2009’s Biggest Gaming Disappointments

2009 was a good year for gaming, but it still had its share of disappointments that can’t be excused. Mostly this year we saw our share of multiplayer and single player games that were over hyped and didn’t live up to their potential. Other disappointments would include the increase in hardware failure with the Xbox 360. Game or Console, 2009 should have been a groundbreaking year, but instead was just a decent one. These are 2009’s top disappointments.
5) Halo ODST

Now I am a huge Halo and have followed the series from day one, but Halo ODST was one of the biggest wastes of money this year. The single player campaign was by far one of the shortest that I have encountered, even on the hardest of difficulties. Bungie promised a brand new experience and a long campaign, yet ODST never feels like a new Halo, but rather just a revamped Halo 3. I was hoping that ODST would live up to the hype, which it did as far as delivering new characters and environments, but the whole open world gameplay became rather annoying. Hopefully Reach will deliver a longer campaign, unlike ODST’s four hour run-time. The new mode firefight is fun, but could hardly justify the full price of the game. ODST did have one good aspect and that’s the Beta that came with it, but who knows when Bungie will finally release it.

4) Delays


2009 is a year for the books, as far as the numerous delays that occurred. Many games were pushed back weather do to Modern Warfare 2 or issues with the company. Games such as Splinter Cell and Bioshock 2 were set to release late 2009, but were soon pushed into early 2010. 2009 did still give us a decent amount of games, but the inconsistency in reviews and releases, such as the summer drought is still a big disappointment. Although 2009 was a fairly good year, as far as the releases that made it, it still would have been nice to of seen more variety than FPS after FPS.
3) Movie Tie-Ins Still Suck


Movie tie-ins have grown a reputation for being mediocre and rather awful experiences. This year we received some of the worse including Terminator Salvation and most recent Avatar tie-in. Movie Tie-ins would be bearable if only more effort was put into them and given new gameplay rather than borrowing from other games. GI Joe proved that developers could care less about what their putting out there, but rather the money that they make from it. The fact that their have been promises for much improved movie games, and very little results is a disappointment on its own.
2) Lack of hardcore games for the Wii

2009 should have been a great year for the Wii, but instead it showed that Nintendo’s best games are in the past. With few exceptions such as Dead Space: Extraction, the Wii has a lot to live up to which should hopefully change next year. The wii has lately only had mini party games, that don’t cater to the hardcore market. Their have been exceptions such as “The Conduit” and “Dead Space: Extraction”, but the fact that this year alone has offered very few of these games, is a disappointment.

1)System Failures still over 50%

The Xbox 360 May offer one of the most entertaining and most addicting experiences out there, but it all comes at a price mostly due to the increase in Xbox failures. The Red-Ring plagues the 360 even after nearly five years of being released. I myself am on my third Xbox and know many that have had to send theirs back more than once this year alone. Who knows, maybe next year will hold the solution to this rather annoying epidemic.