PSP Best of 2009 Awards

These following games are the ones that won the PlayStation Portable Best of 2009 Awards in their respective categories:

• Best Action Game – Patapon 2
• Best Fighting Game – Tekken 6
• Best Music Game – Rock Band: Unplugged
• Best Platform Game – Little Big Planet
• Best Puzzle Game – Pixel Junk Monsters: Junk
• Best Racing Game – Motor Storm: Arctic Edge
• Best Role-Playing Game – Half Minute Hero
• Best Sports Game – Pangya: Fantasy Golf
• Award for Visual Excellence – Little Big Planet
• Award for Excellence in Sound – Motor Storm: Arctic Edge
• Best Story – Resistance: Retribution
• Best Multiplayer Game – Motor Storm: Arctic Edge
• PSP Game of the Year – Patapon 2

The PlayStation Portable had a very successful year. In this past year, there were a lot of bigger franchises that put out a game or two for the PSP including Rock Band, Assassins Creed, Little Big Planet and Resistance. There were also a lot of huge games that returned in this year including games from the series’ of Final Fantasy, Patapon and LocoRoco. One thing about the PlayStation Portable is that it can really be played anywhere at any time. I think that this really attracts a lot of people to it and the great quality and variety of games keeps them hooked on it.

Nintendo DS Best of 2009 Awards

The following games were chosen to win the “Best of 2009 Awards” in these various categories:

• Best Action Game – Grand Theft Auto: China Town Wars
• Best Music Game – Rhythm Heaven
• Best Platform Game -  Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure
• Best Puzzle Game – Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
• Best Role-Playing Game – Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story
• Best Shooter – Moon
• Best Strategy Game – Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes
• Award for Visual Excellence – Moon
• Award for Excellence in Sound – LEGO Rock Band
• Best Story – Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story
• Best Multiplayer Game – Mixed Messages
• Nintendo DS Game of the Year – Grand Theft Auto: China Town Wars

 The Nintendo DS has actually been pretty successful. In fact, some people comsider it to be this past generation’s most successful video game system. The idea of people able to game on the go draws people in to buying it and the exceptional quality keeps them hooked. There was a great variety, number and quality of games that were released in the year of 2009. If you have not yet tried out some of these Nintendo DS games, then be sure to check them out some time.

iPhone’s Best of 2009

The following are the winners of the iPhone’s Best of 2009 Awards:

• Best Action Game – N. O. V. A.
• Best Music Game – Beat It!
• Best Platform Game – Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor
• Best Puzzle Game – iBlast Moki
• Best Racing Game – Firemint Real Racing
• Best Sports Game – Home Run Battle 3D
• Best RPG Game – Zenonia
• Best Strategy Game – Star Defense
• Award for Visual Excellence – Zen Bound
• Award for Excellence in Sound – Zen Bound
• Best Multiplayer Game – Eliminate
• iPhone Game of the Year – Square Ball

The iPhone App Store hit a milestone in late 2009. The number of Apps within the store finally reached 100,000. It was estimated that about a third of these are games. This makes that after about 18 months, the iPhone is the video game system that has the most games. With such a large amount of games, there are only some really great games, but also included are the completely pointless ones as well. The games above are the best in their respective categories. If you have not yet tried any of these games, be sure to check them out in the App Store for your iPhone.

Nintendo’s “WiiRelax”

Of the many different gameplay innovations that have been announced in the last couple of years, one of these may stand out as the most “interesting” and that is the Wii Vitality Sensor. When Nintendo announced it at the last E3, they did not give any information on how this new gaming innovation would make gaming more entertaining. Somebody was recently able to find some information regarding this. The Nintendo has named it “WiiRelax”.

Before Nintendo had claimed rights to the name “WiiRelax,” an Italian company had apparently already taken the name “Wii Relax” for a game. However, since they mentioned this, there has not been any more information about it which could mean that Nintendo either bought or blocked out their idea for a whole new Wii idea.

At the current time, there is still not very much known at all about the WiiRelax. How it will be used within a Wii game or how it will make gaming more entertaining are some of the main questions that Wii gamers are wondering. How do you think “WiiRelax” will be used?

PS3 Best of 2009 Awards

These games won the “Best of 2009 Awards” for the PlayStation:

Best Action Game – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Best Fighting Game – Blaz Blue: Calamity Trigger
Best Music Game – DJ Hero
Best Puzzle Game – Critter Crunch
Best Racing Game – Need for Speed: Shift
Best Role- Playing Game – Demon’s Soul
Best Shooter Game – Killzone
Best Sports Game – FIFA Soccer 10
Award for Visual Excellence – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Best Story – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Best Multiplayer Game – Infamous
Best PlayStation 2 Game – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Best PlayStation Story Game – Ar Tonelico 2: Melody of Meta Falica
PlayStation 3 Game of the Year – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

This year for the PlayStation 3 was actually very good. There was a pretty decent stream of high quality titles that came out throughout the entire year. One thing that really helped the PlayStation 3 have such a great year was the price slash that the console took. The price drop helped the PlayStation 3 get purchased more which, overall, lead to more sales of the games. Also, there were a lot of third party publishers that released some pretty good games as well. Do you think that these deserve to be called the ”best” games?

Music DLC for the Week

Here is the music DLC that was released this past week for Guitar Hero 5, Rock Band, The Beatles: Rock Band, DJ Hero, SingStar and Lips:

Guitar Hero 5

Indie Rock Track Pack

Nada Surf – “Hi-Speed Soul”
Pavement – “Cut Your Hair”
Spoon – “Sister Jack”

Price: $5.49/440 Microsoft Points/550 Wii Points for pack, or $1.99/160 MSP/200 WP per track

Rock Band

Pack

Green Day Pack 02

“Christian’s Inferno”
“Last of the American Girls”
“¡Viva la Gloria!”

Tracks

30 Seconds to Mars – “This Is War”
30 Seconds to Mars – “Kings and Queens”
All-American Rejects – “Gives You Hell”

Price: $5.49/440 MSP for pack, or $1.99/160 MSP/200 WP per track

The Beatles: Rock Band

Rubber Soul: Complete the Album Pack

“Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”
“You Won’t See Me”
“Nowhere Man”
“Think For Yourself”
“The Word”
“Michelle”
“What Goes On”
“Girl”
“In My Life”
“Wait”
“Run For Your Life”

Price: $17.99/1440 MSP for pack, or $1.99/160 MSP/200 WP per track

DJ Hero

No new releases

SingStar

No new releases

Lips

Packs

Paula Abdul Song Pack

“Forever Your Girl”
“Opposites Attract”
“Rush Rush”

Dean Martin Song Pack

“I’ll Be Home for Christmas”
“Silent Night”
“Silver Bells”

Price: 440 MSP for pack, or 160 MSP per track

Wii Best of 2009 Awards

Here are the “Wii Best of 2009 Awards”:

Best Action Game – Mad World
Best Adventure Game – Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Best Music Game – Guitar Hero 5
Best Platform Game – New Super Mario Bros
Best Puzzle Game – A Boy and his Blob
Best Racing Game – Excitebots: Trick Racing
Best Role-Playing Game – Rune Factory Frontier
Best Shooter – Dead Space Extraction
Best Sports Game – Tiger Woods 10
Best Fighting Game – Naruto: Clash of the Ninja Revolution 3
Award for Visual Excellence – Mad World
Award for Excellence in Sound – Rabbids Go Home
Best Story – Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Best Multiplayer Game – New Super Mario Bros
Best WiiWare Game – Lost Winds: Winter of the Melodias
Wii Game of the Year – New Super Mario Bros

While the Wii console did come out with a lot of games that sold pretty good, the Wii was still lacking in the huge scale games compared to what the other consoles released this year. However, the Wii still had a great year. It does not come as a surprise that “New Super Mario Bros” is the Wii game of the year because a lot of people enjoyed that game. If you have not yet played some of these games, make sure to check them out some time.

Green Day: Rock Band

During this past summer in June, it was reported that Green Day was going to be releasing their own new version of Rock Band. Now, it has been confirmed for sure that next year Green Day and Harmonix will be coming out with Green Day: Rock Band.

“We are thrilled to work with Green Day to revisit key moments from their career, including their likenesses, content and imagery, through our innovative form of musical interaction,” said Harmonix CEO and co-founder Alex Rigopulos.

If you have an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 then you will be able to export the whole entire list of songs off of the game to allow you to play them on both Rock Band and Rock Band 2 as well.

If this game has got you too excited that you can not wait until next year to jam to some Green Day, a track pack of Green Day songs was released yesterday and is now available for you. Coming from their acclaimed album, 21st Century Breakdown, the three songs on this track pack are ”Christian’s Inferno,” “Last of the American Girls,” and “¡Viva La Gloria!”

There are definitely a lot of people have become Green Day fans throughout their career. For these excited fans, make sure that when the game comes out next year, you purchase it so that you can rock on to some of their songs.

Spec Ops: The Line

Recently, it was announced by 2K Games that the game, ”Spec Ops: The Line”, will be soon releasing on the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360, and the PC. This game, developed by a German studiol, Yager, is a “story driver, modern military shooter”. This game will focus on an elite Delta Force team that is entering Dubai where a sandstorm is traveling through. The reason they are there is to find John Konrad because he is an American officer. There will be both single player and multiplayer modes which is what people would expect from any modern shooter game.

“Spec Ops: The Line is the epitome of a 2K Games title and incorporates all of our gameplay values: immersive experiences that draw you in, unique and innovative features that make you rethink the way you play them, and an amazingly high quality bar that is synonymous with the 2K name,” said Christoph Hartmann who is the 2K president. “By meeting these core values, I’m confident that Spec Ops: The Line will be a great experience that people will enjoy playing for years to come.”

Unfortunately, Spec Ops: The Line will not be releasing for quite a while. It will most likely not be coming out until 2K’s fiscal year which is going to start on November 1st, 2010.

Garfield Gets Real

Over time, many of you have come to know and love Garfield. Well, he is now back in action with an entirely new look in the game, “Garfield Gets Real”. Releasing on December 16th, 2009 for the Nintendo Wii, “Garfield Gets Real” is a game that was developed by Gravity I. Since Garfield is sick of being a simple cartoon character, he steps off the page and in to the “real world”. Since he has escaped out of his comic, he is living a real life as a regular house cat. This is when he learns that his comic is going to be cancelled if he does not return before the newspaper goes to print. In this game, which is rated E for everyone, you must help Garfield pass through many obstacles to find his way back home.

Here are some of the features you will find in this game:

• There will be seven levels which will each be separated by different cut scenes from the real movie.
• A 3D environment will be used and the views will be based on various locations seen in the movie.
• Use the Wii Remote for all of the different levels.
• Some multiplayer modes are also available for play.