finally! A Tomb Raider that doesn't suck! Now give me one that's longer and less linear with more exploring! |
| March | ||
| Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires (360) | [Koei] | A great mix of strategy with DW action but riddled with all the flaws of every other DW. Frustrating but fun |
| Feeding Frenzy (360) | [Sprout] | A fast paced arcade-y Live game with lots of action and twitchy gameplay. Simple, old school fun |
| Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII | [U] | Gorgeous, simple, and fun... until about halfway through when missions get ridiculously, impossibly hard! |
| Tetris DS (DS) | [N] | A great fusion of Tetris and Nintendo but a letdown with no unlockables and limited modes |
| Far Cry Instincts: Evolution | [U] | Fun but obviously tossed together after Instincts incredible story and gameplay |
| The Godfather | [EA] | Not only respecting the movie legacy, it's a stellar sandbox game with gameplay to no ends |
| Midnight Club 3: DUB Ed. Remix | [RS] | A great expansion for $20 giving you a whole new city and tons of cars. Difficulty slaps you in the face though. |
| Driver: Parallel Lines | [A] | Too difficult with same-ol' boring mission types. I hear of an ingenious twist but can't stand to keep playing |
| February | ||
| Drill Dozer (GBA) | [N] | I swear this was a SNES game! Lame, repetitive gameplay gimmick that gets old real quick. |
| Marc Ecko's Getting Up | [A] | A promising concept but slightly sloppy gameplay left it mostly unfinished in my Xbox |
| BLACK | [EA] | A slick presentation masking a 1990's-standard FPS romp with a wafer thin story and razor thin linear paths |
| Chibi-Robo (GC) | [N] | First GC game of '06 couldn't be better! |