This marks two Fridays in a row now that I've been working from home, which is really just a classy way of saying "writing things about video games while mostly naked." This week, it's so I can finish up G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, a video game that I'm already willing to describe as "dreadful." But hey... maybe the back half of the game is amazing? Possibly? Perhaps? OK, I'll stop setting myself up for disappointment. The repetitive sound of Shipwreck firing his shotgun over and over again seemed like it was going to lead to Vinny snapping my neck, so I'm sparing the office from having to hear any more of it (while probably saving my own life in the process).
Here are the ten achievement lists that attracted the most attention on Giant Bomb over the past week, complete with a new game debuting in the top spot:
Top Ten Sets (8/1 - 8/8)
- Madden NFL 10
- 'Splosion Man
- Marvel vs. Capcom 2
- G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
- Fallout 3
- Prototype
- Plants vs. Zombies
- Gears of War 2
- Ghostbusters: The Video Game
- Red Faction: Guerrilla
Yes, that's right. We've got Madden NFL 10 achievements on the site now. The game will hit stores next Friday, 8/14. The achievement list looks... annoying. But maybe that's just me speaking as a non-fan of football who liked the ability to grind out hundreds of points very easily in past installments of the game. Now they want me to tackle specific dudes on specific parts of the field on specific difficulty settings? I'll probably pass on that.
Madden NFL 10 isn't the only new achievement list on the site this week. Our evil robots acquired a ton of games this week, including a lot of alternate-region releases of games that have already shipped here in North America. Yes, that includes the Japanese version of 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. We've also got a few more games that aren't out here at all, like Bubble Bobble Neo!, which was released on Xbox Live Arcade in Japan this week. Or Ashes Cricket 2009, which is, I'm guessing, a cricket game? To celebrate this obviously momentous occasion, I've added "cricket" to the genre list. Thrilling, I know.
Here's all the new stuff. The games with question marks are alternate versions that don't identify their region in their game name. We'll have to do some old-fashioned research to figure out what region they belong to.
New Sets (8/1 - 8/8)
- 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand (JP)
- Tomb Raider: Underworld (JP)
- Tomb Raider: Anniversary (?)
- Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (JP)
- Wanted: Weapons of Fate (?)
- Unreal Tournament 3 (?)
- Conflict: Denied Ops (?)
- Alone in the Dark (JP)
- X-Blades (?)
- Way of the Samurai 3
- Momotaro Dentetsu 16 GOLD
- Apocalypse: Desire Next
- Madden NFL 10
- Foreign Legion: Buckets of Blood (Steam)
- Saints Row 2 (BRD)
- Ashes Cricket 2009
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled
- Bubble Bobble Neo!
- G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (PAL)
- Magna Carta II
- Brave: A Warrior's Tale
And, finally, the top ten individual achievements on the site this week, which also starts off with a new debut thanks to the release of the Mothership Zeta add-on. Speaking of which, Ryan wrote a review of Zeta that you might want to check out.
Top Ten Individual Achievements (8/1 - 8/8)
- Fallout 3 - Alien Archivist
- Marvel vs. Capcom 2 - Avengers Assemble!
- 'Splosion Man - Eventual Destruction of a Galaxy
- Marvel vs. Capcom 2 - Uncanny Heroes
- 'Splosion Man - Only Gandhi Would Be Proud
- 'Splosion Man - Lay Off the Caffeine
- 'Splosion Man - Master of Controls
- Red Faction: Guerrilla - Revolutionary
- 'Splosion Man - All Hail the Splode King
- Marvel vs. Capcom 2 - World Warriors
MvC2 and 'Splosion Man are still totally holding it down on that list. I'm guessing that's because most of them don't have descriptions that plainly spell out what the heck you need to do to earn the points, making people more likely to seek them out by name.
OK, it's back to G.I. Joe for me. Next week's release list is painfully short, so I can't imagine we'll see too much of a shift in the rankings. It'll probably just show Madden getting bigger and bigger as its release approaches. Anyone have any other guesses?