In a feature published in the Wall Street Journal and on WSJ.com, technology editor Daniel Dumas compiled a list of titles from 2010 “that existed under the surface of the hype but still delivered hours of fresh action for gaming pro and rookie alike.” Though the attempt to bring mainstream attention to the hidden gems of 2010 may seem a noble endeavour, the games that are mentioned in the article may raise one or two eyebrows amongst the more well-informed consumers.
The games that are refered to by Dumas as having “existed under the surface of the hype” include low-profile titles like Fallout: New Vegas (the second best-selling title of October 2010), God of War 3 (the best selling title of March 2010), Mass Effect 2 (the second best-selling title of January 2010), and Gran Turismo 5 (came in eighth in November 2010). The other titles included on the list are Dance Central, Super Street Fighter IV, GoldenEye 007, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, and the most recent installment in the Tiger Woods PGA Tours franchise.
The original article can be found here, or in today’s edition of the Wall Street Journal.
yea…. unsung….
Uh…sure mister…
Brain…hurting…the dude is only 26 too and writes for Wired (unless there are two of them), so it’s not like he’s “out of the loop” with reality. This makes no sense to me unless he’s truly assuming his audience’s knowledge of games is limited to Mario and Halo.
Mass Effect 2 had a minute spot during the freaking NFL Conference Championship games last year. Millions of people were informed about it.
Force Unleashed II being in that list boggles my mind. Great reason to buy this game too. “They have top-shelf action, coherent story writing and no sign of Jar Jar anywhere.” Really? I hate Jar Jar and like a coherent story as much as anyone, but…REALLY?!
Well, i’m sure the Wall Street Journal ain’t no Elder Geek when it comes to reviewin’ 😉
(btw if anyone’s up for it, take a look at the very interesting, madly russian, recently released in english The Precursors and Xenus II: White Gold)
Chirs, the WSJ is focused on financial information and planning. That being said, they are not focused on video game coverage, and it is a detriment that he couldn’t name the games that went unnoticed like Amnesia that went back to Survivor Horror roots, and didn’t get the coverage it deserved when it launched.
FUII (yes abbreviations are fun some times) is a colossal fail and should not be praised at all for story when it is shallow and does not progress the story at all, and the gameplay doesn’t do anything for the series as well.
Super Fail!
Seriously, give it up for Limbo, Super Meat Boy, VVVVV, Bayonetta, Vanquish, Darksiders, Alan Wake, Heavy Rain, Enslaved, Castlevania, Picross 3D, Persona 3 protable, Valkyria Chronicles 2, Amnesia, Minecraft, hell… even Civ 5!
This guy needs to recheck his geek status.
He checked his geek status in when he started working for WSJ. I mean yes the WSJ has fantastic financial information, but besides that, they really don’t know what they are talking about.
Yes I agree, he posted everything that was hyped, and didn’t focus on the stuff that wasn’t which is truly unsung games of the year, especially Amnesia which went back to the Survival Horror roots.
I get the feeling that his idea of unsung is any game that doesn’t have the words Wii, Call of Duty or Warcraft in the title.
I was genuinely surprised he didn’t consider Red Dead Redemption… which makes me wonder if he really didn’t know about it, or if he thought it wasn’t “under the surface of the hype.”