Posts Tagged ‘Year’

23 Dec

Best of 2013: Top 10 Game Cases

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2013, Games, Lists. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , .

Bestof13_light

That’s right, it’s time for another round of aesthetic appreciation of the plastic and cardboard kind. 2013 saw the release of plenty of great games and some stellar box art to boot. This list counts down my ten favourite physical game cases of the year, decided based on factors such as uniqueness, originality and, as always, colour! While there were certainly a whole heap of download-exclusive games to get excited about in 2013 and there will continue to be, the future of the physical game case appears perhaps a little more secure in the short term than some naysayers would have you believe, predominantly due to factors like the obscene sales success of GTA V and the ridiculous download sizes of PS4 and Xbox One games. This makes me rather happy, because I love the art of game case presentation perhaps a little too much.

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VR BEST OF 2013 DISCLAIMER
This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s scary. Respectful disagreement is welcome.
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10. FIFA 14 (“next-gen”)

Case13_Fifa

EA Sports has a reputation of iterating on its annual releases, like FIFA, year after year, changing only a little each time. Even though this is only true of the mega-hit football series if you don’t actually play it yourself, few could have expected that the general experience of playing (and watching) FIFA 14 would improve so much in the transition from PS3 and Xbox 360 to PS4 / Xbox One. To get the message across that the next-gen equivalent of the game might be worth playing even if you already bought the last-gen version, the company made the smart marketing decision to abandon the predominantly white and red design of the last half-dozen years in favour of a darker colour palette, a player close-up rather than an action shot and a new yellow logo. The Madden and NBA Live series followed suit to give the feel of a clean, fresh virtual sporting experience. I’m a big fan of the change.

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21 Dec

Best of 2013: Top 10 Disappointments

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2013, Lists. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

Bestof13_light

Let’s kick off a new year of way-too-convenient summary lists by getting the bad stuff out of the way. I like to think of myself as an optimistic person, content to look on the bright side of things most of the time, and this is more true in the case of popular media than anything else. Some say I am easily impressed and I will admit that it takes a lot for me to be genuinely disappointed by something. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Across movies, music and videogames, what follows are the ten 2013 situations that gave me most cause to be disappointed. They cover deflating news stories, poor quality of products relative to expectations and relevant situations in general. While I doubt I’m alone with some of these, the list is still, naturally, quite personal.

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VR BEST OF 2013 DISCLAIMER
This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s scary. Respectful disagreement is welcome.
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10. Rayman Legends was delayed to be spread out

Rayman Legends ended up being one of my absolute favourite games of the year, and quite possibly my favourite 2D platformer ever, when it was released this September on PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii U and PS Vita. However, it was originally slated to be released in February as a very exciting Wii U exclusive. Set to be a strong argument for picking up a Wii U early in the console’s life, it was unceremoniously delayed by seven months so that versions could be developed for other platforms. While I’m all for seeing more people have access to the truly stunning game, the game was for all intents and purposes ready to ship in February on Wii U so the delay showed the cold and ugly side of modern videogame business. And as a Nintendo fan, I was crushed.

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20 Dec

Best of 2013 Intro

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2013. Tagged: , , , , , .

Bestof13_light

Things have certainly worked out well timing-wise, because this is my 100th blog post for 2013 alone on Vagrant Rant. Hitting that number was one of my new year’s resolutions and to actually keep one of those is huge for me personally. It was only possible thanks to an amazing week of guest posts back in April, an entire month of Zelda countdowns in September and the beginning of a games-and-movies podcast called the Mega Ultra Blast Cast with two of my closest friends, something I had been wanting to do for a very long time. So I have a lot of people to thank, not least of which is you, dear reader, for coming back to this blog and reading my posts! Now let’s do some top tens.

2013 was a truly amazing year for all types of videogames and a wonderful year for film. It was also the first full year I was listening to Korean popular music. The ten (mostly) Top 10 lists that follow reflect my personal experience with these three entertainment mediums. The make-up of the ten lists has changed somewhat, as this year I’ve swapped out three of my 2012 lists (Top 10 Songs, Top 5 Albums and Top 10 Annoying Videogame Experiences) for some different material. Otherwise things will be pretty similar. The first list will appear here in around 24 hours and let’s just say I’m getting the negative stuff out of the way first.

I hope to see you back here then! In the meantime, why not revisit the best of 2012 to remind yourself just how far you’ve come in 12 months?

23 Feb

The Playstation Vita: One Year On

Posted by vagrantesque in Console, PS Vita. Tagged: , , , , .

Two posts today, methinks.

It’s hard to believe that it has already been one full year since the launch of Sony’s latest and greatest dedicated gaming handheld, the Playstation Vita. 366 days ago I was quivering with excitement at the thought of a shiny new piece of tech and, aside from hours worth of initial setup, I was not disappointed. You can read my day one impressions of the system here and my first month impressions here.

Now wouldn’t it be nice if I could write a lovely piece about all the ways the system has moved ahead in leaps and bounds since launch, building on its rather strong start to etch out an authoritative corner of the gaming space, in doing so announcing itself as a must-have piece of hardware?

Yes, yes it would. However, this simply isn’t the case.

Apt.

Don’t get me wrong, I adore my Playstation Vita and in the last two months, I haven’t played any other console nearly as much. This is mostly due to the excellent Persona 4 Golden, which I am very nearly finished and very nearly ready to review, but I digress. Aside from that Atlus gem, there has been precious little gaming content to write home about. To put things into perspective, though the Vita did have a very compelling launch lineup, in the space of a year the amount of Vita-specific games you can buy for your handheld has barely doubled. There are some worthwhile titles there, such as Gravity Rush, Assassin’s Creed Liberation and LittleBigPlanet, but outside of games you can also buy on your PS3 the list doesn’t go on much farther than that.

This isn’t the last you’ll hear from me about the Vita for the conceivable future, as I’m thinking of doing a comparison article with the 3DS for the benefit of people trying to toss up which system to get. But as for a standalone anniversary article, there just isn’t enough content to fill one out, sadly. Happy first birthday Vita. I hope by the time we get to your second there will be a lot more to celebrate.

30 Dec

Best of 2012 Closer

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2012, Lists. Tagged: , , .

YouLoveIt

This is it, the last day of 2012 (in Australian time at least – stupid WordPress date numbering system). It has been a pretty awesome year for me personally and a pretty important factor has been the support my first ever blogging attempt has received, both from my friends and from people I’ve never met before, through Facebook, Twitter, the WordPress community and beyond. I am truly grateful to you all. 78 posts in 12 months! Woooo!

If you missed any of my top ten top tens of 2012, here are some conveniently arranged links for you!
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1. Top 10 Game Cases

2. Top 10 Movie Characters

3. Top 15 K-Pop Singles

4. Top 10 Annoying Videogame Experiences

5. Top 10 Songs

6. Top 10 Movie Scenes

7. Top 10 Gaming Moments

8. Top 5 Albums

9. Top 10 Games

10. Top 10 Movies

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

29 Dec

Best of 2012: Top 10 Movies

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2012, Lists, Movies. Tagged: , , , , .

YouLoveIt

Somehow we arrive at the end of ten days of top ten lists, one hundred “things” in all. This is the last one; the ten absolute best movies I have seen this year. It was a fantastic year for the big screen, as while there were plenty of indie efforts worth writing home about, many of the blockbusters really stepped up their game in a big way. The unexpected, record-smashing success of one film in particular may have altered the way big studios think about their intellectual properties and release schedules for good.

I don’t profess to having seen all the movies that came out in 2012; heck, I didn’t even see all the movies I wanted to see in 2012. But I did see more than enough of them to make this list a tough one to put together. One thing I noticed about the list after I had finally decided on an order is how weird it looks to see so many movies on it that came out in the first two months of the year; that was so long ago it almost feels like they didn’t release this year at all. The odd thing about living in Australia is that we usually only get movies released late in any given year Stateside early in the next one, which means the majority of movie websites on the internet would have already discussed some of these big screen gems 12 months ago. But I’ll take what I’m given and I was given a lot of good movies in 2012.

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VR BEST OF 2012 DISCLAIMER
This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s scary. You have been warned, fanboys.
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10. Hugo

The golden world of Hugo won much attention during last year’s award season for its brilliantly understated use of 3D (look how far we’ve come in 12 months – where is the talk of 3D now?), but that isn’t what made it stand out. Hugo is a heartfelt story appropriate for all ages and its affection for Hollywood’s early history is palpable, particularly in the second half of the story. The sentiment never comes off as cheesy, which could easily have been the case, and the whole film is all the more remarkable given it was directed by gangster film veteran Martin Scorcese.

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28 Dec

Best of 2012: Top 10 Games

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2012, Games, Lists. Tagged: , , , , .

YouLoveIt

This is where things get serious. It’s the home stretch of my top ten lists covering 2012’s finest entertainment media.

Of all the lists I put together in my head for posting on Vagrant Rant, this one was the least clear-cut. Partially due to the motivation of having a blog to write, I finished more games in 2012 than I have in any calendar year before, which gave me a pretty sizeable pool of experiences from which to draw. Ordering them was a real headache. Seriously, I adore every one of the games in the “Honorable Mentions” section at the bottom of this page and it’s hard to believe I had to cut any of them. Of course, there were some critical and commercial gems I didn’t play at all in 2012, which is a bit of a shame. Sorry, Farcry 3, Mass Effect 3 and Journey.

Unlike when I review a game, I decided not to let the fact that I haven’t finished a certain title stop me from including it on the list. This is ultimately a list of games I enjoyed playing this year, after all. However, to make the list a little fairer, at least in theory, I decided to disqualify any game I haven’t played for at least five hours of game time. That gets rid of some truly high-quality 2012 titles, most notably Uncharted: Golden Abyss, New Super Mario Bros U, Dishonored, Paper Mario Sticker Star and, yes, Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Regardless, it does mean that I’ve had at least a half-decent look at everything you’re about to read about.

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VR BEST OF 2012 DISCLAIMER
This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s scary. You have been warned, fanboys.
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10. Kid Icarus: Uprising

Uprising was fighting it out with Mario Tennis Open for this spot on the list, but despite all the multiplayer fun I had with the latter, it was just too hard to discount the entire package that the latest Kid Icarus title offered 3DS owners in 2012. Combining some of the best graphics and craziest stereocopic 3D available on the portable with a clever difficulty system, addictive multiplayer and a host of content aproaching Smash Bros levels of ridiculousness, Kid Icarus: Uprising is a marvelous game, even if its controls take some getting used to.

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27 Dec

Best of 2012: Top 5 Albums

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2012, Lists, Music. Tagged: , , , , .

YouLoveIt

As I mentioned before in my fifth 2012 top ten list, I haven’t enjoyed as much musical variety in 2012 as I would have thought I might at the beginning of the year. That’s as much a testament to life’s unpredictability as anything, to be sure (I mean, K-Pop? Where did that come from?), but it doesn’t mean I didn’t spin some awesome records in 2012. All five of the following albums are quality releases and they each now hold a special place in my heart. And no, I’m not just saying that; these albums are good.

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VR BEST OF 2012 DISCLAIMER
This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s scary. You have been warned, fanboys.
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5. Born to Die – Lana del Rey

One of the first major releases of the year, Born to Die rocketed chart debutant Lana del Rey to stardom with a powerful set of songs making more than decent use of her fantastically versatile vocal ability. From the opening note of the title track, a rollercoaster ride of emotions punctuated by the occasional goosebump is in store for the listener. Del Rey oozes ice-cold confidence like she’s been in the business for decades, which is particularly apparent on the smoky Million Dollar Man. Lyrically she moves from wistful (Video Games) to cocky (National Anthem) and back again, her voice always at the forefront of the sum of each track’s parts. Born to Die is enagaging from start to finish.
FULL REVIEW: HERE

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26 Dec

Best of 2012: Top 10 Gaming Moments

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2012, Games, Lists. Tagged: , , , , , .

YouLoveIt

Just as there were plenty of segments within movies that stood out in the memory throughout 2012, the videogames of the year provided their own set of unforgettable moments. Many of these were related to the experience of playing around with game mechanics, and thus are both personal to me and by nature spoiler-free. However, there were also plenty of story-related moments that shook me much like a film scene might, so read this list with care.

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VR BEST OF 2012 DISCLAIMER
This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s scary. You have been warned, fanboys.
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Spoilers

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10. Third Gym – Pokemon White Version 2

The first Gym in Pokemon White Version 2 is deliberately pretty vanilla and the music is identical to that of all the Gyms in White 1. The second Gym shows you in no uncertain terms that the music will not be staying the same from Gym to Gym this time around, but it isn’t until the third that the potential of such an idea really hits home. A string of creepy malformed chords greet your ears, sounding like cicadas dipped in LSD, and the visuals match the audio perfectly. Stringy cocoons litter the dusty building interior, leading up to a mega cocoon housing a psychedelic rainbow paint pool and the Gym leader. Trippy and awesome.

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25 Dec

Best of 2012: Top 10 Movie Scenes

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2012, Lists, Movies. Tagged: , , , , , , .

YouLoveIt

There’s nothing like a great film scene. When you’re sitting in the theatre and something happens onscreen to make you lean forward in your seat, or sit bolt upright, or cower into a fetal position, that’s what going to the movies is all about. In 2012, I experienced quite a few of those moments. Here they are, arranged in convenient order for your reading pleasure. Please note that while I won’t be going out of my way to include spoilers, the very fact that I am talking about impactful scenes within movies should suggest the kind of caution with which you might want to approach this list.

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VR BEST OF 2012 DISCLAIMER
This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s scary. You have been warned, fanboys.
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Spoilers

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10. Sky Ball – Chronicle

Chronicle is a film with some pretty dark interpretations of the age-old “What would it be like if normal teenagers actually got superpowers?” question. Yet the most memorable scene of the movie for me was the joyous initial expression of physical freedom in which the three main characters engage soon after recieving their new telekinetic abilities. Once they learn to levitate themselves, the wonders of flight are shown in all their shackle-less glory through a wonderfully shot sequence culminating in a sky-high game of catch. It really feels like you’re there, thanks to the film’s “found footage” gimmick.

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