Boy, what a year it's been. Here we are, teetering on the verge of having another even-numbered year. Pretty soon, we'll look back on 2011 and remember how odd it was. (LOL, math.) But why not start the nostalgia now? You've probably seen our staff highlighting some of our favorite games of the year in our Link Dump Fridays, and we'll be opening the voting for our Best of 2011 within a few weeks, but until then, we want to turn the microphone over to you!
We want to know your favorite gaming moments of 2011. It doesn't have to be a browser game, or even a game we've featured here, or even a video game. If there's a gaming moment that sticks out in your mind from this year, we want to hear it! Was it that time you solved that really tricky SpaceChem puzzle? Or that epic come-from-behind victory in that game of Words With Friends? Or that one time you were playing Dragon Age II and that huuuuuuge dragon showed up and he was all like "Roaaaaaar" and you were all "Aaaaaaaah" and your cat was like "Mrow, I could take 'em"? Tell us about it! Leave a comment below, sharing your awesome gaming memories from this year.
Oh, and be sure to stay tuned for next week, you'll never predict what's coming up...
I remember this epic moment in gaming history where i found this site called JayIsGames.com and i found out that they had tons of games they reviewed and that they reviewed more each day.
If we're talking commercial titles, my favourite game overall, since it had so many awesome moments they blended into a delicious moment soup, was Infamous 2. Brilliant, exciting, fun game.
... I also might count the first time I realised I could catch salmon leaping up waterfalls in Skyrim. I don't know why that delighted me so much.
For indie titles, I'd have to go with the finale of To the Moon, and overall how startlingly clever and weird Humbug was. That game was great. Everyone should play that game.
Slaying the very first dragon in Skyrim. Nothing beats seeing those goliaths in action, and beating the crap out of it. Makes me feel like a proper badass.
It was when i discovered titol 3, and made a guide.
I can't think of a particular awesome gaming moment, having played so many games over the year on PS3, DS and WWW.
However, one thing does stand clear in my mind as awesomeness embodied. The addition of Letters In Boxes. As an avid puzzle fan, those contests have been a joyous part of the week, although I've often not been able to solve them.
For me, it was winning Letters in Boxes not once, but twice. Just the idea that I won was so exciting, the prizes were icing on the cake. Thanks for bringing a bit of virtual--and some very real--joy into this girl's winter.
I first found JayisGames back in 2004 and I've enjoyed the journey to what it is today. Here's to the journey that lies ahead!
Just right now, my favorite gaming moment (of today at least) was reading Steve's description of his (yeah, I know it was yours) reaction to that huuuuuuuge dragon. ;-)
Two of my all-time favorite flash games are Dwarf Complete and William + Sly. Imagine my amazement then when, in the last two weeks of the year, you opened the vault for one and debuted a sequel to the other. Twas a nice way to end the yaer.
Getting into Minecraft was a big thing of mine this year, and watching inordinate amounts of Minecraft videos, far more than I ever played the game myself. This was my number one time waster for quite some time, and it's only on a lull now because all my favorite YouTubers are on holiday and making less content at the moment.
Also, this one probably only sticks out because it's still recent, but Treasure Adventure Game. I was a little late starting it because I was swamped with school when it was reviewed, but now that I'm off, I was free to throw all my enthusiasm into that game. Yesterday I started replaying it because I had so much fun the first time, and I was basically up all night playing and very nearly finishing. In one day.
And speaking of freeware, this was also the year I finally played other freeware classics like An Untitled Story and Iji, which were both great fun. And of course there was winning Letters in Boxes that one time, and every time I found there was a new game from any of my favorite game developers.
Can't wait for the Best of 2011. There's inevitably a few awesome games I discover through this feature that I somehow missed during the year.
Let's see, 2011. Rebuild (the first one), Castaway (both TD and the 2nd one), MegaMiner, and Quick Quests sucked up a lot of my time.
But for moments, I'd have to go with a tie between watching Kotorinosu come into their own and playing Wonderputt. Both surprising, both beautiful, and both incredibly thought out. Honorable mentions to Dr. Stanley's House 2, new Die Anstalt 'patient', and just the mechanics of Pursuit of Hat.
Also many many many kudos to all the young designers and designers-to-be who inspired games. Some of the best games came from the youngest players. The future is bright!
All-time:
Stepping out that door in Neutral's Vision remains one of my favorite gaming moments. We're used to unexpected views in room escapes, but that's still the best.
The worst is waiting for Submachine updates. Hahaha. Best moments of 2010 were definitely spent in the Machine.
Oh, speaking of Dwarf Complete, I did figure out the speediest way to do it, and I replay it just to get the *special* congratulations screen.
Also: do not forget the conclusion of The Pretender series. It really ought to be reviewed as a trilogy.
Getting a new Zelda game. That's always a great moment.
Playing Ocarina of Time on the 3DS. After waiting patiently for a special edition Zelda-themed 3DS to come out (and it's gorgeous), I finally bought OOT. It brought back such fond memories. Best game ever made.
Playing Shadow of the Colossus. Funniest part? I first learned about it from this site! I was looking at top rated adventure games and came upon a PS2 game. I was suprised at its inclusion on jayisgames, being a console game, but after reading the review, I fell in love. After waiting for what seemed like FOREVER, they finally released the collection for PS3, and I finally got to play this masterpiece of a game. Which leads me to my next point...
Playing ICO. I had heard good things, and after beating SotC, I was feeling apprehensive about starting a new, long game. When I finally started this up, man, I couldn't put it down. I don't think I've ever had a game effect me like this one did. What an amazing game.
Who would know I would find my #2 & 3 all-time favorite games this year? 2011 was a great gaming year for me!
Number 1
Playing Assassin's Creed games, I love the kills.
number 2
Playing Portal 2, I love the puzzles.
Number 3
Playing Titol 3, and doing a walkthrough.
You know what?
The time I started writing walkthroughs for games. That was a really emotional moment for me. I was like "Should I? Is it good enough?" Then I said to myself "Oh, why not?" But I accidentally pressed the submit button without thinking through! Oh well. It was good anyway.
I love JIG. Thinking back about it makes me feel... unusual.
I should probably throw my own answer in before too much longer passes... My favorite moment was probably the build-up to the release of Portal 2, and the fun little ARG that went along with that. I had never participated in an ARG before, and even though I got into it late into the game and missed out on all the fun code-breaking and people-climbing-telephone-poles bit, it was still fun racking up potatoes for the early unlock.
One moment I'll never forget was that one Audiosurf potato, found by playing that song with the blue and orange cars and getting a score of over 180k (I think, something like that anyway). I spent probably six hours alone on that achievement, and even got a friend to suffer along with me at his place. After about an hour and a half swapping off with my friend, I ended up a run with a score of 179,983, a mere 17 points away from getting that achievement. I was absolutely gutted. We both sat, staring at the screen for five minutes in stunned silence after that. After I went home, I tried it again and obliterated the score target in one shot. That sense of intense despair followed by ridiculous bliss really made the whole thing memorable for me.
Beyond my crazy experiences with that, I also thought it was really cool that all of the indie developers who participated in that came together with this unique coordinated effort to launch a game, and all apparently on a budget of about $100 (if I remember right).
Oh, and Portal 2 itself was pretty cool. ;)
I blame MYST - it sent me on a quest to find more pnc games and that's when I discovered they actually existed online... and for free!!
And then my internet explorations led me to JiG - the best games site on the web, hands down.
I'm always amazed at the beautiful quality games resulting from developers' devotion and creativity. Neutral and Amanita Design are two developers who stand out for me.
Lucky to be spoiled for choice, and with the emergence of new web languages like HTML5 it's hard to not be excited even more by casual gaming.
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