VN Awards 2009 : The Ultimate Award

So this is it we've had all of the awards so it must be time for the big one the ultimate award for the overall best game of the year.

It's been a mixed year for games this year as 2008 was always going to be a big act to follow and unfortunatley for us there were'nt that many big games out this year however the ones that were big shone through.

So what were the biggest games of this year we had Modern Warfare 2, Batman Arkham Asylum, Uncharted 2, Wii Sports Resort, Left 4 Dead 2 and many more but which game managed to stand out from the rest as being the best game not only in just graphics, gameplay or storyline but also managed to stitch them all together to make the whole package.

So now it's time to announce the VN Ultimate Game of the Year.
The Nominees are
Batman Arkham Asylum
Dead Space Extraction
Professor Layton and Pandoras Box
Killzone 2
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
Left 4 Dead 2
Uncharted 2

And the winner is - Uncharted 2 / Batman Arkham Asylum
Now this might seem like a shock to you but i just couldn't choose between either of them as both games had it all, fantastic graphics, brilliant storyline, amazing set piece, some of the best voice acting i have ever heard and much much more.

Uncharted 2 shone out because i loved the first game so much that i though that it would be really difficult to better it and naughty dog did just that and the reason why Arkham Asylum deserves it is down to the fact that it is the best comic book game ever and it showed just how fantastic a Batman game should be.

It's really easy to go on and on about both games but i won't all i'll just say is that if you have'nt played these two games get out to your local game store now and play them as these are the prime example of how a game should be made.

So thats it for 2009 on VN we will be back in 2010 hopefully much better than this year, so i will see you in 2010.

VN Awards 2009 : Best of the Rest

So I've posted up all of my consoles of the year awards so now it's time for some random awards just to get you ready for the game of the year on the 29th.

So have a look at the winners below and don't forget to tell me what you think.

Biggest Disappointment of the Year
This award goes to the game or game related item that had an interesting concept but turned out to be a piece of crap.

The Nominees are
Tony Hawks Ride - An interesting idea that turns out to be broken from every aspect.
PSPGo - Even though a downloadable console sounds a good idea it only works if it had games and was cheap enough.
Hero Franchise - It seemed that Activision wanted to milk it's music game cow until it was completley dry.
Nintendo - For not releasing anything of note on the Wii or DS all year

And the winner is - Tony Hawks Ride for being a complete and utter fail.

Best Looking Game
Graphics seem to be the main thing for games over the last few years so this award goes to the game that had the best visuals.

The Nominees are
Uncharted 2 Drakes Fortune - Never has a game made my jaw drop on the floor and this managed to succeed that
Batman Arkham Asylum - Taking a dark comic and putting it on screen is hard however RockSteady managed that fully.
MadWorld - I know it might be a shock to see this but it's black and white style was so different it needed a mention.
Assassins Creed 2 - I know i haven't played this yet but it doesn't stop me from thinking that it s a great looking game.

And the winner is - Uncharted 2 Drakes Fortune, i know that it seemed obvious but if you've played it you will see why.

Best Original IP
In a world where games are just a carbon copy of each other it's hard to find a great original IP so this award goes to the game that wasn't just another carbon copy sequel.

The Nominees are
Madworld - For being a ultra violent game for the Wii that tries something different
Prototype - Even though there are a lot of games like this at least this tried something different by being completely insane with it's violence.
Scribblenauts - The DS seems to be the console of choice for unique games and this stood out from the rest by being utterly charming as well
Boarderlands - Taking elements from the fantastic Fallout 3 and adding a cel shaded comic book look can't be a bad thing can it

And the winner is - Scribblenauts, by becoming utterly charming as well as try something different this could only be the winner.

Best Atmosphere
For me to get yourself fully engrossed in a game it needs a great atmosphere so these are the games that shone above the rest.

The Nominees are
Batman Arkham Asylum - Listening to the joker making wise cracks at you in tense sittuations only added to the brilliant atmosphere of Arkham Asylum
Left 4 Dead 2 - The original L4D had a brilliant atmosphere so it was really difficult for the sequel to live up to it and in my eyes this exceeded it.
Uncharted 2 - By mixing and fantastic music score with some tense situations Uncharted 2 had it all.
Dead Space Extraction - The 360 version of this game had the best atmosphere of last year so it was always going to be difficult for the Wii version to live up to it and boy did EA try it's hardest.

And the winner is - Baman Arkham Asylum - Even though this went up against Uncharted 2 this till managed to have on of the best atmospheres in any game this year.

Why was this game released award
Sometime it's really hard to see why developers or publishers release a game that is of low quality that it makes you cry to be a game so the 4 games below are the cream of the crop of crap.

The Nominees are
Tony Hawks Ride - Activision decided to take a year out to make a brand new experience for the Tony Hawks games and they came back with this piece of crap.
Wanted - Just to cash in on a film that was released in the cinema at least a year before this lost everything that was great about the film and took the bad aspects and made them worse.
Sonic and the Dark Knight - Sonic games over the last few years have been a pile of crap however this took the biscuit by being the worst since Sonic the Hedgehog on the 360.
Need for Speed Shift - Even though i've never played it (only the demo) i have word from a few friends that this game is awful and EA should take a little time off from the Need for Speed games for a few years and come back with something much better.

And the Winner is - Tony Hawks Ride - Even though Activision took a year off for the Tony Hawks series they only came back with one major broken game.

The Best use of the F-Bomb Award
Now we know that mature games like a bit of swearing in it however this year it turns out that few games love to use as many swear words as possible, so i though fuck it lets have an award for the best uses of the F-bomb.

The Nominees are
House of the Dead Overkill - Now Wii game Arn't supposed to feature swearing they should all be kiddy friendly and feature cuddle things well the guys at SEGA thought fuck this lets have the most swear words in any game and this was the outcome.
Grand Theft Auto Episodes from Liberty City - Not only are the GTA game known for there storyline they feature some of the most colourful language in any game and with this disc containing the 2 episodes from GTA 4 it was obvious that it would have a lot of swearing in it.
Madworld - The second of the none child friendly games on the Wii not only had obscene amounts of violence but it also was littered with a selection of interesting swear words.
GTA Chinatown Wars - The second GTA on this list is also a DS/PSP game so it had to have a mention for Rockstar having the balls to release a game with copious amounts of swear words in it on a handheld console.
And the Winner is - House of the Dead Overkill - For freaturing the most swear words in any game and laso for SEGA to have the balls and releasing it on the Wii.

Worst Character
Some characters can get on your nerves and some just make it completley unberable for you to play as them so this award goes to the character that makes you want to scream

The Nominess are
The cast of Left 4 Dead 2 - Why oh why did valve think it was a great idea to make us control 4 characters that we knew we were going to hate seeing as the cast of the original game were such brilliant characters.
Sonic - Every time a new Sonic game comes out i want to hate him even more and the release of Sonic and the Dark Knight didn't help him one bit.
The Rookie from Halo ODST - Now i know that the characters in Halo games are a bit of a pain in the arse however it doesn't help you if you don't speak a single word and end off becoming part of a game were the single player sucks.
The Cast from Killzone 2 - I couldn't think of one bad character from Killzone 2 so i just though i would nominated them all, even though the game is great the characters are so dumb you just want to hit them over the head with a hammer just to see if they get any of there brains back.

And the Winner is - The cast of Left 4 Dead 2 - The original had great characters the sequel had terrible ones enough said.

So thats it for the random awards the main award the overall game of the year will be announced on the 29th so check back then for that.

I hope you enjoy the random pic i put in this post.

VN Awards 2009 : Best Games on Each Console

So the movie of the year has been announced and the album of the year has been picked so now it's down to the main stuff the videogames of the year.

I was supposed of put these up in a separate post however because of time i've decided to squash them into just one post.

So without further ado here are the games of the year for the DS, Wii, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

DS Game of the Year
The DS this year hasn't had as many big games out for it unlike 2008 however there have been a few big games so the game of the year was an easy choice for me and thats Professor Layton and Pandora's Box.

Just like last years Professor Layton game this has everything that makes a great game, not only does it have a very engaging storyline but the graphics are still really charming and the puzzle range from easy ones to get your brain going to ones that will make you scratch your head a lot.
If you have a DS and want something that will not only challenge you but also leave that warm glow on your face that some games do then you should go out and buy this now.

Wii Game of the Year
Like the DS the Wii hasn't had much of a great year as nothing huge has came out so it was really hard to choose a game of the year but i have to so my choice is Dead Space Extraction.

Now the original Dead Space was fantastic because it not only had the scary atmosphere that games like this should have but it had fantastic graphics and a brilliant storyline so it was going to be really hard to transform that into a Wii game and just to make things a little bit worse EA decided to make it into a on rail shooter however it seems to have worked.

The game manages to have the scare tense atmosphere of it's big brother but it manages to add a little more for the Wii version as the game is played out in a FPS view so that adds a little more to the scare factor.
It's not just the atmosphere of the game it also turns out that it's fun as well and finding a game that has a a lot of adult elements that can also be just about fun so it must be named game of the year for that alone.

Xbox 360 Game of the Year
Unlike with the Wii and DS the 360 has been graced with some fantastic games this year so it was a really hard choice for me just to pick one however i have to and in the end it turned out to be a bit easier than i thought, so the 360 game of the year is Batman Arkham Asylum

It's a really hard thing these days to find a game based on a comic book character that works however when one does come along it can be a great game little did we know though was that Rocksteady not only had a great comic book game but they had a fantastic game full stop.

Arkham Asylum had everything from a really interesting storyline, to a great dark look and fantastic voice over work but above all of that it had the charm that is needed to make a comic book game come to life.

The main stand out moment though for Arkham Asylum for me were the brilliant Scarecrow moments not only were they from a twisted imagination but they were also some of the best moments in gaming this year.

So what else is left to say about how great this game only that a sequel is in the works hoping to be better than the original however if the first game is anything to go by then it has it's work cut out for it.

Playstation 3 Game of the Year
The PS3 has had a great year and like the 360 was graced with some fantastic titles however there was one that was always going to rule them all and that is Uncharted 2 Among Thieves.

Now i could go on and on about how epic this game is but i won't but i will say that if you are a PS3 owner then you have to have this in your game collection as it would be a crime if you haven't played this.

The first game for me turned out to be the best game ever on the PS3 however the sequel turned out to be not only better than the original but it also turned out to be the best game on any console this year.

Never have i been impressed as much as i have with a videogame than i have with this one not only are the graphics the best ever in a game but it also had a fantastic story, a really first class voice over but it also had the set pieces that this kind of game needs.

Every turn of a corner had something that would make your jaw drop not only because of the vistas on show but also that it would make you question whether you were playing a game or interacting with pure genius.

So thats it for the console games of the year check back in a few days for a few mixed awards of the year to sink your teeth into then on the 29th the all important overal game of the year

VN Awards 2009 : Best Movie

Ah it's been a really interesting year for movies, not only have we had a few reinventions of some classic films but the summer blockbusters turned out to be even worse than last years and thats no mean feat.

Even though the summer produced some really crap movies there were a few that shone so here are my top 5 movies of the year plus like with album of the year there is also contribution from a few friends as they have chosen there movie of the year.

5 - Role Models
Normally i wouldn't go to see comedies at the cinema as lately they have been terrible however Role Models turned out to be really funny even though it had nothing new to it.
The movie follows a basic formula as two friends have to do community service by becoming best friends with kids who find it really hard to get friends and comedy insues but in a good way.
Stretched over 90 mins the movie is like a paint by numbers however the acting is really well done and all of the characters bring something a little different to the movie.

4 - Inglorious Basterds
Now Quentin Tarantino is one of those directors where you either love his movies or hate them and I'm of those rare ones who fall somewhere inbetween as i've liked some of his movies but others I've found really boring and just to contrived however Inglorious Basterds has turned out to be one of his best movies.
Tarantino decided to do a war movie slightly different to how they have been done before by adding his own twist to it and it seems to have worked thanks to some really great set pieces and some fantastic acting.
Even though Brad Pitt got on my nerves and Mike Myers appearance and the running time seems to drag the movie a little the rest of it is a really great popcorn movie and i think thats how Tarantino intended it to be.

3 - Star Trek
The Star Trek franchise has always been just for geeks the best way to describe it is that it's like marmite you either love it or hate it, so when director of Lost J J Abrams said his was doing the next Star Trek movie and making for everybody the people who hates Star Trek laughed and the people who loved it started to hate the idea of what Abrams was going to do however he not only churned out a fantastic Sci-fi action movie he also made it very accessible to everybody.
Now i'm a huge fan of Star Trek but the last few movies in the series i have found to be crap however this one turned out to be a fantastic movie that not only had me gripped all the way through but also made me believe that Star Trek is now not only for geeks but that anybody can watch them without feeling so ashamed.

2 - District 9
Unique movies are really hard to come by however when one does come along you have to grab it with both hands and never let it go and District 9 turned out to be one of those movies as the movie not only had originality but also had heart and warmth even though the subject on show is about survival.
I'm not going to tell you the plot of the movie or anything that happens in it but i will say that you will not regret watching it as each character has there own complex lives in a world that shuns anybody who is different.
The lead Characters journey from being a normal human who is trying to move the aliens into a new setting into one of the aliens himself is a fantastic one and it will keep you engrossed in the movie from start to finish as you want to find out how he copes and survives with what is the scum of the earth to everybody who is involved.

1 - Let the Right Ones In
Thanks to the big pile of shit that is Twilight people now think that vampire movies are all about whining people who just moan about not being loved etc (makes you want to vomit doesn't it) but one movie this year took Twilight by the hand and threw it into a volcano never to be seen again and thats the brilliant Let the Right Ones in.
Instead of going with the normal vampire movie the story sees a 12 year old boy coping with life in which he gets bullied at school and has no friends whatsoever until a new neighbour moves in that has a little secret (clue: shes a vampire).
What follows is not only a fantastic movie but one that will keep you thinking about a long time after it.
The movie is very bleak and dark however there is warmth from the relationship of the 2 main characters which keeps you gripped throughout.

so thats my top 5 of the year but what did a few other friends choose as there movies of the year well check them out below.

James - District 9
Reason - There wasn't a movie out this year that kept me gripped and engrossed all the way through.

Greg - Fast and Furious
Reason - After the really bad Tokyo Drift, Fast and Furious redeemed itself by being a really good old entertaining movie.

Sean - The Taking of Pelham 123
Reason - From the start to the end of the movie i was totally gripped plus it has a really great soundtrack and score

VN Awards 2009 : Best Album

You can tell it's Christmas when every single website decides to have an end of the year awards so you can guess we are following suit however this year i've decided to do things a little different by not just having awards for gaming there will also be awards for movie of the year and album of the year and it's album of the year we will kick off with.

So without further ado here is the top 5 albums of the year including a selection of best albums from a few friends.

5 - Dead By Sunrise - Out of Ashes
When Chester Bennington the lead singer of Linkin Park announced he had a side project there was doubt about it however people didn't predict that his side project Dead By Sunrise would have such a strong and direct album.
Even though some of the songs on offer take some getting use to Chester has poured his heart and sole into them so that should be enough of a reason for you to listen to them, go on give it a chance.

4 - The Blackout - Best in Town
Even though this is the bands second album they were pretty unknown to almost everybody, however early this year they released there second album and it shot this unknown band into the limelight.
What we have here are a collection of strong powerful upbeat songs that shows there range and scale so if this is what they can do then they have a really bright future ahead of them.

3 - 30 Seconds to Mars - This is War
Even though this album only came out it shows you how fantastic the album is.
To be perfectly honest i find the lead singer Jared Leto to be a complete cock however my mind has changed a little about him as This is War is a very strong and heavy album.
Featuring a heavy dance influence the album sounds very different from what they have done before but in a captivating and engaging way.

2 - Friendly Fire - Friendly Fire
There was one genre i was getting sick of and thats Indie music however when i first heard this band i had to hunt down there album and I'm glad i did.
On offer here are some fantastic strong songs that range from some simple beats down some complex sounds and they meld together to form a very rounded and whole album.

1 - Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions
Up until a month ago i would of picked Friendly Fires album over anything however as soon as i heard Biffys Only Revolution i said no this is the best album this year and I'm completly 100% correct.
Biffy Clyro has always been a band that i've always been a fan of and when i heard this album each song not only stuck im my head one or two of them hit me really hard, the best song in question has to be Many of Horror which is such a simple yet strong song that it shows how great this band is.
Each song could easily be released on there own and there is no other album out this year that has made me think this.

So those are my picks however what did a few friends choose as there album of the year.

Greg - 30 Seconds to Mars - This is War
Reason - Because they have tried something different than they have done before and it's turned out to be very powerful and unique.

James - The Blackout - Best in Town
Reason - It's a testament to how great an album is if you can listen to it over and over again and it will still remain fresh.

Dan - The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die
Reason - I have listened to it more than 500 times and unlike most dance music this doesn't get annoying and stale it just gets better and better.

Sean - Twin Atlantic - Vivarium
Reason - Because it is the most original and catchy album i've heard all year, they even sound the same live..... amazing band, amazing album.

So thats the albums of the year check back soon to find out our movies of the year.