Bite Size 2008 is my wrap-up of moments in games from the past calendar year. The last post in the series, I look into the crystal ball and try to see my gaming future. Check out this listing for the rest of my Bite Size 2008 posts!
Playing Through Classics
I had a span of time in my life where I played literally nothing but JRPGs and watched a shit ton of anime. I played a few other games, but not too many, and those that I did tended to come out of Japan. While the Final Fantasies and Star Oceans were nice then, I missed out on a lot. Hell, I even missed out on JRPGs because I spent most of my attention on Final Fantasy games. Late in the PS2 life cycle, when people started buying Xbox 360s and I was down in the dumps because I could not afford one, I started playing catch up, and I got into the God of War games, and Shadow of the Colossus, and some others, however, this quest was hampered by my purchase of a 360 to call my own. So, with a still growing list of games I should have played, and a bit of a drought in the beginning of 2009, I will be playing some classics. If you look to the “Currently Playing” bar on the right, you’ll see I’ve got Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Metal Gear Solid and Half-Life all in there. I grabbed 2/3 of the Sands of Time trilogy as well as Metal Gear 2: Substance and 3: Subsistence during a recent Gamestop sale for 25% off used PS2 games, MGS off of eBay, and HL during the anniversary sale on Steam where it was only a dollar. I’m also going to be borrowing a copy of Hitman: Agent 47 for the PC from a friend of mine so I can check that out as well. I’ve got plenty of catching up to do, but really, I’m not complaining.
2008: The Asteroid Belt Year in Gaming
Yes, an asteroid belt. There were big titles and small titles flying by, and you could only hit so many of them. I tried to play all that I could, but I still lagged behind. I started Dead Space in 2008, and it just came to me from Gamefly yesterday, so I plan on finishing it in 2009. I never even got around to touching Mirror’s Edge, Saint’s Row 2, or Far Cry 2. Since Far Cry has seen a price drop recently, I expect that one to be the first one I see of those. I did manage to start and finish the new Prince of Persia in five or six days though, which was interesting considering I was playing Sands of Time right before that. I’d also like to sink my teeth into a PS3 this year, although the purist in me will scour eBay for a 60 GB looking for a new home, since I’d like Emotion Engine backwards compatibility. When that day comes, though, I’ll look forward to playing all of it’s big hits: MGS4 (providing I’ve made it through the others at that point), LittleBigPlanet, Heavenly Sword, Uncharted, etc. The theme of 2009 for me seems to be “Playing Catch-Up”. It’s where I’ll probably see the most bang for my buck in my Gamefly membership.
Downloadable to my Heart’s Content
There’s plenty of downloadable content coming out in these next few months to get me back into my favorites of 2008. I just finished up the Knothole Island DLC today for Fable 2. That was a bit of a wash, with one achievement that required three hours of slaying civilians and sleeping in order to get a certain vendor to spawn selling a certain item. That was a pain in the ass, but I also felt like I was robbed out of my $10. I actually felt like the Jedi Temple DLC for Star Wars carried a little more weight than this. I won’t let that spoil DLC for me, since I still have the three packs of Fallout 3 DLC, as well as The Lost and the Damned for GTA4, and some DLC apparently coming for Left 4 Dead as well. There’s some MSP spent across the board, so let’s hope it’s all worth the points.
What the Calendar Year Holds
Well, I already know I won’t be seeing a Final Fantasy this year, so there’s about 100 hours of my life that I get to retain in 2009, but I’ve already stated enough other projects to keep me busy. This year looks to have some interesting titles, but nothing even in the realm of the Fallout 3/Fable 2/GTA4 caliber. Sure, Resident Evil 5 is going to be good, but it is hard to be the sequel to one of the greatest games of all time. Lord of the Rings: Conquest just hit this week, and I’ll be checking that out, though I’m afraid it won’t have the same type of impact that Star Wars: Battlefront 2 did. My friend Joe and I have spent countless hours playing Battlefront 2. We love it so much, when I hooked my PS2 up to my LCD via component cables, and the LCD started dropping the signal during battles to the point where it was unplayable, I ended up buying an Xbox copy so we could play it on the 360 and it’s HDMI cable. There’s always the looming possibility that Battlefront III will be released, but I’m not getting my hopes up for that. If I get that PS3 I’m looking towards, then there’s Killzone 2 and Uncharted 2 coming along for that. However, that’s all dreams and aspirations, so who knows where that is in the grand scheme of things. Let’s hope 2009 brings another good year, even if things don’t look so hot now.
Done with this series! With the new semester starting, maybe I’ll have some insightful commentary on… something. Cheers, let’s have a good year of gaming.
