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The 2009 Year-End Crazy Ambition
ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 9/26/2001
Posts: 22,475
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The 2009 Year-End Crazy Ambition
(Even though that subtitle may actually be construed as witty now. Damn.)
So, we've reached the end of another year. This year, we learned that Tiger Woods is, apparently, the new Hugh Hefner, that celebrity deaths still suck, that gay marriage is still a trending topic, that the Yankees are still capable of buying a world series, and that ATRL can handle a USTREAM show about ATRL. But 2009 is also known as being the end of the first decade of the new millennium! And what better way to celebrate the end of the decade than with another Year-End Crazy Ambition? Well, besides going somewhere where it doesn't snow and isn't cold. But I can dream. This time around, the YECA has changed up a bit. Along with the classic YouTube videos, video games and albums list, there will be a huge, gigantic top 100 singles of the year countdown! If that wasn't enough, hold on to your hats: to celebrate the end of the decade, I will be giving you my top 100 singles of the entire decade.
Oh, and that's not all. Thanks to a certain graphics fiend (*cough*Athens*cough*), the look of the Year-End Crazy Ambition will finally match the hard work that I put into the lists and descriptions every year. With that said, I give to you the sixth edition of the most rockingest, awesomest year-end thread in the entire Best of 2009 forum...
And it all starts with the top five video games of the year, which is coming soon. As in, very soon. As in, within the hour soon.
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Member Since: 11/30/2007
Posts: 26,796
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Incredible banner! 
Can't wait! 
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Member Since: 2/19/2007
Posts: 33,412
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can't wait
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Member Since: 6/3/2006
Posts: 51,724
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Although I doubt we have many things in common Imma be supporting your Best Of 2009!
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Member Since: 4/6/2007
Posts: 25,604
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Cool banner. <333
Can't wait to see Remember December at top 50. 
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 11/6/2002
Posts: 10,641
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Woohoo...awaiting the awesomeness of your chart sir.
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Member Since: 1/27/2006
Posts: 51,546
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I will enjoy this. 
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 7/24/2004
Posts: 12,563
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LOL. Crazy amibition. I love it. This list will be the uprising of ATRL.
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Member Since: 9/3/2006
Posts: 27,884
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Can't wait.
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 9/26/2001
Posts: 22,475
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The 2009 YECA: Top Five Video Games of 2009
Let's get the list that the fewest people will care about out of the way first. This year was a particularly great year for the medium of video games, or, at the very least, for the high-end level of video games. It was tough to pick only five, but you can damn well bet that I DID IT. (If I were more of a Dave Matthews Band fan, I would make a "guilty as charged" pun here, but I'm not.  ) Let's get to the first countdown of this year's Year-End Crazy Ambition...
The problem with talking about this game is that I just cannot speak that much about it, because I will spoil it if I go into too many details, but just know that this is one of the most enthralling experiences of 2009. Throughout the game, you are given choices to make that affect whether you use your electricity-fueled powers for good or for evil. And, yes, this does have a direct effect on the story throughout the game. The graphics are incredible, the gameplay is solid, and the character interactions and set pieces just work to perfection. If you have a PS3, SEEK THIS GAME OUT.
The resident sports game of the list, though, this year, it's not a "sports game", in the technical sense. No Maddens, no NHLs (though both were great). This time around, we head into the world of Mixed Martial Arts, as UFC 2009: Undisputed absolutely ensnared me with its intricate fighting gameplay and addictive career mode. This is not a game that you can just "pick up and play"; you will have to go through the game's (thankfully not too time-consuming) tutorials. Once you figure out how to fight like a true UFC fighter, however, the game becomes a singular experience that any MMA fan who plays games should own, if they don't already.
The fact that this game was *#3* speaks volumes about how great 2009 was for the top-line video games. The Beatles: Rock Band immerses you into the world of The Beatles immediately. Everything just screams Beatles, from the beautiful graphics and dreamscapes to the fun songs themselves. What really sets this game apart from its Rock Band predecesors, however, is accessibility. Not everyone will know songs like "Alabama Getaway" or "Shackler's Revenge", but EVERYONE has listened to "Can't Buy Me Love", "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "A Hard Day's Night" at least once. And hey, if your favorite Beatles song isn't already on the disc, DLC is being released for the game that is ONLY Beatles songs, so there's a good chance your favorite will come.
I criminally underestimated the first Left 4 Dead on last year's top 5. Yes, Left 4 Dead was #3, but it should have been even higher. Only Rock Band 2 logged more hours for me out of every game released last year, and I found myself playing Left 4 Dead constantly. Do I feel like I'm doing the same with Left 4 Dead 2? No, but not because the game isn't spectacular. If anything, it's because there's so many games for me to play that I just have *no* time to play them all. That being said, Left 4 Dead 2, when I do play it, is never not fun. It's okay by yourself, but this game was meant to be played with four human players. When you actually have four human players, there's rarely a game as fun and as time-consuming. And that's before you get into the game's "deathmatch" mode, Versus, which still kicks just as much ass as it did in the first game. Oh, and let's not forget the new Scavenge mode, which is like Versus, but much shorter and convenient. Did I mention that this game is awesome?
Okay, so you know that Left 4 Dead 2 rocks. There's a decent chance that, if that game was released as Left 4 Dead, it would have been #1. However, there was no way any other game was taking #1 away from the game of 2009, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Unlike the first Uncharted, Uncharted 2 has a gigantic set of multiplayer modes that are all incredibly fun and worth the $60 to play this game. And look back at my two previous #1s: Halo 3 and Rock Band 2 have INCREDIBLE multiplayer modes. However, the multiplayer modes here do not make this game #1.
Before I go on, I must advise you to play the first Uncharted. While the second Uncharted improves on the first in EVERY way, you'll definitely want to learn about everything that happened prior to the second game. That being said, the single player campaign may very well be the most beautifully-structured single player mode I've ever seen. It literally feels like you are in an action movie, or, more to the point, an action movie that ROCKS. There's never a moment's rest, either. You are constantly on the move, shooting bad guys and evading certain doom. This is what Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull SHOULD have been, and it is, clearly, the game of the year.
And that would be the end of the very first countdown of the 2009 Year-End Crazy Ambition. I may even post the top ten YouTube videos of 2009 tonight, who knows? If nothing else, it WILL be up by tomorrow, so stay tuned. 
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 11/6/2002
Posts: 10,641
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Those are 5 great games, but I would have thrown New Super Mario Bros. Wii in there somewhere.
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Member Since: 5/1/2007
Posts: 15,659
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Not really a videogame dude myself, but I'd love to play The Beatles' game.
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Member Since: 5/11/2007
Posts: 9,742
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My uncle brought the UFC 2009 game up from England, loved it. I love fighting games personally. But also, although I'm not great at Rock Band, I love playing a game with plenty of Beatles' music.
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 2/21/2005
Posts: 21,684
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Dude, you know I love reading your descriptions. There weren't many good games released this year or maybe I just haven't played any, but I'm looking forward to the other lists.
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 9/26/2001
Posts: 22,475
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Quote:
Originally posted by KingofBrits
My uncle brought the UFC 2009 game up from England, loved it. I love fighting games personally. But also, although I'm not great at Rock Band, I love playing a game with plenty of Beatles' music.
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And it's a game with *only* Beatles music! How could you go wrong with that?
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Those are 5 great games, but I would have thrown New Super Mario Bros. Wii in there somewhere.
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Don't have a Wii. I think I said in 2007 that Super Mario Galaxy would have made my list if I did. Same with Super Smash Bros. Brawl last year.
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 7/24/2004
Posts: 12,563
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Left 4 Dead 2! I pretty much agree with everything you said on that.
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Member Since: 6/24/2008
Posts: 21,950
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i'm not a big fan of PS3 but I feel atracted to those games 
Can't wait to see the rest of your lists
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 2/21/2005
Posts: 21,684
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Quote:
Originally posted by Red
Don't have a Wii. I think I said in 2007 that Super Mario Galaxy would have made my list if I did. Same with Super Smash Bros. Brawl last year. |
Those were my top 2 video games last year. Mario Galaxy was a crazy adventure game, and I still play Brawl from time to time.
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 9/26/2001
Posts: 22,475
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Quote:
Originally posted by Reeces
Those were my top 2 video games last year. Mario Galaxy was a crazy adventure game, and I still play Brawl from time to time.
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The very first game I'm getting when I do get a Wii is Galaxy. Unless my mom forces my hand and makes me get Mario Kart Wii.
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i'm not a big fan of PS3 but I feel atracted to those games
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Uncharted 2 is a very attractive game. If Uncharted 2 was a person, it would be Blake Lively!
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 2/19/2003
Posts: 34,484
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I don't have time for video games.
This BETTER have "Stillness is the Move."
KISSES!  
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