Irishdoom

This is what I was getting at. The methodology was all over the map, because the only person that tried to drive is Brad, and he really can't drive something like that. DOTA 2 probably does deserve a spot, but Brad's head was too far up its ass to be objective on the overall listing method.

I love the podcast, love the site, love the forums, blah blah blah.

But Brad sent the top 10 into a tailspin, broke the methodology, and had way too much influence for a guy that spent most of the year playing one game. The more I listen to the deliberations, the more I'm convinced this is the case. There was nobody around to keep things in line, and it suffered with Brad making a lot of the "calls." Starting the whole "pick 2 you love" rather than cutting to begin, pushing through the throw Mario 3D off the list, and then helped totally manipulate Patrick.

It was ugly in a shitty way. I blame Brad primarily.

Agreed with all of the above. Yes, the AMD processors underperform when compared to their Intel brethren. But they are also a hell of a lot more affordable. That 8 core will be just fine for a long, long time. Though I'm not a fan of liquid cooling, I'm a little old school in that regard. I've seen what happens to a PC when the liquid cooler goes wrong, and it ain't pretty. This is especially true if you are building it yourself, and therefore there is no "warranty."

Kicking off Mario while keeping things like DOTA 2 (which many would argue isn't even the best game in its genre) and Divekick is crazy. I like being surprised by the staff's overall picks sometimes, but they can also easily get too cute. And that's what they did with the overall list this year.

I know this is weird and whatnot, but I wonder what the lost influence of one staff member did to change the way things got ultimately hashed out. The Bombcast needs another strong voice from a different perspective. Brad should not have been able to force DOTA 2 on the list, and Divekick should have been a "tied for 11th" type game.

Oh, and this is also where I think they really could have used someone like Jeff Green on staff! :)

Haha, I forgot about Drobot. :) I still love the "I traded my chip in for a pistol" from Jeff.

Admittedly, I had dismissed the whole Skylanders thing. Even though Jeff himself got sucked in, I figured it for some fluky "love a bad game" thing. Well, this Christmas I got my 5 year old the Wii U Skylanders Bundle, and I think I'm kinda hooked.

It seems to be one of those games that gives a lot of rewards. I'm also surprised at the overall quality. It's reminding me of Ratchet & Clank, only without that laser focus on the main characters. (Since you can swap at will.)

With that said, If I wanted to take it a teensy bit more serious, what figures should I target? What we have now is this:

• Wash Buckler
• Blast Zone
• Ninja Stealth Elf
• Rip Tide
• Free Ranger
• Swarm
• Jolly Bumble Blast

How do the exclusive figures work? Do I have to go from store to store to find the ones I want?

I didn't realize it went beyond Nintendo. I'm not sure if that makes it better or worse.

I'm still happy with the system and excited to get it all set up. :)

Nintendo crapped the bed with online services. I can't register a Nintendo ID or do any of the things I want to do, including download patches for the games, transfer stuff from my Wii, etc. They should have been ready for the Christmas rush of new Wii U and 3DS systems in the wild, but were not.

Boo.

On another note, Skylanders is pretty cool, yo.

I'm tempted by this as well, especially since I'm still sitting on my $10 PSN credit from buying the PS4. I think I need to try to hold out for the PS4 version, though. Man I love that controller.

For 2 players I've heard Twilight Struggle is a game you have to have. It's literally the top rated game on BoardGameGeek, which is THE site for serious board gamers.