VideogameVagabond.com

OK, folks, I’m steaming.

Yahoo Games just released their “Top 10 Videogames of the Decade,” and nearly half the list was straight off a Nintendo press release. Or at least it read like it.

Adding insult to injury, the Xbox was mentioned, as was PS2, but neither the Xbox 360 nor the PS3 were given a single entry. No PSP, no DS, either.

After reading over their garbage, there’s only one option left for a dedicated videogamer like me; I’m doing MY OWN list! That’s right, VideogameVagabond.com will count down, starting very soon, not just the Top 10… but the Top 20 Videogames of the new millennium! That’s right, we’ll consider everything from 2000-2009, and while my list will indeed be very subjective to my personal tastes… I can’t possibly do a worse job than the yahoos at Yahoo Games!

Look for it. Soon.

One of my favorite PC sports sim developers, Wolverine Studios, has been in an open, public beta on their next game, Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball 2, for a while now; I must say that the game is progressing nicely.

The most recent beta, 0.9, was released December 13 and includes some feature implementations that, if they make it to the final build, will certainly set a new standard for pro basketball sims. And I appreciate that the developer is taking their time with this title, rather than rushing it to a flawed final release.

I’d love to share what some of these new features are, but since they aren’t locked in for the final release, I’d rather not hurt the title by talking about them just yet… in case they don’t make the final cut.

As far as I know, anyone wanting to save money on the final release, though, can still sign up, pay up-front for the in-progress software, and have a license that will last for the lifetime of the product, even after it’s out of beta and in final release form! That’s more value than the average Nordic Track coupon code!

Now that they are offering the ability to pay for free, I’ve finally downloaded, installed and started playing a game I’ve long been interested in: Dungeons and Dragons Online.

How does the game make money if the download is free and so is the ability to play? Well, you can buy some expansions and special in-game items at the DDO Store; it’s a business model used in strategy games like Evony, but a bit more ambitious than anything tried by an MMO prior to this.

After all, even one of the most notable pioneers of free monthly play MMOs, Guild Wars, charged for the software, at least; DDO isn’t even doing that – at least not for the main game.

Here’s the down-low: While I haven’t yet played deeply into the game, I will say it sizzles smoothly along on my nVidia 1GB 9800GT-powered system, and looks great doing so. And with a nice enough opening movie, character creation system and an opening sequence that matches up well with Dragon Age: Origins, Dungeons and Dragons Online is worth far more than its price of, well… free. It might even feature free directory submissions for all I know!

I’ll get more specific as I play more deeply into the game, but for now, it’s all positive.

OK, I know I’m late to the party, pal. But Since I had to get it outta my own pocket change (mostly lint), don’t blame me that EA doesn’t consider my blog prestigious enough to send a review copy to! They’re just lucky I love BioWare even though they are now part of the EA collective…

Anyway, I am pleased to say that even after spending only 30 minutes on the PS3 version of Dragon Age: Origin, I can safely say it’s going to be my favorite console game of the year. And that’s despite the fact that the PS3 version is stupidly limited to 720p resolution even though my TV goes up to 1080p.

C’mon, Sony, pull your head out of your heine on that one! Can’t believe the company that sold PS3 on being “the only 1080p-native next-gen console” is letting so many developers give them 720p max while giving Xbox 360 1080p max on the exact same games. Idiocy!

Despite this, Dragon Age: Origins looks great even at 720p and is one whiz-bang of a traditional RPG. Having picked up tips from Oblivion and Fallout 3, Dragon Age: Origin shifts your origin story based on the character-generation choices you make, but certainly tells a compelling story from the word go.

Now, I can’t say much more just yet being only past the first 30 minutes or so of play, but I can tell you I’m already hooked. Who needs cheap vacations when you have a game like this to enjoy?

Tonight, my wife and I bid farewell to our Nintendo DS units and all our DS games. My wife selflessly gave up her PSP a few months ago for some trade-in credit toward a new Xbox 360 unit, because her PSP was broke anyway. We both prefer the PSP library of games and finally decided to bite the bullet and give up our DS habit to get her back in a PSP.

Sure, we didn’t have the extra-fancy Nintendo DSi to trade in with all the bells and whistles and rackmount LCD. But with a chubby DS, a DS Lite and about 16 games, as well as a PS3 game we didn’t care for tossed in for good measure, I hoped we’d at least have enough to get her a PSP Slim.

Well, not only did we get her a PSP Slim for about $110, but we had enough left over to pick up Dragon Age: Origins for the PS3, as well as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona for the PSP, as well! Talk about a nice deal? For me, Dragon Age: Origins is enough to make me forget all about those DS games… Phoenix Wright who? I’m playing BioWare’s latest and greatest, baby!