Hello faithful readers, and welcome to the 2006 edition of the WOGgies, where I’ll be handing out stylish yet non-existent awards to some very deserving video games and video-game related, err… things. The fun and festivities commence after the jump!

XBOX360 Game of the Year – Gears of War

Who knew that when the ancient Sumerians created Wolfenstein 3D, they were opening up the floodgates for such a massive surge of First Person Shooters? Some have been good, some have been awful, and a select few have been so awe-inspiring that they’re hailed as the best thing to happen to the genre. Gears of War is one such game. GoW benefits from the 360’s next-gen processing power, giving us absolutely stunning visuals. Thankfully, controls are top notch as well, and the enemy AI is challenging. Truly one of the best FPS’s in a long time.

Nintendo Wii Game of the Year – Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Honestly, this is a speculative guess, as I’ve not had the opportunity to play any Wii games yet. But picking Twilight Princess is a no-brainer, because the Zelda series has always been one of Nintendo’s shining stars.

Playstation 3 Game of the Year – Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

It’s the same story with the Wii – I don’t have a PS3, so this is a guess. Having seen gameplay footage of this game, though, it looks pretty awesome. Besides, it’s the X-Men Legends formula, just with the rest of the Marvel Universe! How’s that for a fanboy’s wet dream?

Playstation 2 Game of the Year – Final Fantasy XII

If you’ve already read my review of this game here at WotG, you already know how great I think the newest installment in the FF franchise is. To sum things up, FFXII fixed nearly everything that was becoming stale in the Final Fantasy series. The new battle system was an absolute joy, the technical aspects of the game were top notch, and it was just plain fun. If this is going to be one of the games that sends the good ol’ PS2 riding off into the sunset, it couldn’t go in a better way.

Portable Game of the Year – New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo DS)

For old timers like me, NSMB was a great stroll down memory lane. I’ve always thought that Mario was at his best in the side-scrollers, and this game reminded me why. The gameplay felt instantly familiar, but offered a few new techniques to make traversing through the multiple and beautifully designed worlds a refreshing experience. To top it off, the game also features around a dozen mini-games that are very fun to play.

Before we get to the grand prize, though, I’ve gotta hand out a couple “stinker” awards.

Craptacular Home Console Game of the Year – Kingdom Hearts 2 (PS2)

Put your pitchforks down, folks — remember, this list is just my opinion, so no need to take it seriously. When I say Kingdom Hearts 2 was bad, I don’t mean that it looked horrible, or the gameplay was broken, or anything technical like that. I consider a game to be truly bad when it’s expected to be great, but fails to deliver in so many areas. KH2 was hyped as the second coming of Jesus, but it felt more like a pesky Jehovah’s witness.

Now, to address why it was such a letdown. Firstly, it just wasn’t any fun. The worlds that you travel too, while graphically passable, were empty and devoid of life. I mean, does nobody at all live in Agrabah? Or Port Royal? Or China? And why does the Chinese Army consist of five soldiers and one commander? The gameplay is repetitive — hack at the enemies until they’re dead. Aside from your cure spells, magic is useless in this game, as well as your summoned creatures and Overdrive forms. And lastly, well over more than half of the “game” consists of boring cut-scenes. The first time I played through, I beat the game in 40 hours. The second time through, after skipping each scene, and this time going through on the “difficult” level, it took a mere 12 hours to complete.

The first Kingdom Hearts was an unusual but very entertaining action/rpg that told a simple but well-versed story. KH2, on the other hand, is a piss-poor hackfest with an overly-complicated story and far too much underage homo-erotic content.

Also, whoever decided to include the “Little Mermaid” section needs a good curb-stomping.
Craptacular Handheld Game of the Year – Mario Hoops 3 on 3 (Nintendo DS)

Again, the horribleness of this game is based on what was expected of it, and what we actually got. Everything leading up to the release of Mario Hoops made me believe that it would be a fun, NBA Jam arcade-style game. And for a while, it was. As you start off in the lower ranks, you’ll easily outscore your opponents. I mean, as there is no challenge whatsoever. However, once you get into the upper ranks, the game suddenly cranks the difficulty up to 11. Your opponents suddenly start playing perfectly choreographed defense, double-teaming you, playing flawless zone, and scoring at will. Meanwhile, your two computer-assisted teammates are off picking their noses. Or each other’s noses, it really doesn’t matter. That’s the glaring flaw in this game — your teammates are worthless. They make no effort whatsoever to position themselves in scoring positions, nor do they help you on defense. Opposing players will run right by them as they stand still. Lastly, the stylus controls are awful. Many times you’ll end up shooting the ball (and on another mini-tangent, you never hit outside shots — you always have to dunk to get points) when you want to pass, and vice-versa. Why the heck Nintendo would outsource their main cash cow (Square-Enix developed this game — it shows they have no experience in sports games) is beyond me, but they really dropped the ball with this sad excuse for a game.

Now, on to the Big 2.

Best New Console of the Year – Sony Playstation 3

Just in terms of processing power, the PS3 blows the XBox360 and the Wii out of the water, and that’s why it wins the Best New Console award.� In a year or two, when developers have had time to figure out what this beast can do, you’ll see some insanely good games.� While the 360 has a much better selection of games at the moment, this award isn’t about the games.� The Wii, as much as I love Nintendo, just feels far too gimmicky to keep up with Sony and Microsoft down the road.� The fact that, in terms of processing power, it’s little more than a Gamecube hurts its longevity as well.� While all three home consoles are good, Sony’s behemoth takes the cake for its power, its ability to play Blu-Ray, and Sony’s proven track record.

A silver medal goes to Nintendo’s DS Lite, while technically not a “new” system this year, is still a great little handheld gaming device.

Game of the Year – Final Fantasy XII

I’ve already reviewed this game at length, expanded upon it further a few paragraphs ago, and now I have to write about it again?� The good thing is that whenever I think about this game, I always remember something else that I greatly enjoy about it.� Stunning visuals, revitalized gameplay, and just all-around greatness make Square-Enix’s epic truly deserving of the Game of the Year WOGgie.

And there you have it.� These awards and opinions are solely mine, and do not reflect the views or opinions of the rest of the Way of the Geek staff (except for Chippy the Wonder Squirrel).� I’m pretty sure some of you will really disagree with what I’ve said… and that’s why there’s a comment feature to this site!� If you’d like to sound off about my insane babble, or list your own favorites for this past revolution ’round the sun, you know what to do!

If you liked that, try...

1. Comic Rundown: A Dead New Year
2. Comic Rundown: A Besieged New Year