Coint and Plick 2013 - The Sixth Annual ILX Video Game Poll

i'm with cozen on this one

Re: Spec Ops - the only downside to forks' exhaustive approach is the certainty that if anyone voted for something that hasn't placed, it is still to place.

ok i ahve to ask is the invert y axis walking dead thing for serious? i have no idea how the control scheme is on console, i played it w/ a mouse,but it doesn't exactly strike me as a game where axes are very important (as in the plural of axis, not the plural of axe, which are fairly important in TWD)

not a big deal when nothing is happening, but annoying in the 'action' scenes where zombies are breaking down the door and you need to move the cursor up to select something quickly and you move it down and have to do it over again.

^ this. i'm fine during the downtime/exploration parts but nearly all the action parts which need you to make a split-second reaction i've had to replay a couple of times

That's why I only played the first chapter. Liked the storytelling, but the split-second stuff controls like balls on the ipad.

I'm pretty sure that's not how you're supposed to use an iPad

no invert Y axis = no dice for me

Oh man that super hexagon gif!

I can't look away!

yeah i really can't understand it when developers don't implement inverted Y functionality.. it's literally just: if ( inverted_y ) { y_value = y_value * -1; }

my thoughts on a few of the others:

i got a hold of need for speed: most wanted after seeing the results of the poll, and i would have voted for it had i played it earlier! it was cool to drive around the city and see all the places that jjjusten and JimD had already visited, try to break their high scores, etc. after about 10 hours or so it gets to be pretty repetitive: start using a new car, complete a few races, upgrade the car, do the terrible "lose the cops in XX seconds or less" challenge that makes me want to tear my eyeballs out (more on that below), beat the more difficult race, switch cars, repeat.

the police. i love their presence during races. they add an added layer of mayhem, and the game strikes a nice balance between ensuring that they're a factor you have to consider as you race, but they rarely completely ruin your race and make you restart. i HATE HATE HATE the missions where you start out being chased by the police and have to completely lose them within a certain amount of time. outrunning them is not an option, unfortunately - new police always seem to show up in front of you, wherever you're heading, so apparently you're supposed to lose the ones behind you and hunker down in a hidden space off of the road instead. however, even if you go off the main road and hide in a tunnel (or whatever), when the police get within a certain distance they'll just automatically detect you and suddenly veer off the road to your location. i dunno, it's possible that i'm just a complete idiot, but i came to really, really dread these challenges. unfortunately, there's a nice upgrade that you get whenever you complete the Lose the Police challenges, so they always feel mandatory in order to be competitive in the races.

online is just complete mayhem. even though i never did very well, it's very addicting. overall, even with its flaws, i'd highly recommend NFS:MW to fans of burnout, especially when it drops down to $29.99 or whatever

Driver: San Fran pretty much sated any driving game needs I'd ever have outside of an open-world game.

So far i think the only game ive played has been "Hotline Miami" (unless "Sleeping Dogs" already came up). It's pretty damn amazing but i do wish there were like dozens and dozens of levels to the game rather than what they have w the story and all that.

Oh cool "Sleeping Dogs" did make it. What an AMAZING looking game. At night in the rain, it's probably the most jaw-droppingly gorgeous thing i've ever played.

they're working on an DLC expansion-turned-into-sequel for Hotline Miami now, so your wish shall likely be granted in some form. also, it just got announced for a PS3/Vita port

Pro tip for nfs:mw about ditching cops - They don't tend to follow you off of jumps, so hitting a few jumps is key to the evasion challenges

gtfo of here with that suepr punch quest shit coming in so high

so this walking dead game, i wanna play it, is it much better on PSN than ipad?

yeah super punch quest is awful sorry ya'all

Walking Dead on the iPhone was terrible for me, the controls were awkward. PSN was great, though.

Played Hexagon once for a minute. IDGI

not sure about psn or ipad but i would play walking dead on a computer personally... i can't imagine trying to point and click any other way. plus i think it's mac-compat?

i can confirm that it is mac compatible, tho if you have a retina macbook you have to do a full-screen > windowed > full-screen move to get text to display correctly

idg what is not tg about hexagon? it's so simple and intuitive - pure like tetris

It was boring?
Tetris ramps up, you have time to consider moves. Hexagon is just tap tap tap/hope you get the rhythm right.

http://i.imgur.com/8B7Xrra.gif
#8: Dishonored – PS3, X360, PC – 64 pts – 4 votes - 2 top game votes

http://cf.shacknews.com/images/20120604/ratswarm_22292.nphd.jpg

Official Game Site

Metacritic

Gameplay Video

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18180wg5ga8b5jpg/original.jpg

Errant Signal

Zero Punctuation

Popmatters

Gamasutra: The Creative Team Behind Dishonored

Behind The Scenes

Dev Interview

Soundtrack

http://media.t3.com/img/resized/di/xl_Dishonored_2_624.jpg

Dishonored.

Jordan: The world is imaginative, and the gameplay is not only creative but it works. Missed opportunity: can't believe they didn't set one of the missions on a whaling ship. Or let you...possess a whale? It also provided my favorite gaming moment of the year, in the form of this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo4JH96KcgQ

Zora: Hand on heart, I have probably not played enough of this to rate it fairly, having bought it for the console. For various reasons, I've been gaming mainly on my laptop. However, what I have played of it was right up my flooded, rat-infested alley. Still - it's not quite the Thief 4 I'm looking for. Keep on jonesin'.

what is "super punch quest" and is it like normal punch quest?

the two objections to it i could see would be A) you didn't get into it and so just ran a bit, died a bit and got bored or B) you were really good at it (I'm not) and didn't find it challenging it at all.

on another note, people like to vote for _important_ things for their #1, so I could see spec ops placing really high.

PSN walking Dead controls are the two joysticks and four main buttons. Super simple.

i was not a fan of punch quest either. all the elements of that style of iphone game were there - gradually unlocking skill trees, semi-randomized levels, bite sized play periods perfect for sitting on the toilet the modern lifestyle - but somehow it was missing the FUN. punching through enemies never really felt satisfying. tiny wings had a similar structure (minus the unlocking skillz part), but the main thing it had going for it was that it felt really GOOD to fly way into the air and sail forever and then nail the landing and whooooooosh off again. Punch Quest didn't create any comparable moments, for me at least.

all about the combos, imho.some of he super skills are really satisfying on their own too. things like burning punch where you really feel the difference between a jab and a solid connecting blow. also, nailing the timing on punching torches was a really nice feeling for me.

people like to vote for _important_ things for their #1

Yes. Yes, they do.

Tetris ramps up, you have time to consider moves. Hexagon is just tap tap tap/hope you get the rhythm right.

this is so wrong. you have to consider moves, it does ramp up and it's not tap tap tap/hope, certainly not on the hardest levels. it's scan pattern / quickly input correct response

also i think my biggest complaint about super punch is how ugly it looked. very unappealing aesthetics.

Walking Dead on ipad is great. Prob the best game i've played on it.

if that frog thing wins this poll it'll be worse than anco or the dirty projectys taking the music poll

and I'll hold you, emil.y, personally responsible

controls on punch quest are really responsive and smooth. everything feels really tuned -- its the sort of game that you can tell was made by people who are good at making this exact sort of game.

If that frog thing wins this poll it'll be the same as that time Mr Blobby got the Christmas number one.

http://i.imgur.com/JTlgnDz.gif
#7: Xenoblade Chronicles – Wii – 65 pts – 4 vote (+30 points / 1 vote from 2011 which would actually boost this to #5, but fuggit) - Top Wii Game

http://image.gamespotcdn.net/gamespot/images/2011/230/960564_20110819_640screen003.jpg

Official Game Site

Metacritic

Gameplay Video

http://media.nintendo.com/nintendo/bin/udoroAA_MSDEWbOZ4T67kIRTrd4cs1aD/fa_Zt9eQ9XKH9nejI7mJfAtlZTbGK2ja.jpg

Quarter to Three

Brainy Gamer: Why We JRPG

Experience Points Podcast

Iwata Asks

The History of Xenogears and Xenosaga

YouTube Soundtrack Playlist

http://www.consoleob.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/xenoblade-chronicles_2.jpg

diamonddave85:This game is going to go down in history as the last great Wii game and one of the finest JRPGS of this generation.

lamp: Carried through many nations and over many seas
I arrive, brother, for these wretched funeral rites,
so that I might present you with the last tribute of death
and speak in vain to silent Ash Ketchum
since Nintendo has carried away from me you in the flesh
Alas, poor brother, unfairly taken away from me,
now in the meantime, nevertheless, these things which in the ancient custom of analog controls
are handed over as a sad tribute to the rites
receive, coated with much Dorito's Cool Ranch dusting
And forever, brother, hail and farewell.

is there a way to play that if you don't have a britishes wii?

that game didn't even occur to me, damn

also, the gif for dishonored makes me want to play dishonored more than anything i've ever seen for the game

is there a way to play that if you don't have a britishes wii?

dolphin emulator

ah ok

man I just want to play big games like that on my tv, not on a pc

& guess dolphin emulator means some kinda hacky thing, blah blah

xenoblade is out in america. it's just not in HD which means i can't comfortably play it.

dolphin will play it in full HD but you need a pretty hardcore gaming rig

yeah I looked for xenoblade but like on amazon it costs > $100, what's the deal

and I'll hold you, emil.y, personally responsible

― слабоумие и отвага (cozen), Tuesday, February 19, 2013 7:03 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I have no problem with being held responsible for the best game of the year being voted best game of the year.

xenoblade is, i think, out of print
my PROTIP on buying xenoblade chronicles is that you join gamefly, put that one game in your queue and buy it for thirty bucks when they send it

no other game this year included frog pornography lemonade stand style simulations

http://i.imgur.com/urFqLUR.gif
#6: Journey – PSN – 67 pts – 4 votes - 2 top game votes - Top PSN Exclusive Game

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8iaulIQnt1ra57bjo1_400.gif

Official Game Site

Metacritic

Gameplay Video

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdxe2f8NtW1qi6l3do5_1280.png

Some thoughts and sounds on sound design

Nightmare Mode

World One Two - ‘Over the Precipice: An Essay on Journey’

The Atlantic - ‘A Portrait of the Artist as Game Studio’

Brainy Gamer - ‘All About the Journey’

Jenova Chen Interview

Dissenting opinion at Quarter to Three

http://azurebot.com/dmas/art/journey_demake.gif

JOURNEY for PS3

forksclovetofu:Journey is NOT drastically different than Flower; it's just better looking, more ingeniously designed and with a Demons' Souls style multiplayer element. It's almost intrinsically not the most interesting game. The puzzles I beat were fairly easy and logical and not taxing; the kind of thing that’s good to beat with a new voiceless friend. So if you want a great game, this probably isn't it and if “how long the game is = how good it is”, you’re at the wrong station. But as an interesting EXPERIENCE this is a must play and probably the most profound time I had with something that thought it was a game since, wow, maybe ever.

kelpolaris: I’m gonna say it got *slightly* monotonous - yeah, even within it's near abysmal 2 hour timespan - but there were certain moments where i couldn't believe how beautiful the games shots were. I tagged along with a dude for near the entire game, almost never lost him.... only when the game ended did it tell me that i had actually spent all that time with 5 dudes O_o

EZSnappin: The best game of this generation on Playstation. Just the right length to play in one go, and a pleasure to go through again. Getting a chance to help a stranger discover the magic was the best gaming experience I've had in ages.

if: If I say that it is a lot like Fez but without a game to go with the beauty, I don't mean that entirely as a bad thing. The sweeping down the sandstream bit was stunning, and the ending was lovely too. Maybe if I had a connection with anyone I met on it I would be raving about it.

zappi: The year’s best walking simulator/non-game "experience".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgu76ql6FSo

how many times have I considered buying a PS3 just to play journey

i have a feeling i'd really like xenoblade. about the only thing that's seriously tempted me about a wii, but it feels way too late in the platforms' life to get it just for one jrpg.