It’s been only a few days since I mentioned how much I’ve always cared for Football Manager (even though it doesn’t know I exist… sigh!), but it seems I failed to mention I was actually referring to the PC version of the game. This post on the other hand is quite definitely about the Sony PSP reimagining of the game and, should you’ve failed to notice so far, the PSP lacks both a proper monitor and a mouse. It is, you see, what we specialists tend to call a handheld gaming device. And handheld gaming devices aren’t the platform of choice for deep strategic football related thinking.

Then again, one has to admit that Sports Interactive definitely know their thing and even seem to grasp the annoying particularities of handheld gaming. I could even argue that Football Manager Handheld 2008 is not only the best football management game ever on any handheld , but also on par with -personal favorite- Championship Manager 97/98. Still, truth be said, FM ‘08 it’s not.

If you are fine with the lack of a few features and the 2D match engine though, the slightly simplified gameplay, excellent matches, elegant interface and portability of the thing will make sure you’ll have a blast. Provided of course you care for football in the first place, that is. Oh, and being a regular train/tube/tram rider might help too.

Imagine yourself stranded on a tiny salty island of the Pacific with nobody to talk to, no access to the Internet, no way to communicate with the rest of mankind, no pizza delivery, nothing but a super-computer-console emulator thingy that could play each and every game ever. Now, imagine you weren’t an anti-social sociopath. Wouldn’t that be dreadful? Of course it would. You’d hate the place.

Anyway. Having established the setting, would you now be so kind and imagine you were foresighted enough to have brought ten of your dearest games with you so as to, you know, sort of ease the pain of boredom? Great! What would them games be? Too shy to speak, huh? Well, suit yourself dear reader, but here are my Desert Island Disks (CDs/DVDs too), all selected for their endurance.

Sid Meier’s Civilization IV

Not as groundbreaking as its esteemed grandfather, I’ll give you that, but definitely the pinnacle of the ever-evolving Civ series and a game I believe I could play forever. Well, almost. Still, trying to beat it at the toughest setting, experimenting with a variety of tactics, playing the tons of available scenarios (random or not), reflecting on human progress and living out megalomaniac fantasies should be both highly enjoyable and appropriately time consuming. Even in solitude and without multiplayer. Then, should the rescuers really take their time, there’s the excellent editor/modding tools to get creative with.

Elite Plus

Elite was huge, brilliant and a smash hit that all but dominated the home computing scene. It sported gazillions of planets to visit and/or exploit, the option to play anything from a space-pirate to a bounty hounter to a lawful trader and more importantly provided with some rare opportunities at daydreaming. Shockingly, this amazing space-sim-opera of a game hasn’t aged a day. Well, ok, a day. Elite Plus updated the graphics to glorious 16-bit quality and is thus the marginally better game.

Day of the Tentacle

Adventures, most probably my favorite genre, are unfortunately ill-suited for the desert island environment, what with their total lack of replayability. A shame, for Monkey Island would have been so appropriate. Thankfully, though, it’s been over 10 years since I last touched Day of the Tentacle and I’m bound to have forgotten most of the puzzles. Besides, there’s the full version of Maniac Mansion -one of the few Lucasarts games I have never finished- included as a game within a game. Oh, and as far as adventure games go, this is one of the best. Tim Schafer designed it you know.

Football Manager (any version)

Unless you have actually played Football Manager (or Championship Manager as they used to call it before them corporate people got it all mixed up) you just can’t understand the sheer brilliance of this coach/manager sim. It’s the only game that, while being as utterly realistic as it is, can keep you up till 6 o’ clock in the morning chain-smoking yourself to the next division. Or the Championship League finals. If you love football, you’ll love FM. I for one definitely do.

TES IV: Oblivion

This massive first person CRPG that might be slightly shorter than its predecessor, but also manages to offer a more focused story, better graphics, improved AI, more elaborate side-quests and a way more believable world, would be my RPG of choice for the island. Not that it’s so much better than KOTOR or Fallout 2, mind you. It’s just that I’m such a lover of huge fully 3D worlds I can’t resist it. Besides, I usually treat it as a virtual DM and feel like doing some proper role-playing.

…… Stay tuned for Part Two …… Well, here it is!

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, though no Starcraft , admittedly offers a great and immensely addictive if not particularly original RTS gaming experience, complete with classic game mechanics and a gloriously tacky storyline. Happily, things will soon get better, more innovative, bloodier and -yes- even tackier with Kane’s Wrath. Well, Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath to be exact, that will apparently be the expansion C&C has been waiting for and a (probably) lovely strategic offering that should be hitting both PCs and Xbox 360s sometime before this Summer.

Interestingly, the game will be adding a Risk-like strategic level (soon to be known as Global Conquest Mode) to the RTS proceedings, which will incidentally break the linear structure of the single player campaign and finally challenge the players’ turn-based, more strategic, gaming skills too. Then again, besides the added fun of moving armies around a digital board, more of Kane should be all you care for and obviously you’ll be getting that in abundance. Oh, and the thing will be a looker too.

Here are some glorious new screenshots to get you impressed and waiting:

Mario. A fat stereotypical Italian plumber with a silly voice and a questionable mustache, and he’s the most recognizable video game character in history? Oh, dear dear… The critics love him, kids love him, middle-agers love him, the ladies love him and apparently even them Sony fanboys do so. Shocking, I know. It’s as if 3000 years of literature were represented by Harry Potter. As if Mario were more important than Miner Willy, Guybrush Threepwood or -gods forbid- Sonic the Hedgehog.

Well, apparently he is. It’s true. The masses say so. Don’t take me wrong, I don’t like this any more than anyone grown with bedroom coded games would, but Mario and Nintendo have all but defined video gaming. Well, to a degree that is, though happily less so in Europe.

Then again, I must admit I’ve enjoyed the odd Mario game myself. Super Mario Land on the Game Boy and a tiny slice of Super Mario World on the SNES are fondly remembered gaming moments, though nothing more. They were fun alright, well-presented, excellently balanced and properly surreal, but definitely on the simple side of things. These games just couldn’t compare to Civilization, Wing Commander, Lemmings or the average adventure of the era.


When the Wii and its Virtual Console introduced me to Super Mario 64, on the other hand, I was thoroughly impressed. It was deep, varied and roughly as good as every reviewer ever claimed it would be. Even the 3D Mario looked passable. Still, I never got around to actually finishing the game, though I did manage to hype myself up for Mario’s premiere Wii outting: Super Mario Galaxy. I grabbed the thing as soon as it hit the shelves, which must be the first time I actually commited such a horribly consumerist atrocity, and thankfully I haven’t regretted it yet.

Super Mario Galaxy, you see, is a great game indeed. Probably not the absolute masterpiece hundreds of reviewers claim it to be, but a great game nonetheless. Even for me and my grumpy old fashioned standards and despite its assortment of flaws. It might make me feel weird to admit so, but I can easily forgive its typically irritating story for the lush visuals, subtle innovation and those few hours of sheer video gaming joy. Actually, make that sheer ridiculously varied video gaming joy, as SMG has you platforming the one moment and racing on water the next only to end up solving arcadey puzzles or fighting bosses. Then there’s jumping from planet to planet, playing with gravity, doing something not unlike the thing Monkey Ball monkeys do, shooting stuff with the Wiimote or even flying around in a bee costume and that’s only the tip of the Galaxy iceberg. Trust me, you’ll never get bored. You might instead feel like asking for some slightly bigger levels.

Now, truth be said, enjoyable as it is, I haven’t finished the game yet, though I still tend to dip-in dip-out for short bursts of lovely fun. Oh, and that -still not very likeable- Mario bloke sure hasn’t overstayed his welcome. After all, Super Mario Galaxy is the most impressive game to help you show off your Wii, both in terms of graphics and pure hardcore gaming.

It’s true, Microsoft told everyone. 17,700,000. Really, though, why should we care? Why does Microsoft bother telling us its console is selling in the millions? To prove the success of the thing or just to irritate Sony? To demonstrate Japan its folly? Is this thing part of an advertising campaign? Is it just a way to keep them fanboys from abandoning the forums and turning the Internet into a slightly better place? I mean, as most of us probably aren’t MS stock-holders and definitely wouldn’t want to go around chatting with each and every of the 17.7 million Xbox 360 owners, that’s quite a bit of useless info. Exactly as uninteresting as the number of Wii consoles that have been shipped. Or the unimpressive PS3 sales. Or the fact that people actually think there’s a console war.

Pointless stuff. As far as video gaming is concerned it’s not the numbers that count. Well, not for me at least. I thoroughly enjoyed -and frankly still enjoy- the Dreamcast and it didn’t sell half us much as the PS3, while Beyond Good and Evil is still a million times better a game than the million selling Halo 2. No, it definitely isn’t numbers. It’s quality, flair, beauty, horror and originality. Artistry if you will. Trouble is that numbers usually go against it. When talent and care are lacking, advertising money makes the difference, and when people start caring for the well-being of this or that game producing corporation, well, frankly that’s all for the worse.

So, yes, there are 17.7 millions of Xbox 360 consoles around, but do you care?

</short rant off>

Well, for 2007 at least and as far as racing games go, it definitely is. It’s got the awards to prove it too, and if I may say so myself Race Driver: Create & Race deserves every accolade our happy gaming community cares to grace it with. The game, you see, gives Nintendo DS gamers a rare chance to race 20 of the fastest cars on the planet on 30 suitably official race circuits; presumably while sitting in a bus.

But what is it that makes the game worthy of such praise? The addictive gameplay, fluid drive mechanics, excellent on-line multiplayer mode and impressive (for DS standards) graphics do quite a bit to help. What really sets Race Driver: Create & Race aside, though, is the intuitive track designer. Simply grab the stylus, design the track you fancy, race on it and even share it with your (imaginary or not) friends. Yes, apparently even third-party software can put the unique bits of the DS to great use.

Oh, and the award Race Driver won (by IGN no less) is Best DS Driving/Racing game of 2007. The game also was a runner-up in the Best Graphics Technology and Best Online Multi-Player Game categories.

I’m not quite sure if the recent adventure game invasion of the consoles (think Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaro’s Treasure or Hotel Dusk: Room 215), Telltale’s mainstream success or the dozens of point-and-clickers released during 2007 signal a genre renaissance, but I’m absolutely certain that Sam & Max Season One would be my top 2007 pick, should anyone care to ask. Six episodes, hours of great humor, innovative puzzles, beautiful cartoon graphics, absurd songs, a genuine point-and-click experience in the Lucasarts tradition and an impressive attention to detail was all I could ever ask for.

Well, almost. A brand new Ron Gilbert game wouldn’t be that bad either, but for the time being the recently released Sam & Max: Season One box set will suffice. For me, that is. Well, for you too I guess. Provided of course you haven’t played through all of the episodes already or haven’t bought the season directly from Telltale. Not hating adventures would probably be nice too. Other than that, having all of the episodes on one disc accompanied by a selection of brilliant extras such as behind the scenes videos, concept art, wallpapers and trailers should be the pinnacle of your adventure game purchases of the past decade.

As for those of you, oh wise and beautiful readers, that haven’t heard of neither Sam nor Max, let me just say they are but a psychotic duo consisting of a dog in man’s clothes and an unashamedly naked lagomorph embarking on surreal quests. They also happen to call themselves the Freelance Police, enjoy being pointlessly violent, savor their odd sarcastic moment and have even starred in their very own, very retro Lucasarts classic.

For the rest of you, the S&M loving masses, I’ll just point out that each and every episode of Season 1 is on par with Hit the Road (only shorter and in glorious 3D) with episode 5 being the only notable exception. It’s better and even manages to pay homage to them forgotten text adventures. Yes, it’s that good.

I could have named this post The top 10 Xbox 360 and Live Arcade games, you know, but I can’t say I’m fond of this “top” thing. Actually, I usually hate it. I mean, what’s the point? How can somebody objectively prove that Call of Duty 2 is better than Viva Pinata? See what I mean? No? Well, that’s what the comments section is all about. This post, on the other hand, is all about the tens of Xbox 360 games I consider excellent, fun, beautiful and/or innovative, and though they have all been rated pretty highly by most reviewers, these lists have no claim to objectivity. Good taste, you see, is both more important and above objectivity…

10 excellent Xbox 360 games
- Bioshock
- The Orange Box
- Gears of War
- Mass Effect
- HALO 3
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
- Guitar Hero III
- Viva Pinata
- Project Gotham Racing 4

10 excellent Live Arcade games
- Sensible World of Soccer
- Pac-Man Championship edition
- Carcassone
- Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
- Bomberman Live
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
- Catan
- Wik - The Fable of Souls
- Smash TV
- Jetpac Refueled