BBC in dodgy videogame end of year review shocker

[Concept]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4112377.stm

And I thought I was negative...

In my view, there have been tons of innovative games released this year. Even if we have been flooded with sequels, most of them were of high quality. Personally I'd say this has probably been the best year since 1998 for gaming.

What are your thoughts?

Has this year been hit or miss, and have the BBC completely gone wide of the mark yet again?

[Paul3704]

Credit to him, he did mention Katamari Damacry. Maybe he's just a bit jaded.

All gamers go through it at one point or another.

[Jakeway]

I don?t understand the point of that article. Seems more like a forum post than some thing BBC should stick on their web site.

[Concept]

I couldn't help but roll my eyes though when he said:

Sure, the graphics of Half-Life 2 are impressive, and the Halo 2 AI is remarkable, but where is the innovation in the play dynamics?

[mid]

Given that the Guardian last week criticised Edge for being 'elitist' in nominating import-only Katamari Damacy in its awards issue, it's interesting that the Beeb even mention it.

Still no sign of a PAL release; I'll have to pick up a US PS2 at some point.

[Concept]

Do so if you can, as it's utterly fantastic and completely has you under it's spell in no time at all. Even more so when you get used to the controls.

As far as I know, Namco intend to release the sequel in Europe.

[Chadruharazzeb]

It's increasingly obvious whoever writes for the BBC has no idea what he's talking about. They really do have some of the worst reviews I've seen outside of gamefaqs.

[Treble]

He goes, "Blah blah blah..nothing innovative..blah blah, oh and Already, Wario Ware Touched!, Yoshi's Touch & Go, Mr Driller: Drill Spirits, Metroid Prime: Hunters and Pac Pix are offering some new means of play".

Make up your mind, you goon. If anyone posted that opinion on this site, their argument would be torn to shreds in seconds.

[Concept]

I agree. It's a bare bones article which contradicts and generalises. The equivalent of a poorly written forum post.

An opinion is only an opinion, and I'm not berating the article for that. What I'm slightly baffled by is that it's supposed to be representative of the BBC's outlook on the year?

They've produced several absolutely glowing reviews for those games criticised in the piece which tends to contradict the overall stance that it's been a disappointing year.

[Bleeders]

Absolute toss.

Aside from trying to look "cool" name-dropping certain games that many probably haven't heard of before, the article serves as nothing other than to lament the key titles offering nothing "innovative".

What does the writer define as innovative?

IMO If ain't broke, don't fix it. It worked for Halo 2. It worked for Metroid Prime 2 Echoes. It also worked for Half-Life 2. The aforementioned games have evolved over their predecessors in one way or another, so why try to reinvent the wheel so to speak?

I thought a game like Sawaru! Made In Wario was innovative, but apparently contains the "same old menagerie of characters".

[Commander Marklar]

He goes, "Blah blah blah..nothing innovative..blah blah, oh and Already, Wario Ware Touched!, Yoshi's Touch & Go, Mr Driller: Drill Spirits, Metroid Prime: Hunters and Pac Pix are offering some new means of play".

Make up your mind, you goon. If anyone posted that opinion on this site, their argument would be torn to shreds in seconds.

That's terrible of you, Treb, and taken out of context. There's a direction in the article and the writer looks towards some new stuff on the market.

You're all guilty of it, taking little bits and complaining about it. Let's see you do better, 'cos the gist of the article is mostly correct and the writer has a point.

Handbags.

[Kron]

Its not a great article but personally I can't help feeling 2004 has been yet another victim of hype.

Reading through this forums very own reader awards has me questioning why something as uninspired as Halo 2 is so widely thought of as the game of the year. Maybe the year really has been that bad.

[Papercut]

some crap, taken out of context

are you joking?

[Treble]

Eh? It's just arse from start to finish: contradictory, too brief, full of generalisations...in short, like a badly written forum argument. If you like, i'll copy and paste it into here and criticise it sentence by sentence, but I didn't think it was necessary, it's that blatantly poor.

Why 'handbags'? Doesn't that imply petty retaliation using a weak argument? I (and most of the people on here) could write a better article with a more balanced appraisal. I'm not needlessly criticising or acting superior; it's just poorly written and far too brief.

[rjpageuk]

You're all guilty of it, taking little bits and complaining about it. Let's see you do better, 'cos the gist of the article is mostly correct and the writer has a point.

Indeed, I am quite shocked at the battering it got here.

I read through it without being incensed and its one of the first times thats ever happened reading a games article from somewhere like the BBC.

I thought a game like Sawaru! Made In Wario was innovative, but apparently contains the "same old menagerie of characters".

Thats completely unfair too, that game was picked out as an example of a game that seems to be offering "new means of play" according to the article, despite utilising familiar characters which is a fair enough point!

EDIT: I do agree the "article" reads more like a forum post and is just a collection of thoughts really so it seems strange the BBC have decided to display it in the way it has.