What would you play?

My picks:

1. Starcraft

2. Portal

3. Beyond Good & Evil

4. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past

5. Secret of Mana

I simply have no motivation to game anymore. The last thing that remotely resembled a game was Audiosurf (which is absolutely amazing), but I really don't care to play anymore. That might have something to do with the fact that I'm in my last semester of college, and I'm really trying to get my chops up since life is gonna hit me real soon. All the same, though. I love games, and I love reading all the news and all that sort of thing, and I'm sure things will change when Brawl hits. But it really seemed like Portal was a plateau for me. Like the last game that I REALLLLLLY enjoyed and then everything after that has been like a crappy dessert. Even that though. I have no desire to even load up anything remotely resembling a real game.

I really want this to change, but I'm not sure how to make it so. Oh well.

Figure since everyone else is doing it, why the heck not? Here's my choices for the best games I've played this year. These are merely my opinions, and they probably matter to approximately very few people. So here we go.

10. Bioshock

This one seems to be winding up high on a lot of lists I've seen. While I think the atmosphere and the set up at the beginning of the game are phenominal, by the end of the game, the atmosphere is about all you have left. Seriously, when I saw that first splicer after the ride in the bathysphere the game had me, and I was seriously freaked out. The first while when pretty much anything you saw could kill you was great. Unfortunately, thanks to the Vita-chambers and your ability to powerup got the game to the point where fighting something that used to be intimidating (the Big Daddies), got to be a chore. Combine that with one of the worst final boss battles I've seen in a while, and you've got yourself a game worth mentioning above the majority simply because the atmosphere and the universe are both so well done.

9. Supreme Commander

The RTS with the hugest scale ever. Yes please. There's been an influx recently of good RTS games, but this one stands out simply for being different with just how huge the scope of everything is. I only wish I had a computer that could run it when it first launched. It's only this low because there were better games I've played this year.

8. Super Paper Mario

This is the first of two platformers that will appear on my list starring a certain plumber. I went into this one with my disdain for the Paper Mario series on the back burner because of the promise of old school platforming action combined with mindbending 2D-3D segments and humorous dialogue. And ya know what? I got exactly that. The mix of all the different platforming and RPG aspects and some of the funniest writing make this one of my favorites this year.

7. Call of Duty 4

This is the Call of Duty game I've been waiting for since the original. Once again, I think they nail the atmosphere and intensity perfectly, leaving us with probably the best FPS experience in the past couple years.

6. World in Conflict

Another RTS. Completely different time period. Remember that game Codename Panzers: Phase One? Do ya? Well I do, and that was one of my favorite RTS games. This feels like that, only a lot better and with a storyline that's not WWII. That makes for a great game, in my opinion.

5. Phase

Phase was definitely a surprise all the way around. A surprise announcement from Harmonix about this new game that they've been working on and suddenly released out of nowhere. Pay a mere $5 on the iTunes store for play on your iPod, and bam, it's like having a slightly different version of Guitar Hero in your pocket that makes note charts OF YOUR MUSIC. Sure it's not Guitar Hero or Rock Band, but it's still a lot of fun on the go, and you can have pretty much as many songs as you want ready to play. Things like this remind me of just how cool of a developer Harmonix is. Which brings me to...

4. Rock Band

Rock Band. The next logical step for the Guitar Hero series, and the only way I could see it grow. And boy, it's fabulous. The first I played it I got the same feeling I had the first time I played the original Guitar Hero. The feeling of wonder and amazement and flatout joy of playing a plastic instrument and not really caring that that was all I was doing. Love it.

3. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney -Justice for All

I only chose this one in the series instead of Trials and Tribulations because TandT is sitting in it's wrapper right behind me waiting for me to start it. When I'm playing this I feel like I'm a part of a really great TV show, and to me, that's a great feeling. Short, sweet, to the point. Moving on.

2. Super Mario Galaxy

Told you another platformer was on the way. I really can't add much to what everyone else has already said about the game. It's fabulous and probably the most fun I've had with a platformer since... well... New Super Mario Brothers.

And now... for my choice of the number one game of 2007...........

1. Portal

Yes, just Portal. Not the Orange Box. Portal. Why? Because it's probably the best overall game I've played. Ever. Everything about this game made me forget I was playing a game and sucked me into its world. The difficulty was perfect, the graphics did exactly what they needed to do. The portal and physics system was very mindbending and at times disorienting just like how I would imagine it being if I had a gun that shot portals and could get to ridiculous places without any problems. The sound design was excellent and only added to the immersiveness. The dialogue sounds like it should have been written by Douglas Adams instead of whoever wrote it, and the delivery of said dialogue was incredible. And as if to put a little more icing on the cake, it had quite possibly the best credits screen of all time. I really could keep going, but I won't for your sanity's sake. This is definitely the best game of 2007 and one of the best of the past 20 years.

So there's my picks. Feel free to leave a comment if you dissagree, agree or whatever. Now if you'll excuse me... I want to go make myself a cake to console the loss of my weighted companion cube.

P.S. - Notice how I left Halo 3 out? It's not because I'm some fanboy hater or something. I played it for a couple weeks with my room mates. Yeah. Really boring game. Definitely not game of the year content there at all.