1P Start

A staple in any gaming site, is a end of the year type list and/or holiday wish list. JW and yours truly have each picked the top three games for the main three consoles and some other categories for PSP, DS, Xbox Live Arcade, Virtual Console, and even finish our picks with the best console of 2007. To help with the ‘holiday list’ portion of this, I checked CheapAssGamer and Google for any good deals that will make sure you can save some cash in getting the… Top Ten Best Games Awards Holiday Picks of 2007! So lets get this going:

Starting off, JW and myself each pick our Top Three Playstation 3 Titles

Category: The Big Name “AAA” Title That if You Don’t Have, Buy Now

JW’s pick:
Resistance: Fall of Man Sad when a launch title is still the best exclusive on your console. ($49.99 at CircuitCity)

Paco’s award:
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction - I have to say it, if you don’t already own it, buy it. It is pretty much the first AAA title to hit the system and it backs it up with lots of solid 100’s on reviews all over.

Category: The Underdog that Deserves Your Attention

JW’s choice:
Ninja Gaiden Sigma Yes, it may be a third remake of Ninja Gaiden, but it’s still awesome and hard. ($39.99 at BestBuy right now)

Paco’s decision:
Uncharted: Drakes Fortune. I see gamers who own it amazed, saying “Gears of Wars” graphics are now lame in comparison. Gameplay, it has it. Advertisement… not so much, I think not enough of you know that this game exists and should be picking it up now.

Category: A Random Good Game

JW’s favorite: The Eye of Judgment. Yes, the card battle game. It’s fun.

Paco’s cheating, this isn’t a game:
The Simpsons Movie, now on blu-ray. Yes, the blu-ray movie, not the game made of the movie (seriously, it was a good movie!)


Top Three Xbox 360 Titles

Category: The Big Name “AAA” Title That if You Don’t Have, Buy Now

JW’s Judgement:
Mass Effect. Game of the Year. Enough said.

Paco’s say:
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. This is THE multiplayer experience. I was going to write a review up on the game based on the multiplayer alone, but I end up keep playing the game instead. It has stopped me from playing Halo 3 all together ($37 at Target December 23 - December 29, 2007, mark your calender!)

Category: The Underdog that Deserves Your Attention

JW’s volition:
Virtua Fighter 5 Online. You know, everyone was psyched about VF5 being online, and everyone was dying for this game
to be released. But, once it was finally released on the 360, everyone seemed to forget about it. ($39 @ Amazon at the time of me typing this)

Paco’s bag:
Overlord. This game was something I was all about from the get go. It doesn’t disappoint, it has humor, it has adventure, it has puzzles, and it completely ripped off Pikmin’s gameplay, but did it well. A worthy addition to any 360 owners library. (This is a game that I think is a-okay to get pre-owned. $26.59 at Gamefly is perfect.)

Category: A Random Good Game

JW’s preference: Beautiful Katamari. It’s simple. It’s still addictive as all hell. The novelty may be wearing thin, but it’s still a blast. ($29 brand new!)

Paco’s verdict:
BioShock. C’mon, literally “Game of the Year” here folks. Honestly, for the few that haven’t played it, just give in. Storyline is out there, gameplay is first person shooter mixed with power, some unforgettable characters. I have gripes about the game at times, but really, it is a game to own. It came out seconds before the waves of Halo, Mario, CoD, Ratchet, etc all took the spotlight away, but just make sure you don’t forget about Bioshock. (You can get it for $44.99, but if you can pick it up used, do yourself a favor and do so right away)

Top Three Nintendo Wii Titles

Category: The Big Name “AAA” Title That if You Don’t Have, Buy Now

JW’s bestowal:
Game you may have heard: Super Mario Galaxy. Duh. ($37 at Target December 23 - December 29, 2007, MUST HAVE)

Paco’s trophy: Guitar Hero III. I played the Wii version, and it is perfect. If you have never played a Guitar Hero game before and want to know what the hype is about, give in and get the game, you will have fun and maybe even end up appreciating music a little more.

Category: The Underdog that Deserves Your Attention

JW’s honor: Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure. This should have been the Wii tech demo — you do everything with the damn Wiimote.

Paco’s accolade:
Now, I am not sure if this really counts as an underdog that the main public doesn’t know about, because the game is really a pack in, “Link’s Crossbow Training“, basically a gift when you buy a Wii zapper. However once I have played and beat it, I really felt I spent my cash on the $25 game and got a free zapper for my Wiimote (which I can’t wait to try that Resident Evil Umbrelicca Chronicles on).

Category: A Random Good Game

JW’s decree:
Trauma Center: New Blood. It mixes the blood and guts of cutting into someone with a scalpel, while still giving the kids an educational lesson on human anatomy.

Paco’s kudos: Wario Ware. I really had a chance to sink into this game just a week ago. I love it. There is so much to love, wacky characters each having their own side story/episodes that you do mini-games to help them achieve whatever goals. Plus extras as well. This is definitely a game to bring out when people are are partying at your house.



The big three really do have the best titles, but there are still other ways to game that come with their must haves and ‘best of’s for this past year, so to keep it simple, we both picked just the best games for these systems:

Playstation 2
JW: God of War II. It’s more of the same, which in this case is freaking epic.

Paco: Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am. Look… I haven’t played the game myself, but damn I want to, I don’t even think my Blockbuster rents PS2 games anymore


Nintendo DS
JW: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. If you weren’t one of those sissies who cried like babies when they saw The Wind Waker’s graphical style, then you’ll love this game. If you love Zelda at ALL, you’ll love this game.

Paco: Contra 4. One of the greatest classic side scrolling shooters ever made now on the DS. Why such a great idea took so long, I have no clue, but it works on the retro level and the shooter level as far as how good it delivers.

Sony PSP
JW: Sid Meier’s Pirates!: You may have forgotten this even came to the PSP in 2007, but sure enough Sid Meier’s remake of Pirates! did indeed come to the PSP back in January, and it was every bit as awesome as it was on the PC or Xbox.

Paco: Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters. I know this came out earlier in the year, but still definitely a canadite and winner in my eyes as the best of the best the PSP offered us this year that shouldn’t be forgotten.

For a good gesture toward the constantly growing downloadable games we offer these picks as well:

Nintendo Wii Virtual Console
JW: Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. If you never owned Super Mario All-Stars on the SNES, this is your chance to get the TRUE sequel to the original Super Mario Bros. (600 Wii Points)

Paco: Super Mario 64 - The Gamecube controller works awesome with this game. Even with Galaxy out, Mario 64 is still a contender in 3D platforming as being the ‘best of’ even if is just a rom you pay for. (1000 Wii Points)


Xbox Live Arcade
JW: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This is an arcade classic, and the first game to truly do the turtles justice. (400 MS Points)

Paco: Tetris Splash, Buy this game! 6 player Tetris action. I can’t stand behind the 360 d-pad, but it has yet to stop me from playing well over 13 hours of this game since I’ve bought it. (800 MS Points)

To end the list to end all year end lists, we go out on the category of which console is the best of 2007. A very hard decision with all three consoles having some ups and downs (red rings, too expensive, no games)…

JW picks…
Xbox 360. I know, I know — you’re probably thinking I’m being a fanboy because I write for the Xbox site. Well you know what? I am. But considering BioShock, Halo 3, Mass Effect, Crackdown, Blue Dragon, Project Gotham Racing 4, Forza 2… it was a good year for the box. ($350, comes with two games, hard drive, wireless controller, you are set)

Paco picks…
I have to go with JW on this one. Overall, the Xbox 360 just has the best titles. I love my Nintendo Wii, I wish I could afford a PS3, but neither has brought the best of the best in gaming like the 360 has. Now, I will say 2008 is looking to be another great year with gaming, so many publishers and developers switching around who they call boss, big name games that have been taking forever (GTAIV, Fable 2, Gran Turismo, Super Smash Bros), 2008 is going to be a year to look forward to. Still, with all that, the 360 I have to say is the system to be going into next year with, already having a huge backing library, the best online service, it has so much going for it that people (even myself) don’t complain too bad when the red rings hit them.