BEST FILM OF 2007:

-Grindhouse
Runners-up: The Simpsons Movie, Knocked Up

The full theatrical experience of Grindhouse on a giant screen in a huge theater packed with people was the most fun I’ve had at the movies in a long time.

BEST NEW TV SHOW OF 2007:

-Pushing Daisies (ABC)
Runner-up: None

A wickedly creative and imaginative new show, Pushing Daisies is a major breath of fresh air.  It’s probably the best live action show to come along since Firefly, which should just about guarantee that it’ll get cancelled. ;-)

BEST RETURNING TV SHOW OF 2007:

[If it had to guess, I’d say 30 Rock, but I’m waiting for the Season 2 DVD to come out next year instead of watching it live, so I really have no idea]

BEST VGM ALBUM OF 2007:

-dj TAKA First Album “Milestone”
Runners-up: Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 OST, Sekaiju no Meikyuu Super Arrange Version, ZXA Tunes, Heroes of Mana OST, ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat OST, Deltora Quest OST

Konami’s storied composer brings it in his first solo album, Koshiro is on top things as usual, Sakimoto and company continue their string of quality, and Shimomura makes a return to form after being freed from the oppressive yolk of the Kingdom Hearts franchise.  2007 was a surprisingly good year for VGM.

BEST DVD RELEASE OF 2007:

-Futurama: Bender’s Big Score
Runners-up: None

They’re back, baby!  This full-length feature is a little heavy on the fan service, but oh so welcome after all these years.  I can’t wait to see the next three.

BEST PS2 GAME OF 2007:

-None
Runner-up: None

The only PS2 game I played that was released in the U.S. in 2007 was Dawn of Mana and that sure as hell doesn’t deserve any kind of positive award.

BEST GBA GAME OF 2007:

-Final Fantasy VI Advance
Runner-up: None

By default.

BEST NGC GAME OF 2007:

[I did not play any 2007 NGC games.]

BEST XB GAME OF 2007:

[I did not play any 2007 XB games.]

BEST DS GAME OF 2007:

-Picross DS
Runners-up: Planet Puzzle League, Hotel Dusk: Room 215, Ace Attorney 2 & 3, Contra 4

Who would have thought a simple puzzle game with horrid music, a sketchy touch interface, and barely any graphics could be so amazingly addictive?  The $20 price tag on this one lets you in on one of the best values I’ve ever seen in gaming.  With a huge number of puzzles on the card plus plenty more available over WiFi, you’ll be playing this one for ages.

BEST PSP GAME OF 2007:

-Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles
Runner-up: Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure

I have been waiting ages for this game to finally see an official U.S. release, and boy was it worth it.  Both the remake and the original are fantastic and remind us what Castlevania games are supposed to play like.  A modest difficulty level (easy by Castlevania standards), tight level design, great music, and more secrets than you can shake a whip at make Dracula X worth the price of the PSP and its video cable.

BEST 360 GAME OF 2007:

-Bioshock
Runner-up: The Orange Box

If Portal was released as its own game, it would definitely take the top spot, but as part of a $60 package with less interesting titles, it has to settle for second place.

BEST PS3 GAME OF 2007

[I did not play any 2007 PS3 games.]

BEST WII GAME OF 2007

-Super Mario Galaxy
Runners-up: Zack & Wiki: The Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure, Sin & Punishment, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

What can be said about Mario Galaxy other than that it reminds us that, first and foremost, games are supposed to be FUN?  The wildly imaginative level designs, intuitive controls, amazing music, detailed graphics, and brilliant design come together to form one of the most wonderful platform games ever made.  Also, special kudos to Nintendo for putting together one of the most perfect learning curves ever seen in a game.

MOST DISAPPOINTING GAME OF 2007

-Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day (DS)
Runner-up: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)

I really loved the first Brain Age, but this one simply wasn’t fun.  It’s a lot more difficult and the challenges just aren’t as interesting as in the original.  Zelda takes the runner up for a completely different reason.  When it was first announced, I was really worried about the exclusive stylus controls, especially after Star Fox Command.  What does Nintendo go and do?  They completely nail the controls.  I mean, they’re damn near perfect.  Unfortunately, it looks like Nintendo put all the effort into the controls and forgot to make a fun Zelda game.  The regular dungeons are boring while the more interesting hub dungeon is completely ruined by the sneaking gameplay, time limit (after Majora you‘d think they‘d get that time limits don‘t belong in Zelda games), invincible enemies, and the fact that you have to play it over and over again.  Now that the investment in developing the control scheme is complete, here’s hoping a second DS Zelda is the works with better overall game design.

THE “WHERE THE F*CK WERE YOU?” AWARD

-Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword (DS)
Runner-up: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

Tecmo talked a big game, but where did it go?  I’m only giving SSBB the runner-up here because, seriously, did you really think Nintendo would release it less than a month after Mario Galaxy?

MY TOP 5 MOST ANTICIPATED GAMES OF 2008

05. No More Heroes (Wii)
04. Animal Crossing (Wii)
03. Bionic Commando Rearmed (360)
02. Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS)
01. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)

The big guys need to start announcing games for 2008 because, to be honest with you, I’m finding very few things I‘m genuinely excited about in 2008, especially with favorites like Resident Evil 5 and Street Fighter IV not coming home until 2009.  I’m hoping that quirky titles like Echochrome end up being great, but it’s too early to say.

OVERALL TOP FIVE GAMES OF 2007:

05. Zack & Wiki: The Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure (Wii)
04. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii)
03. Picross DS (DS)
02. Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (PSP)

*GAME OF THE YEAR 2007*
01. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Galaxy gets the easy win.  It’s been a damn long time since I played a game that was this much fun.  I can’t say enough good things about this game.  In fact, the only negative thing I think I can really say is that I hate Baby Bowser.  The Koopa Kids own his ass any day of the week and I don’t understand why Nintendo gives them so little play these days.

I've been playing through Phantom Hourglass slowly as of late, and totally agree with you.  I was iffy on the controls at first, but now that I'm used to them they're fine (except for that HORRIBLE target shooting game - who thought it was actually a good idea to have to figure out where your arrows were going to end up after going through the void between the screens?).  But the dungeons have just been reeeeally boring for Zelda dungeons.  They also seem to be getting progressively easier as the game goes on, which is weird.  And the hub dungeon?  Awful.  I dread having to go there and find everything about it to be extremely tedious.  And I'm fine with the time limit in Majora's Mask, too (I felt that game did a MUCH better job of making things feel urgent without being oppressive).

As for Brain Age 2, have you played the weird variation on Dr. Mario that's at the end of the game list?  I agree with you on most of the minigames in the title, but that thing has been SO ADDICTIVE for me.  I end up playing it way too long whenever I start it up.

Good calls in general on all of your gaming stuff for 2007.  Your tastes are most agreeable!

I never really "got" Dr. Mario's gameplay.  I dunno why, but it never clicked for me, so the version in BA2, while interesting to try out, didn't excite me.  I can see the appeal, though.

Thanks much! :-)

In terms of complete sets, nothing beats the Seinfeld Complete Series, with its included Coffee Table Book Anthology.  The X-Files Ultimate Collection is also impressive; I really need to go back and complete my viewing of the series, especially with the vague rumblings that the second feature-length film could debut this year.

As for my personal NEW favorite DVD release of '07, it's gotta be Frasier The Complete Tenth Season.  Tenth marked the final commercial DVD release of the series, thereby completing the collection.  (Still find it odd that they released the Eleventh and Final Season years ago first.)  Though Frasier has always been a consistently excellent show, Tenth has quickly become an instant favorite of mine, boasting all A++ episodes, just like the Fourth Season and the Seventh Season.

So, I take it you're (finally) caught up with the Ace Attorney series by now? ;)  Any general opinions on how AA2 and (especially) AA3 turned out?  What are your final thoughts on Contra 4?

I've still yet to pick up a PSPSlim.  How is it treating you?  Have you gone back to play any of the older library of games?

That playable demo impressed me, but I'm hoping they give the core gameplay more variety, other than the fighting that's presented -- or, at least make it a game of moderate length.  For all the cool moves you can do, I can sort of see it getting stale if it overstays its welcome for too long.

Yes.

Yes!

YES!

Here's my daily pimp for NMH. Buy it, play it, and revel in its quirky style, addictive gameplay, excellent music and incredibly engaging, character-filled boss battles. If you do not want to dress like Travis Touchdown after a few hours of collecting t-shirts from dumpsters and buying new clothes from the Area 51 shop, there is something wrong with you. Or, there is something wrong with me. Maybe it's all that soy I've added to my diet.

Looks like you didn't "do" this part of 2007 very well then. Persona 3, Ar tonelico, and Odin Sphere were all awesome, and those are just RPGs. Maybe you should just strike this one from your own personal record.

Sorry, I haven't caught up yet.  I'm still in the middle of AA2.  I think it was fair to include them both in my runner-up category even though I haven't played AA3 given how similar individual games in the series are and how everyone seems to universally agree that AA3 is better than AA2.  I also do not have final thoughts on Contra 4 yet. :-)  I have put multiple play sessions into Contra 4 now, and I like it quite a bit (certainly enough to consider it one of the best DS games of 2007), but I need to put more time into it before I reach a final conclusion, such as a comparison to other Contra favorites.

I like it well enough, I guess.

I hate the idiocy about not only having to have the thing plugged in, but also have the battery near full charge just to update the firmware.  I'm also irriated with Sony for forcing the video output screen size to be greatly reduced when playing games.  If I want it to be big and pixelated, I should have the option, damnit.

Other than those two complaints, I don't really have any issues.  The d-pad and buttons all work well, and the analog nub is every bit as useless as it was in the PSP Fat.

I have briefly tried all of my other PSP games except Loco Roco since I had already played that one in an in-store demo.  None of the other PSP games I own really grabbed my attention like Dracula X did.  The two Mega Man games are cool, but since they're just remakes, I wasn't really motivated to spend much time with them.  Gurumin starts out pretty cool, but I quickly realized that it's just a dungeon hack and the dungeons have pretty dull designs.  It's still fun in short sessions, though.  Lastly, I could not get into MGS Portable Ops.  The story seems interesting enough, but the camera drives me nuts.  I'll probably just download a story FAQ and read up rather than try to slog through it.

In understand your point, but my counterpoint is that if I didn't even think those were worth my time to check out, what're the odds I would want to nominate them for my own awards?  I read about those games, but nothing I read made me want to go try them.  The only reason I tried Dawn of Mana, even though the reviews accurately said it sucked, is because it's a Mana game and I haven't been able to break my attachment to that series quite yet.  If I hadn't played that one, then the PS2 category would have been in the same area as the NGC and XB categories with no 2007 releases tried.

Ditto. It's like having a new Tim Burton movie every week. The writing is exceptionally witty and the plots are deliciously dark, yet the show is also one of the sweetest to come along in years. Too bad that damn writer's strike put a halt to new episodes.

Two words: AMERICAN GLADIATORS. It's unbelievably cheesy and I can't stand Hulk or Laila, but it's great to see this relic of my childhood back again.

Heh, I actually like the music and touch features, but I completely agree that the game is insanely addictive. I managed to pry myself away from it for a few months, but I've been sucked in again recently.

I have to disagree with this. I'm the type that normally hates timed events and sneaking, but for some reason I found the hub dungeon to be incredibly fun. I viewed it as a sort of puzzle game, and finding out how you can use your new items to shave seconds off your time was just as addictive as Picross for me.

As am I.  >_<  I've tried at least three times to finish Case 3, but the mystery doesn't grab me the way the Steel Samurai plot did. I always end up getting distracted by another game.

Ha!! Great to see I'm not the only one who's watching this not knowing whether I should be enjoying it for what it is, or for what it's poking fun at.  It's become our (me & teh wife) Friday night TV show of choice (Tivo will get you everywhere!).

The new American Gladiators show didn't debut until 2008.  Next year, when I do 2008, you can yell at me for not including it. ;-)

http://www.tv.com/american-gladiators/s … ts;title;1

You want to know what the definition of out of touch is?  Reading "NGC" and thinking Neo Geo Pocket Color

Xlord, Odin Sphere didn't interest you?  I've pretty much given up on modern PS2 games and, even then, this one caught my interest by such a great deal.  I really hope to try it soon.

I was sort of interested in it when I first heard all the hype, but when I read more about the gameplay, I quickly got turned off.  I did buy the soundtrack to it, which I think is OK, but not as good as the soundtracks to Grim Grimoire, ASH, or Deltora Quest.