X-Play Game of the Year Picks

Here is X-Plays Game of the Year Nominees (I've highlighted my personal winner in each category)

Game of the Year * Mass Effect * Assassin's Creed * BioShock * Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare * Halo 3 * Super Mario Galaxy

Most Original Game* Assassin's Creed* Portal* Overlord* Crackdown* Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

Best Gameplay Innovation* Assassin's Creed (free-running/climbing)* Mass Effect (conversation system)* Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (online level-up system)* Halo 3 (Forge/Replays/Screenshots)* Crackdown (Advanced Co-op features)

Best Multiplayer Game* World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade* Team Fortress 2* Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare* Halo 3* Rock Band

Best Action/Adventure Game* Super Mario Galaxy* Assassin's Creed* Crackdown* God of War II* Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Best Sports Game* MLB PowerPros* NCAA Football 2K8* Forza Motorsport 2* DiRT* Winning Eleven Pro Evolution Soccer 2007

Best Shooter* BioShock* Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare* Halo 3* Half-Life 2: Episode 2* Team Fortress 2

Best Role Playing Game* Mass Effect* Final Fantasy VI Advance* The Witcher* Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer* Titan Quest: Immortal Throne

Best New Character* Weighted Companion Cube (Portal)* Saren (Mass Effect)* Andrew Ryan (BioShock)* GLaDOS (Portal)* King Bohan (Heavenly Sword)

Best Art Direction* BioShock* Assassin's Creed* Super Mario Galaxy* Mass Effect* Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Best Animation* Assassin's Creed* Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction* Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare* Heavenly Sword* Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Best Writing/Story* BioShock* Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction* The Simpsons Game* Mass Effect* Portal

Best Original Soundtrack* Mass Effect* Portal* BioShock* Super Mario Galaxy* Halo 3

Best Sound Design* Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare* Assassin's Creed* Halo 3* BioShock*
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Best Downloadable Content* The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles (XBL)* Pac-Man Championship Edition (XBLA)* Super Stardust HD (PSN)* Carcassonne (XBLA)* Crackdown Download Packs (XBL)

Best Strategy Game* World In Conflict* Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts* Supreme Commander* Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar* Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars

Found this on Kotaku

Why all the Final Fantasy Sequels/Spinoffs?

RPGFan has an interview with Square Enix President Youichi Wada in which he says:

Wada disputed his interview partner's suggestion that Square Enix had recently released a lot of sequels and remakes, by saying both sequels to existing IPs and original games were necessary to grow the business. He explained 60% of
Square Enix's profits came from existing IPs, whereas 40% were generated by original titles. He also refuted the common held perception that Square Enix was overly dependent on its flagship Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest series, saying they accounted for less than 50% of the profit. And while the company was trying to further reduce its dependence on these franchises, he remarked people kept asking about new installments of either series. (Full Story)

The Final Fantasy spin offs tend to fall into the great (X-2) to the downright crappy (Dirge of Cerberus) Maybe they should focus their time on Final Fantasy XIII, we'd really like to see it before 2034!

Digital Comics

I will always prefer to get my comics from the store, something about actually holding the issue in my hand beats a computer screen, same with books. Still I found this article on mania.com interesting:

On Friday, November 23rd, “Deicist,” the moderator of Comicsearch, another site that hosts BitTorrent trackers, committed a grand act of cock-waving and wrote Marvel an open letter about the benefits of allowing the piracy and distribution of scanned comics to continue. Marvel did not accept Deicist’s letter as a chance to reach out to the comic fans and embrace free distribution of copyrighted materials. Instead, a representative from Marvel contacted him and asked that Comicsearch remove the aforementioned BitTorrent trackers or face the consequences. Deicist removed them, but continued an exchange with the Marvel representative about the shortcomings of the publisher’s Digital Comics Unlimited (DCU) service and the applicability of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the United Kingdom, where Comicsearch is hosted. After a bit of back-and-forth, the Marvel representative told Deicist that if he continued to press the issue, other comic publishers would learn about the site. Deicist decided that Sweden sounded like a better place to host Comicsearch. Sometimes when you put a flower in the barrel of a gun, you get shot. (Full Article)

Torchwood Season Finale: A Few Thoughts

1. Eve Myles is phenomenal as Gwen, especially in all her heartwrenching scenes

2. John Barrowman needs a few acting lessons, especially when it calls for him to be anything other than smarmy or angry.

3. I wish the massive demon actually caused some property damage to Cardiff, though plenty of people bit the dust.

4. Thank you Sci-Fi Channel for ruining the impact the ending of the episode should have had. Everyone in Torchwood may be clueless as to where Jack went, but we all know what happens thanks to Series 3 of Doctor Who airing before Season 1 of Torchwood.

5. Jack kissing Ianto was fantastic, we all knew it was coming but it was good to see someone really caring for Jack and perhaps vice-versa

6. Cheers to guest stars from the past showing up to haunt our favorite organization.

7. How many employees are going to try to kill Jack on this show?

8. I cannot wait until next season....which thankfully starts airing in a bit over a month!