Firstly, happy holidays to everyone in EA SPORTS Nation. I hope you all have had a restful few days and have been able to get your sports fix in front of the TV without your wife/girlfriend/mom/mum giving you a bad time…
I’m sure like many of you, I spent some time following the year end “best of” lists for video games. It seems like every web site and magazine publishes such a list, and as always, they create some frenzied forum threads as gamers agree, and more likely disagree, with the inclusion of many of the games.
One that I always make a point of following is the Eurogamer Top 50. They unveil the list over 5 days, 10 games at a time. This provides a certain sense of drama and anticipation, as the non-mention of your favorite game makes you believe it is destined for one of the top spots in the list.
The drama began on Boxing Day (ask a British friend…) with the unveiling of games 41-50. Hmmm…Mass Effect at 49? Thought it deserved more, maybe even a top 10 spot, but hey, it’s an RPG, and I know how polarizing that genre can be with reviewers. Mario Kart in this bracket too? Is this a forbearer of Wii dissing to come? December 27th saw the next bracket, and I was proud to see Lost Odyssey making the list. Sakaguchi-san was a great partner and friend while I was at Microsoft, and I think the progress the Xbox 360 is enjoying in Japan right now can be traced both to this game and Blue Dragon from his Mistwalker Studios. No EA SPORTS games as of yet. I have high hopes for both Tiger and FIFA getting high marks this year…
Sunday brought the 21-30 slot, and I was surprised to see Wii Fit included, which I thought would make the top 10 given its creation of a brand new consumer base for our industry. I guess it is difficult to characterize as a “game” per se, I rationalized with myself, and that’s why it didn’t make the top bracket. Really excited now for FIFA 09, as it has now at least a top 20 game. Worried about Tiger though, but fingers crossed…
Monday, and it’s 11-20. Tomb Raider? OK, that’s interesting. Proud to see Boom Blox, Spore, Burnout and Mirror’s Edge, getting some deserved love. No FIFA, so Top 10 here we come baby!
Tuesday morning, coffee in hand and clad in my Liverpool FC officially licensed pajamas (you think I’m kidding, don’t you), I log in and scroll down the list from 10 to 1, getting more excited as I get closer to the top spot. World of Goo? I’m sure it’s fun, and the reviewers certainly loved it, but surprised to see up so high. Gears 2 - great job Epic. Left 4 Dead - delighted that we at EA were involved in getting this great title to market. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 - Scousers Rule! Fable 2 - Lionhead delivers. This is where I got a queasy feeling in my stomach. I know GTA IV was yet to come, as was Little Big Planet. And I hadn’t seen FallOut 3 yet. I scrolled quickly all the way to the number one spot…Huh? WTF?? As in WHERE THE HELL IS FIFA 09???
Now I get that the sports genre is the Rodney Dangerfield of games when the awards are handed out. But c’mon, one of the best sports games of recent times not even in the Top 50? This title will sell in excess of 10 million units when all is done and dusted, but doesn’t even rank a mention?
Really? Seriously? Is it not cool to include a so-called mass market game? Bangai-O Spirits (no disrespect Treasure) makes it and FIFA 09 doesn’t?
Eurogamer - you are and always will be one of my favorite gaming web-sites, but you were waaaay offside on this one.
Rant over - Happy New Year to all.
(storms off to raise money for Steven Gerrard’s legal defense)
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