A look back.

At the end of the year already? That went fast. Well, not the summer. That was the worst gaming drought I have ever experienced. Anyway, the end of the year is a great time to look back at the accomplishments of 2009, and the shortcomings. 2009 was definitely an interesting gaming year, filled with some of the best games ever and some of the worst. The industry moved forward in many ways this year. So what did I feel were the real ups and downs?

First off, hats off for Sony. These guys started to worry me. The first two years of the PS3 were not the best, mostly due to the extreme price of the PS3 and the lack of games. Well Sony did something that not even the US government can do most of the time, and that is to fix everything in a span of a year (BAM! Political joke!). Sony dropped the price of the PS3 to an affordable price, and they finally are starting to get the attention from their great machine they should have gotten initially. They also brought a great showing of games this year, including a game of the year in Uncharted 2. Hands down, Sony had the best year this year. The games, the machine, the advertising, and the overall atmosphere of the PS3 make it a competitive entity in the console war.

Don't get me wrong though. Microsoft had a great year too. A great way to describe Microsoft in 2009 is the phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Microsoft knows what they are doing. They have a great and growing crowd in Xbox Live, and they have found a sweet spot for themselves. Every month the NPD report always has the Xbox version of multiplatform titles selling more than the PS3 one. In fact, the Xbox 360 version of Modern Warfare 2 sold twice and a half as much as the PS3 version. Xbox Live is a behemoth of a gaming community, and with Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm, and Netflix, Microsoft is making the Xbox more than a gaming console. Microsoft also introduced Natal this year. Microsoft with Natal is going to take a shot at motion control next year, and they made clear this year that they are focused on support for this thing. With over 11 companies backing it, Natal should be interesting. Microsoft is a dominant force among gaming, even after 3 years. I guess a head start does help...

2009 was not as good for Nintendo however, at least in terms of games. This year proved that Nintendo is having trouble with the hardcore, a group they cannot afford to leave behind. Nintendo grabbed almost all of the casual crowd with the Wii, mostly because Wii Sports bowling is the funnest shit ever. Unfortunately, both Sony and Microsoft are grabbing the hardcore by the dozen. The Wii did not satisfy the hardcore gamer this year. Great titles like The Conduit and MadWorld tried to appeal, but it was just too late. All the hardcore went to Modern Warfare, Halo, and Uncharted. Nintendo has probably realized this by now, and is poised to make a comeback in 2010. They had a late winner in Super Smash Bros. Wii, and hopefully they can finally maintain a consistent hardcore game schedule. Hopefully.

2009 also plagued the world with a dangerous word: DELAY. Countless games originally planned for release got pushed to 2010. This is for one reason, and one reason only. Modern Warfare 2 was scary for game developers. The hype was incredible, and preorder sales were ridiculous. Companies that were pushing new IP's like Bayonetta or Dark Void pushed titles back. And guess what? That probably was smart. Modern Warfare sold over 6 million copies on the first week in the US. That is an insane number. You can see that games that did come near MW2, such as Assassin's Creed II and Left 4 Dead 2 took a bit of a beating. Although they sold incredible well themselves, they probably would have sold more at a different time. Still, the loss of really good games at the end of the year is sad. Many titles have actually been pushed to the beginning of 2010, which means 2010 should be a very crowded year. Still, if 2009 taught us anything, it's that games should be spread more generously across the year. The extreme lack of summer games this year was disappointing, and shows how developers should take advantage of this empty time frame to put a game out or two.

Finally, 2009 brought us some really great games. Although I won't say my game of the year until my awards (look for them in the next 2 weeks), many games stood out. Modern Warfare 2 is amazing, and is a game everyone should have. And I don't just mean multiplayer. I think I actually enjoy singleplayer more, especially with all the damn glitches in multiplayer. Although I haven't played them yet, great games like Assassin's Creed II and Uncharted 2 show the real beauty and the real art form that can come from video games. Co-Op took front and center this year too, with small multiplayer games like Halo 3: ODST, Borderlands, and Left 4 Dead 2. These games prove that a small group of friends will always triumph over the random idiots online. 2009 also brought the first amazing comic book game, Batman: Arkham Asylum. This is truly an accomplisment for all video games, and if you haven't played this game, shame on you. You're missing out. Even some gems came from the independent sector, like Splosion Man and Trials HD. Overall, a solid year for video games. The bar has been set really high for 2010. Here's hoping they deliver.