What a year! Here’s the five videos that defined it.
Game Glitches (Assassin’s Creed IV)
With many games rushed to release for the new consoles (and many more pushed back) it was inevitable that this year would see some glitches and bugs sneaking into the biggest releases. AC4 is a fine game, and we can forgive it for it’s little imperfections when they are as funny as this one.
The Worst Games Console Reveal of all time
It’s amazing that this year saw both the worst games console press conference of all time, then immediately afterwards the biggest U Turn we’ve ever seen. Microsoft got a lot wrong with Xbox One (and set a lot right too), but this one video poignantly reminds us how badly they let their fans down.
How you share your games on PS4
This video says so much about the state of the games industry in 2013. The fierce, nasty competition between the big two. The shift in Sony’s attitude as they won back their fans by listening to them and implementing populist policies in their new console. How out of touch Microsoft had become. What a big issue pre-owned games were to the industry. The effectiveness of reactive, community focused PR. This video has it all. And it’s funny too.
This Video I recorded with the share button on my PS4
The sharing features on both new consoles are brilliant. Nope, no snark, no cynicism, no negativity, they are quite simply brilliant. They are one of the rare examples of a cool new feature that benefits everyone. They help developers sell their games, they help the platform holders sell their system and they let us share our most amazing gaming moments.
So this video of me playing Resogun isn’t amazing. It’s not even very good. It is however, a totally new thing that I simply couldn’t do last year. And that’s awesome.
No Mans Sky
And finally, lets go out on a positive note with an actual game we can all get hype about! It’s easy to become apathetic about games when everything is a sequel or a remake, but with this stunning trailer for an open-ended game about exploration, made by just four people in less than a year, you can’t help but get excited about games again. Sure, it’s a long way off, but the ideas and ambition of this project will not only materialize into a great game (hopefully), but will also inspire others to make something as original, unique and exciting. And that’s a great name for a game too!
What did I miss? What would your video of 2013 be?