Take a look back and remember the times of previous video game generations and just think how blessed we have been with the number of great titles that have come across our television sets…
Even look back just four years ago…when The Game Cube, Xbox, and Playstation 2 rocked everyone’s entertainment system…
We didn’t have gems like Bioshock, Metal Gear Solid 4, or GTA 4…what graced our systems 4 years ago were titles like Jet Li Rise to honor…Red Dead Revolver and Psi Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy.
GTAIV
Which one would you choose…this or
Jet Li: Rise to Honor
…this?
We take certain things for granted as gamers these days. The industry has exploded in terms of what games have been released in this generation that we are currently in. And since we are so used to seeing these graphics and gameplay now…we are a little spoiled.
The updated graphics engines alone are reasons for any gamers now a days to purchase new titles…look at the the games being released…Let’s take two titles same name different console generations…
Area 51 for the PS2 and Xbox.
Blacksite: Area 51 PS3 and Xbox 360.
…Look at the difference in these two games…they speak for themselves… Area 51 was a decent FPS for the Xbox and PS2 and it was ok, solid at best. It received some decent reviews(about an 8.0 average) And Blacksite: Area 51 came out with more of a whimper…pretty good visuals. Some great battles in there as well…but it came out really at the wrong time. (In the middle of a Bioshock, Halo 3, Call of Duty 4 Sandwich!) But still an ok game!
Look at Halo 2…
…and Halo 3
…two great games generations apart…
Even titles like Jade Empire which looked beautiful back in the day…compare it with Mass Effect…Not just in terms of graphics…but the entire gameplay itself is not even close to it’s masterpiece cousin that released in 2007.
Jade Empire…good game
Mass Effect…epic life experience…
I remember paying 50 bucks happily for half-life 2 for xbox and playing through that load crazy game…only to pay 60 bucks 3 years later for the Orange Box which includes half-life 2, episode 1, episode 2, portal, and team fortress on a single dvd…
Half life 2 on xbox…
..VS. The Orange Box!
- Half-life 2
episode-1
episode-2
Team Fortress 2
Portal
One game that had so long of load times in there, vs 5 games in 1! You tell me which one was a better purchase!
We are getting a lot for our money these days. Our games had multiplayer in them in the past yeah, but now so many games are getting released to have a social network party going! Take GTA San Andreas, and compare it to GTA IV….the difference is ridiculous. You could already play San Andreas for a while, but now you could play GTA IV for like months and still find new things to do because of the multiplayer features…
Take a look at the top games of 2005 when the xbox 360 first came on the scene… 2005 was a great year for gamers
We had Resident Evil 4 (Cult Classic-Changed the way we play games today) Shadow of the Colossus (Great game just didn’t sell as much as it should) Jade Empire…
Those were heavy hitters yes..but look at the other games that were at the top of the list. Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks. Heroes of the Pacific, The Incredible Hulk:Ultimate Destruction, more greats like Devil May Cry 3, and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory. The Warriors also released that year (great co-op beat’em up!) Guitar Hero (debut!) and also Prince of Persia The two Thrones…True Crime: New York snuck in there as a great sandbox action game as well.
Pretty good year yes… but in the year when the 360 debuted the regular consoles still stole the show. So we really can’t count the Next gen (our current gen) until 2006 (even though call of duty 2 was awesome on the 360).
2006 was another good year for games. The xbox 360 had full year under it’s belt and the PS3 and Wii launched. We saw great titles like Gears of War( One of the best co-op games ever…graphically just a powerhouse) Resistance Fall of man (only real reason for owning a PS3 at this time…) The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (only real reason to own a Wii at this time!)
2006 also had Rainbow Six Vegas (Giant sleeper hit) Splinter Cell Double Agent, Final Fantasy 12, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Saints Row, Dead Rising (great title only missing online multiplayer) Bully, Scarface, Guitar Hero II, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and The Elder Scrolls Oblivion.
Great Year for a last stand of the PS2, but clearly the xbox 360 stretched it’s muscle with many knock out titles wetting the appetite of many gamers. It would be hard to top Gears, Resistance, and The twillight princess..but 2007 was immense…
2007 was and I will go on Record as saying, the best year of gaming in my lifetime. The Year starting slowly with a couple of hits like Crackdown, God of War II, Super Paper Mario, then we saw hits like Ghost Recon Advance War Fighter 2, Then hits like the Darkness, Metroid Prime 3, Blue Dragon…Heavenly Sword, Quake Wars Enemy territories, Guitar Hero III, then the holiday season came. The games listed above were winners already, then titles started to drop like wildfire…HALO 3, CALL OF DUTY 4, Assassin’s Creed, MASS EFFECT, ROCK BAND, CRYSIS, Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, SUPER MARIO Galaxy, THE ORANGE BOX, Rachet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, BIOSHOCK… what a holiday.
My eyes are still glowing from these sure fire hits…so many Triple A titles came out that Holiday season that some are were under the radar releases…
2008 has been an impressive year and may top 2007…with releases already of GTA 4 and Metal Gear Solid 4. We have Gears of War 2 coming and Resistance 2 coming Left 4 Dead looks promising, Fall out 3, and Fable 2 speaks for themselves, Guitar Hero World Tour, Possible Prince of Persia, Little Big Planet, EndWar, Halo Wars, Rock Band 2, Far Cry 2, Dead Space, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Spore (Finally)
And in 2009 some titles that look amazing are Resident Evil 5, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Borderlands, Killzone 2…man pretty good time to be a gamer! I haven’t listed all the games…just a few gems…
Gamers…come on admit it… we are spoiled.
GTAIV
Jet Li: Rise to Honor 
The Gamer who digs Art 
