What was the best game of the year? It’s something that gamers worldwide will argue over for the next several weeks. You have, and will continue to see, numerous ”Top 10″ lists plastered over every gaming blog on the internet.

This year, we at WingDamage.com wanted to take a little different approach. 2011 was a fantastic year for gaming. You could pick up nearly any new release (or digital only release for that matter) and come away pretty happy with your purchase. While this is a fantastic problem to have, it does make narrowing down and ordering a “Top 10″ list a harrowing endeavor.

Instead, this year we’ve decided to give you a quick rundown of a few of our favorite games in no particular order. If we missed your favorite game, please let us know in the comments.

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It’s that time of year again where “Top 10″ lists saturate gaming blogs even more than usual. And yet, game music will once again receive little to no attention on most sites. That simply just won’t do! For the third year in a row, I’d like to take this opportunity to reflect on the sweeping scores and bumping beats that the soundtracks of 2011 brought us.

Of course, listening to every soundtrack released in North America last year is an impossible task and my taste might not sync up with yours. I may have not listed your personal favorite (let me know in the comments), but maybe you’ll discover something new. I’ve included a four song sampler clip and purchase link for each soundtrack below for your convenience.

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The history of video games has been plagued with numerous mediocre titles featuring popular characters, doing things outside their comfort zone. Well okay, they haven’t ALL been mediocre; generally the ones with Mario in the title are worth taking a look at. I can’t say the same for Dr. Robotonik’s Mean Bean Machine or Link’s Crossbow training, though.

Mega Man, a character held near & dear to the hearts of most of the Wing Damage crew, has starred in several lackluster spin-off titles. In this month’s “I Am Error,” we take a look at three of ‘em – Mega Man Soccer, Mega Man Battle & Chase and Super Adventure Rockman.

If you have played any of these titles in the past or have access to play them now, please do and email us or comment with your thoughts. We’ll read your missives on the next edition of the “I Am Error” podcast, which will be available for consumption in just a few weeks.

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Shortly over a month ago, the general public was able to feast their eyes on the first edition of my monthly column, “I Am Error.” Those that perused said column knew to expect an accompanying podcast from members of the WingDamage crew approximately one month in the future. Well my friends, we totally delivered.

In this, the first WingDamage-hosted edition of I Am Error, Jonah, Dan and I discuss three instances of not-so-good retro games featuring real-life musicians – Journey The Arcade Game, The Thompson Twins Adventure and Revolution X. We also talk a bit about how real celebrities & musicians are used in modern games.

If you have any thoughts regarding the games we discussed, ideas for future themes, or just random junk you’d like to send us, email us via podcast@wingdamage.com. We’ll also accept any feedback on the theme for next month’s column & podcast, which we announce at the end of the show. Now, download and enjoy!

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“I Am Error” is a new feature in which our very own Wesley Johnson will pick a few games along a theme, discuss them here on the site, and then record a podcast later in the month about those games. That’s where you come in! We want your own thoughts on the game either here in the comments or via email so we can discuss them on the new show. – Ed. note

Younger gamers may be under the impression that the world of rock music and video games first met in Guitar Hero. Well, listen here, whippersnappers: that’s completely untrue! Real-life rocknrollers have been appearing in video games since the early 80s. In this month’s “I Am Error,” we take a look at three examples of the aforementioned unholy union – Journey: The Arcade Game, The Thompson Twins Adventures and Revolution X.

If you’ve played these games in the past or have a way to play them now, please do so and email us your thoughts on them. Or you can leave a comment about your experiences below. We’ll talk about our time with each title and yours on a the upcoming companion podcast to this feature.

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Hot off the heels of their Back to the Future game, Telltale is back with another license close to the heart of my youth: Jurassic Park. It takes risks, leaving behind the traditional point and click interface of their past games for something a little different.

The first of the two demos I played was exclusively an action scene. Several of the game’s protagonists were stuck on a roller coaster and I had to prevent them from being eaten by a pack of dinosaurs. The solution? Successfully complete a lot of quick time events including button presses and quick flips of the analogue stick. You could sum up the entire action demo simply by saying “Space Ace”.

But there was a weird layer of detachment added to this scene. The character whose actions were affected by my inputs constantly changed. This made me feel less involved with what was happening on screen since no singular character represented the player. Occasionally I’d fail and watch a death scene before snapping back to the last checkpoint. I watched my cart go on the wrong track into a pack of dinosaurs, a young girl falling out of the car to her death and more, all while my death counter rose.

If this was all the game was, I’d be pretty sad. Thankfully the second demo I played was far more interesting, though still different than Telltale’s previous games.

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How many airplane racing games can you think of off the top of your head? Any? Without resorting to Google, all I could come up with was one third of Diddy Kong Racing. This is exactly why I was instantly fascinated by Digital Reality’s SkyDrift. It’s in a sub-genre that’s rarely explored.

You could call it “Mario Kart in the sky”, but that really isn’t fair to the game. SkyDrift may be a weapons-based racer, but it’s far more deliberate and skill-based than any racing I’ve ever done in the Mushroom Kingdom. The fact that you need a second analogue stick to control your plane’s knife position is proof enough that the game is deeper than some of its contemporaries.

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Final Fantasy XIII was a highly divisive game when it released last year. I found myself enjoying its finer points, but also finding fault in some of its design leading me to write a rather mixed review. With a sequel on the way, the opportunity for a more consistent experience has been opened.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 takes place three years after the first. Lightning has disappeared and Serah (her previously unplayable little sister) is out to find her with the help of a new character named Noel. The demo wasn’t heavy on exposition, but there was enough talk of “points in time” and “anomalies between dimensions” to pique my interest.

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As a fan of the genre, I’ve seen my fair share of modern scrolling shooters or “shmups” as they’re often called. Yet, after the magnificent Gradius V back in 2004, I haven’t seen very many that actually look modern. Even some from this year tend to look like something you might’ve seen in the arcade as much as a decade ago.

That’s the first of many ways in which Sine Mora sets itself apart. The game is gorgeous. There’s a real sense of depth to the environments that manage to strike an effective balance of being attractive without being distracting. Colors are often vibrant, environments are varied, and giant bosses are real spectacles to behold thanks to art direction from Grasshopper.

And yet, as great as the visuals were, it was the unique mechanics developer Digital Reality put into the game that kept me coming back for another try. Sine Mora is not about one hit kills or traditional health systems. Sine Mora is about time (in more ways than one). While you’re playing, the clock always counts down. Killing enemies will send the clock backward a bit, while getting hit drastically reduces your time. When the clock strikes “00″, you die.

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Well good day there fellow gaming geeks and geekettes. The Applemonkey here and I’m going to chit chat with you kids about a thing I always enjoy doing: collecting accessories. Today’s hunt will be on the Super Nintendo. From the Super Gameboy controller to the Miracle Piano, hunting for SNES accessories is always a tantalizing experience. I’m going to talk about three unique items that you just might want to hunt for. Go grab yourself some animal crackers and Yoo-hoo, sit back and enjoy! (more…)