Top 50 Moments of 2007

Indelible — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:10:01 GMT

Next Generation are featuring an article outlining the Top 50 Moments of 2007, which features not only gaming titles that emerged but also general events.

Featured in the Top 50 are such things as:

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade - 2.4m First Day

The news that something as unassuming as a PC game expansion pack could absolutely annihilate day one sales records was a testament to how huge and entrenched World of Warcraft remains in the gaming community. This event mostly stands as a marker of that immense success, however—though it may have lit a renewed fire under the continuing MMORPG gold rush, it was already clear that WoW’s popularity was a difficult thing to replicate.

Starcraft 2 - The Announcement

Dozens of games were announced this year, and while many of them will or have since become very good releases, the sheer number of them makes them so pedestrian as to not really rate on a top 50 list of “news”. StarCraft II is a massive exception to that rule. After all, it’s not often that a product announcement has filled a Korean stadium to capacity. Did everyone know this game would come eventually? Of course, but that doesn’t make this reveal any less exciting to the huge international community devoted to its decade-old predecessor.

UK Government - Getting on the Game Reviewing Boat...ish

A full government review of the benefits and detriments of gaming has never been attempted in America, but the UK is currently in the midst of giving such an analysis a go. It’s far from complete—the report is due from psychologist Dr. Tanya Byron in March. When Parliament does get that analysis, the findings therein may vindicate the medium as the nurturing playground of young minds. On the other hand, it could also reveal that games are heinous murder simulators that make kids fat (there could also be some sort of boring and levelheaded analysis that finds some middle ground). The chance that the report will lead to government regulation looms large.

And the biggest news that created shock and horror and euphoria and almost all other emotions at the same time...

Activenditard - Vivendi Games and Activision merge to form Activision Blizzard (but my name sounds way cooler).

This is about as big as news can get in this industry: an $18.9 billion dollar merger between two of gaming’s largest publishers. It’s a sea change in the landscape of games publishing, and while it’s still much too early to tell how Activision Blizzard will shape the future of the field, rest assured: these changes will be sweeping and palpable. One can’t help but feel reading this story that the big industry mergers are far from over.

You can read the full list of shock-horros here.

2007 Golden Joystick Awards

Kody — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 06:55:15 GMT

The 25th annual Golden Joystick Awards have announced the finalists for all categories. There are many MMOG's present across multiple categories, so if you want to help your favorite MMO win an award then all you have to do is visit the Golden Joystick Awards vote page and cast your vote!

Nominees include:

Age of Conan

The One to Watch

EVE Online: Revelations

Online Game of The Year
PC Game of The Year
Ultimate Game of The Year

EverQuest II: Echoes of Faydwer

The Nuts All Nighter Award
Online Game of The Year
PC Game of The Year
Ultimate Game of The Year

Guild Wars: Nightfall

The Nuts All Nighter Award
Online Game of The Year
PC Game of The Year
Ultimate Game of The Year

Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar

The Nuts All Nighter Award
Online Game of The Year
PC Game of The Year
Ultimate Game of The Year

Tabula Rasa

The One to Watch

Vanguard: Saga of Heroes

The Nuts All Nighter Award
Online Game of The Year
PC Game of The Year
Ultimate Game of The Year

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

The One to Watch

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

The Nuts All Nighter Award
Online Game of The Year
PC Game of The Year
BBC 1Xtra & Rampage Soundtrack Award
Ultimate Game of The Year

Other : 2007

Top 50 Moments of 2007

2007 Golden Joystick Awards