The other day, I posted Part One of my post E3 series �” The Top 10 Games I´ve Just Gotta’ Play in 2008.

As I mentioned then, originally I had planned to run this as a three-part series, aimed at providing my list of the Top 5 Games I´ve Just Gotta´ Play per system in 2008 but in pouring through the announced release dates, I realized that there were not enough system exclusives to compile that list. And in the Wii´s case, there´s barely anything on their announced schedule that warrants my playtime.

So, I decided to focus on the Top 10 games releasing this year that have piqued my interest. I´ve broken it up into two posts and listed them in descending order (10 to 1) with the number one title representing the one title that I´ve got to play above all others. Today, you´ll all learn just what that title is. I´m sure the anticipation is killing you.

Without further adieu, I present The Top 10 Games I´ve Just Gotta’ Play in 2008 �” Part 2.

5.   Tomb Raider Underworld     (360/PS3 �” November 18, 2008):   I am a huge Tomb Raider fan going all the way back to the original release on the Playstation 1 back in November 1996. In fact, that first title so entranced me (finally �” the Indiana Jones game I always dreamed of) that I almost missed the annual Thanksgiving dinner. I´m a sucker for titles that offer up equal parts exploration and puzzle solving and Tomb Raider really scratched that itch.

A year later, I thrilled to the globetrotting sequel, Tomb Raider 2, which stood as the premier title in the series until its blessed resurrection a couple years back with the release of Tomb Raider Legend on the 360.  Yes, I know my beloved Lara lost favor with many in the gaming press but even in her darkest days, I still enjoyed putting her through the paces of whatever perilous temple the developers had designed for me. I will admit that I skipped out on the PS2 release �” The Angel of Darkness �” and from what I understand, I chose wisely.

This November, Eidos and Crystal Dynamics release the follow-up to the aforementioned Legend, which really did a great job reinventing the series and giving Lara a proper Next Gen introduction. Legend was a fantastic adventure with some brilliant physics-based puzzles, decent combat and some innovative level designs on display. From what I´ve seen of Underworld, the developers look to have refined the right moves they made in Legend and have crafted a worthy sequel truly designed from the ground up for the current generation of systems (remember, Legend originally began development for the PS2 and was arguably, a very pretty PS2 port).

Looks like no pumpkin pie for me again, this year.

4.   Brutal Legend    (360/PS3 �” December 20, 2008):   Tim Shaefer is a god.

No game developer has milked more laughs, placed more smiles on my goofy mug or confounded my brain with more loopy conundrums than this mad genius, the guy behind Full Throttle, Grim Fandango and Psychonauts. It´s guys like Shaefer that elevate this craft to the level of true art.

Brutal Legend is his next big thing �” and it´s a good one. Where Psychonauts found Shaefer plumbing the id for his crazy ideas, Brutal Legend exploits the superego �” crafting a new universe inspired by the Heavy Metal murals that emblazon Shaggin´ Wagons and album covers the rock world over, and in an inspired touch, he´s drafted Tenacious D to lend their vocal talents to his twisted tale of a roadie who must journey through Rock and Roll Hell to save the heart of his beloved.

What was I thinking with that lead? Tim Shaefer is a Golden God.

3.   Prince of Persia     (360/PS3 �” November 18, 2008):   Here´s another adventure-platformer that happens to drop day and date alongside the Tomb Raider title, meaning I´ve got some big decisions to make. Do I spend time with Lara? The Prince? Or my beloved family? Someone´s going to lose out and the last I checked, my dog can´t bend time.

Actually, it looks like neither can the Prince this time out. In fact, this latest version of the two-decade old Prince series finds another reinvention in place. Where, last gen´s Sands of Time expertly brought the Prince into the third dimension, introducing a number of game play elements (time manipulation, wall running) that have been co-opted by other action games since, the developers have looked to reinvent the Prince´s world �” casting him in a dark storybook adventure featuring a new, lush animated style. The focus of the game is still a mix of action platforming and puzzle solving but the combat has been enhanced to provide for a more fluid experience. In addition, several members of the Assassin´s Creed team have pinched in on the Prince development, meaning a real sharing of ideas has occurred between Ubisoft´s shining jewels.

As an adventure fan, twin titles like this and Tomb Raider simply leave me with a pleasant dilemma. I know I´ll play both but the question is, what goes first? Hey, Thanksgiving comes next year too, right???

2.   Gears of War 2     (360/PS3 �” November 7, 2008):   Rumor has it that Microsoft sketched out a staggered release plan for the Gears of War and Halo series. Supposedly, the properties are on an every other year release schedule with GoW2 up this year and Halo (Blue?) next year. With Bungie´s defection, that rumor may remain pure wishful thinking but one thing we do know is that this holiday, Marcus Fenix is back to renew his “bro-mance” with his best bud, Dom and take the battle back to the Locust Horde.

I know, I thought I eradicated the vermin in the first installment but that mysterious off-screen Queen apparently has other plans, and from the looks of things, this involves throwing an absolute world crushing assault at Marcus and company. With massive enemy hordes to attack and drivable Brumacks on order, Marcus better hope that package from Balco is being sent Fed-Ex.

This game features 2 player co-op, a huge selling point for me, and will ship with a unique 5 player co-op mode �” dubbed Horde” that should extend the longevity of the title. My one wish is that lead developer CliffyB finetuned the narrative to give me a better reason to fight for Sera´s destroyed beauty.

1.   Fable 2     (Xbox 360 �” October 1, 2008):   Peter Molyneux likes to promise the impossible and then deliver most of it. He has some wild ideas and given enough time and infinite resources, I´m sure he´d truly change the world. He´s a creative guy �” a real pioneer in game development �” and his titles like Populous, Black & White and the original Fable have introduced some compelling concepts into contemporary game design.

That said, he did feel the sting a bit with the release of the first Fable �” which was a solid action-RPG but not the go anywhere, do whatever you like fantasy world simulator that Peter had promised. There was a lot to do within the game but much of it was optional and didn´t have much bearing on the game world �” meaning you could cheat on your wife, she´d hit the tavern and get drunk but then she´d be right back at home waiting for your blessed return. Just like in real life �” only, without the frying pan to the noggin´ when you walk through that front door.

In Fable 2, Peter looks to address the criticisms from the first title �” presenting a world that truly does change based on the player´s actions; and, in an inspired touch, he has grafted true co-op drop-in anytime gaming, meaning you can invite your buddy in to fight alongside you or simply play the role of tour guide and show them some of the unique effects that your actions have had upon the populace. If the townspeople want to call you Chicken Chaser” every time you turn your back, they might think twice when your pal is there to back you up in front of those mean bullies.

Fable 2 will also feature a number of tavern games, that can be played in-game or through XBLA. Money earned in these games can then be transferred to the game world, allowing the player to purchase new weapons and equipment, thus adding to the persistent universe that Molyneux has crafted.

I haven´t seen much on the actual quest structure or story underscoring the title but the various ancillary elements �” especially the co-op play �” have elevated this to my Must Play experience this winter.

Mark my words. I´m going to be the Meanest Chicken Chaser that Albion has ever seen.

Two weeks ago, I posted a three-part series that documented my reaction to the Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo E3 2008 Press Conferences.

Originally, I had planned to run an additional three-part series this week, aimed at providing my list of the Top 5 Games I´ve Just Gotta´ Play per system in 2008 but in pouring through the announced release dates, I realized that there are not enough system exclusives to compile that list. And in the Wii´s case, there´s barely anything on their announced schedule that warrants my play time at all. Here´s hoping for some late-inning surprises.

Anyway, I´ve decided to call an audible. While there were plenty of compelling titles announced during the show (MadWorld, Final Fantasy XIII on the 360, inFamous), they all drop sometime in 2009. For the purpose of this piece, I am going to focus on the Top 10 games releasing this year that have piqued my interest. I´ve listed them in descending order (10 to 1) with the number one title representing the one title that I´ve got to play above all others. That said, they all look excellent.

Without further adieu, I present The Top 10 Games That I´ve Got to Play in 2008 �” Part 1.

10.   Sam & Max �” Season One     (Wii �” August 2008):   I know this is a port of the six-part episodic series that graced the PC (via GameTap) last year, but I´ve never played it and it´s very likely that my aging Speak n´ Spell of a computer couldn´t run it even if I wanted to. As I am a console player by choice, the news that Telltale Games would port Season One to the Wii instantly grabbed my attention. That this is coming on a disc and not downloadable via WiiWare is probably for the best, as Nintendo still has those nagging storage concerns to deal with.

Anyway �” I first encountered our ace detective dog Sam and his psychotic little buddy, Max, way back in the Spring of ‘93 when I was a Junior at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Ironically, my underpowered IBM desktop struggled to run the LucasArts’ classic Sam and Max �” Hit the Road without benefit of a boot disk but somehow I plowed through. I just had to work my way through every hilarious dialogue selection �” if only to see Sam´s little buddy sic ‘em up”. Of course, those were the golden years of point-and-click adventures and every LucasArts release was a true treasure trove of riches. Following that title, we waited and waited for word of a follow-up. When the 90´s drew to a close and stellar titles like Tim Shaefer´s Grim Fandango shuffled off to the lonely netherworld of bargain bins, many Sam and Max fans felt their dreams had evaporated.

Then Telltale saved the day. There were those that knocked this new iteration of Sam and Max specifically for its brevity. Apparently, each episode can be completed in about 4 �”5 hours. So, when they dropped on a scattered schedule with each ep a few months apart, fans felt burned having to wait so long for another teasing taste of their favorite dish. But, that´s the bane of episodic anything. You´re always left wanting a little more.

Since I sat that first round out, I get to benefit from receiving all six courses in one sitting. Also, the Wii is really the best system for this game �” with the IR controls afforded by the Wiimote making a perfect substitution for the point-and-click play afforded by the PC mouse. The beauty is that I can play it all from the comforts of my couch.

9.   Resistance: Fall of Man 2     (Sony PS3 �” November 4, 2008):   I haven´t played the first game yet although I certainly intend to do so before this one drops at the start of the holiday buying season. I´m sold on both games based on one thing �” they´re crafted by one of my favorite developers, Insomniac, the geniuses behind the stellar Ratchet & Clank series of games.

Where the first Resistance offered up a revisionist take on World War II in the European theater �” with an alien invasion prior to the real world events changing the landscape and allying the world in a feverish battle against alien invaders - the follow-up brings the villainous Chimera to US soil circa 1950.

In proper sequel form, everything looks bigger in this one �” with some truly mammoth boss creatures on display. Sure, the property does come off as a Reese´s mashup of Call of Duty and Halo (you got your Covenant in my Market Garden) but that makes for an interesting take on a genre (the World War II shooter) that has grown a bit stale.

This should be a big win for Sony this winter.

8.   littlebigplanet     (Sony PS3 �” October 7, 2008):   This weird little game has stolen the show everywhere it´s poked its strange little head. Essentially, it is a traditional 2D platfomer with a major twist �” the player can create the levels as they go �” restrained only by their imagination. Anything can be dropped into the game, from normal household items like soccer balls and spatulas to whatever sick fantasies your mind can conjure to create elements of the landscape through which you traverse. And any part of the level can be crafted from scratch or improved upon using an extensive editor and the boundless, customizable art assets that the game ships with.

The game also uses the Playstation Eye camera, allowing users to take snapshots of almost anything and import those images into the game for use in their level/character design. This being the age of social networking, players can upload and share their unique creations with the PS3 community, thus insuring a title with long legs. It will be interesting to keep this title in heavy rotation just to see what the world comes up with next.

It should be noted that the game does contain a traditional platformer scenario �” with developer created levels and a story that tethers it all together - for those who choose to let the professionals do all the work.

It´s the extensive customization that really elevates this title. Like the forthcoming Spore, the direction of new gameplay experiences are being placed in the hands of the user on a more frequent basis. It´s a brave new world and we all get to be pioneers.

7.   Mirror´s Edge     (360/PS3 �” November 11, 2008):   This game is going to get people sick. For years we´ve heard tales of people growing violently ill when playing a first person shooter. I must have a strong stomach as the rhythmic bouncing and swaying of my character´s perspective and HUD has never produced a single butterfly.

Then I got a gander at Mirror´s Edge, the new first person adventure title developed by DICE and published by EA. Mirror´s Edge appears to present a true first-person experience with every action seen through the player´s eye. Now, this has been done before in games such as the Namco´s Breakdown but this appears to be a real refinement of the idea �” without the standard video game trappings like health displays cluttering up the screen. More importantly, where prior attempts resulted in some sluggish gameplay elements, the character in Mirror´s Edge is fleet of feet �” employing the swift running acrobatics of Parkour to scamper through the game´s environments �” climbing to dizzying heights and bounding across a vaguely futuristic cityscape. The shots revealed in the game´s trailers have been breathtaking (and stomach clenching). If the gameplay can match the revolutionary visuals, this one could be very special.

6.   Too Human     (Xbox 360 �” August 19, 2008):   The long-awaited action RPG is actually poised to hit in just a few short weeks, meaning developer Silicon Knights is free to begin work on their next decades-in-the-making project. I kid, but their pedigree provokes it, as Silicon Knights is known for taking a very long time in working and reworking their titles. That said, their past releases have proven very rewarding (the original Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Eternal Darkness) and next to Hideo Kojima, Dennis Dyack´s shop really knows how to create immersive, complete game universes in which to play and explore.

Too Human has been described as a Next Gen Diablo clone �” probably good news to those Diablo fans who got all up in a tizzy a few weeks back when actual screenshots of a decidedly World of Warcraft looking Diablo III surfaced.

In this game, player´s take control of Baldur, a cybernetic Viking warrior, in the beginning of a planned three-part adventure. Though the game mixes the futuristic with traditional Norse mythology, it´s reported that the narrative actually takes place in the distant past so it looks like we are in a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”  territory here.

Early word on the title is that the solo campaign can be blasted through in about 9 �” 10 hours, this installment being mere prologue for bigger events to come, however this title appears to be designed for multiple playthroughs. In classic Diablo fashion, return exploration yields bigger and better loot that can be used to augment your cybernetic god. The game also ships with a fairly robust co-op mode which matches Microsoft´s marching orders to developers to design game experiences that can be enjoyed alongside your buds. Too Human can´t come too soon enough.

It’s time to take a look back over the last six months and shine a light on the games that really hit my sweet spot — those that kept me awake, late at night, for “just one more.”

On the 360, it was the dynamic duo of blistering, blitzkrieg action assaults doled out by Capcom’s Devil May Cry 4 and Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden II. Of the twin titles, DMC4 is the more accomplished, blasting its way into this new generation with style to spare. Nero and Dante’s arrival on the 360 was gratifying in more ways than one, as they injected some high-intensity third-person action platforming on a system that was swiftly following its forbearer down the well worn FPS alley, and it introduced a big Japanese hit series on a system that has struggled to make ends meet Down East.

Ninja Gaiden II, the long-awaited true sequel to one of my favorite titles on the original Xbox, wasn’t as good as its predecessor, but that’s like comparing deep-fried Snickers. What’s on display is a tasty morsel that simply continues the fight the original game started. It might not bound beyond its predecessor in terms of graphics and gameplay, but it does provide another large bite of bone crushing, over-the-top action, which truly satisfies.

On the Wii, Nintendo finally launched WiiWare, its long awaited answer to XBLA, and with it, they released my favorite game on the system this year, LostWinds. LostWinds is a classic 2D platformer gussied up with some three-dimensional effects and brought to vibrant life through the expert application of the Wii-specific motion controls. This is the reason gamers like myself bought the Wii — to garner new gameplay experiences. While LostWinds appears similar to platformers of old, the Wiimote really enhances the game, as the player wields their wand to create gusts of winds that propel their avatar through a lush fantasy and utilize these abilities to solve an escalating series of brain teasers. The knock against LostWinds is that it ends just as its potential is tapped, but knowledge that this is merely a prologue to a greater adventure leaves me hoping the winds blow this way again soon.

Finally, the PS3 plays host to the absolute best game of the last six months and, most likely, the year with the release of Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. In MGS4, Kojima brings the 10-year Solid series to a satisfying close and ties down every loose tether in the full Metal Gear mythology. With this latest, and last, Solid Snake adventure, Kojima refines the gameplay he crafted, bringing every innovation he’s pioneered in the tactical espionage action arena to the absolute apex of perfection, providing innumerable ways for players to navigate his beautiful warzones.

His greatest achievement is his trailblazing approach to game narrative. In MGS4, Kojima layers in real-time cut scenes that segue way to gameplay and vice-versa, thereby blending the definition of what it means to play a game or watch a movie. In Kojima’s universe, the two separate actions and entertainments are a symbiotic whole, his games are meant to be absorbed and reflected upon. As contemplative as his themes are, the guy also knows how to entertain, offering up a rollicking adventure that kicks most summer blockbusters to the curb.

There’s a lot of talk that Kojima should just head to Hollywood and direct movies. No way. We can’t afford to lose this guy. The work Kojima has done to merge mediums, to blend and bend genres, to erase the lines the separate cinematic fiction from gameplay will shape our experiences to come. Kojima is a real pioneer, pushing ever forward into uncharted lands, and his work to remap the game world is vital to its continued existence. Kojima is a master in his craft, forever furthering the argument of games as art. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is his masterpiece.

And I think he´s just getting started.

Wrapping up my three part series recounting my reactions to the E3 2008 Press Conference offered up by the Big Three (Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony), I present the final installment.

For those who have followed along, I posted my thoughts on Microsoft´s shindig first, then came my reaction to Nintendo, leaving Sony. While all three companies devoted time to elements outside of their core consoles (in particular, Nintendo covered their DS handheld and Sony the PSP), I´ve catered my comments towards the consoles. (Uh oh! Here comes my 10th grade English teacher �” a.k.a. the alliteration police).

Without further adieu, I present the top five things I learned from Sony’s E3 press conference:

5. The New SKU Review: Is it just me, or does Microsoft and Sony launch and retire a new SKU of the same system about once per month? Once upon a time, farmers looked to the rising and setting sun to adjust their harvest cycles. Nowadays, they can dispense with the rooster reminder and simply tether their time table to Sony´s shipping manifest. It´s just as reliable. Yes, Sony announced a new SKU for the PS3. It´s times like these that we pay homage and genuflect at the feet of Cheapassgamer.com for letting us keep track of the assorted price drops and SKU shuffling that seems to spiral once a month in this wild and crazy world of console commerce.

Anyway, the news here is that effective this September, Sony will release an 80GB version of the PS3. The unit will feature the same functionality currently on board the 40GB model and retail for the same price �” 399 dollars. By same functionality, that means the backwards compatibility which was a big feature of the premiere 60GB model and is partially represented in the current 80GB model (the MGS4 bundle) will not be present in this new SKU. It´s also expected that all other SKUs will be retired, making the MGS4 bundle a limited edition.

From a price point, a 400 dollar PS3 isn´t bad (it´s probably what it should have launched at two years ago), and with their expanding line-up, Sony should give Microsoft a run for its money during the holiday season. Plus, as we all know, this is a Trojan Horse for the Blu-Ray player, which gives the system another advantage over the Xbox 360.

My hope is that they´ve finally settled on a functionality set that will stay in stone for some time. The loss of backwards compatibility isn´t too great, especially if you consider those downloadable PS2 game rumors that continue to catch fire. While it wasn´t announced at E3, that´s not to infer they aren´t coming. With an 80GB hard drive, the storage space is ample. We´ll see.

Sony also offered up another iteration of the immortal PS2. (Seriously, this has to be the greatest system ever created when taking library size and longevity into account.) This autumn, Sony will release a new PS2 bundle pack that includes the system, the new Lego Batman game and the recently released Justice League animated flick on DVD. The entire package retails for 149.99 USD. When you factor in the pack-ins, the PS2 is effectively retailing for 99.99 USD or less. This system will NEVER die.

4. PC = R.I.P.: Oh, yes. The eternal debate. Console vs. PC. Both sides have their fervent fans that declare the other side a bunch of sad sack, no-nothing soulless n00bs. Yet, with each passing year, the consoles make enormous strides at closing the gap. Yes, the PC elite will always dangle their mice in your face and claim that control can never be as pixel perfect as that of the QWERTY crowd, but you console campers can always bend your wrists backs (once you peel off your carpal tunnel braces) and show them how far consoles have come. I know I´ll probably receive hate mail from the PC police, but I´m a console guy through and through. I work in front of a PC eight to 10 hours a day, and the very last place I want to be when I get home is six inches away from the LCD.

The point is, Sony made a strong argument with a couple of their products that may prove the console arena is the way of the future for those seeking out the thrills formerly confined to monster rigs.

DC Universe Online received a massive response from the crowd. In partnership with Sony Online, the developers (including key artistic staff from the DC creative stable) have crafted a console-centric MMORPG set in the DC Universe. The game looks to feature almost every DC comic character you can name while offering up a robust avatar creation system that allows players to craft the superhero or villain of their dreams and then go to work aiding or assaulting a virtual Metropolis.

Games like these are bad for other games because if this is your thing, you won´t want to play anything else for a very long time (think World of Warcraft). As a huge Batman fan, this title might just force me to break down and finally purchase a PS3. The big question — which SKU?

Sony closed out their show with another title that must have piqued interest among the PC community. Zipper Interactive announced MAG, a title that stands for Massive Action Game. Essentially, this looks like a pretty SOCOM clone, the type of frag fest in full abundance on most game servers. The catch here is the game features mammoth 256 player battles, with players able to join forces in squads, take on roles and really go to battle. Sony didn´t provide a lot of details outside of talk of a character advancement system and a tease for vehicular combat, but this looks to be the plateau that similar games like the Battlefield series have been climbing toward for years.

This could be revolutionary.

3. Greatest Hits: Providing a big sign that gamers are finally beginning to adopt the PS3 in their multi-console homes, Sony announced the start of a Greatest Hits series, similar in design to the very successful lines that augmented the PS1 and PS2 libraries.

Within the next couple of weeks, Sony will roll out this Greatest Hits line to retailers everywhere. Games will retail for 29.99 USD. The initial line-up is pretty robust and diverse with the following titles represented: Resistance: Fall of Man, MotorStorm, Warhawk, Call of Duty 3, Fight Night, Need For Speed: Carbon, Rainbow Six Vegas, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Assassin´s Creed and Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.

This is a very good move, matching the Platinum Hits series that has done well for the Xbox 360. I know that as games have grown more and more expensive, my personal purchases have whittled down to those top-tier highly rated games that I´ve just got to play on Day 1 and need for my collection. Anything else, no matter how compelling the content may be, will usually sit on the back burner awaiting the inevitable price drop.

These Greatest Hits series give gamers the option to sample titles from genres that they might normally avoid. Tease a Sports Chick´s pallet with a taste of an FPS (say Resistance: Fall of Man) and suddenly you have a newfound Frag Doll.

2. The Indie 500: In my 360 conference write-up, I heaped praise at Microsoft´s XBLA service and the continued support for the indie game development scene.

I know this is the new world we live in, where indie game developers have new avenues through which to direct their titles, thereby reaching a wide breadth of gaming enthusiasts. Some of these so-called smaller games” have revealed a well-spring of creativity, making me think some of tomorrow´s blockbuster hits and, more importantly, the Next Big Thing, might benefit from the fact that these true talents had a canvas upon which to paint and a gallery to show it in.

Of course, Sony has matched XBLA with their PSN marketplace, and over the last couple of years has showcased some really innovative titles, including Echochrome and fLow. During this year´s conference, they placed the spotlight on some really compelling titles, including PixelJunk Eden, Crash Commando, RagDoll KungFu and Fat Princess. Sometimes the title is EVERYTHING.

So, the announcement of new PSN titles isn´t necessarily groundbreaking news. What´s worth noticing is the fact that both Microsoft and Sony carved space in their crowded keynotes to spotlight some of these niche” titles that are on the way. That´s very encouraging. It shows that these garage game developers have welcoming homes awaiting their offspring. Of course they do — there´s money to be made off them — but so what? I´m all for the consumer culture and the All Mighty Dollar calling the shots if it means I get to tease my peepers and needle my neural synapses with whatever fresh, new interactive experience they want to send my way.

1. You can actually play games on this thing?: For the longest time, as Sony languished in third place following their disastrous 2006 launch, execs at the company seemed to divert attention away from the PS3´s prime directive and sought to curry favor with the techie crowd who were looking to add a hi-definition media player to their home theater showrooms. The company seemed determined to shift resources to the hi-definition theater of war, focusing their assault on Toshiba and HD-DVD, in a bid to ensure Blu-Ray conquered the world.

With HD-DVD relegated to this generation´s Betamax, and unit sales of the PS3 on the rise thanks to some compelling software choices (including the absolutely must play Metal Gear Solid 4), Sony has amassed their forces and come gunning for Microsoft once again. Yes, there´s the nagging notion (and fact) that the Wii is the actual market leader, but the Big Two refuse to consider it a competitor in the public sector, meaning they´re settling in for a Rock-Em/Sock-Em battle for the hardcore customer (while co-opting Wii innovations for themselves in hopes of scoring a bonus prize of casual customers).

What this means is that Sony has an arsenal of big guns poised to take down the warriors that Microsoft is bringing to the holiday fray. Sequels abound. Countering Fable 2 and Gears of War 2 is Resistance 2 and Killzone 2. In addition, Sony showed off the next SOCOM and a sequel to their hit racing title, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift.

It´s not all strapping machismo either, as Sony has scored some major press with their support of the innovative title, littlebigplanet. This title, which allows players to craft lifelike platforming worlds limited only by their imagination, has stolen the show each time it´s popped its weird little head out over the last year. Their motto for this game is play, create, share” which goes along with the big push by all three console makers to foster deep social networking environments for the MySpace generation.

littlebigplant is due this October. Seeing Sony really push this strange new product while pedaling a surefire blockbuster like Resistance is comforting, as it shows the company´s willingness to diversify its offerings, which again, is good for all gamers.

Finally, Sony dropped a huge announcement of their own. While not as surprising as Microsoft´s Final Fantasy XIII reveal, the news that God of War III is coming soon (March 2009) earned its applause. The God of War series is important for Sony, as it´s an in-house developed first party property that matches its brawny action platforming with serious production values. This is a true system seller.

While the news wasn´t much of a surprise (the game was recently teased in the PSP GoW instruction manual), official confirmation of the title and a release date were good tidbits to chew on. Of course, March ‘09 is also the same month that Resident Evil 5 drops. It´s doubtful either title will shift (RE5 is multi-platform and GoW 1 and 2 were both released in March), so March ‘09 might be a good time to slot some of that vacation time.

All right, that finishes my commentaries. I´d say Microsoft is King of the Conference while Sony finished a close second. Both featured solid line-ups, played up some innovative titles and left me with a solid direction for their product lines. Essentially, they offered ample evidence for why you really need to own their machines.

Nintendo, on the other hand, stumbled. I know why they chose the direction they did (they weren´t speaking to you or me, but direct to the public and, more specifically, ABC, CBS, NBC and whoever else will have them on their morning news and entertainment programs), but it didn´t leave me with unbridled anticipation of what´s to come. The true 1-to-1 ratio promised by WiiMotion Plus looks compelling, but I need games to go along with it. Here´s hoping they slip some of that news out now that the national press has turned its eye back to its regularly scheduled programming.

Recently, I posted my reactions to Microsoft’s opening salvo in the 2008 Electronic Entertainment Expo. As promised, I’ve returned with my reactions on the other company’s press conferences.

Basically, I’m working these things in order. MS went first, so they got top billing. Nintendo followed with their conference on Tuesday morning and Sony closed out the keynote addresses later that afternoon.

Without further adieu, here are the top five things I learned from Nintendo’s E3 press conference:

5. Wii make beautiful music: This was Nintendo’s big showpiece, or at least the title they saved for last. Microsoft used the same spot less than 24 hours earlier to drop the Final Fantasy XIII bomb on its rivals, and Nintendo uses their crowning moment to demo the Dummies Guide to Rock and Roll. Maybe Sony is right — maybe the Wii isn’t their direct competition.

I’m a self-professed Wii60 household, and I really dig the things Nintendo has done with the Wii. Wii Sports is a fantastic experience and the more Nintendo gives us NEW ways to play, the happier I am. I always have the 360 to satisfy my hardcore cravings.

That said, I wasn’t entirely sold on Wii Music. I know, I’ll have to play it. The problem I have is Miyamoto’s little jam session that closed the show didn’t give the impression that one needed to do much more than just make random motions to make music. In the continuous bid to court the casual, has skill level been kicked to the curb? Without a sense of challenge, all you’re left with is banging on virtual pots and pans.

Regardless, I’ll stifle my opinion until I get playtime with it. I’ve really grooved to the music games, and with my limited skill, I’m usually relegated to three-chord rock (a.k.a. easy mode). Maybe Wii Music will elevate me to Rock God.

4. Casual corner: Leading up to the conference, there was a lot of Internet chatter that Nintendo, having won over the casual market and holding strong to their number one market share, would now extend an olive branch to their longtime fans to let them know they weren’t forgotten. Word began to spread that new, mature iterations of some classic series were on tap — that this would be the E3 to bring down the house, much like the Twilight Princess unveiling did back in 2006.

Then we ran through a litany of entry level games: Shaun White Snowboarding, Animal Crossing City Folk, Wii Sports Resort and the piece de resistance, Wii Music.

Of course, I’m being a bit glib, but my initial reaction after viewing the press conference was, “That’s it? Where’s Zelda? Mario? Kid Icarus? A new hardcore IP?” This is coming from a lifelong, hardcore Nintendo fan boy.

After taking a little drive (I wasn’t depressed; I had errands to run), my brain started to settle down and I began to process it all. We know those titles are out there and coming. Nintendo knows they can disseminate news of a new adventure for Link in any forum and the hardcore will find it and spread it virally through the Web. This press conference wasn’t aimed at the rabid fans; it was pitched specifically at the mainstream media that has helped propel the Wii to its no-longer surprising first place perch. Kid Icarus isn’t going to get them airtime on Good Morning America, but I can already see Ellen leading her studio audience in an impromptu rendition of The Underworld Theme.

This is the lesson Nintendo learned last year. Wii Fit was the showpiece, and immediately, news organizations around the world reported on it. Then Oprah gave them away to her studio audience. And Ellen followed suit. And now you can’t find one to save your life (meaning, here I sit growing fatter by the word).

The one piece of criticism I have is that Nintendo has to realize that gamers, even neophytes, are human and we inherently crave a challenge. Now that you’ve hooked these new gamers, you need to give them the ability to challenge themselves. To work on and perfect these new found abilities. That’s how you grow hardcore gamers from the casual crowd and that’s how you build up a stable of loyal consumers. You can’t coddle this audience forever. These babes in the wood are starting to crawl, and if you give them the chance, they´ll run alongside you. Remember �” it’s not a sprint; it’s a marathon. Let’s make sure each and every one of them stays in the field. A healthy and hungry marketplace is good for everyone.

3. One on One — I want to play that game: Again, most of Nintendo’s releases need to be played to really understand whether we’re experiencing new iterations of their “genius.” The other big news — which was teased a day prior — was the impending release of a new device, the WiiMotion Plus, that will clip on to the Wiimote and provide exact one-to-one translation of your movements. Essentially, your exact motions will be accurately transcribed to the game you’re playing, which will supposedly result in a more immersive game play experience.

I actually welcome this introduction, as the one knock against the Wii is that as innovative as it is, it never controls as fluidly as you think it should. Wii Sports does a pretty good job of mimicking your motions, although some of the games suffer (boxing, I’m looking at you). And there have been numerous attempts at swordplay in games such as Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and No More Heroes that fall just short and end up feeling gimmicky. If WiiMotion Plus can lead to more tactile control in future titles, then I’m all for it.

It should be noted that it takes two to tango. Nintendo is supplying the tech but the developers need to step up and code correctly. WiiMotion Plus won’t stem the shoddy programming employed by the legion of shovelware manufacturers (nor will it enhance previously released games) but it should work wonders on games that take the time to utilize these new tools. Wii Sports Resort should be the shining star. If not, we’re in trouble.

2. They´re speaking our language: Introduced as part of the Animal Crossing: City Folk demo was something online Wii players have been demanding: the ability to converse with their fellow gamers. The WiiSpeak microphone appears to remedy this.

Rather than release a headset, which Nintendo says fosters a singular gamer mentality, the microphone is designed to sit above the TV and pick up voice from anywhere in the room. While this doesn’t remedy the Friend Codes complaints, it does allow for the ability to chat with your friends.

Animal Crossing is supposed to take advantage of the mike, but I’m hoping there’s backward-compatibility with any online enabled game. Mario Kart Wii demands it.

1. Community builders: Nintendo’s big focus is on community building. Their Animal Crossing: City Folk seems designed around this, with the ability to fully interact with your friends and family’s Animal Crossing municipalities. Players will also be able to bid on items their friends locate in auction houses and chat with their friends by using the aforementioned WiiSpeak microphone. In a way, this is their attempt at an MMORPG, although as with their other offerings, it does seem to represent baby steps in the arena.

Again, as a lifelong Nintendo fan, I can’t say I walked away from this conference with a good feeling in my gut. I really would’ve loved to see Mario and Link represented. Hell, where’s my Pikmin posse?

I hold hope that news of their return will filter out in the coming days. I’m glad Nintendo has found some new friends. I just hope they don’t forget their old ones.

Here are The Top 5 Things I Learned from Microsoft’s E3 2008 Press Conference:

5. Those who play together…: Online multiplayer used to be a developer’s number one bullet point. If you shipped a title without it, the professional game critics immediately dropped a couple points from your score, even if the game design didn’t necessarily warrant the feature. Nowadays, online multiplayer is old hat and developers have become hip to the fact that folks tend to gravitate to one or two online games and ignore the rest (meaning titles like Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 reap heavy rotation long after their single-player campaigns have exhausted). That’s not to say developers won’t try and lure gamers over to their unique brand of fragfests, but for the most part, gamers know which series they’ll pledge their allegiance to.

Me — I’ve sort of had my fill on the pure multiplayer melee madness. I’ll dip my toes in the waters, but I’m just not hardcore enough to know whether the kids think I’m kewl or a n00b they can pwn. That said, I do like gaming alongside my buddies — with the ability to chat away on MS proprietary voice channels. Which is why I am thrilled at Microsoft’s new marching orders to offer up the online co-op campaign experience in a number of their titles.

In October, Microsoft will ship Fable II, the sequel to the hit action RPG that struck gold on the original Xbox. I’ll write more about the title in my “Top 5 360 games I’ve just got to play” piece, but what has me most excited is the online co-op. Peter Molyneux confirmed yesterday that Fable II will offer a seamless invite process — dispensing with clunky menus and invites. Within the user’s own unique game world, they can see purple orbs floating through space that represent people on their friend’s list. In order to invite a friend in, a player simply walks up to an orb and sends an invite. If their friend accepts, they’ll immediately show up in the player’s game, where they can play all or part of the campaign alongside them. In addition, each player’s world changes depending on the actions they perform in the game, so a player can act as a tour guide and walk their friend through their unique environment — pointing out the sites.

Continuing the trend, Microsoft and Silicon Knights release the sci-fi adventure, Too Human, in August. The game, which has been described as an action RPG dungeon crawler akin to the old Diablo games allows for similar drop-in anytime co-op.

In November, Microsoft and Epic Games launch the much anticipated sequel, Gears of War 2. In addition to the two-player online co-op campaign mode, there’s a new co-op mode called Horde which supports up to five players. Not much was revealed about this other than it’s a separate game from the main campaign — which should add some longevity to the title.

From the third party camp, I was legitimately impressed to see online co-op integrated into Resident Evil 5. I’m a HUGE fan of Resident Evil 4 (I felt it really reinvented a creaky series), and RE5 looks like a refinement of everything the last installment did so well. Being able to play through this action-thriller with a buddy alongside just makes my anticipation for this title grow. We still have some time to wait though — it doesn’t drop until March 13, 2009. Yes, that’s a Friday.

4. Blu-Ray ban: Blu-Ray is the new Betamax. There, I said it. Earlier this year, Microsoft hit a hurdle in the hi-def wars when the video basket ino which it put all its eggs (HD-DVD) completely unraveled. Once the big box chains (Wal-Mart, Best Buy) dropped support for the format in favor of the Sony-backed Blu-Ray, Toshiba exited the business and those $200 HD-DVD add-ons suddenly became expensive paperweights. Since then, speculation has run rampant that Microsoft would swallow its lumps, toss some coin at its chief competitor and offer a Blu-Ray add-on of its own in order to stay in line with the one deciding advantage the PS3 currently holds court on. In fact, the popular scuttlebutt was that Microsoft HAD to offer Blu-Ray to head off the slow build of steam that Sony was amassing after their initial rocky start.

But all this time I’ve looked at Blu-Ray as this generation’s Laser-Disc. It’s a nice piece of tech that looks good in a showroom but will only really appeal to the hardcore niche techie crowd that has to buy every new innovation (as they read this, they toss a forlorn glance at their collection of Mini-Discs.) After all, DVDs really only hit mainstream in the last five years. (Mainstream is the point where your mom and dad opts to rent a DVD over a VHS tape when perusing Blockbuster.) Granted, DVD hunkered down in the American household much faster than VHS, but DVD is arguably the first generation of video hardware where purchasing movies (as opposed to solely renting them) is the norm — with the price point of most new releases an attractive $13. People have begun to amass libraries the way they spotlighted their CD (or record) collections. The last thing the mass audience is going to do is run right out and replace all those flicks for the newer, better picture. Sure — you and I can see a clear cut difference afforded by the hi-def Blu-Ray image, but I guarantee you we’re in the minority.

That’s why I’ve looked at digital distribution of flicks as the true next generation for film and video presentation. The signs are clear. iTunes and MP3s are putting music stores out of business. Digital distribution of music has definitely hit the mainstream and has changed the way the consumer thinks — it’s no longer such a strange idea to not physically own (and hold) your music media. In fact, it’s kinda nice not having to fumble for CDs while jockeying your java on your lap. And it’s not just guys like me that notice the difference. Soccer moms are so much happier to have their hands free — leaving them with an extra limb to fix their hair while ferrying from Zumba class to the kid’s field hockey game.

All this rambling preamble is pure set-up for Microsoft’s genius move to partner with Netflix and offer digital distribution of films (from the extensive Netflix catalog) direct to your Xbox — starting this fall. No more mailing. No more waiting for your place in the queue. No more handling physical DVD media that has passed through untold number of hands and, hence, no more sudden onset Bird Flu.

This is a huge coup for Microsoft. It basically tells Sony, “Keep your pretty niche, Blu-Ray. We’re leap-fogging into the true next generation.”

The nice thing about this arrangement is that Netflix subscribers will not pay anything extra for the service. In addition, they can share the film with up to eight other users (by sending it direct to them) and all of them can watch the film together — bringing the concept of a group movie night much easier to pull together (especially for those of us who have troubles locating babysitters). If you’re one of those who like to talk during a movie, everyone can stay connected with their headsets and chat away. Word of warning — I’ll mute ya!

3. GlaDOS is still alive: The Xbox Live Arcade service has been a wealth of enjoyment for the last several years and has been a prime place to feature some of the smaller scale, though no less enjoyable, games that have come from independent developers. Sure, XBLA also plays host to classic game ports and some titles from name developers, but its biggest triumph has been offering an avenue for distribution for those smaller titles that really seemed to lose their way when we made the transition from the “bit” generations to our current age of hi-def play.

One of the big announcements yesterday was that the hit game, Portal, which began life as a student project driven off the Half-Life 2 engine, would make its way to XBLA as an enhanced port. Basically, we’ll get the original Portalgame in addition to some new levels designed specifically for the service. This is a nice treat and continues the trend of leveraging XBLA to provide unique game experiences.

I played Portal when it shipped on The Orange Box disk, and I found it to be one of the more enjoyable game experiences I’ve had in the last few years. Essentially, it’s a puzzle game dressed up in first-person shooter clothes. Armed with a special gun that enables the player to open portals on most any surface, the player must navigate an escalating series of puzzle rooms in a bid to escape their confinement in a mysterious installation.

While the puzzle design is great (real head scratchers but not head bangers), the game really won me over on its aesthetic world design. The guys who developed this not only know how to design gameplay, they also know how to weave a decent tale — and the story you play through in Portal is equal parts chilling and hilarious. The sentient AI, GlaDOS, is as memorable a computerized character as HAL in “2001.”

This was a nice surprise during the conference, and to see it included in the keynote address shows Microsoft is committed to providing these indie games with safe haven.

2. Microsoft really wants to be Nintendo: I’ve heaped a ton of praise at Microsoft and deservedly so. They had a much better press conference than last year’s aimless, boring show. This year they featured some stellar titles (most of which are coming soon) and ended with a genuine shock (more to come in a moment).

But they stumbled a bit.

For a couple of companies that swear up and down that market leader Nintendo (and the Wii) are not their competition, both companies seem to go out of their way to crib wholesale from the big N’s bag of tricks.

Last year, it was Sony with their motion controlled Sixaxis controller — a last minute addition to the controller that was poorly implemented and to date has gone underutilized. That’s what happens when you don’t build the whole system and your new gameplay philosophy around the device, like Nintendo has done. Anything else seems half-assed.

Now, this year, Microsoft made the uncomfortable segue from the hardcore showcase (Gears of War 2, Resident Evil 5, Fallout 3) to a suite of titles aimed at courting the casual crowd. First up was Lips, their motion sensitive (uh-oh) karaoke title. Then came You’re in the Movies, which uses the Xbox Vision camera to place players in cheesy B-movie spoofs. In addition, they also offered up a second helping of Scene It. All of these titles are aimed at the casual crowd — a crowd that to date has largely shirked the more advance systems in favor of the pick-up-and-play experience offered by the Wii.

But the biggest stumble Microsoft made was the unveiling of their Avatars. Essentially, they’ve kidnapped the Miis and made them into little hipsters. Avatars are end user creations that can be extensively customized and will represent the user in the game space. When they roll out, they’ll be everywhere. On your desktop. In the game menus and lobbies. And some will follow you into the games.

Now, I’m a Wii60 household, meaning I’ve fully embraced the Miis and I dearly love my Xbox. Of course I’ll make one of these and update them as time goes on. This personalization is fun; I don’t deny that one bit.

But I think Microsoft is courting the casual crowd a little too much. They’ve already got a firm hold on the hardcore game base (a demo that is relatively large and doesn’t mind opening its coffers to buy lots and lots of games). I think the family demo will be forever out of their reach until the day they up and buy Nintendo. Nintendo is the Walt Disney of the game world and families know it. They feel safe with a Wii — realizing that Mario never carjacked Yoshi and the Princess never plied her peaches on the streets of Vice City. Nintendo will keep their hold on this generation simply because they designed a piece of entertainment tech that really grabbed the mainstream — something that neither Sony nor Microsoft could no longer do the more complicated their machines and controllers got.

And that should be fine. Different strokes. Everybody is making tons of cash, and unlike the 90’s, there’s plenty of room on the market for three consoles. I’m sure most 360 owners will embrace their Avatars, but I don’t see them being the bridge to the casual crowd for which they were obviously designed.

1. Microsoft really wants to beat Sony: At the close of their key note, Microsoft dropped the bomb on Sony. I’d seen rumors of potential Microsoft announcements for weeks. Some came true. Some remained in the ether. But this one seemed to surprise EVERYONE!

After leaving the stage near the end of the event, guest speaker and Square-Enix president Yoichi Wata re-emerged to tease one additional title: Final Fantasy XIII.

The former jewel in Sony’s crown. This was the one title on the radar screen that was stilled deemed a system seller for the PS3. With Metal Gear Solid 4 having come and gone, Final Fantasy XIII represented the next best hope for moving more units en mass. And since the original Playstation, which saw the Final Fantasy series elevated to blockbuster status with the release of VII, the series has been a Sony stalwart.

But the days of system exclusivity have waned. It just doesn’t make much sense for third parties from a pure profit perspective. Thus, Microsoft pulled off a major coup by luring Final Fantasy XIII to its system. THIS IS A SYSTEM SELLER and it doesn’t matter if it launches day and date with the PS3 version — it will move units much in the same way that the dual release of GTA4 moved systems for both parties.

Having just completed MGS4 on a PS3 on loan from a friend, the one title ahead that really had me debating how and whether to get a PS3 was Final Fantasy XIII. I’m just such a huge fan of the series and each installment (aside from the MMORPG-centric FFXI) has been a must play. Now, that thirst has been quenched.

I don’t think this move is a death knell for Sony. They’ve got quality first party titles in their stable and certainly, their own legion of fanboys. What this does do is bring the Era of Exclusivity closer to an end — which, in the long run, is good for gamers and for the industry.

As I mentioned above, I really think all three consoles can thrive. They’ve all got their fans and have carved their specific niches. These are the salad days for the games industry, and all three companies have found a bumper crop of cabbage to farm. Hey, gas prices are too high. Why not just stay home?

Anyway, all told, it was a great conference by Microsoft. That last announcement has me thrilled.

I love the last four words spoken in Iron Man.

Before I go further, I’ll stop and allow anyone who hasn’t seen the film (and has a desire to do so) to jump off the bus. The last thing I want to do with this Blog is turn it into a spoiler site. 

Now that they’re gone, I’ll pick right back up where I left off �” specifically, at the very moment Iron Man leaves off. 

“I am Iron Man.” 

Actually, Robert Downey Jr.’s full delivery to a crowded press conference is, “The truth is… I am Iron Man.” And with that, Iron Man closes out with a nice subversive jolt to the long-established convention that comic book heroes have to live secretive, sheltered lives in a bid to safeguard their true identity. At the end of Iron Man, the egomaniacal Tony Stark stays true to form, tosses aside his pre-scripted remarks and stays true to his larger than life character by proclaiming, very publicly, that he is the mysterious metallic man that has been jet setting across the globe righting various wrongs.

What’s great about that last line is it’s emblematic of the movie as a whole �” a whiz-bang adventure that plays fast and loose with the normal genre conventions. Credit director John Favreau (Swingers) for that. His playful, inventive touch on the proceedings makes Iron Man so money, it doesn’t even know it.

Now, this isn´t a formal review by any stretch (after all, I’m really just focusing on one line of dialogue), but there isn’t praise enough for Downey Jr.’s expert essay of Stark �” a breezy, boozy billionaire who requires a massive blast to his heart to realize he still has one. Downey is a great talent, and this role fits him like a glove. Word is that Favreau effortlessly lobbied the studio to plant Downey Jr. in the part (they were a bit nervous, citing Downey’s prior struggles with drug addition). The effort paid off as not only does Downey Jr. do a great job breathing life to this Iron Man, but the baggage he carries with him from his personal life does a fine job of coloring in the corners of this larger than life character who’s brought down a few pegs before he realizes what’s most important in life. And he really knows how to turn a phrase. 

“I am Iron Man.”

It’s a moment that’s as shocking as it is playful. Sure, we’ve seen movies where the hero is unmasked (Spidey seems to lose his head piece at least once a reel), but never have I seen a hero publicly out himself to such a massive degree. In a press conference carried live �” beamed across the globe �” Stark stays true to form and just lets loose with the truth. 

And that last line just sends you out of the theater with a grand, goofy grin plastered across your mug. In a script brimming with some sparkling dialogue, this little bon mot stands tall above the rest. It toys with our expectations while teasing us for Stark´s future endeavors.

And it raised the bar on this summer movie season that hasn’t been cleared yet. The Dark Knight has his work cut out for him.

Anyone following Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’s development cycle knows that the property landed before a number of top Hollywood scribes before Spielberg´s go-to guy, David Koepp (Spider-Man), took a hack.

Following the film´s release, the Internet community commenced their big fat geek meddling by laying the blame for all the goofy detours the film took at King George Lucas´ feet. Notably, they took issue with Mutt´s Tarzan act as well as Indy´s A-Bomb adventure in a Frigidaire. (Forget the fact that he survived the blast �” how the hell did he open the door from the inside?)

Well, lo and behold, like that relic at the beginning of Raiders, a long sought treasure was unearthed earlier last week when Frank Darabont´s original screenplay for Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods hit the Net. The script was vetted as authentic by AICN´s Moriarty, who had read it a few years back, and the clamor to rip through its contents hit such a fever pitch yesterday that it knocked the host server offline for several hours.

Anyway, I am a huge Darabont fan, and from most reports, his script is rock solid. Reportedly Spielberg and Ford really dug his treatment but Lucas put the kibosh on it. From there, the legend grew that Lucas was the real phantom menace working against the project from ever going green.

Despite the quality of the script, some interesting facts came to light. As I mentioned above, every goofy element in Crystal Skull has been blamed on George Lucas and his Jar Jar loving ways. Yet, there in Darabont´s script is the infamous nuclear fridge sequence!!!

I mention this because I´ve found it curious that among those I´ve encountered who have enjoyed the flick, almost all of them have admitted that there are weak and silly moments throughout. The rallying cry seems to be that every segment that kicks ass is Spielberg´s contribution and every moment that makes you groan is the result of Lucas´ intervention. Surprisingly, the final script for Crystal Skull bears a strong resemblance to Darabont´s tale �” with the fridge, the ants, the crystal skulls, Ox and the aliens all represented. So Lucas couldn´t have hated it that much.

I think my point here is that we sometimes rush to judgment (that´s a trite Sunday School lesson, I know) and that even our heroes are not without fault. I´m a huge Spielberg fan and love Darabont´s writing, but it appears even this duo is not infallible. The fridge sequence is goofy and now we know that Darabont dreamed it and Spielberg loved it.

Sometimes great minds think alike… and sometimes that´s not good for anybody.

As I near the finish of my week long series spotlighting my top five console games of all time, I’m struck by the realization that while my number one remains the end all, be all of the list, the other selections really jockey for position in terms of what number they fall on. Essentially, numbers five through two share two characteristics in common:

1. They’re beloved titles I could play and replay endlessly, and
2. They’re not number one.

With a shout out to Highlander, “There can be only one.”

The Legend of Zelda series

I’m sorry. I can’t pick one. They’re like children.

Every game in this series has held me completely spellbound. A new installment seems to come out once a decade (I know it’s more frequent than that but that’s what it feels like.) When they do come out, it’s like that little triumphant audio cue you get when Link triggers a secret door or unlocks a chest. You feel like you really located buried treasure.

As I wrote in my inaugural post on this site, of all my pixel-perfect memories, none stands taller than the day I encountered The Legend of Zelda on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Before Zelda, with its strange new landscape of magic and mystery, games were relegated to the “Plumber Jumps on Winged Turtle” genre of electronic entertainment. Now, before me, lay a gleaming gold cartridge.

“Gold? Aren’t cartridges typically dull gray? What’s this remarkable treasure?

Legend has it, a pre-pubescent Flava Flav was so enthralled, he melted 16 of them down to form that marvelous grill of his.

Anyway, the original Legend of Zelda, with its mythic locales, brutal boss fights and, most importantly, fiendishly clever dungeon puzzles, drained many a day of its hourglass sand. You produce a new Zelda game and I don’t care where I am (work, grocery shopping, neurosurgery) — I’m dropping everything and heading back to Hyrule.

For those unfamiliar with the series, the Zelda games revolve around the adventures of a
young elf-boy named Link, who in each game is called upon to save the princess, fight the evil demon Ganon and save the world from imminent doom. The story is old hat, and after five major console releases could be argued as stale, but there’s something in its telling that continually keeps each new adventure fresh.

I think the intro to 2003’s The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker captured my feelings very well. This elegant introductory passage, told through a mix of subtle sight and sound (flashes of wood carvings scored to a medieval arrangement of the classic Zelda themes), tells the tale of the legend of princess Zelda. This four minute sequence effortlessly recaps the events of the prior (seemingly unrelated) games, weaving a dense tapestry depicting this perpetual dance between good and evil — setting the stage for one final showdown.

Viewing this simple cut scene (composed of still images apparently ripped from some ancient text) provoked one good sensation after another, culminating in a moment of such sublime simplicity that it sent a shiver coursing down my spine. In it, we spied a simple wood carving of a young boy pulling a sword from a stone and holding it aloft while blinding light poured from the heavens.

In the past year and a half, fans got a twofer in the dual release of The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess (Wii) and The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass (DS). That’s two Zelda titles in under a year. If Nintendo can keep this up, I’m quitting my day job.

Three down; two to go. Bear in mind, this list focused on my top five favorite console games. At some point, I’ll offer up my favorite PC-based entertainments.

But, at heart, I’m a console kid. I was reared on the Atari 2600, and the Nintendo Entertainment System helped melt four years of high school. It was on the NES that I began to witness this medium’s ability to tell a story. While so many titles followed the familiar “Save the Princess” narrative, some brave titles took stabs at displacing celluloid as the parchment for inking a good yarn. Of note, the Ninja Gaiden series and Bionic Commando made impressive use of their primitive tools.

That’s why it was incredibly rewarding to witness technology catch up to the demands of Hideo Kojima’s vision for the Metal Gear series.

Without further adieu, here’s number two:

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

The Metal Gear series has been around since the 8-bit days, although it’s truly benefited from advancements in technology. I played Hideo Kojima’s original Metal Gear on the NES back in 1987 and realized then that his storytelling was hampered by the hardware.

In 1998, the elements settled nicely into place for Kojima, as he released the very cinematic Metal Gear Solid for the Sony Playstation. Released on the heels of Final Fantasy VII and Resident Evil, Metal Gear solidified the argument that the line between games and films was beginning to blur. The game also introduced full voice acting to the series, with David Hayter bringing our gruff hero Solid Snake to vibrant life.

For my money, the 2001 Playstation 2 sequel, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty goes down in history as one of the most engaging games I’ve ever played. That’s no small feat considering the numerous areas this game could have suffered a misstep — most notably in Kojima’s shocking twist to the game’s extended prologue that effectively removes Solid Snake from the majority of the game. Many fanboys whined that they were forced to play as Raiden (no doubt, the same crybabies who were all up in a tizzy over those Arbiter sequences in Halo 2). While I can somewhat empathize — if given the choice, wouldn’t every one choose Han over Luke — I thought the decision, from a pure storytelling perspective, was truly ballsy. By leaving Snake adrift, fate unknown, after the game’s initial oil tanker episode, the story gets infused with some compelling dramatic elements. As Raiden is being briefed before his incursion to the Big Shell (which terrorists have hijacked), rumors abound that Solid Snake is the leader of this revolt. That adds a good amount of dramatic tension for a large portion of the game.

Eventually, our beloved Snake does surface, in the persona of Iroquois Plissken (Kojima nicely playing homage to the original Snake from whom he got his inspiration). From there on out, the game twists and turns, opening a myriad of questions (Who are the Patriots? What the hell is the La-Li-Le-Lo-Lu?), offering some killer boss battles (the harrier jet is a fave of mine) and sprinkling a host of Easter Eggs (Kojima sure does love his FHM).

Like the best movies, MGS2 stays with you. It tickles that inquisitive bone in me that loves cliffhangers and conspiracy plots and intrigue. I’m a sucker for serial dramas (Lost, 24) and this game offers up an abundance of riches for my curious brain.

This year’s Metal Gear Solid IV: Guns of the Patriots promises to end the saga. As I wrote in a prior piece, it is my most anticipated game of the year.