Gamer Blorge review of the year – Part 4: October to December
2008 has been a big year for gaming and consequently a big year here on Gamer Blorge. As we hit the end of this year and the start of 2009, let’s take a look back at the stories, opinions, and debates that dominated the gaming world during 2008.
Here is Part Four (the last part) of the Gamer Blorge review, covering October to December 2008. If you missed them, you can read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 here. Don’t worry, they’re not going anywhere.
October
The month began with the Xbox 360 carrying on its ascendancy in Japan, prompting questions over whether these figures could be maintained longterm. They did for a while but order now seems to have been resumed. Meanwhile, Sonic beat Mario to be named the most popular games character of all time.
There was a bit of a problem identified with Wii Music: the fact that you can’t lose. PS3 and Xbox 360 fans started gaming Metacritic, with LittleBigPlanet the biggest loser. And a Sony executive summed up Sony’s feelings over cutting the price of the PS3 by stating “we have a business to run.”
While supplies of the Wii finally seemed to have caught up with demand, after two years of Nintendo upping production, I asked who on earth was actually buying the things. And the month ended with Sony claiming there was a lot more still to come from the PS3. Let’s hope so, eh?
November
The month began with Sega calling the Wii the “most expensive board game on Earth.” Harsh words or truthful? Both. Mike discussed whether the recession would dent sales of the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii over the forthcoming holiday season.
The New Xbox Experience finally launched and we detailed everything any Xbox 360 owner would need to know. There were also rumors of a PS3 price cut coming in April, 2009. Sony denied the claims but I still think it’ll happen.
Probably the most extensive poll we’ve ever undertaken here at Gamer.Blorge ended in November, and it saw a list of the ‘Top 100 Best Video Games Of All Time’ compiled. One game never likely to appear on the list is Boku, the title Microsoft hopes will outdo LittleBigPlanet.
December
December 11th saw Playstation Home finally land on the PS3 after months of delays. We detailed everything any self-respecting PS3 owner needed to know about the service. Mike got serious, asking whether the games industry was in trouble.
We also spoke about how the Wii was causing injuries, and whether the trend for videogame related breaks was just scaremongering or for real. I spent Christmas trying to help people get to grips with their new consoles. But if anyone took what I said seriously they need their heads examining.
Mike stated categorically that the PS3 would turn a profit during 2009, which would enable Sony to then drop the price, at last. While I shared my insights as to what my experience with all three home consoles taught me about the current-gen war over Christmas.
And there we have it, another year done and dusted. We wish all our readers a Happy New Year and implore you all to make it back here in 2009. If 2008 was anything to go by, it’ll be an interesting one.
Read Part One here.
Read Part Two here.
Read Part Three here.
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8 Responses to “Gamer Blorge review of the year – Part 4: October to December”
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December 31st, 2008
Bout time dave, couldn’t have made it ay later. Couple of hours before 2009. To celebrate, i think im going to go play MGO to bring in the new year with style.
December 31st, 2008
Best game character has to be Razputin from Psychonauts.
Anyway, happy new year.
And remember, 2009 is the year of the PS3…
December 31st, 2008
lock_down psychonauts was not in 2008… Id say Niko Bellic was the best characters…
did you idiots not see this??
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/43916.html
jeez…
December 31st, 2008
My predictions for 2009…
-The Wii bubble will burst. Lack of quality software drives demand down.
-The first Wii related fatality will take place. Some poor unsuspecting onlooker will suffer massive brain trauma when his young son/daughter cracks him in the skull with the Wiimote. The victim dies as a result while his stunned, traumatized children look on. Lawsuits will follow.
-The RROD and disc scratching issues will finally come to a head. M$’s executives will be tried and convicted for crimes against humanity. First up to the chopping block is Aaron Greenberg. Tickets for the event sell out immediately.
-The PS3 will take its rightful place at the top of the console war, then promptly teabags the 360 and Wii.
Happy New Year to every one! It’s been fun.
January 1st, 2009
Barnabe Jones’ predictions are about as spot on as Michael Pachter’s.
January 4th, 2009
Wow harry, I think you could be right, especially considering that almost the reverse is likely to happen:
-The Wii bubble will not burst. WiiFit will continue to sell out. Parents continue to buy the Wii as the console with the most games for their children and family as a whole(and least amount of graphically violent games) and a way for them to get back in shape, perhaps even with their children, encouraging fitness along with family game time. Continued drive in fitness, education, family, and party games software continues to drive demand.
-The first Wii related “life saving” story will gain notoriety, as the man known only as “the blob” who was given only 1 year to live by his doctors first started working out his wrist with the wiimote, then slowly graduated to WiiFit (but only until he lost enough weight to not break the board). Thousands are motivated by his story. He is known as the “Jared” of Nintendo (some say it is actually Jared, after he got sick of his Subway diet).
-With the RRoD stories history because of Jasper, Aaron Greenberg is once again accused of being a “vitriolic flamebaiter” because he failed to compete with Sony’s promises for 2010.
-The PS3 continues to do fine due to it’s 5 more highly rated exclusives for 2009, but stay third in the console war due to it still being the most expensive console, and still having half the library of quality games overall when compared to the 360. People desperately want to play God of War III, but not enough to shell out $400 for it. There is a quandary as to whether to put backwards compatibility back in the PS3, or just continue selling the PS2. PS1 games continue to sell well on PSN, but Sony still claims backwards compatibility would be to expensive to put back in the PS3, even 1 game at a time. “Expensive” is defined to mean here that it would be more profitable for Sony to resell these titles over PSN than to put backwards compatibility in for it’s loyal Playstation users to save their money on.
January 5th, 2009
You guys are no fun sometimes.
Well… I still don’t like that Aaron Greenberg…
January 6th, 2009
Barnabe Jones,
Does this mean you like Howard Stringer instead?