First off: no Mario games. We all love Nintendo’s main man, but I could list off the good plumber’s titles ’til the cows come home, and I don’t have any cows…so that might go on for a while. Also, all entries come from this generation of consoles, because frankly, my entire list would consist of GoldenEye otherwise. So with that said, how can you get your gaming fix this holiday season with all manner of trash talking siblings, rambunctious cousins, and overly curious aunts and uncles scurrying around the house?

Blur – These days, it seems like split-screen racing has become a thing of the past. Thankfully, this under-the-radar Arcade Racer offers the kind of nitrous-infused mayhem that the big names have relegated to the online realm, from the comfort of a crowded living room couch. While the local multiplayer might not have all the goodies of the online experience, it still allows for up to four players to unload missiles on each other at dangerously high speeds. Is there ever a time when power-up/weapon based racing isn’t fun? Oh, right: when your sister steals your controller from you right before the finish line and spends the rest of the night telling the whole family how you got beat by a girl…

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Unfortunately, there aren’t any split-screen competitive modes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a romping good time in Spec-Ops. Grab a friend and strap in for hours of the kind of hardcore challenge that most games just don’t offer any more. There’s always the possibility that Grandpa will want to start telling war stories and put a bit of a damper on your virtual fun, but that’s a risk worth taking for such a finely tuned and varied co-op experience.

Dance Central – Even the mythical powers of eggnog can’t get some family members on the dance floor. But if you call it a video game, then all of a sudden Uncle Jack will have no problem humiliating himself in the name of some friendly competition. And with more popular tracks than the techno fare of Dance Dance Revolution and the novelty of full-body motion controls to boot, Kinect’s crown jewel probably has a little more appeal for all those fun-loving family members who have mysterious mid-winter tans. Give them some Santa hats, a few drinks to go with the sugar cookies, and sit back while relatives of all ages and genders make fools of themselves. Just pray that nobody stumbles into the tree.

Gears of War 3 – Assuming that you have at least a few visitors that can manage to play a Shooter without whining about how disorienting two analog sticks are, then Gears is surely a good choice. Even if every player isn’t a lead-spitting phenom of death, the myriad of co-operative modes should allow you to pick up the slack so everybody can have a good time. It might be a little on the violent side, so perhaps it’s not the best choice if little ones are going to be running around, but there is a gore filter; just slap that baby on and tell little Susie that the berserkers in Beast mode are simply hugging all of the tiny humans they love so much.

Halo: Reach – For the more competitive-minded gamers in the family, Halo‘s latest offering features the finest four player split-screen you’ll find in any game this generation. The level of customization you can bring to any given match is nothing short of mind-boggling, and it’s easy to set up too. There should be no problems establishing the proper handicaps to make the action fun for everyone, and with off-the-wall game types like Rocket Race, nobody ever will want for variety. Oh, and if playing armchair game designer on the dozen plus maps that shipped with the game isn’t good enough for your more creative friends and family, just start up a game in the Forge and let him or her alter the level as you play. That’ll certainly help with cousin Kyle’s God complex…

Left 4 Dead 2 – If the cooperative demands of Gears just aren’t intense enough for your holiday homies (or if you suffer the misfortune of blood relation to a zombie freak), Valve’s Survival-Horror Shooter should do the trick. The combat is ultra fast and positively requires teamwork, but few experiences bond a family quite like escaping hordes of salivating undead whilst Dad contemplates the phrase “So, Sis: I heard that they hired you to do the motion-capture for the spitters.”

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga – The gameplay is simple and easy to pick up, but offers a surprising amount of depth for such a family friendly title. The second player can drop in or drop out at any time, so if somebody’s not feeling the prequels, they can go watch A Wonderful Life and come to the realization that life’s too precious to be so cynical. Meanwhile, the rest of the family can take turns enjoying the entire Star Wars saga, playing Star Wars trivia games when they’re not on the console, and drinking cold beverages with the help of some Han Solo ice cubes. Families are cool like that, right?

Little Big Planet 2 – The adorable art style is sure to draw in your more apprehensive gamers, and the AAA platforming and level-creation tools will keep the more hardcore interested. Supporting up to four local players, the sample platter of genres on display in Media Molecule’s latest is sure to be a blast of of cooperative hooting and hollering. It’ll also give you an excuse to call your brother “Sack boy.”

Madden NFL 2012 – Of course you’ll all be watching the Green Bay Packers continue their march to perfection against Da Bears on Christmas day, but the glory of that beatdown can’t last forever, can it? Thankfully for the less fortunate fans out there, EA has graced us with yet another hopes and dreams simulator. Get everybody to pick their favorite team and set up a good old fashioned tournament where Aunt Kelly can finally earn some bragging rights for the Bills. There are sure to be some obscenities shouted, and maybe a controller or two will get thrown, but Mom knows that common manners go away during football time.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe – A fighting game simply had to show up somewhere on this list; it was only a matter of which game could satisfy your biological desire to destroy your siblings while also appealing to the less seasoned gamers and not appalling half the room with decapitations and X-ray mutilations. Comic book characters should hold some appeal for the less nerdy participants (Hollywood has just gone too far!), and if you have to choose between Marvel and DC, there really isn’t much of a choice; Batman and The Joker are just that awesome. So pass the controller around and get to the bottom of all those “Who would win in a fight between…?” questions. If that’s not in the Christmas spirit, then I don’t know what is.

Portal 2 – Finally, a game that will convince your parents that your brain isn’t rotting away! Whether you’re hard at work in the co-op campaign or just letting the room shout out tips for your single player puzzling, Valve’s monument to edutainment is sure to turn some heads get everybody involved. Just be warned that GLaDOS might not make many friends if you’ve got any adopted folks around…or fat folks…

Rayman Origins – This game has been described as what New Super Mario Bros. Wii should have been. That should tell you something. The zany art style is sure to enchant anybody in the room into watching up to four players speed through masterfully designed levels as they collect all manner of doodads and fight off monstrous and imaginative bosses. Oh, and you can slap your fellow players. That’s fun for all ages.

Rock Band 3 – It might not feature “Rockin’ around the Christmas tree,” but that’s surely what will happen when you bust out the guitar, bass, drums, keys, and mics for some 100% Natural Good Time Family Band action. The playlist is massive and stretches across decades and all kinds of genres, so everybody will find something they like. You might get some real musicians mocking your fun from the dark corners of the room, but everybody else will be having a rocking good time.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – If you absolutely must play a single player game while the family’s around, Skyrim probably won’t go over too well. But Drake’s second outing–the highlight of the series–is so excitingly cinematic that Mom, Dad, and anybody else in the house might actually enjoy watching you play. It’s that good. And who knows: maybe all of those collapsing buildings and speeding trains will convince somebody to take a crack at the co-op with you.

WarioWare: Smooth Moves – I know I said earlier that I wouldn’t include any Mario games, but I think we can let a cameo or two slide considering how different his nemesis’ titles are. With hundreds of “micro-games” that last just a few seconds, there’s a sense of urgency to WarioWare that the best team boardgames have mastered. The ridiculous amount of micro-games also means that you’ll be using the Wii-mote in more creative ways than you ever thought possible, but it’s always intuitive enough for non-gamers to pick up. It’s certainly a little stranger (okay, a lot) than most party games, but that’s what makes it so fun.

And that’s that. If you can’t manage to have some video gaming fun over the holidays with this list, then you need to find a new family. I think that’s how The Sims actually got started.

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Pretty memorable first level, right?

So, as I was researching this list, I was filled with a desperate urge to replay (or play) every one of these games. That’s what a great opening level will do for you. No sitting through boring tutorials, no unnecessary exposition; just cut right to the heart of the game and never look back. Now due to the nature of this list, open-world games are severely lacking here (but not completely absent!). And whether it’s because game design has gotten better over the years or because “you just had to be there” to fully appreciate a game’s innovations, this list is largely populated by modern titles (sorry, Super Mario 64). Now I’ll acknowledge the irony of this mundane intro and let you get to that list!

BioShock – You know, sometimes I get sick of putting BioShock on every “best of” list I do, but it’s just that good. From the second that plane dives toward its fiery demise to the moment you wade out of the sea and into a mysterious lighthouse, that opening captivates me without so much as a “Would you kindly?” And then, to look up and see Andrew Ryan’s bronze hands holding Rapture’s iconic welcome message of “No gods or kings, only man”…Man, the first three minutes of that game create a more intriguing world than most games can manage in eight hours. Follow that up with the breath-taking reveal of the city under the sea, the horrifying first encounter with a splicer, desperately waiting for the door to unlock as Andrew Ryan’s recording condemns CIA and KGB scum such as yourself while a mob of splicers is bashing the windows in…sweet baby Jesus! Every part of that game’s opening level is perfect. The atmosphere of decay and chaos pulls you under as you learn the complicated systems of the world, and with the larger-than-life Mr. Ryan preaching his utopia around every corner, you have no hope of breaking the immersion and surfacing for air until the very end. Can Irrational possibly top their last effort when BioShock Infinite comes out?

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – Back when Treyarch was too amateur for anybody to notice that Call of Duty was an annual franchise, Infinity Ward was in the driver’s seat for a solid but stagnating series. Then they decided to take things to the modern setting. I don’t know if they could have made a better introduction than “Crew Expendable” (we’ll forget about the “F.N.G.” tutorial here), a high-octane SAS raid on the stormy seas that ends with a missing nuke and a sunken ship. What makes this level more memorable than the intense shoot-outs and heart-pounding set-pieces is the way it frames a disturbingly believable story of war in the age of terrorism. After the wetwork of this secret op is done, the game puts you in the shoes of a rather unfortunate Middle Eastern leader who’s executed on national television. These narrative innovations were far more profound than any persistent multiplayer leveling and they’re what Modern Warfare should be remembered for.

Deus Ex – I haven’t played more than 15 minutes of this myself (I know, I’m a terrible person), but in that brief time, I managed to see what everybody else raves about whenever they talk about this game and this level in particular. Setting things at the Statue of Liberty does a pretty good job of conveying the conspiratorial themes that make Deus Ex‘s narrative so memorable, but it’s the revolutionary freedom with which you’re allowed to complete your objective that earns it a spot on this list. Some people say it was extraordinary for the time, but I say that it still allows more freedom of approach than most games today. This game is the granddaddy of Shooter/Stealth/RPG hybrids and every developer could do themselves a service by looking at Deus Ex‘s opening level and striving to match its fundamental emphasis on player choice.

Dragon Age: Origins – Rather than dilly-dallying around with some amnesia non-sense like so many other RPGs, BioWare’s fantasy epic begins by giving you a very firm sense of your place in the world. You’re a noble dwarf in the subterranean city of Orzammar and you’re in line for the throne whenever your ailing father passes into the stone. Your two younger brothers are eager for power and frame you for a heinous crime that sees you sentenced to an inevitable death in the darkspawn-ridden Deep Roads. Seeing your only opportunity for escape, you join up with the fabled Grey Wardens and leave your home, your family, your reputation, and everything that you’ve ever known to save the world from some hardcore dragons. Oh, and this is just one of six unique “Origin Stories” in the game. No game feature has ever had some an impact on personal characterization for me. If people actually scratched their heads when they didn’t understand something, then BioWare’s decision to drop Origin Stories in Dragon Age II would probably have triggered an epidemic of deep head wounds and consequently, brain infections. That sounds like a sure-fire way to start up some sort of apocalypse, BioWare. What the hell were you thinking?

Fallout 3 – How is it that one of the most memorable parts of a game with one of the greatest open-worlds of all time is the beginning, where you’re confined to a cold and steely vault occupied by regular people with regular needs? Could it be that literally playing through your birth, toying around with lettered blocks as a toddler, and attending pathetic birthday parties as a young boy all contribute to forging an emotional attachment to your little vault? Could it be that the real sense of community makes leaving the scary and humbling experience it should be? Or maybe killing wasteland bandits just makes you yearn for the innocent days of beating a tunnel snake’s head in ’til the blood dries up. Either way, that first blurry glimpse of the world above wouldn’t be nearly as powerful if Fallout 3‘s opening vault weren’t such a well-developed community unto itself.

God of War III – The God of War series isn’t for everyone, but you just can’t argue with the epicness of its opening levels. The first game had the classic hydra battle. The second had the Colossus of Rhodes. And the third, well, that made a titan’s back into a level. Let me repeat: as the titan Gaia scales Mount Olypmus, you run around on her very earthly body slaying all sorts of baddies. Never before or since have I seen such an impressive use of scale in videogames.

The German dubbing makes it even more epic.

GoldenEye 007 – Is there anybody who owned this N64 classic that didn’t replay “The Dam” 50 times? I haven’t touched the campaign in over ten years and I could probably still give a respectable speed run. I still remember being in awe of enemies’ body animations when I shot individual limbs with that sniper rifle stowed away up in the watch tower. And when we consider that GoldenEye is generally considered to be the first console FPS worthy of the genre’s rich legacy, it makes that first experience all the more meaningful. And then there’s that whole part at the end of the level where you jump off a dam! What a way to end an all-time classic level.

Half-Life 2 – Maybe if I’d played the original Half-Life that intro would be taking this spot on the list, but I guess I just have a more personal attachment to Gordon’s G-Man infused train ride into City 17. As the player, you don’t do much more than walk through security checkpoints until you meet up with your rebellious group of pals and head to their secret hideout, but the faceless, baton-wielding soldiers of the Combine and their cackling radio chatter do wonders to characterize City 17′s oppressive atmosphere. Barney does a mighty fine impression of the oppressors to boot. All of these foreboding vibes make the eventual escape from City 17 all the more intense.

Mass Effect 2 – The first Mass Effect certainly deserves an honorable mention for Eden Prime, an action-packed level that manages to show you the ropes of gameplay while skillfully introducing the game’s primary villain and Shepard’s motivations all while maintaining a healthy degree of mystery. But Mass Effect 2 has got to go down as one of the very best openings ever. Feeling full of confidence after saving the galaxy in the first game, Shepard and his companions are attacked out of the black by an unidentified vessel that cuts through the Normandy like a knife through warm butter. The ship that you called your home in the first game is a flaming wreck as you race to the bridge to save your trusty pilot. Your utter helplessness really sets in as you cross a section where the ceiling has been ripped away, leaving only the unforgiving embrace of outer-space. When you finally do manage to save Joker, rather than making the narrow escape typical of this kind of scene, you’re blasted into space with the rest of the Normandy’s floating shards. The galaxy’s only hope is dead, and we don’t even know who killed him. Too bad Harbinger didn’t account for Cerberus’ zombification program.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty – Regardless of what you think of MGS2, it’s hard to argue with its opening being the best in the series. Stunning graphics (for the time) set against Harry Gregson-Williams’ masterful score mix with a dramatically rainy night on the George Washington Bridge to blow you away before you’ve even taken control. Once the obligatory Kojima cut-scenes end and you’re on the USS Discovery (as Snake!), you’re treated to some of the finest tactical espionage action to ever grace a video game. Then you get to fight Ocelot, whose right arm has been replaced with that of your twin brother Liquid Snake, resulting in Liquid’s personality dominating Ocelot and using his body as a host. Before you can even stop to ask what the hell is going on, the tanker sinks, you fake your death, and Snake Plissken is born. Metal Gear Solid doesn’t get much better than this tanker level.

Medal of Honor: Frontline – With the decline the franchise has seen this generation, it’s hard to believe that Medal of Honor once led the pack when it came to Military Shooters. But if you’ve ever started up Frontline and found yourself trapped in what may as well have been a floating meat locker on its way to the beaches of Normandy, then you’ll remember the bar this series set. Surrounded by gray skies, vomiting soldiers, and whizzing MG42 rounds, Frontline‘s opening level manages to evoke a fraction of the futility soldiers must have felt that fateful day. As soon as the gate crashes open you stumble past walking corpses and fall into the cold sea, bullets piercing the surface with no remorse. As you claw your way from tank-stopper to tank-stopper and watch medics gunned down in the line of duty, air planes screaming over dual lines of erupting sand, and brave men running directly into it all, you get a sense of just how terrifying battle is. What Saving Private Ryan was for war films is what Frontline was for war video games.

Resident Evil 4 – While Gears of War has set the standard for Third-Person Shooters today, we mustn’t forget that Epic’s ultra-violent Shooter wouldn’t be what it is without borrowing from RE4‘s revolutionary over-the-shoulder shooting mechanics. Booting up Capcom’s gorgeous Survival-Horror masterpiece for the first time, you could pop zombies’ heads off with precision never before seen. But this game’s zombies aren’t really zombies; infected by the uroboros virus, RE4‘s enemies are regular villagers tending to their labors when you arrive at their humble Eastern European village. However, they quickly turn less than friendly and give you an opportunity to shoot weapons out of their hands or serve up a fist full of dynamite from the local church tower. But you won’t feel quite so tough the first time you hear a chainsaw revving and realize that, “Holy crap, that dude is going to cut my friggin’ head off with a chainsaw if I don’t dive out of this window and kick some zombies’ heads off!”

Shadow of the Colossus – In a game where every fight is a boss fight, the first one better make an impression. Luckily, the first colossus of Team Ico’s masterpiece lives up to the title’s billing by being just about the largest thing gamers had ever fought up to that point. Seeing it lumbering about in the distance never fails to evoke a majestic admiration for the creature you’re about to kill. And what a kill it is! Scaling a colossus for the first time and delivering that fatal blow was unlike anything gamers had ever done up to that point. Likewise for the superb animations of Wander and his loyal steed. The best part is that all of this superlative gameplay is supplemented by a minimalist story that gives you just enough motivation to keep going forward without fully understanding the consequences of your actions. The first colossus of Shadow of the Colossus stuns and awes from a gameplay perspective, a narrative perspective, and a visual perspective. It is the introduction to one of gaming’s few artistic gems.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed – By my own admission, The Force Unleashed is not a very good game. But it does have a few shining moments, and one of those is the opening level, which puts you in the space-boots of none other than Darth Vader. What better way to give you a taste of the power to come than by letting you play as one of the most feared force-wielders of all time? Never has Kashyykk seen such wanton destruction.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – The introduction to Drake’s second adventure is probably the best example of a video game capturing the feel of a good Adventure film’s best butterfly-inducing set-pieces. A battered and bloody Drake climbs a train that’s teetering off the edge of a snowy cliff before flashing back to the start of the wild adventure that got him there. Seriously, just go play it!

And that’s my 15 greatest opening levels of all time. If I had to pick favorites they’d probably be MGS2, Resident Evil 4, GoldenEye, and BioShock in no particular order. I’d love to hear everybody else’s favorites, but I think I’m going to go throw myself into some of these games for the next week. You should too.

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Is this Fiddy's year?

Another year has come and gone, and despite more delays than I can ever remember in one year, 2009 still saw more great games than I could possibly get around to playing. 2009 also saw me jumping into the whole game-writing thing for the first time (well, sort of). Consequently, this is InsaneBear’s first GOTY feature, and we’re going to try to keep it relatively simple. Maybe next year I’ll throw in some quirky awards meant to recognize specific games, but for now, we’ll just be sticking to the GOTY model. Without further ado…

2009′s 2008 Game of the Year – Well, maybe I’ll throw in one non-traditional award here considering IB wasn’t around for 2008′s games. And yes, I’m totally stealing this award from Giant Bomb, but I just think it’s a good idea to look back and see how time has changed our thoughts on the games we’ve played. In the case of 2008, I would have named Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots GOTY then, and I’m still giving it the honor today. Just think how rare a game like that is. How often does one of the most talented developers in the industry pretty much get free reign to spend as much as he wants on whatever he wants? Hopefully it happens again real soon, because MGS4 is an epically cinematic experience that lovingly caters to its hardcore fans with a story that somehow manages to wrap up 20 years of Metal Gear madness. Plus, you play as an old man, damn it!

The Candidates…

Assassin’s Creed II – Double. Hidden. Blades. That essentially sums up Assassin’s Creed II, a game that takes everything its predecessor did and does it better. From mission design to graphics to narrative to killing dudes, this game improves on every aspect of the polarizing ACI and has earned the right to put nicer adjectives in front of its name. The combat’s satisfyingly brutal, Ezio’s one of the most likable characters I’ve encountered in a while, and the puzzle-platforming of the Assassin’s Tombs is the sort of gaming-zen that will stroke our nostalgic hearts a few years from now. Assassin’s Creed II has got me chomping at the bit for Ubisoft’s third installment in the action-parkour series, so that must mean it did something right.

Batman: Arkham Asylum – Without a doubt, Batman: Arkham Asylum is the definitive super-hero experience in video games. No game before or since has put the player in the shoes of a super-hero quite so well. Maybe that’s because no super-hero game has ever crafted such an authentic and immersive world, full of appropriately goonish henchmen, diabolical villains, and clever collectables that pay homage to the series’ more obscure characters. Then there’s the pure badassery of utilizing all of the Batman’s gadgets and stealthy talents to dismantle a room full of terrified thugs. I don’t think any other game this year is paced quite as perfectly as Arkham Asylum and the story is top-notch. Arkham Asylum makes you feel like the Dark Knight.

Battlefield 1943 – I think it really says something that a $15 downloadable game can compete with full-fledged retail products for this award, but the fact is, 2009 was a banner year for downloadable games. BF1943 may be “just a WWII shooter,” but it’s a dang good one. The shooting feels fantastic and the classes are balanced. The maps are fun too. But what really stands out about this game is just how fun the vehicle element makes the battlefield. The terror you feel as a tank rolls over the trees to your side and opens up fire is unparalleled in most modern shooters and is only countered by the joy of allied planes dropping bombs on said tank from above. This bite-sized FPS is just as fun as the heavy-hitting blockbusters out there, period.

Borderlands – Oh, Borderlands, you steal my heart. Sporting one of the most striking visual styles of 2009, this first-person-looter has an addictive quality that few games this year can match. The shooting actually manages to feel good while weaving enough RPG elements into the game-play to make things feel different. The never-ending parade of new weapons keeps you coming back for more and really encourages experimentation with different guns. And then there’s the incredibly fun special abilities of each character class. Mix this all in with fun mission design and four-player co-op…oh man, I want to go play some Borderlands.

Dragon Age: Origins – The age of dragons has begun and I hope BioWare keeps it going strong for years to come. Dragon Age creates a believable world full of racism, religious tensions, cut-throat politics, and age-old prejudices that are all dealt with in mature and meaningful ways. The core-quests are truly memorable, the boss fights are rewarding, and almost all of the NPC party-members are interesting in one way or another. But the thing that stands out most to me is that for once, I was actually role-playing in a WRPG. BioWare made the very wise decision to do away with the arbitrary and judgmental morality meter, instead opting for individual party-members’ approval. This design allowed me to actually get into character and play without worrying about achievements or morally specific powers/talents. Oh, and there’s that whole origin stories thing were there are multiple beginnings and endings to the game. I’ve put more time into this title than any other game of 2009.

Halo 3: ODST – Like Halo? Me too. Like suspenseful stories that manipulate chronological order for more dramatic effect? Me too. Like Nathan Fillion? Yeah, me too. Put those three things together and you’ve got yourself a little game called Halo 3: ODST. This latest entry in the always superb Halo series takes the intense combat of previous titles in the franchise and transplants it into a moody and atmospheric world driven by an innovative mission structure that has you playing flashbacks of other characters memories while trying to piece your own story together. The game’s more personal, band-of-brothers sort of narrative also manages to provide some nice background for the Master Chief’s epic quest. Then there’s the extremely fun Firefight mode, which sees a group of players co-operating together to fend off hordes of deadly enemies.

inFAMOUS – I have to throw out the disclaimer here that I haven’t actually played this game and that I’m basing this assessment off of Ryan’s review, but from everything I’ve heard, inFAMOUS absolutely deserves to be on this list. This is a game that shines where it counts most–the game-play. Tight controls allow for fluid motion and precise combat that make getting from one mission to the next a joy. The magical properties of electricity allow you to grind along electrical wires, glide through the sky, and leap from building to building in a way that changes the definition of parkour gaming. You can also upgrade your powers depending on whether you want Cole to be a destructive bad ass or a disciplined paragon, so morality actually has game-play ramifications here. This is a game that just flows well and keeps the fun coming.

Modern Warfare 2 – No FPS on the market has shooting that feels as right as Modern Warfare 2 does. It strikes the perfect balance between arcade and tactical and then forces you to constantly apply those shooting skills to a plethora of finely-balanced weapons in a non-stop roller-coaster ride of a campaign. And of course there’s the infinitely replayable multiplayer mode, which has even more perks and equipment augmentations this time around. The multiplayer is something that’s so finely tuned that you’re forced to constantly be evolving and changing up your strategies, and it’s a blast the entire time. There’s always a counter for your play-style and class set-up, which is the way competitive multiplayer should be designed. But even more fun than all those online frag-fests is the Spec-Ops mode, a collection of 23 challenging missions specifically designed for a tag-team approach. These missions feature excellent game-play variety and are extremely rewarding. This is a game that’s hard to pull yourself away from.

Street Fighter IV – The fact that a fighting game is on my Game of the Year list in the year 2009 is astounding, but that just speaks to the awesome quality of Capcom’s revival of the premier fighting franchise. This game hits all the right notes, looking fresh enough to avoid the “rehash” label while feeling familiar enough to jump into after years of not playing Street Fighter. It’s accessible enough to draw in casual players but somehow has enough depth to satisfy hardcore world-champion players. Every character is balanced and fun to play as, new or old. Most importantly though, Street Fighter IV revives the killer instinct of one-on-one competition in a deceptively simple arena, both online and in the traditional local setting. Capcom’s fighter is just plain fun.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – What a thrill ride! Set-peice for set-piece, Uncharted 2 can compete with any game put out in 2009. There’s a nice variety of shooting, puzzling, and platforming, and everything looks absolutely amazing along the way. Nathan Drake’s second outing is most certainly one of, if not the best looking game ever made, due in no small part to the sublime motion-capture and animation. The voice acting’s even better though, and it heavily contributes to Nate and friends being some of the most believable, relatable, and flat-out likable characters ever to grace the land of video games. Nolan North deserves just as much credit for Uncharted 2‘s success as the developers at Naughty Dog, because it’s the Indiana Jones-ish personality that he brings to the character that makes this game so endearing. Definitely one of the funniest games of the year. Oh, and then there’s a robust multiplayer mode and a separate co-op campaign, complete with top-notch cinematics.

'Cause we're the two best friends that anyone could have...

Honorable Mentions (Or more accurately, games that should be in the running but never found their way into my disc tray)…

Demon’s Souls – It won GameSpot’s GOTY and it’s innovative use of community co-operation sounds very appealing to me.

Forza Motorsport 3 – The undisputed cream of the racing crop. This series’ ability to offer enough depth to satisfy simulation freaks whilst maintaining the accessibility to bring in casual racers is astonishing.

Killzone 2 – Ryan tells me it’s terrible, but he’s never played a single match of multiplayer, which is this game’s main appeal. The progressive, class-based online mode sounds like something with more depth than most shooters today.

Left 4 Dead 2 – It’s Left 4 Dead, but improved in every way. Plus, I hear that Valve somehow managed to create a cast that’s just as memorable as the first game’s.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii – Remember when you and your brother would sit in front of the TV taking turns with Super Mario Bros. 3? Well, this is pretty much that, but with co-op, so you don’t have to take turns.

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time – This is the sort of game your inner 12-year-old would make if it had the chance. I mean, come on! You can use a belching fish as a weapon! This game is the epitome of fun.

Red Faction: Guerrilla – It takes all the destructive goodness of the old Red Faction games and ups the ante, throwing it into a third-person perspective in the process. I’ve heard a lot of good things about this game from a lot of different people, and when sledge-hammers can be used as weapons, I’m inclined to listen.

Shadow Complex – This won Giant Bomb’s Xbox 360 GOTY, which is pretty impressive considering it’s a $15 downloadable title. But is it really that surprising for a flawless face-lift of the classic “metroidvania” style games to be so popular? I know I want to find out what all the fuss is about.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories – The deeply personal and subtly creepy narrative of this game honestly made Brad Shoemaker wake up in the middle of the night screaming out loud. Enough said.

Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War II – I’ve heard this game described as a western take on the small-scale strategy of games like Final Fantasy Tactics. Whatever the case, Dawn of War II is unlike any other western RTS on the market and many players prefer the personal nature and progression inherent in the micro-unit style of war.

Runner-up – Modern Warfare 2

2009 Game of the Year – Dragon Age: Origins

So there you have it. Keep in mind that these are all based on my personal thoughts and aren’t meant to be an unbiased, authoritative voice on the matter. I’d love to hear everybody else’s choices in the comments. And if you have any special awards, like best biceps or something, please share!

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As far as trailers go, that was pretty bad. They could have at least shown some gameplay in there. But hey, it’s a free multiplayer map! How often does that happen?

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While I’ve never really been a fan of helicopter fights in games, I must admit that this one looks damn pretty. The shooting looks a little sloppy in this trailer too, so hopefully that gets tweaked. But hey, at least the melee looks BAD ASS.

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The attention to detail in this game is just phenomenal. The animations really give it another level of believability. Kind of wish I had a PS3 for Nathan Drake’s latest adventure.

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How about the massively awesome MAG?

Don’t forget God of War III!

And we’ll close out with a trailer for the PSP’s Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

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-Starting this one on time. Yay! Keep checking back for updates, folks.

-Cell phones off, techno being pumped through the speakers, starting late…I feel like a real journalist typing this! Hopefully this is better than Nintendo’s.

-I definitely could have played ten more minutes of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 before coming back here to wait on Sony. Least they’ve got some funky techno though.

-Yay, it’s starting! All things Sony trailer. Ridiculous ’80′s music, lol. They’re pretty much just showing clips of all the big Sony titles, exclusive and multiplatform.

-Jack Tretton arrives. Starts by poking fun at all the press leaks. He’s well spoken but just towing the company line right now. Lists off a few of the system’s upcoming games. PS3 exclusives Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time and Heavy Rain get applause.

-Now he’s talking about the PS2 and how cheap it is, and how it’s still the most successful platform out there. Please put this to bed. If you haven’t moved onto a PS3 you’re not a real gamer.

-Quickly moves onto PS3 growth. Spends very little time on that before moving on to what we care about–the games.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves! Naughty Dog’s Evan Wells (guy’s got really hairy arms) gives a lengthy demo that shows off the game’s stunning graphics. The animation is sooo fluid. Cover looks great. Explosions and destruction everywhere. Funny dialogue. This game looks great.

Zipper Interactive’s Andy Bodwin comes out to show of live gameplay of MAG. 256 players, squads of 8 with leadership roles. Leaders will have special abilities like UAVs and air strikes. Teams can overtake spawn points like in the Battlefield games to push enemies back. Mini-objectives like taking out AA guns so commanders can bring in air strikes and secure new spawn points. Helicopters will bring in spawning players. Closes out with an air strike that didn’t look or sound quite as powerful as it should have. The demo looked pretty good overall. It could have run a little smoother, but definitely looked playable. Looks like a lot of fun to be honest.

-Now Tretton’s talking about the PSP and it’s many upcoming games, none of which look terribly interesting. He even mentions the tween market and a “lilac colored PSP” which gets what I hope was sarcastic applause. At least he doesn’t devote a half hour to it like Nintendo and Ubisoft did.

-Kaz Hirai takes the stage. Introduces the PSP Go as the “worst kept secret of E3.” Lol. “The PSP Go will not replace the PSP 3000 or UMD.” Sure. “More than 50% smaller and 40% lighter than the original PSP 1000.” 16 gigs of internal flash memory. Built in wi-fi. Slot for memory sticks. “Sense Me” is a new music service that will suggest tracks based on your mood. Didn’t really emphasize on this much. All PSP titles moving forward will be digitally distributed on the Playstation story and at retail as UMDs. $250 dollars, releases on October 1st.

-Polyphony Digital founder Kazunouri Yamauchi takes the stage and unveils Gran Turismo PSP, which will run at 60 frames per second. 800 cars and 35 tracks, wow. Up to 4 player races wirelessly. Can trade and share your cars with other players over your PSP. He leaves the stage with a quick trailer of Gran Turismo PSP. It looks damn pretty. Looks like there’s a few rally tracks in there too. Cool.

-Kojima! Everyone’s wearing a suit but he’s in jeans and a t-shirt. Lol. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for the PSP. Ten years after Metal Gear Solid 3. “True sequel of the Metal Gear Solid franchise.” Did Kojima just take a dig at the Raiden spin off for the 360? Kojima says “Please enjoy the Peace Walker trailer” in English. Trailer roles. You will play as Solid Snake in Costa Rica, and the plot deals with Outer Heaven. Multiple Snakes! Must be clones. Looks like classic MGS. Trailer ends hilariously. Snake hides in a box. Another Snake comes from behind, joins him in the box. They trot off together as a bewildered guard searches for them.

-Tretton returns and mentions a Resident Evil game for the PSP.

-Lengthy clip reel for the PSP’s 2009 line-up. Sure has a lot of games. Seems odd that Sony would devote so much attention to the PSP though, considering they’ve only shown two PS3 games so far.

-Now Tretton’s talking about Playstation Network and how great it is. Final Fantasy VII launches today. Now he’s talking about Playstation Home. Dishing out a whole lot of numbers for this whole speech. Shows a video of Playstation Home that seems to confirm how stupid and useless it is.

-Yet another montage, this time of the PS3′s upcoming line-up. Total oversaturation. Can’t mention all the games, but it’s pretty much everything we already know is coming to the PS3.

-Rockstar is bringing Agent exclusively to the PS3. It will portray the 1970′s spy life. Not much else mentioned.

-Assassin’s Creed II. Demo. Yay! Jesus, this looks sick. It starts in a night time level that sees Ezio pulling guards from ledges and sending them plummeting to their deaths before flying around town with a giant set of glider wings. Then it switches to day time. He stabs two guards at once in the face with his blades. Sick. Then disarms three more guards and slays them with their own weapons before finishing his target. More enemies come, and Ezio uses a smoke bomb to escape. Dives into the water and the demo ends. Game looks great.

-Final Fantasy XIII trailer. Looks like you’d expect it too. I personally think it could use a little more color though.

-Surprise of the show, “there’s one that didn’t leak out, huh?” says Tretton, Final Fantasy XIV. Yeah, you read that right. Due out in 2010, exclusively to the PS3. That means two Final Fantasy games in one year. It appears to be an MMO of some sort as it mentions online in the name. Huge surprise.

-Live tech demos of Sony’s new motion controller. Uses the EyeToy and a new controller. 1 to 1 control. Looks a little janky to me, but there are some cool things. They show lots of different items the player could be holding and get a few laughs with one of those sexy Japanese fan things. There’s also some kind of light saber-whip, looked sweet. None of it seemed very precise though. A new demo shows more uses of the controller, such as RTS applications. The graphics in all these demos are really nasty though.

-I’m sorry, but motion controls just do no interest me. I don’t see how they make a game any better. Whoever thinks motion controls create “immersion” is a fool. But whatever, if that’s your thing, looks like it’ll be around in 2010.

-This conference is really starting to drag on. Now they’re talking about some new game called Mod Nation Racers. Can we get to God of War III please?

-Looks like another casual, avatar plastered, kart racing rip off. Do these companies actually think casual players watch these conferences?

-Oh for Christ’s sake! I do not care about making tracks in Mod Nation Racers!

-I wonder if this droning press conference is forcing me to miss show floor demos?

-Tretton comes out to announce Project “Trico”, now known as The Last Guardian. The trailer’s pretty much just a slightly modified and better looking version of the trailer that was leaked a couple weeks ago. About 15 seconds of new footage that shows off some of the games stone-statue enemies.

-Trailer for Gran Turismo 5. Looks amazing, but at this point in the conference, I just want it to end.

-Finally God of War III. Live demo. “Final chapter in our famous trilogy.” Lmao! The guy on the left who isn’t talking looks really pissed off. Demo starts. Another stunningly beautiful PS3 game. Combat looks fast, furious, and fun. Lots of enemy variety. Gargantuan boss that the demo cuts just short of. Game looks and sounds positively brutal.

-Tretton wraps it out. All and all, I think Sony had a pretty good press conference. Games like Uncharted 2, God of War III, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, MAG, and the massive surprise announcement of Final Fantasy XIV were all big highlights, but the damn thing just went on for so long. 2 hours. They should have cut a bunch of the PSP stuff out, as well as that ModNation Racers bull crap. I can see why they showed the motion controller, but I don’t really care too much about that. Probably the best conference of the show though.

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