PS3: The Things You Need! Exclusive Edition

It has come to that time of the year that us gamers get a bit of a break and someone else buys the games we have missed over the past year for us. Seeing as how this year was one of the biggest since the launch of the PlayStation 3, I am writing a gift guide for those of you trying to remember what you missed over the past year, or for anyone that has a PlayStation 3 owner on their list of people to buy gifts for.

PlayStation 3 Exclusives:

I'm going to start this list of in the strongest way possible, and by strongest way possible I of course mean the one game that absolutely every PlayStation 3 owner should have, and that is Uncharted 2. Uncharted 2 should be the first thing on your list if you are a PlayStation 3 owner and don't already have it. The graphics are mind-blowing, gameplay is top-notch, and the online multiplayer rivals anything else on the system. This really is an all around great game and if you don't have it, you should.

Next up is a personal favorite of mine from earlier in the year and that is inFAMOUS. Around the beginning of the summer there were 3 open world games to come out around the same time those being, inFAMOUS, Red Faction: Guerilla, and Prototype. inFAMOUS, was definitely my favorite. The day it was released I went to my local retailer, bought the game, and then 15 hours later I was watching the ending credits and starting my second character, it's that good. If you are a fan of open world third person shooters, this is definitely a game for you.

Next up, for the murderous shooter in everyone I present to you Killzone 2. This game is being slightly overlooked due to its release in the first few months of 2009 but it is still very good and a very competent shooter. It has some of the best graphics on the system, a decent single player campaign, and very addictive online multiplayer. All-in-all it's a very good game.


Next up is my favorite game for the kid in everyone. Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack In Time. With spot on gameplay, competent shooting, and humor so corny you can't help but laugh/cringe at the same time, this game is innocent and childish enough for any kid, but difficult enough for any adult. It's like that Pixar movie you took your siblings to because "they wanted to go" but in all actuality, you really wanted to see. All joking aside though, this is a very good game and all age groups will get some enjoyment out of it.

Finally we are on to one of the most difficult yet rewarding games I have ever played and completely fallen in love with, and that is Demon's Souls. This game is so unforgiving I have argued that it should probably come with an extra controller for those of us out there that have a tendency to "drop" controllers with extreme force. In all seriousness though, this game is nothing like you have played in years, I can almost guarantee it. When was the last time you died in a game, and every bit of progress you made was erased? It's probably been a while, unless you have been playing games that don't have an auto-save feature. Don't let the difficulty deter you from playing this though. Just the online portion of this game is worth the price tag. I am absolutely positive it will have a lasting impression upon anyone that has played it and that you have never experienced the dread of having another playing invade your game with the sole purpose of killing you in cold blood for no other reason but to gain their life back....Or just to be a dick, either way, this game is absolutely phenomenal, and is definitely in my top 3 games of this year, if you already have Uncharted 2, this should absolutely be your next purchase, or the purchase for whoever is buying your games for Christmas.

That is the end of my PlayStation 3 exclusive buying guide....for now. I might think of something later and throw it in here. In the next day or two I will write up a PlayStation 3 multi-platform buying guide, though mostly anyone that is reading this can assume what a lot of those already are. Check back soon.

November 2009 NPD Numbers: Fanboys and Ignorance Edition

1 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360) - November 2009 - 4.2 million
2 - Wii Fit w/ Balance Board (Wii) - May 2008 - 3.5 million
3 - Wii Sports Resort w/ Wii Motion Plus (Wii)- July 2009 - 2.4 million
4 - Mario Kart Wii w/ Wheel (Wii) - April 2008 - 2.2 million
5 - Wii Play w/ Remote (Wii) - February 2007 - 2.1 million
6 - Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360) - September 2009 - 2 million
7 - Pokemon Platinum Version (DS) - March 2009 - 1.9 million
8 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PlayStation 3) - November 2009 - 1.9 million
9 - Madden NFL 10 - August 2009 (Xbox 360) - 1.5 million
10 - New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) - November 2009 - 1.4 million

There they are, not a huge shock that Modern Warfare 2 is on top, but look at all the Wii crap right below it. With the slight exception of Mario Kart, the rest of the Wii games on there are pretty much useless. Yeah yeah, a ton of people like Wii Sports Resort or whatever, but Wii Play and Wii Fit are both in the top 5, (we are talking 2 to 3 year old games here). With so many other good games out there, (real) gamers look at this list and cringe a little bit, (but what can you do)? I know I bought every game that I wanted in November, and a few surprised me when they were released. In the end its all numbers; to be frank, numbers like this are somewhat expected. Plus, around the holidays the NPD numbers get especially muddled due to parents and grandparents buying their kids games that they have no idea about themselves. Not everyone is as educated in gaming as the hardcore audience, and can't be expected to know what to buy.

Uncharted 2 "The Best"....(Around)

So anyone that pays attention to g4 already knows this but Adam Sessler has been quoted as saying the Uncharted 2 is the BEST single player experience he has ever played. Now, I was already hyped for this game, and it was my opinion it was the game of the show at E3 this year, but best single player experience....ever, I don't quite know how to take that. I mean, if you expect something to be the absolute best thing ever then there is only room for disappointment right? Well either way, I will be at my local gaming store at midnight to pick this up so I suppose we will just have to wait until then to see if this lives up to the hype it has been given, I surely hope it does, maybe I will play Joe Esposito's "You're the Best" while waiting in line.....probably not.

Halo ODST sales....expected?

Okay, so sales numbers on the first 24 hours of Halo ODST we released today....and it sold 2 million in the first 24 hours! That is rather ridiculous, yet somewhat expected, I mean, it is a Halo game right?

5 hours after Halo ODST's release.

Okay, this shouldn't be considered a review of the game, just a quick overview after spending a few hours with it. Having only played the game for about 4 hours after its midnight release, I have dabbled in the new campaign the new firefight mode, and played the new multiplayer maps. From what I can tell the campaign seems somewhat familiar yet with sense of something new thrown in the mix, if you were a fan of the Halo 3 campaign or even Halo 2 then you will find yourself at home in Halo ODST. The new multiplayer maps are exactly how they sound, new multiplayer maps, and of course the Heretic map from Halo 2, anyone that played Halo 2 online will instantly feel at home playing this map, I didn't know it by name, but the minute I was dropped into the map I instantly knew where I was and what I was doing, very nostalgic. Of course I have saved the firefight mode to speak about last, because this folks is where my biggest and most note worthy complaint comes in to play. Now firefight, is a ton of fun and getting a few of my friends to party up with me and play it was tons of fun, this is actually how I spent a lot of my time tonight simply playing through firefight. This is all well and good, until one of my friends decided that it was time for some sleep, at which time, no one in my friends list was online.... Which leads me to realize that there is no matchmaking for firefight mode, really? It seems almost unreal that Bungie would neglect to add matchmaking to a game mode that absolutely begs for it. Your friends aren't always on at the same time, and if they are it isn't always possible that they are all playing the same thing, or ever want to. I just done understand how Bungie whose popularity in the gaming world is mostly due to its online play, has left the online play out of the new mode which has been so widely talked about... Anyway, from what I can tell I will be spending more time with Halo ODST and will report back after finishing the campaign. Now, time for me to go find friends....that are online at 5am.....and want to play firefight....(look of confusion develops over my face)

Best Buy charging $130 to set up gaming consoles!

Okay, just ran across this at kotaku.com and just as they say, this should be illegal, check out the pic.

World of Warcraft Cataclysm announced!

The new World of Warcraft expansion was just announced with flying in old Azeroth two new class Worgen for the Alliance and Goblins for the Horde.....Warcraft players around the world rejoice.