Wii Features

We like to end things on a positive note. That’s why 2009 was capped with not only our annual Platinum Chalice Awards, but also a whole week’s worth of celebratory articles talking about the accomplishments of the past decade. Now though, with ’09 safely out of range for a retaliatory strike, we can piss all over the idiotic, baffling and just plain dumb occurrences that peppered our otherwise fine year.

Dr Linda Papadopoulos has published her report on the sexualisation of young people. It's a sound enough topic for discussion - a look at any fashion game or music video will show you there's at least a potential problem. Though every medium is covered in the report, the section on 'Computer games' has some interesting statistics.

Citing Dill and Thill (no, really) from a study in 2007, she says:

83 per cent of male

It's funny how the games business works. Big successes become popular franchises, we keep buying 'em because they keep getting better, and developers keep churning 'em out. Later, we'll complain about Call of Duty being the same stupid thing, buy it, verify our complaint, and keep the cycle strong. What about the stuff that doesn't review well, though, or doesn't sell, or doesn't quite live up to the hype? Those games are usually left for dead, and an original IP hoping to make its big break becomes a one-shot failure.

Aren't these the games we should see sequels to? Disappointing games are the ones that need the most improving, and are the games that'd benefit the most from a second chance. Remember, Assassin's Creed eventually became Assassin's Creed II. We'd love to see some of this generation's biggest bummers – even if they had a lot going for them – take off bigger than they have...

Traditionally, a videogame advert is supposed to highlight its product’s strong points in a concise, well-edited package that screams to impressionable consumers: “Buy me, and all my officially-endorsed peripherals!”. That, or be a 30 second, cynically-produced tapestry of lies made to trick and entice people with big explosions, misleading FMV and lady parts.

The latter is the sure-fire path to tread if you’re

Everyone’s got their favorite superhero, but none are as consistently badass as James Howlett. Sorry, Logan. Sorry again, Wolverine. With incredibly quick healing powers, an indestructible metal alloy grafted to his skeleton, and three claws that emerge from his fists, Wolverine quickly made an impact in the comic book world with his first appearance in 1974.

Everyone’s got their favorite superhero, but none are as consistently badass as James Howlett. Sorry, Logan. Sorry again, Wolverine. With incredibly quick healing powers, an indestructible metal alloy grafted to his skeleton, and three claws that emerge from his fists, Wolverine quickly made an impact in the comic book world with his first appearance in 1974.

Traditional wisdom suggests that fictional superstars never change. Bugs Bunny, Homer Simpson and Superman, for example, have endured for decades with more or less the same appearance. They never age, never look incredibly dated (save for a few misguided revamps that die off) and consistently appeal to a new generation. The same can’t be said for videogame characters, though.

As a technology-based medium, game heroes and villains cannot remain the same. They must constantly evolve, or risk looking “last gen.” That doesn’t mean the new or old designs take precedence, it just means no developer will ever, ever leave its creation alone. Now, with decades of console history to pull from, let’s take a look at the “old” designs and see how they stack up against their modern equivalents...

Unless you were dead this morning, you’ve heard the news – Disney has bought Marvel Comics for four billion dollars. Cue the speculation machines and “lolz Spaderman vs Mickey moose” arguments, right?

In the immortal Arnie-endorsed words of Major Alan ‘Dutch’ Schaefer: “Get to the choppa’!” Or, in this case, get to some games with kickass helicopter battles by letting your eyes travel inside. Be it taking out a Russian attack helicopter with a stealthy hero or destroying a whirlybird by damaging its rotor blades with bottles of hooch during a zombie apocalypse; the following fights with airborne a-holes are the definition of badass… eh, if someone’s recently rewritten the dictionary.