I'm sure that, given their obvious similarities, comparisons have already been drawn between Asura, the rage-fueled protagonist of Asura's Wrath, and Kratos, the rage-fueled protagonist of the God of War series. But even with that being the case, I felt the urge to add my own views to the argument. Namely, that in terms of their characterizations and despite their similarities, Asura is the better, more realized of the two, even taking into account that Kratos has had more games in which to develop.

Warning! The rest of this article is scattered with spoilery references to things that happen in Asura's Wrath. If you care at all to experience the game for yourself, don't read any further!

Despite that advantage, Kratos's characterization exists more or less on a downward slope. The first God of War is a tale of revenge and redemption as Kratos makes up for being tricked into murdering his own wife and child. But then the sequels only serve to regress him. He becomes less a tragic hero or antihero, and more just straight-up petulant, like an angry teenager. He goes about murdering everything in his path with very few exceptions, and falls into the trap of being more or less defined by his thirst for slaughter above all else, with a side of sex minigames.

You know, because he's supposed to be a badass.

Asura, on the other hand, is a more sympathetic figure. Whereas Kratos's thirst for revenge came from, in general, being a violent fool that pleaded to Ares for power and became a zealot, leading to his family's deaths, Asura is never under any such delusions. From the outset, he's a pawn in a coup enacted by his comrades, framed for the murder of the emperor, and branded a traitor. Further, his wife is killed and his daughter is kidnapped not because of anything he does, but because of the villain's overarching scheme.

As for the nature of their ever-present rage, I've noted before that Kratos's anger, which is at first justifiable toward Ares, grows petulant over time. There's little about it that serves him, other than being his one definable emotional trait. On the other hand, Asura's rage is innate because of his demigod powers. His Mantra is empowered by his fury, but even when he's at his most volatile, he doesn't just lash out at anyone and everyone. Asura saves his wrath only for those that are his enemies, while Kratos would likely stab an innocent to death, and then rip the poor soul's head off, for merely standing between him and Zeus's throne room.

And as for their sexuality, there comes a point in Asura's Wrath that almost seems like it's there to make fun of Kratos's conquesting libido. One of the game's chapters is spent relaxing in a hot spring at the behest of Asura's mentor, Augus. While in the spring, Asura is waited on by a scantily clad, busty beauty. There are even several humorous trophies/achievements linked to this portion of the game, such as one for ogling the attendant's assets. But if the player decides to allow Asura to indulge in too much booze, he can enter Burst mode, at which point he'll get frisky with the lady.

Then he gets shot down in hilarious fashion. No boobies or ridiculous sex minigames for you, buddy. I'd actually prefer it if God of War had this sense of humor; the sort that's willing to put the protagonist in a depreciating scenario of humiliation.

But to get back on track, over all, Asura, despite his anger and his furious ability to do battle with a giant space Buddha, is a man of compassion. Against forces that have absolutely no qualm in killing countless humans, he's the only demigod that comes to understand how idiotic and cruel their scheme is, despite his former allies' belief that they're working toward a greater good. During the entire course of the game, the one thing that sets him off the most isn't some perceived slight against him, it's witnessing the death of a human girl that looks like his daughter; the only human in the game that refuses to accept these mass slaughters as some sort of gift from the gods, and who sympathizes with Asura's desire for revenge. He learns how to channel his rage so that it doesn't consume him; so that he can still look his daughter in the eyes when all is said and done. That's not something that I think Kratos would ever be capable of. Not when his last act of God of War III is to (supposedly) kill himself just to spite the one remaining goddess of Olympus that was in any way his ally.

Asura may be a very melodramatic character (a natural tendency, given the styles of anime that Asura's Wrath is meant to evoke), but in the end, his journey is a far more satisfying one than Kratos's. Where Kratos embarks on what becomes little more than a juvenile power fantasy, Asura's tale is one that features more emotional weight that feels heartfelt. And for that reason, I would much prefer to see an Asura's Wrath II, complete with its crazy mix of cinematics, quick-time events and action, than another romp with Kratos.

Thanks, Duders!

Last year, I wrote a blog post about Operation Rainfall, a grassroots movement to convince Nintendo to release three Japan (and later, Europe)-only Wii titles in North America. The post attracted some decidedly mixed responses. Some were receptive to the idea and willing to help, and to those of you that did, I thank you. Others, however, were aggressive in their belief that it had no chance of success, so why even bother? To which, at the time, I could only say that there was nothing to lose from giving it a shot.

And what do you know? It worked.

While the extent of Operation Rainfall's actual level of influence in the decision-making process can be debated, it's unlikely that without the campaign in at least some form, Nintendo of America would have chosen to release Xenoblade Chronicles this coming April, nor would they have given XSEED the license to release The Last Story. This leaves only one game out of the three, Pandora's Tower, without an announced North American release plan of any sort. And given how utterly stubborn Nintendo can be when it comes to their releases (EarthBound fans are still pining for an official release of Mother 3), I have to say that even without Pandora's Tower, two out of three ain't bad.

And while Nintendo and XSEED both deserve thanks for working to get Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story to North America, I again thank those of you here at Giant Bomb that helped participate in Operation Rainfall's drives, whether it was through the letter writing campaign, haranguing Nintendo's social media intern on Twitter and Facebook, and everything else that the organizers put together since this past June. A lot more work went into this than a simple sign-it-and-leave-it internet petition, and while not getting a North American release of any of these games wouldn't have been the end of the world, it's still a pretty impressive effort.

All of this being said, Operation Rainfall isn't done yet. After all, if it worked twice, there's nothing to say that it can't work again for Pandora's Tower. So if you're itching for one more game to play on that little white box, you might consider helping out. And hey, after that's over, they might even move on to other games. But you know, it only has a chance of working as long as people try.

Oh, man, video game movies.

I haven't seen the live-action Tekken movie yet, but from everything I've heard, it sounds like it's about on par with Street Fighter both in terms of divergence from the source material and general quality. In short, it sucks. Specifically how or why, I can't say for myself because I haven't seen it. But when a movie is so bad that it prompts the game's developer to produce a movie of their own in response, well, that's pretty special, and such is the case with Tekken: Blood Vengeance, the CG animated movie from Namco Pictures. (Wait, Namco Pictures? Did Namco seriously form a film division for this?!)

Well, all talk of the live-action movie aside, Blood Vengeance is, all in all, not bad when viewed in the proper context. The movie, which focuses on Xiaoyu and Alisa, is a story about how the Mishima Zaibatsu (led by Jin Kazama) and the G Corporation (led by Kazuya Mishima) want to get their hands on what's known as the M-Cell in order to gain full control over the Devil Gene; the only living M-Cell sample being a former classmate of Jin's and...well, the plot is rather convoluted, but what it boils down to is what Tekken always boils down to; the Mishima Family Circle of Hatred.

The general story and writing are about on par for what I would expect of a Tekken movie, in that the story plays out much like the end cinematics in the games. Lots of melodrama, physical comedy and a complete disregard of human body durability and pain tolerance. Also, I can safely say that a Mishima does get thrown over a cliff at one point. And while the movie does not include most of the characters (Paul, Law, and numerous others are noticeably absent), the roles that are randomly filled by series regulars like Lee are absurd in the best possible way; it's ridiculous, but the filmmakers are completely aware it's ridiculous, so just roll with it.

This should of course not be confused with the idea that it is a good movie in general, but as a Tekken movie for Tekken fans, it's great. The animation isn't the best; it lies somewhere between the poorer Resident Evil: Degeneration and the much better animation of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, but the characters and environments are nicely detailed. I also found the fight scenes pretty fun, but your mileage may vary on how enjoyable they really are, particularly as the climactic battle at the end escalates. And then escalates again. And again after that. And then there's a plot twist and it escalates yet again.

So, yeah. Dumb fun is what it is. There's a straight DVD version of the movie, but it's also part of Tekken Hybrid and Tekken 3D Prime Edition, so if you have either of those, you might as well give it a watch. You might be entertained.

One of the most talked about projects unveiled during E3 2009 was a game for the Kinect called Milo and Kate; the at the time latest and greatest brainchild from the mind of Peter Molyneux. What was shown at E3 that year was a tech demo at best, enhanced to a supposedly significant degree by smoke and mirrors programming, but it was nonetheless something that everyone following the show had on their minds. It was ambitious, and as per usual with Molyneux's often exorbitant proclamations, was claimed to offer a deep, moving experience in the way that the player could interact with Milo, the young boy at the center of the game.

Then the game vanished from public eye, showed up here and there while Molyneux claimed that it was still in heavy development, and was finally cancelled sometime in 2010. While this likely disappointed some (mostly, I'm assuming, Kinect advocates and Molyneux devotees), its fate didn't prove particularly surprising to me. Perhaps the tech just wasn't up to the task of achieving Molyneux's all-too-often unachievable vision, or perhaps a satisfactory market for the game could never be determined. The exact reasons probably won't ever be known, but it wasn't until today that I really gave serious thought to another, probably more obvious reason that Milo and Kate was destined for failure.

Last night, I was reminded of a game I had read about in an old issue of Nintendo Power ages ago called Wonder Project J2; a Nintendo 64 title in which the player must teach an android named Josette how to live among humans. The game has an element of fantasy to it that is heavily inspired by Pinocchio, from its basic themes to the names of specific characters. (The protagonist of the original Wonder Project J is a robot boy named Pino, and Pino and Josette's creator is an old man named Gepetto.)

In the opening minutes of Wonder Project J2, Gepetto, on his deathbed informs Josette that he's leaving her in the player's care. Josette herself is completely naive to the ways of the world and the nature of emotion. Her level of naive innocence is such that, when her creator dies, she doesn't understand that Gepetto has left her life forever. It is up to the player to teach her how to care for herself, interact with others, and nurture her emotional understanding. By teaching her effectively, the game's plot moves forward as Josette uses her new-found understanding to cultivate friendships and resolve conflicts on her own.

By contrast, what is, or was, Milo and Kate? Milo was an average boy already of an age where he could think and reason. The Milo and Kate wiki page suggests that the plot revolved around his envy of a schoolmate's bike, and so the player would have to help him complete tasks to earn the money to buy a new one of his own. As plot concepts go, there are none that are quite as mundane as this, and it's more or less the exact sort of challenge any parent of a similarly aged boy will likely face; encouraging their child to do their chores in exchange for an allowance. The simulation's apparent path and end goal is of the sort that no child would particularly find interest in, and no adult with children of their own would need a game to experience.

So if all of this was indeed true, then Milo and Kate was, in effect, too boring and unappealing. There's no sense of nurturing innocence, as there is in Wonder Project J, no pull of a child's imagination as there is in Hey You, Pikachu!, nor any of the complete madness of Seaman. As life simulation games go, Milo and Kate was done in by a lack of the one thing that I thought Molyneux could never run out of; that creative spark of imagination that allows such games to succeed in finding an audience.

In trying to make a game about real life, Molyneux forgot that without that personal connection, real life is often banal. Parents find joy in interacting with their children because they're their children; not simulations attempting to behave like real children. The difference between Milo and Josette is that Josette has her own story and exists within a world that is much, much different from our own. Milo, on the other hand, could very well be replaced by your own son, or nephew, or grandchild. There is little point in helping Milo purchase a bike when you can encourage your own flesh and blood to do the same. And when you see the smile on your own child's face as he climbs on his new bike for the first time, the reward is far greater than any Xbox achievement could ever provide.

Depending on who you talk to, the best narratives in video games can be held against narratives of other media and be considered of legitimate quality, or they're all garbage and who really wants to play a video game for the story, anyway. The debate over the general quality of narratives in the medium as a whole aside, fighting games in particular have historically never been taken seriously for their ability to spin a yarn. This is a notion that even the most ardent defenders of game narratives have to concede, simply because for many years, stories in the genre were not considered a high priority. They were flavor to give these crazy menageries of ninjas, robots, dudes in karate gis and ladies of sizable assets some sort of context beyond being blank slates. Back in the early days of the genre, the most shocking plot twist in a fighting game was the fact that Chun-Li actually had a branching point in her Street Fighter II ending.

Early Successes (and Failures)

For many years, the fighting game series with the most comprehensive storylines were arguably Mortal Kombat and King of Fighters. In the case of King of Fighters, the yearly installments of the series featured stories that led from one game to the next, and over time have formed a series of simplistic sagas. However, the story in each individual King of Fighters game is largely the same; a tournament sponsored with nefarious intent is held, and a trio of determined fighters defeat the hilariously overpowered villain. Wash, rinse, repeat.

As for Mortal Kombat, the story is more complex, in that it eventually breaks away from the concept of each game being centered around a tournament. The problem with the series came in its later entries, when the story became so convoluted with characters and mind-numbing plot twists that Netherrealm declared a do-over by playing the reboot card. But more on that in a bit.

Prominent Problems

There are a lot of reasons that fighting game narratives have been, to put it kindly, less than stellar. Beyond the general disinterest on behalf of the writers to tell a decent story, there's the dysfunctional nature of the story progression. The majority of fighting games present an arcade mode that may, at best, present some form of prologue to introduce a character, perhaps one or two "story" fights, in which the fighter has a unique dialogue with his or her opponent, and an ending. But most of these endings will inevitably conflict with one another. For example, in Soul Calibur II, most every single ending involves the character finding the Soul Edge and either:

• Claiming it for him/herself, with varying results.
• Destroying it.
• Filling the world with darkness, because he's Nightmare and already had the Soul Edge to begin with.

In this case, there's no narrative continuity. Every ending leads down a different path, and likely only one ending, if any, will factor into the story for the next game. Characters that saw resolution in their endings will instead continue to seek their resolution. No room for closure is provided, if only because a character will likely come back for the sequel, and the writers can't think of any other motivation for him than the one he already had.

Okay, but what about stories that do link their endings together? Take Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. When taken as a whole, the storyline of the game from its introduction to the individual character endings feels relatively cohesive. With a couple of exceptions, events in one ending are directly related to events in another. The individual parts manage to form a whole that feels coherent and logical. Only the endings of the villains (Shang Tsung and Quan Chi) really stand out from this because their endings dictate that they succeed.

So of course, the following game, Mortal Kombat: Deception, chooses to follow the ending path of the villains, thereby invalidating the tapestry created by Deadly Alliance. It was a self-inflicted shot in the foot. And while letting the bad guys "win" (their victory turned out to be exceedingly short-lived) might have been edgy and expected by Mortal Kombat standards, it could also be argued that this single twist broke the plot. The following game, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, elevated the story even further into the realm of the absurd by reducing the narrative into a race between every single character in the series to reach the top of a ziggurat and fight a dude made of fire for Real Ultimate Power.

Huh. Well, then. Who's for a DC Comics crossover? Anybody?

...Guys?

Modern Solutions

But all is not lost. Modern fighting games have shown that it's possible to structure a coherent narrative with a solid beginning, middle, and end. And while the individual quality of the stories of these games is variable, they're all a far cry above the old standard of a simplistic ending presented as an award for reaching the top of the tournament ladder.

BlazBlue

The BlazBlue series, created by Arc System Works, evolved from story presentation concepts found in their earlier work on the Guilty Gear series. And while multiple versions of the second game, Continuum Shift, have been released, the storyline has not been heavily affected as a result. The story is divided into smaller narratives that focus on individual characters, and each story has multiple paths; the ending earned is based on choices made in dialogue trees in actions taken during combat. However, each character's story path has one canon ending, and as progress is made through these individual stories, the player will eventually unlock the gameplay path to the true ending, which ties the narrative up and leads into the following game.

While it's not a straight path from beginning to end, the manner of narrative progression in BlazBlue offers incentives and replay value, as well as having the chance to practice with a range of diverse characters and styles. In a sense, these alternate endings are analogous to the more simplistic arcade endings found in other games (and in BlazBlue's own separate arcade mode) in that they're diversions to find while working toward the true end to the story.

Mortal Kombat

The story presented in last year's Mortal Kombat reboot is easily the most cinematic of any fighting game story to date. Structured as a linear narrative divided into chapters based on the character under the player's control, it takes the existing mythos of the first three Mortal Kombats and essentially serves as a second draft of the original narrative. Existing story arcs are given more depth, characters are given more definition, or in some rare cases, are rewritten almost entirely, and the narrative as a whole works to undo what had become a garbled mess by negating the possibility of major story events that proved problematic in the latter games in the series.

It is, in essence, a major do-over. One that benefits from fan nostalgia while also recognizing and eliminating aspects that just did not work, or never made sense to begin with. If there's any particular flaw that Mortal Kombat has in its story, its on the side of the gameplay mechanics, as the developers insisted on keeping the frustrating difficulty of the old Mortal Kombat boss fights. I have yet to hear anyone state that they enjoyed the final battle against Shao Kahn. For me, my experience with that battle was one of the few poor points in the game's presentation.

Dead or Alive: Dimensions

Like Mortal Kombat above, Dead or Alive: Dimensions features a full story mode that compiles and retells the events of the first four Dead or Alive games with a greater level of detail. The end result has both some strong positives as well as strong negatives. While an effort is made to retell the story, rather than reboot it, it's fairly obvious that the narrative arc in Dead or Alive was never particularly strong. The story focuses mostly on the core storyline of the series, and for the most part, the player is in control of a select few characters, with at least lip service given to the more minor subplots of the other characters. But the end result feels disjointed, and for the effort it goes through to present the core story, it still doesn't feel particularly coherent at a number of points.

However, the story mode in this game does succeed in ways where Mortal Kombat lacks. The story mode doubles as a tutorial, and over the course of play is constantly introducing the player to basic and advanced concepts. The final chapter, focused on Helena, pays special attention to the unique aspects of her fighting style and stances. Where Mortal Kombat makes no effort to teach the player how to play as the story progresses, Dead or Alive's story is structured in a way that is ideal for newcomers, both in recapping the plot and in providing a learning experience that exists outside of the more standard and basic training mode.

Soul Calibur V

As with both Mortal Kombat and Dead or Alive, Soul Calibur V features a linear storyline with a beginning, middle, and end. But rather than attempt to reboot or retell a preexisting narrative, the story of Soul Calibur V is a true sequel that follows upon the events of the previous game. It is also the shortest of the story modes listed here (it took me roughly two hours to make it from beginning to end in a single sitting), and also the least cinematic; the majority of the plot is told through sequences of static images accompanied by voice-over and sound effects.

All of this being said, the game's story is arguably also the most focused, as it centers on a select few protagonists; Patroklos and Pyrrha Alexandra, the son and daughter of longtime series protagonist Sophitia, and Z.W.E.I., who is playable in a select few chapters. (Before anyone asks, no, I do know why Z.W.E.I. is an acronym, nor do I know what it stands for.) The story takes the basic tale that has driven the series since the days of the original Soul Calibur and tells a new chapter in the struggle between the swords Soul Calibur and Soul Edge that, while still simplistic, offers a greater degree of depth and complexity than the series has really ever been known for. I know that this sounds like a contradiction, but in the comparative sense, by choosing to present the story in the manner that it does and by including specific twists to the narrative, it not only tells a story far deeper than the average, exceedingly shallow fighting game, but also manages to depict the actual relationship between the swords in a light that wasn't as obvious in earlier titles.

That being said, the story isn't without its flaws. Thought the plot does a good job of remaining focused on specific characters, a number of characters that do appear are given very limited roles, and there's one particular twist in the story involving turning back time that could have easily been done without, as it feels like little more than a tacked on way to fit Edge Master into the story. That being said, I enjoyed the story, though this may simply have something to do with the fact that I've been working on a story of my own that features characters very similar in ways to Patroklos and Pyrrha.

In Conclusion

As with any story, mileage will vary, no matter how well a narrative is presented. And while fighting games as a whole have a long way to go to catch up to the narrative quality found in other genres, developers have made great strides during this particular hardware generation in providing a greater sense of complexity and cohesion that the genre had sorely lacked in its early years. And I say this with the understanding that even now, there are many people that could not care less about fighting game narratives; at the end of the day, the greatest draw of a fighting game is how well it plays. But if a fighting game can both feature gameplay that can be taken seriously by the tournament crowd and a storyline that can attract the less competitive mindset, then then all the better.

The year 2011 was pretty damn weird for a lot of reasons. Some personal, some not so much. But it sure wasn't lacking for a large assortment of games that were entertaining, surprising, and in some cases, supremely disappointing. I also spent an inordinate amount of my gaming time this year with the 3DS, which I covered in a previous blog post. Now it's time to turn my focus on what the rest of the year had to offer. Let the games begin!

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU.

(Sadly mandatory disclaimer: These awards are my opinions and solely my opinions. If you don't agree with any or all of them, then that's your problem.)

Biggest Disappointment: Publisher Stupidity

Jesus Christ. Poor and inexplicable decision making abounded this year. Where do I even start? The PR disaster that was Capcom's cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3, in addition to releasing two versions of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 in the same year, along with a barely justifiable (if that) remake of Dead Rising 2? Electronic Arts and their apparent complete lack of interest in providing both Shadows of the Damned and Alice: Madness Returns, two major titles in their Partners program, with any form of serious marketing muscle and leaving them to die? Sony completely dropping the ball during the PSN hacking misadventure? Nintendo's steadfast refusal to release three Wii titles in North America that could have otherwise done wonders for the console's flagging North American release schedule? (To be fair, Nintendo does get something of a pass on this, as they are caving and releasing one of these titles in North America next April in a limited capacity. But still.)

Once again, Jesus Christ. There was a period of time this past year where it seemed major publishers were lining up to trip all over themselves in embarrassing fashion. It was just painful to watch, and I hope that these companies all smarten up next year.

Worst(?) Game of the Year: Duke Nukem Forever

Normally, this is an award I would be handing out without a question mark attached. After all, it's not often difficult to pick a game for a category like this, assuming that one plays enough games over the course of the year. That being said, I'm modifying the category this year to lay out my thoughts on a game that I didn't necessarily feel was the "worst." On the contrary, Duke Nukem Forever is far from the worst game released this year. As archaic as some aspects of its gameplay are and as stupidly crass and unfunny as the attempts at humor can be, that it works as well as it does is something of a marvel in and of itself. It's difficult for me to really say that this game is truly a terrible game because, quite frankly, my expectations were set so low that I was pleasantly surprised by the end result.

That's not to say that Duke Nukem Forever is a good game. Frankly, I have a hard time quantifying its level of quality because after fourteen years (I was in high school when this game started development), any scale that I might have been able to measure the game by has been shot. It is, if nothing else, a museum piece, and a deserving one at that. Duke Nukem Forever is a one of a kind game in one of the worst ways possible; the end result of a protracted time-and-money-sink of a development cycle. Students of game design everywhere, no matter what aspect of the development field they enter, should study this game as a prime example of what not to do. And yet, I can't blame anyone that was curious enough to spend $60 to see the end result because while it's a mess, it is a unique mess of the highest order.

Most Disappointing Game: Dragon Age II

Dragon Age II already received this same award from the Giant Bomb staff, of course. But before I go on, I should note that of the games to which I'm handing out these awards, Dragon Age II is the only one I haven't played in any capacity. And while some may cry foul about that, I don't feel any need to have played a minute of the game to make this conclusion justifiable. I greatly enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins. It's easily one of my favorite games of this generation. It's only natural that I was looking for more of the same old school feel in the sequel. But from almost the very first moment that news of the game was released, the disappointment in my mind was palpable.

One of the things I like the most about Origins is, quite simply, the origins and the multiple playable races. While the core of the experience is largely the same no matter what origin the player selects, each origin added its own twist on the story to make them feel unique. My first run through the game, I was a just human noble driven by revenge. In my second, a city elf that hated humans and played the race card at every opportunity. The game was built in a fashion that allowed a fair degree of role-playing despite the inherently rigid nature of a video game in comparison to its pen and paper brethren. And while the story wasn't perfect (I found Duncan to be an asshole and a certain plot twist toward the end unnecessary, at best), I felt enough freedom within its scope to make it my own.

But no, not with Dragon Age II. From the moment that it was announced that the player was locked into the guise of a human character named Hawke, alarm bells sounded in my head, and those bells grew louder and louder as more and more news about the game was revealed. And when it was released, I held off on the game's purchase, hoping to hear reviews that might set my fears at ease. That criticism started pouring in from all corners left me cold, and colder still as I spoiled myself on details of the game's narrative and characters. By this point the alarm bells, had become an unbearable klaxon. I feel nothing but disappointment for the direction that Dragon Age II took; one can blame the truncated development cycle and other behind-the-scenes changes, but the end result is still the same. A game that I simply have no desire to play despite how much I enjoyed the original.

Worst Bugs: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I understand that, at this point, Bethesda's Elder Scrolls games are expected to ship in a buggy state, but it saddens me how many people give them a pass for this. And look, I'm well aware that not every bug is going to get fixed prior to release. I work in software quality assurance. My job is to find bugs in software so that they can get fixed before they have a chance to be encountered by a consumer. Sometimes, they're not considered serious enough to block release and they'll be targeted for a patch or update post-launch. That's just the way it works. But there is a line that should always be drawn. That line that separates "acceptable" from "holy fuck, this thing is busted." Skyrim does not fall into the former category. It shouldn't. It is a broken, buggy game that Bethesda temporarily made even worse in their first attempt at fixing it. Its save file management system is atrocious, with file sizes ballooning each and every time the game is saved.

It's not a well-coded game, is what I am saying. Also, I bought the PS3 version, which was a dumbass move on my part. How the hell does anyone, and I mean anyone manage to justify the glaring issues that plague that version? Does Bethesda do completion testing of each platform version of their games? Did it never come up that the longer you play, the greater a risk you encounter that things are going to become unbearably slow? Did they know about the issue and simply not care? I don't know what's worse. Bethesda's coding or their QA. Either way, it's soured my experience on Skyrim significantly, and considering how much I enjoyed the Companions storyline, that's just disappointing and terrible.

Weirdest Bug: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

And now for the lighter side of buggery.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a fine game by all accounts, but for all of the things it offers, I had to create this award for it, if nothing else. There was a moment in the game's early hours where, as I was sneaking through a facility, I came across a door at the end of a narrow corridor. As I opened it, someone on the other side noticed me. I did what I felt was the sensible thing and backed away, allowing the door to close. I then attempted to sidle myself along the wall in preparation for what was to come, when something I was totally unprepared for happened.

Adam Jensen had found the void. Or more specifically, he found a wall that was completely lacking in hit detection and passed through it into a sea of terrifying nothingness. I'm pretty sure that he didn't ask for this, and it left me completely weirded out. Not even the insane bugginess of Skyrim (a game in which bugs are sadly expected) could match this bizarre moment in my time with Human Revolution.

Best New Character: Zimos

Take your standard, stereotypical pimp. Now increase his lust for hos by roughly twenty-fold, add in a tracheotomy, a pimp cane with a built in voice box/autotuner, and an immaculate business sense, and you have Zimos, who from the very first moment I met him became one of the many, many zany gears that cause Saints Row: The Third to run with such ludicrous, balls-out insanity. Even the simple, gimmicky act of autotuning his every line of dialogue elevates him into the higher echelon of wonderful weirdness that permeates every aspect of the game. He is simply a joy to be with any time he's on screen, whether it be as a partner in a side mission, calling him for help as a homie, pulling a pony cart, or allowing him to drug you up and put you through one the game's many hilarious story missions stark naked, armed to the teeth, and high as the moon.

Best Story: Yakuza 4

Yakuza 4 is a tale of four very different characters. There's a charismatic loan shark, a death row convict, a crooked cop, and the traditional series protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu, all taking center stage in turn against the backdrop of a conspiracy that spans decades. The way that their individual tales wrap together as the plot unfolds is something to be seen. It's a blessing that the game includes recaps of the three previous titles, as that background information goes a long way in enjoying the stories of these characters. It may not have the epic grandeur of Skyrim or the lunacy of Shadows of the Damned, but its relatively down to earth tale of mystery, betrayal, and conspiracy, punctuated with lighter moments and asides, is one of the best of the past year.

Best Graphics: El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is a game that sadly fell under the radar for a lot of folks, but if there is one thing that needs to be said about it, it's that this game is artistically gorgeous. Its use of color and shading is unlike any other game I've seen this year, with wonderful level and character designs that bring, of all things, a religious text to life in a truly remarkable fashion. If nothing else, El Shaddai should be played in order to just be seen. There are very few games from this past year that contain such a unique and wonderful style.

Best Original Soundtrack: Tie (Nobunaga's Ambition: Iron Triangle/BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II)

I know what you're all thinking. "Wait, What?!" Or at least something to that effect.

Though Iron Triangle was released in North America back in 2009, I got around to playing the game quite a bit earlier this year. And while its soundtrack may not be memorable for some, there are tracks that, quite simply, stuck with me due to the moods that they evoke and the point my life was at when I played the game. One such track in particular, though very short, has stuck with me more than any other video game song I've heard all year:

To me, this track evokes a sadness; one that could be said to encompass the troubled era in which the game is set, and in which also embodies the fate of Nobunaga Oda himself, who despite his ambition was never able to attain the unification that he sought.

Now, as for the other game, technically, the majority of the music found in Continuum Shift II comes from earlier releases, but these are my awards, and if I can give one to a PS2 era strategy game, I can give one to CSII as well. More specifically, the award goes to the work of Daisuke Ishiwatari, whose tracks are among the very best in the genre. And he doesn't just stop at character themes. He creates unique themes for specific rival match-ups. Some of his songs have lyrical accompaniment, which is an absolute rarity in fighting games. As an example, here's my favorite track from the game:

It's a shame that my preferred Youtube video of this song seems to have vanished, as the description included fully translated lyrics, which fit the character of Mu-12 quite well, all things considered.

Best Licensed Soundtrack: Saints Row: The Third

*ALARM SOUNDS* THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS CONTAIN MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE END OF SAINTS ROW: THE THIRD. DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT THE ENDING SPOILED IN ANY CAPACITY. FAILURE TO IGNORE THIS WARNING WILL NOT EARN YOU MY SYMPATHY.

This award could easily double for the "Best Use of Licensed Music." While open world crime games have often been content with including a vast array of licensed music to provide flavor through a variety of radio stations, Saints Row: The Third goes above and beyond in what it plays and when. Much has been said about the use of Kanye West's "Power," which is indeed an effective moment. But for me, it can't match a pair of songs that appear later in the game. Joe Esposito's "You're the Best," and Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero."

In any other game of this genre, both of these tracks would be included on the kitche '80s radio station for nothing more than the sake of ironic humor. You know, "Oh, the eighties and their music. What were we thinking back then?" And for a large part of the game, that's what these songs are as well. Silly radio play.

And then suddenly, in Murderbrawl XXXI, your homie Angel de la Muerte is hurting. Killbane's thugs are coming in to finish him off. And then you bust out a fucking chainsaw, slaughtering the thugs with ease as "You're the Best" suddenly starts playing. Oh, fuck yes. Then you jump in the ring to take on Killbane himself. Come on, Killbane. Bring it. I'm the best around.

But the best, most deliriously wonderful use of licensed music doesn't come until the final story mission of the game. Chaos is raging throughout the city. You've fought throuh three waves of STAG troops and Luchadors. And then you hear that Killbane is about to make his escape, while separately, STAG is planning to kill Shaundi and Viola. Stop Killbane or save your friends. You can only follow one path.

And then Holding Out for a Hero starts playing.

The emotional rush of this moment was the most intense I had felt during the entire course of the game. Every goddamn silly moment, every insane, beautiful, whimsical minute of joy, of kicking ass alongside a cast of crazies, had come down to this moment. And for a brief few seconds, I was awed, unable to decide what to do. And then the music got to me, and I bolted for Killbane as fast as I could, intent on giving him the beating of a lifetime. Like Angel said, my friends would understand. Everything's going nuts, everyone is trying to kill me, and here I am, running, yes, RUNNING, through town to teach that piece of shit who the boss really is, and it sure as hell ain't Tony Danza.

Best Wii Game That Isn't Skyward Sword: Fortune Street

It was slim pickings on the Wii this year, and with Xenoblade Chronicles and Rhythm Heaven Fever waiting in the wings until next year, very little of true note was released for it. Nintendo pretty much placed their Wii eggs in the basket labeled Legend of Zelda and called it a year. But I actually haven't played Skyward Sword yet. I have played Fortune Street, though. It seriously is a fun game, and as anyone that saw the amazing TNT in which Ryan, Patrick, Jeff and Vinny duked it out over the sad sack that is District A could see, it gets pretty cutthroat. It's an odd thing for a virtual board game to be as fun as Fortune Street is, but the game has that great mix of goofy charm from the Mario and Dragon Quest franchises to back it up alongside the intricacies of a stock market.

Also, slime racing!

Best Game of 2011: Saints Row: The Third

It couldn't be anything else. From start to finish, Saints Row: The Third is the most fun I have had playing any game all year. It's as if the developers set out to make a game that emphasizes fun more than anything else. Beyond the glorious insanity and honest to god hilarity that permeates throughout, it's actually fun to play. The cars control well, the gunplay feels great, the melee is great, I can do a Dukes of Hazzard leap into cars, I can punch people in the dick, I can fly a hoverbike around town, go up in the air as high as possible, jump off, hit the ground without opening my parachute, and live because I purchased falling damage invincibility. Saints Row: The Third not only provides the tools to have a good time, the tools are all fun to use, the leveling system is great, and the missions. There can never be enough said about how sublime the missions in this game truly are.

Seriously, play this game. Just play it. It's a thing of beauty.

With the end of each of the past few years, I've written a blog on what I perceived to be the best and worst games, hardware and trends of the year. My intent was to do one as usual for this year as well, but before I get to that, I thought that, with all of the 3DS games I've played this year, it might be better if I spent some time highlighting the highs and lows of Nintendo's newest handheld. As is normal for awards like these, this is solely my opinion, so deal with it if you don't like it.

Worst Game of the Year: Madden NFL Football

The Madden game so half-assed, EA couldn't be bothered enough to put a year in the title. While it's true that Electronic Arts is notorious for releasing feature-barren versions of Madden in the first year of a new console's release, this 3DS version of Madden is just sad. No online is one thing, but no local multiplayer? Not even single-card multiplayer? And who exactly buys Madden for 5-on-5 football? This game was nothing more than a shameless bid by EA to get something out the door for launch. Then again, even if EA had waited until the usual late summer release date that marks the normal Madden cycle, this turd would likely still be a turd given that it's missing nearly everything a fan of the Madden series wants out of these games. Launch window desires aside, there's no excuse for a Madden game to be released in such a low-rent state at this point. And to think its publisher had previously canned a more feature rich NBA game due to quality issues.

Seriously, EA. What the hell?

Best Launch Title: Samurai Warriors Chronicles

I know what you're all thinking. Now put those copies of Super Street Fighter IV down and shut up while I explain myself.

Past handheld editions of the Warriors titles have been direct console ports at best, and heavily stripped down at worst. Samurai Warriors Chronicles is by and large the most unique handheld Warriors title to date because it actually plays to the strengths of the hardware, and it's not just a port with a gimmicky 3D mode (see: SSFIV). The game allows for the control of up to four characters in a single battle, and swapping between control of each is done using the touch screen. It's also possible to issue orders to the officers not currently under your direct control. It even gives the Spirit Gauge introduced Samurai Warriors 3 some new uses with the partner skills and abilities.

And suddenly, things get a whole lot more wild. Throw in a few more extras like a character relationship system, a basic StreetPass-based strategy game, and a couple of characters that weren't playable in Samurai Warriors 3, and well, that ain't half bad. Especially for a game released on launch day.

Best Fighting Game: Dead or Alive: Dimensions

I said put those copies of Super Street Fighter IV down, god damn it. Again, allow me to explain.

The 3DS had a relatively busy year when it came to handheld fighting games. In the span of a few months, it received SSFIV, Dead or Alive: Dimensions, and BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II. All three are actually pretty good, but when it came down to it, DOA won out. And while I imagine that a few of you that are particularly hardcore in the tournament scene are restraining the urge to murder me for picking a game that's mostly known for an abnormally high jiggle factor, I'm not going to get into the heavy duty ins and outs because I'm not that guy.

Here's why DOA wins: Of the three, it is the most complete game. It has an online component that, while more basic than SSFIV's (BlazBlue doesn't even have online), it works well. Though to be fair, when I tried getting back online with the game a few weeks ago out of curiosity, I could no longer find anyone else playing it. But such are the risks of any game with an online component.

The game also features a full-on story mode that is in some ways better than the similar mode presented in this year's Mortal Kombat game. I mean, again, to be fair, Dead or Alive does not have a good story; it's obvious that in order to link the stories of DOA1-4 together, they had to stretch some threads mighty thin in order to get it to work. But it at least makes the attempt at making something both cohesive and coherent out of the series timeline, which like the stories of many fighting games was pretty much a clusterfuck. The story mode also doubles as a tutorial, teaching the basics as it progresses, and the final cinematics recycled from DOA4 no longer feature Aerosmith in the soundtrack, which should really be considered a plus to all concerned.

The game also makes better use of both StreetPass and SpotPass than most 3DS games released thus far. While the main attraction of SpotPass as far as DOA is concerned are downloadable costumes, both it and StreetPass also offer throwdowns; matches against AI opponents based on profiles downloaded from other people. The SpotPass versions of throwdowns are designed to be special challenges, while a match in StreetPass is much more random. Your opponent could be a tomato can or a god. DOA StreetPass also kept me very busy at PAX this past year while I was waiting in various lines.

It also doesn't hurt that the game is very easy to just pick up and play for a few minutes at a time. If I was in the mood to play a game, I'd often gravitate toward DOA based on that ease. And while neither SSFIV nor BlazBlue are difficult to pick up, I just found a few quick matches in DOA's Freeplay mode more satisfying.

Best Online: Mario Kart 7

Nintendo may have a long way to go in getting their online service as a whole up to par with their competitors, but that doesn't mean that they can't craft a pretty fun online experience. Mario Kart 7 has solid net code (I've played against people from North America, Japan, and Europe without issue), offers races with up to eight people at a time, and is easy to just jump in and play. It's also a lot less frustrating to be hit with a blue shell when it's being launched at me by another human being and not by an AI.

The "Wait, This Game IS Supposed to be in 3D, Right?" Award: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked

This, er, "award" shouldn't be seen as a major slight against the game. Devil Survivor Overclocked is an excellent strategy RPG with some nice upgrades over the original DS version. Difficulty selection, more demons, voice acting, it has pretty much everything it really needed to make it a better experience over all. But 99% of the game makes absolutely no use of the 3D effect. It can't really be helped in some ways; the active gameplay on the battlefield is on the touch screen, but it would have just been nice to have seen more use of the 3D effect, even if all it was was a more pronounced layering of the character portraits over backgrounds during the dialogue sequences.

Then again, 3D obviously isn't a major concern of the Devil Survivor team since Devil Survivor 2 is a DS game with no 3DS version in sight.

Best Use of 3D: Super Mario 3D Land

Leave it to Nintendo to show everyone else how it's done. Super Mario 3D Land technically doesn't need the 3D effect turned on in order to be playable, but to play it in 2D is to miss the point. The game is loaded with visual puzzles and tricks of he eye that never feel gimmicky. Super Mario 3D Land is simply a cornucopia of excellent 3D visuals, and it never at any point feels disorienting.

Best Remake: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

In addition to Devil Survivor Overclocked, the 3DS saw two other remakes of note in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D and Star Fox 64 3D. While Devil Survivor is a great upgrade over the original version and Star Fox 64 3D does a fair job of revisiting Fox McCloud's glory days (you know, before fighting dinosaurs and wonky controls), Ocarina of Time had the most to lose from the prospect of a remake. Although there are a few extras included as bonuses on the side, the game is, in essence, the same Ocarina of Time from the days of the Nintendo 64. The game is widely perceived as one of the best ever made, and certainly one of the most influential from a basic design perspective. So how good could it be in this day and age?

Excellent, as it turns out. Although Ocarina of Time 3D shows its age with features like a largely empty overworld, this is still the game so many people fell in love with, and what made it fun back then still makes it fun now; even with only the most basic of gameplay tweaks. And in some ways, it's actually better, as anyone that's played through the Water Temple in both versions should be able to attest.

Now if only Nintendo would get around to remaking Majora's Mask.

Best Downloadable: The 3DS Ambassador Program

I was an early adopter. As it turned out, one of a far fewer number than Nintendo had really hoped for. But rather than get the short end of the stick when the inevitable price drop hit, I was granted access to a number of NES and GBA titles for free. And while I've played some of those older games more times than I could possibly count, to be able to play Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones again after my old GBA cartridge disappeared into the ether is fantastic. And in a year of publishers offering mea culpas for a variety of reasons, Nintendo provided one of the better peace offerings.

(I will now take a moment to offer a scornful gaze in Sony's direction. "Welcome Back" indeed.)

3DS Game of the Year: Super Mario 3D Land

It came well after the launch, but Super Mario 3D Land is easily the system's best selling point. A Mario game through, it mixes the aforementioned 3D usage with stellar gameplay and some at times ridiculous callbacks to the Mario games of yore. It feels in some ways like a cross between New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Galaxy. Above all else, it feels exactly like what a Mario game should be; something fun that anyone of any skill level should be able to enjoy, whether you've been playing Mario games since the NES era or just getting started.

Really, the only fault I can find with the game is that it's called Super Mario 3D "Land" and at no point features Daisy or Tatanga. What's up with that?

Predictable winner? Yeah, probably, but there's no doubt in my mind that it's deserving. Next year should be a lot more interesting if you're into rooting for oddball games and dark horses, though.

I Slash Dragons: Terrible Segue Set-ups

I'm rocking a pretty badass Nord warrior in Skyrim right now. One-handed melee and shield focused and surprisingly more than capable of going toe-to-claw with the random dragons that tend to show up from time to time. Also, I'm a werewolf and occasionally take the opportunity to wreck bandits, vampires, and the occasional necromancer because fuck it, I'm a werewolf. I tear shit up because I can.

And that's all awesome. While I despise Oblivion to the core of my soul and with every fiber of my very being, Skyrim is pretty much everything I wanted out of Oblivion with none of the bullshit. Well, aside from Bethesda's inability to perform proper QA on their titles. World size be damned, there are just some things that aren't tolerable. But I'm getting off track of what it is that I want to talk about. And what do I want to talk about?

Something Else

Yes, I opened with a different game entirely. But bear with me, because there's a comparison to be made here (no matter how flimsy). Just like Oblivion nearly made me give up on The Elder Scrolls, there was a time, many years ago, when Grand Theft Auto: Vice CIty nearly made me give up on the vaguely named open world crime genre to which it belongs. The game was fun, to an extent. Juvenile humor mixed with a cavalcade of characters that are all assholes, tied to a narrative that's pretty much Scarface without the being killed at the end. Well, in theory, anyway.

My problem with Vice City came down to one thing; at its core, the game is not fun to play. Sure, it's easy enough to jump ramps, crash cars, piss off cops, and generally be a dick to everyone within the city limits, but that's where the fun starts and stops. The missions are all clumsily designed, tightly scripted, and a major pain in the ass to complete. At least, that's what I remember about them. I never actually beat the game because there was one major story mission about midway through that I could not beat no matter what I tried. Here, let me paint you a picture:

"Lance got his ass captured by Diaz, and now his goons are working him over. I have to save him from a junkyard hideout. What's the best way to go in there? Through the front? I guess; I haven't seen any readily available helicopters up to this point. Well, here we go."

*Cue a montage of abject failure that stretches across a solid week of evening play sessions.*

"Fuck. Me. Sideways. This is getting ridiculous. All right. Try this again. Once more, with feeling!"

Phase 1:

Drive straight into the junkyard and eject from vehicle as it's shot up, turning it into a flaming death torpedo and take out the goons in the front. Check.

Phase 2:

Run like a madman through the junkyard murdering everyone I see as I'm shot up and get to Lance. Check. Also, I have five health points left. Five. Out of a hundred. Check.

Phase 3:

Miraculously get to a nearby car with Lance in tow. Escape the junkyard with a menagerie of kamikaze psychopathic drivers tailing after us. (Because Rockstar thinks this makes for a fun obstacle, apparently.) Check.

Phase 4:

My car is on fire. Fuck. Bail! Check.

Phase 5:

Jack another car as those psychopaths continue to fly around me like stopping me is equivalent to preventing the moon from crashing into Earth. Check.

Phase 6:

Holy shit, I've never gotten this far before in the multitude of hours I've spent playing this damn mission. Hey, there's the hospital! Oh, thank Christ. Check.

Phase 7:

OK, stop the car, get out, stand on the glowing mission end-point. Check. Also, FUCK YE--

Phase 8:

Get hit by kamikaze car. Die.

Phase 9:

...

Phase 10:

There is no rage face image macro that could illustrate the burning hatred infecting my soul.

Is that picture clear enough? Well, long story short, after that little spirit-crushing moment, I couldn't bring myself to seriously play another minute of that game. I had put up with its shabby gameplay long enough. And when San Andreas proved to be more of the same mission design stupidity tied to poor gameplay that Rockstar chose to pile even more gameplay on top of (instead of, you know, actually fixing shit), I washed my hands of the whole thing. Fuck you, GTA, and good night.

WHAT ARE YOU EVEN GETTING AT?

Don't shout. I've gotten there.

Back when Saints Row 2 came out, I decided to give the genre another whirl. Sure, GTAIV had come out, and it had fixed shit, but a lot of it was shit that had already been fixed in the original Saints Row. Also, GTA had started taking itself seriously, which is hard to do when you're still trying to work juvenile humor and half-assed social commentary into your game world. Not exactly what I wanted.

Now, Saints Row 2? We're getting there, but it's not quite there. I loved the character creation system and the side activities, but I didn't like the way that game progression was tied to the completion of those activities. The game could also be a bit schizophrenic in tone; it was trying to be sillier while also maintaining a certain level of levity brought by its connection to the original game. At least, that's the only way I could figure out the tone since I hadn't played the original Saints Row. It's fun, but it's not quite there.

Which brings me to the game I really want to talk about.

Well, it's about fucking time, asshole.

Fuck you. This is my blog post and I'll take all the meandering time that I want, Mr. Header McDouchebag.

Saints Row: The Third is, in short, everything that I could have ever wanted out of this genre, whether you call it open-world crime, anarchy simulation, or dicking around in an urban setting (that's the technical term). First off, the game doesn't take itself seriously at all; it starts of ridiculous and just gets more and more insane as time goes on. There's actual character progression now, which effectively transforms your character from a standard-issue Claude Speed chucklefuck into a nigh invincible god (so long as you aren't taking melee damage or in an exploding car). Even then, you aren't standard issue. Sure, you can be a milquetoast, if that's your thing, but you can also be Prince if you want. Or She-Hulk. Or a giant Smurf with a Cockney accent. Why?

Because. And that's really all the justification anything in Saints Row: The Third gives. Screw logic; things happen because they can.

And speaking of things happening? Those missions! Oh, those glorious missions. While the core story might not win any awards, the set pieces used to tell that story are an insane mix of anything-goes insanity that the characters just take in stride. And sometimes, these set pieces are punctuated with some of the most brilliant uses of licensed music in any video game ever. It's one thing to include old music on radio stations for irony's sake; it's quite another to actually use these same songs in a context that suddenly make perfect sense and are surprisingly earnest. And this is to say nothing of the actual mission structure, which is very well done, with intelligently-placed checkpoints and a rich variety of activities aside from the ubiquitous shooting of dudes.

And yes, while you might argue that GTAIV didn't suffer from a lot of the issues that plagued the PS2 games, that ship has sailed for me. Rockstar lost me with their bend-over game design of the Vice City era and failed to win me back with their bizarrely inconsistent tone of the adventures of Niko Bellic. And as for GTAV? The one trailer that they've released makes it sound a lot like GTAIV. I mean, sure, people are making a lot of the fact that we might actually get to fly planes in GTA again, but Saints Row: The Third has plenty of planes to fly, including a VTOL with a microwave laser. At this point, any attempt at injecting the gameplay insanity of San Andreas back into GTAV is just going to feel like they're cribbing Saints Row.

It's bizarre to think that the series that established a style of gameplay might be playing catch-up to a series that started off as an also-ran, but there you go.

Saints Row: The Third even has Burt Reynolds. Not Burt Reynolds as Avery Carrington or someone else. He is Burt Reynolds, and you will bow before him because he just is.

But why'd you start off talking about Skyrim?

Because everyone's talking about it these days. I thought I was obligated to at least write a paragraph or two about it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some tigers that need escorting.

In a word?

Fuck. Yes.

All right, two words.

I know that, judging by the reaction that the choice has gotten in the forums, Chrono Trigger isn't exactly the most popular choice for the new Endurance Run. The past Endurance Runs were of recent games played by teams that went blindly forward with no prior exposure to the games. The choice of Chrono Trigger goes against those very concepts; the game is a well-known classic of its genre, and the team going in has already experienced it, though a lot of time has passed since then. Also, because of its age, Chrono Trigger lacks some of the qualities, such as voice acting, that lent the Persona 4 and Deadly Premonition Endurance Runs part of their charm.

That all being said, I have no problem with the choice of game. Having played the game on the SNES and again on the DS, I know the ins and outs of Chrono Trigger well enough. The story holds no surprises for me. But the Persona 4 Endurance Run was a similar experience; I had already beaten the game and attained the true ending well before Jeff and Vinny had sat down to record the first episode. When I watch the Chrono Trigger Endurance Run, I'll watch it because I want to see Ryan and Patrick's reaction to it. Yes, they're already both at least somewhat familiar with the game; it won't be the same sense of bizarre discovery as was the case in the previous ERs. But if each one was the exact same, take a recent, niche game and experience the oddities within, wouldn't that grow old in its own way?

And speaking of old, why should a game's age work against its favor? The Endurance Runs are not unlike the Let's Plays one could easily find on Youtube. I know of at least one person that's actually done a Let's Play of Chrono Trigger. And you know what? What I saw of it was actually pretty entertaining. It's all about how the participants react to the scenes on screen and the flow of the game. Chrono Trigger might not have voice acting, or Funky Student, or peculiarly-named murder victims, but it has its own charms. And in this case, the bonus quirks of the SNES-era Ted Woolsey translation. You know. The "spoony bard" guy.

If you don't understand that reference, I pity you.

But I'm getting off track here. The point is, despite its age, and despite the familiarity, Chrono Trigger has a lot to offer as an Endurance Run. For those of us that have played it and have our own particular fondnesses for it, we get to see the reactions of two guys that otherwise probably wouldn't have much reason to talk about the game in the context of Giant Bomb. For those of you that haven't played it for one reason or another, well, it gives you a way to experience it in the same way that those unfamiliar with Persona 4 or Deadly Premonition were introduced.

It's possible that the Endurance Run won't be very interesting, and Ryan and Patrick might not make the ideal pairing for this endeavor. But all the same, I'm going to give it a shot, because god damn it I love that game, and I am happy to see Giant Bomb give it this treatment. It will be an adventure.

This morning, as I submitted a wiki edit for the Weeping Lily Meadow page, I achieved an arbitrary milestone. As I write this, I currently have 100,285 points. Yes, some users crossed this plateau long before me with rather alarming speed and have left me and pretty much everyone else in the dust. But as a relatively steady contributor toward Giant Bomb's wiki since the site's inception, finally hitting that hundred grand mark feels pretty good. It's been fun seeing the wiki take shape since the early days of the site, when it was all Jeff, Ryan, Brad and Vinny could do to keep up with the insane influx of submissions. Since then, a good chunk of the wiki has become well fleshed out and fairly informative, while other pages still have a lot of work left to be done.

The Wine and the Roses

My general stance toward contributing to the wiki has generally never been to focus exclusively on a single page. I look at some point totals wracked up on pages, point totals north of ten thousand, and it still boggles my mind how someone could find that much to say or find that many images to add specifically to a single wiki entry. Hell, the most I have for any one page is 3,073 points, and that was after over a year of continuous edits. That being said, I've contributed to a wide range of pages over the years, some far more than others.

For those of you wondering what it really takes to contribute to the wiki, it's really not that difficult. Find a page for a game, or a character, or a concept, or location, or whatever, and just add what you know. If there are any blanks in your knowledge, do the research, but don't plagiarize. Use your own words. Even if all you feel you can add is a grammar correction here or fix a misplaced punctuation there, then you're still making the wiki better. Lord knows how many times I've opened the editor specifically to remove the italics from game titles. (No, the style guide for Giant Bomb specifically says don't italicize. So don't. Really. Seriously. Please.)

The point is, anyone can add to the wiki. Don't see a concept that you think would fit some games? Create it. Wonder why there aren't any images of that character you like so much? Add some to his gallery. Feel a need to nerd out in a long-winded description of a game's mechanics, story, and its thematic relationship to Vegemite? Then by all means, do so. The only thing stopping you from contributing is yourself.

The Beer and the Pizza

Well, maybe not just yourself. Despite all of the ups, there have been a fair share of downs in the past three years, as well. Most recently, the image uploading system broke down, and last I checked, it's still broken if you're using Firefox. Like all things software related, bugs happen, but the Top Men are in general on top of the worst cases. So don't let the fact that you can't upload that super-awesome picture of Quetzalcoatl get you down. The time will come.

And when you've contributed as much as I have, the time will also inevitably come when someone edits your work. Don't take it personally. Keep in mind that this is a wiki. It is not my personal playground, nor yours. If someone feels the need to clean up that text you added, or move some of it over to a page of greater relevance, they have the right to do so. The last thing that the wiki really needs is a Wikipedia-style edit war. Because holy hell, those guys are cutthroat. For any wiki editing questions you have, use the Editing & Tools forum. If you find a page is a duplicate, or for some reason you believe a page is inappropriate for the wiki, inquire in the Delete & Combine Requests forum. But!

1. Don't be a complete asshole about it. That Rape page might have more relevance than you know.
2. Don't be offended if someone suggests a page you worked long and hard on should be deleted.

Defend your actions intelligently and firmly, but the moment a moderator or staff member steps in and makes a ruling, particularly a ruling you don't agree with, learn when to let go. It doesn't make your contributions any more or less valid; you just can't win every battle.

And for goodness sake, don't be that guy that, in the early days of the wiki, became so offended by an edit I made to a page he "claimed" that he started deleting the full contents from wiki pages that, regardless of the contributions of others, I happened to be the top editor of at the time. That is what is called being a childish prick. No one likes those.

And Now, A List!

Before writing all of this up, I went ahead and compiled a simple list of pages for your entertainment, derision, and dare I say, arousal. It is a list of ten of my favorite pages on the site that I have contributed toward at degree or another. Egotistical? Most certainly. But it's my list. Contribute some to the wiki, and you too will have the power to stroke your very own Giant Bomb ego.

Favorite Wiki Pages That I Have Contributed Toward.

	1. Metroid: Other M Holy Christ. I spent more time editing this page than any other across nearly every aspect, from the article text to the most esoteric of concepts that could legitimately be associated with the game. Obsessive? Yeah, probably. But looking at some of the other wiki pages and their top contributors, a little north of 3,000 wiki points is still pretty small potatoes.
	2. Ike According to my wiki history, Ike's page is the first page creation submission that I had approved, way back in the first days of the site when everyone and their mother was rushing to be the guy to create the Tifa Lockhart page. Those were chaotic times.
	3. Castlevania Judgment Yes, it's a bad game. But damn it if I didn't at least give it a chance. Probably more of a chance than it deserved, honestly. But I felt compelled to fill in the wiki for it.
	4. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 I'm not anywhere even close to being one of the top contributors for this page. Far more people took far more time to fill in every last exacting detail during the height of the P4 Endurance Run. But that collaborative effort managed to create one of the best wiki pages on the entire site.
	5. Crossover Of all of the concept pages I've created, this one is probably the most commonly used and referenced. I was honestly surprised that no one had created it before I had gotten around to it.
	6. Digital Devil Monogatari: Megami Tensei When the wiki task system was first instituted, this game was one of the first and biggest tasks I took on. I'd love it if someone with even more knowledge of the game could flesh it out even more.
	7. Nene There are roughly a hojillion Dynasty/Samurai Warriors pages that I've contributed toward, but I just have more of a fondness than Nene than any other. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's just the absolute hilarity of the way she's depicted as a ninja housewife (housewife ninja?).
	8. Multimedia Celebrity Poker Another big team effort I contributed toward. Beware the true form of Jonathan Frakes!
	9. Metroidvania Another page creation of mine, though others pretty much came in and made it their own. (Call it Castletroid and I will end you.)
	10. Queen Zeal Another page creation of mine from the site's early days, I also wrote the bulk of the article text as it currently stands upon this list's creation. What can I say? I'm a sucker for psychotic women with ridiculous hair and garishly colored dresses.

To those of you that prefer western games, I apologize for the above display.

Actually, no, I take that back. I don't. Sorry!

Contribute What You Want

But in all seriousness, don't be afraid to add what you want, so long as it doesn't violate any guidelines. Hell, I'm the guy responsible for creating the Rape and Incest pages. These aren't topics that are exactly appropriate for polite society, but seeing as there are games that feature or reference them, they are appropriate concepts for the wiki. Once again, if there's a page that you feel is missing and that has a legitimate reason to be here, then by all means, add it.

If you're still not sure where to start, just browse around the different page categories. There are countless games that are missing their full casts of characters. There are location pages that are little more than lists with no description of what makes them significant to the games in which they appear. There are concepts that are so ill-defined that no one can seem to agree on what exactly the page is meant to reference. There are publishers and franchises with no known histories. All it takes is a little searching to find a page that could use at least a little help. You add a little here, a little more over there, you knock down the wall down that way and add a whole new wing, and well, suddenly the place is looking a lot spiffier than it was before you got here.

There's a lot you can do. And regardless of your drive, if you work at it long enough, you'll hit that six-digit point total eventually. The thing is, you won't ever get there if you don't contribute and contribute well. And Giant Bomb can always use more quality contributions.