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Henry Gilbert, Associate Production Editor1) I guess the obvious thing to be thankful for is that I’m now a paid videogames writer, which is extremely awesome. It was a goal I’ve wanted for a long time, and it’s so fun I’d even do it for free (don’t tell my boss). Still, this isn’t a very funny example, so I think I’ll move on.
Above: So good…
2) I’m thankful that the DS has so many great RPGs and strategy games that can fill the void left by my broken 360. Were it not for Chrono Trigger, Civilization Revolution, and good ol' Advance Wars, I would spend all day staring at the repair progress report on that piece of junk, going between bouts of tears and screaming.
Matt Keast, Associate Editor, UK Mag Ports1) I am thankful that the MMOFPS genre even exists. Most people assume RPG when they hear “MMO” when in fact the pseudo-turn-based grinding tedium of RPGs is NOT the only way an MMO has to be. Somehow, a single game has encompassed the MMOFPS genre for 5 years now (PlanetSide), and once it’s gone; there are slim pickings on the horizon. Huxley doesn’t count.
Above: Keast doesn’t care if you think he’s cheap. Suck it, opponents
2) I am thankful for what David Sirlin’s “playing to win” essay taught me: there is no such thing as “cheap.” Freed from the mental shackles of arbitrarily made-up rules inside my own head, I am now free to obliterate online opponents with guiltless glee. Cry more when I kill you with my “noob cannon.” Your tears only make my victory sweeter.
Charlie Barratt, Microsoft Editor1) I’m thankful for Gears of War 2. Playing the sequel was a blast, of course, but playing the sequel a full month before anyone else at GamesRadar was the real treat. Coworkers lined up at my desk to ask questions, or glowered enviously at me from across the room. Friends showered me with attention and adoration, hoping I’d gift them with a small detail or two. Family members viewed me with brand new respect, at least before they realized I was talking about a videogame and quickly lost interest.
Yes, for a few glorious weeks, I was a smug, superior and self-satisfied king... and then somebody got a copy of Fallout 3 and I was forgotten.
Above: Capital Jerk, Mr. Charles Barratt played Gears 2 before all of us
2) I’m also thankful that LiPS, the new karaoke game from Microsoft, can’t actually tell if I’m singing or not. By humming monotonously into the microphone - or better, holding up the white noise producer on my iPhone - I can ace every song without even trying. Voila! Instant Achievement whoring without the need for shame or embarrassment! (Disregarding the inherent shame and embarrassment of Achievement whoring, of course)
Tyler Wilde, Features/Community EditorI’m thankful for my inability to make healthy decisions, Reddit (because it’s cool to feel a sense of belonging to an internets community), and POLE POSSSIIITTTIOOON!! I’m gonna play it.
Above: GYEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Carolyn Gudmundson, Production Editor1)I am thankful for all 489 Pokemon species (Dewgong, Sunflora, Smoochum and Gorebyss are all dead to me - they know what they did), and
2) Sloppy boob physics.
Above: Boobies
Shane Patterson, Associate Features Editor1) After 2007 disappointed me in shooter selection (FPS disasters Turok, TimeShift or Haze anybody?), I’m glad that 2008 bounced back with a hefty glut of action awesomeness. Far Cry 2, Left 4 Dead, Fallout 3, Resistance 2, Gears of War 2 and the sneak-y/shoot-y Metal Gear Solid 4 satiate just about all the bloodlust I could ever muster.
Above: Shane stands by MGS4 as a quality product
2) Going to see WrestleMania in Orlando, Florida was an amazing trip. THQ put me up after unveiling WWE SmackDown 09, and while that game is pretty sweet, I’d have to say that watching the biggest pay-per-view of the year live was quite a thrilling spectacle. So good that 40 people in the audience were harmed by the pyrotechnics!
Chris Antista, Associate Editor1) I’d like to give a sincere thanks to TMNT and Avatar. Without these awful 360 games and their infantile Achievements I wouldn’t have been able to rise above my final opponent, Xbox Editor Charlie Barratt, to become GamesRadar’s Undisputed Gamerscore Champion! It wasn’t easy, Charlie had a year head start, but I toiled through games like Cars and Scene-It! with a tenacity heroic enough to be made into an Oscar nominated biopic starring Cuba Gooding Jr.
Immediately following this writing, Charlie Barratt cravenly took back the throne thanks to an extended session with Lips. Low... even for an Achievement Whore.
Congrats, Charlie - our office finally has its own Billy Mitchell.
Congrats, Charlie - our office finally has its own Billy Mitchell.
Above: Don’t call it a comeback. Seriously - don’t. Chris plays shitty games to prove he’s the best at a fun, yet superfluous competition. Rope-a-dope!
2) I’m incredibly thankful that - and I hate calling it this - Gerstmann Gate is a year in the past. Now a distant memory, let’s try and forget the time where covering the latest games took a backseat to defending credibility and making every other reviewer not fired by Gamespot appear somehow “on the take.” We get it: You’re utterly uncompromised, MyGamingBasement.net. God Speed, now could you get back to covering games?!
Luckily, a year to the day all seemed right with the world: We’d been blessed with a new outlet in Giant Bomb, Jeff was back handing out bizarre review scores, and Gamespot was bathed in Eidos ads. It seems the worst thing to come out of the debacle was a new and befuddling 1up/EGM scoring method that continues to bring Metacritic to its knees.
Mikel Reparaz, PlayStation Editor1) I’m thankful that Paul Ryan’s etiquette of gaming like a man feature alerted me to the extreme importance of always playing on the hardest difficulty setting. If it hadn’t been for that vital first commandment, I might actually have been able to survive for more than five seconds at a stretch in Call of Duty World at War and Left 4 Dead, and what fun would that be? No, far better to get the authentic experience of how quickly my life would be over if I were to actually try to fight Nazis or survive a zombie apocalypse. Besides, look at all these Achievements I’m racking up! LOOK AT THEM DAMN YOU.
Above: Mikel's Wedding
2) More than anything else, I’m thankful that my crushing videogame addiction, revolting personal habits and scuttling, shut-in-like behavior proved no obstacle to me marrying my non-gaming girlfriend earlier this month. HA HA AWKWARD PERSONAL MOMENT.
2) More than anything else, I’m thankful that my crushing videogame addiction, revolting personal habits and scuttling, shut-in-like behavior proved no obstacle to me marrying my non-gaming girlfriend earlier this month. HA HA AWKWARD PERSONAL MOMENT.
Nov 27, 2008
