Unsung Heroes Seem A Bit More Vocal Than Most

As a follower of Jim Sterling's twitter, he posts some very interesting things, and one of them definitely got me going. In an article in the Wall Street Journal, Daniel Dumas has listed the games that he feels were unsung in 2010, proudly proclaming, "No Mario Kart. No Beatles. No Halo." The problem is, it might just as well have been.



My main problem with the article, which you can find HERE, was that the games mentioned (Gran Turismo 5, Mass Effect 2, Goldeneye 007) had large budgets and large advertising budgets. Its the equivalent of saying the unsung artists of 2010 were Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, or the movies you should've seen but didn't were Inception and Toy Story 3. Its beyond ridiculous. I'm not saying that Wall Street Journal should have a heavy gaming presence, but at least do some research.

This feeds into another point I find interesting, why is gaming so misrepresented by newspapers? Often its 3 paragraph reviews that consist of what was printed on the back of the box with an obligatory score, usually out of 5. You don't see the same with albums and movies, so why should gamers put up with the same? Is it because we know that the papers don't matter and will just read reviews from trusted websites like Destructoid, Kotaku or Eurogamer? I would like to see one newspaper have one side in their entertainment weekly devoted to reviewing that weeks game releases, where the reviews are thorough and are given a weighted score where reviewers actually use the breadth of scores available to them. If they put a review score on at all.

Why do we arbitrarily put a score on a review, surely the tone and what the reviewer says should be more than enough to convince us that a game is worth £40 now, £20 in the sales, or not bothering at all.

I'm ranting too much, so for Daniel Dumas I'll post 3 proper "Unsung Heroes"




Minecraft


All it takes is one game to capture the collective consciousness of everyone who plays it, with knowing nods between everyone who plays it. Minecraft was that game. With blocky visuals and a great crafting system, Minecraft captured the imagination of everyone who played it. It was the videogame equivalent of lego, but a lot more interactive. And with Creepers...and zombies. The things people made in Minecraft was staggering, from a giant recreation of Earth, to giant mansions. It was the one game this year where players could go wild with their creativity.




Deadly Premonition


Here's a game that divided opinion on release, though 9 out of 10 of you will not know what this game is or what its about. Think Twin Peaks in video game form, mixed with some cheap B-movie horror, and you have Deadly Premonition. With some great voice acting and a script that will make you cringe and laugh at the same time, you have one of the few games this year that didn't take itself too seriously and was better for it.




Super Meat Boy


A game that is very reminiscent of another game that shares the same initials (Super Mario Bros) with it's simple 2D platforming, though a word of warning, just because it's 2D does not make it easy. In SMB, you play Meat Boy, who is trying to rescue his girlfriend, Bandage Girl, from the evil Dr Fetus. Yes the characters are a bit...gory, but that's part of the games appeal. With Meat Boy running, jumping and sliding, he leaves a deliciously red trail, and with plenty of circular saws to trap Meat Boy. This game is fantastically addictive and that "one more go" will last well into the small hours of the morning.