It is actually really difficult to try to sum up this year in one article. We’ve have had too many ups and downs for me to try and keep count. There have been many, many hype train trips and honestly, most of them regrettable. We’ve seen mobile gaming do things that hollywood joked about when talking about the futuristic “20XX”. And we’ve seen the birth of arguably the most popular e-sports game of our lifetimes. But out of all of the things that have happened this year, I am going to pick out the things that stood out to me in this, Mr. Gamer’s 2017 Year in Review!
Pokemon Go
I am hoping that this will be the last time that I mention Pokemon Go not because the app will get better but that I just will stop hearing about it. I was part of the first huge rush of players that downloaded the apk file on my Android (That I miss so much) and started playing and boy did I have a blast! It was one of the best mobile games that I ever played! But nothing is perfect and just like the rise and fall of Mighty No. 9 – which I want to wipe from my memory – it had amazing goals and said it was would give this and that and we finally have a tracking system that works…kinda. It’s not perfect but it’s something.
I will admit that it the game did amazing things for the people who played and even the people who didn’t. For the people who played the game, there was a large communities based around it. People were gathering in parks and beaches that would have never left their house otherwise over a video game. Some people took advantage of this popularity and never started a Pokemon Go dating service. It’s a bit too adventurous for my tastes and I am definitely all sorts of taken but good on them. I used to be able to walk down and instantly tell when people were playing the game. Heck, before Pokemon Go introduced all of its restrictions on speed, I saw Uber drivers playing it! That’s how big it had gotten. Then, like very empire, it has to fall eventually.
I will not pretend to know how long it takes to make a mobile game across two different platforms. I will not pretend to know how to run a business. But there is something I know and that is how to keep people happy and the best way to do that is to do what you say you will do. If you are going to do something then do it. I’ve taken that advice with SBR and Pokemon Go can take a page out of that book.
There were so many promises of PvP battling and trading and release of the legendaries birds that, had they actually kept with everything, it would be amazing. But it isn’t anymore and I don’t feel bad about it. I still have my wife/editor and other friends telling about this and that with Pokemon Go. I can’t give you a good reason why I haven’t deleted it off my phone but the game is basically dead to me. I open it up every now and again and just remember how amazing it used to be.
I understand why Pokemon Go had to make the changes that it had to make; the hackers. There were bots playing the game for you. Because that makes total sense. To have a bot mimic you walking around, catching Pokemon for you when the game is meant for you to walk around. “Path of Least Resistance”, I guess. Anyhoof, I’m burying Pokemon Go this year. It’s been nice while it lasted.
Super Mario Run
Ahhh, another mobile game. This one hasn’t been out as long as Pokemon Go but I’ll keep it short as I do want to end this article on a high note. It is a great game for people with fatter pockets than I or people with a large disposable income but I can’t seem myself paying $10 dollars for an endless runner. I just can’t. That’s not the only gripe by the way.
Anything popular will be hacked and/or pirated and companies have to protect themselves. Some Super Mario Run players are annoyed about the game’s DRM and understandably so. Nintendo doesn’t want people to hack and mod the game. It’s freaking Mario, their beloved mascot. They’re going to protect him like Mickey with Disney. But I gotta be on Nintendo’s side with this one because, how often do you not have some sort of data signal coming to your iPhone (and so-to-be- Android) or around wi-fi? I will say that it is a legitimate concern but I can’t see that as a good reason to dislike this game. There are other reasons, like the price tag and make-your-own-level crap. Had they cut the game down to maybe five bucks instead of ten, I’d be all over that like D.va on Mountain Dew and Doritos but we can’t get everything we want.
Gaming News and Clicks
I have fought long and hard to not be clickbaity like Verlisify or Keemstar or Leafy or insert prank channel here, but I have seen so much of that in the news, specifically gaming news that it’s upsetting.
Here’s an example, there was an article written by an OP-Ed contributor which I means “I can say what I want, screw the facts and history. It’s not my job to be detailed.” and he is a large example of what is wrong in the gaming media or even just media in general.
We’ve seen Gawker media fall and that was great. But remember how they operated. Clicks. Clicks. And more Clicks. Whether it was true or not, they reported it as “truth”. And I hate that.
Back to the example article, here just a snippet of “I have no idea what I’m talking about”
“The world’s most popular video game machine: the iPhone”
I had to do a double take to make sure that I read that correctly. I will let you read the rest of it as it is not my job to correct the statements of an ignorant person. There are YouTube celebrities for that.
You are probably asking what the big deal is, right? It’s just his opinion, right? Misinformation is the problem. Trying to start wars in the comment sections of your articles is the problem. Controversy not conversation. That’s what gets sites things like clicks, ad revenue and makes me people like me talk about them. This was pointed out to me by one of my followers and I feel ashamed but you know what? If they want to parade themselves as an idiot on the internet, I’ll be happy to correct them. Easy fodder, I suppose.
The Positive
I don’t want you to think that this whole year has been negative. It really hasn’t. The items above were just the part of year that sucked the most. I have still played some amazing games this year.
Bravely Second knocked my socks off and I can’t wait to continue to wait for the next game of the series. I love RPG’s and to have one as great as this in my pocket was a Celestia-send.
I am still playing the Kahuna theme of Pokemon Sun and Moon. I may not be making my competitive team or anything like that. I haven’t had the need to but regardless, that game was an amazing purchase and well worth the wait. It was one of the hardest Pokemon games I’ve ever played and the difficulty curve rises even higher when you finish the main story.
I’ve connected with some many people playing Overwatch and got myself pretty good with FPSs in general. Aside from the toxic players that you’ll have on every game, it’s a blast to play. Even better when you have a group of six Meis…
But the most positive thing that happened to me this year is because of you guys, Buttonmashers. I grew up a lot this year and learned a bit. It means a lot to me when you guys read my articles and watch my videos and even more when you comment. I know that I have people looking at every punctuation mark and grammatical error making sure that I use the correct form of “their, they’re, and there”. I know I’ve got people looking at videos and telling me if this looks weird or if sounds a little low. I value that engagement more than anything.
I’ll reply to every comment, tweet, message and email. I’ve got reviews lined up with notes to take with all of the other plans that my PR has planned for me.
TL;DR: The year was about 70-30 with bad to good games. But my Buttonmashers are the best and will help me grow. Thank you and have great year!
