Wii:
Fishing Master World Tour

DS:
Animated
Bigfoot: Collision Course
Elebits: The Adventures of Kai & Zero
Jumble Madness
Moon
Paws & Claws: Pampered Pets

PC:
Saints Row 2
Spore Comic Book Creator

Yep, still dead.

Xbox Live Arcade
For real this time, this week is Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos for 800 points.

Nintendo Wii
WiiWare: Sandy Beach (Konami, 500 points) -- I feel the need to point out that this is a sand castle-building game. I don't know if that's incredibly awesome or incredibly lame.
Virtual Console: Kirby’s Dream Land 3 (Super NES, 800 points)

It's a new year, and I've come up with a few things I'd like to see happen in 2009. Some of these are likelier than others.

1. Another really good Nintendo game for hardcore gamers on the Wii. Yeah, there was Mario Kart and Smash Bros. in 2008, but I'd like to see another giant hit like Super Mario Galaxy or Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. There are rumors that a new Zelda may appear in 2009, so this might come true.

2. Avatar-linked rewards on the Xbox 360. I want the avatars to have more purpose, and I think a good way to do that would be to reward players for in-game achievements (or Achievements!) with items or clothing for the avatar. An example that springs to mind is earning a Lancer for your avatar to hold, or COG tags to wear, if you beat Gears of War 2 on hardcore. That would be awesome! Or even something as simple as a T-shirt for your avatar with a game's logo, or a shirt that says "I beat [game name], and all I got was this lousy shirt." Get on it, Microsoft!

3. Final Fantasy XIII released. Yeah, not very likely. Square Enix says it'll probably come out late this year -- in Japan. Which means a good four to six months later for the United States, putting it SQUAREly in 2010. But darn it, I want to play it! It looks gorgeous!

Final Fantasy XIII

4. Electronic Arts keeping up with the original titles. It did a good job this year of throwing in new franchises with its standard rehashes: Mirror's Edge, Dead Space, Left 4 Dead...

5. At the same time, I wouldn't mind seeing some of those high-profile sequels: Assassin's Creed 2, Mass Effect 2, Kingdom Hearts 358/2... I'm sure there are more, but that's what I can think of at the moment. Assassin's Creed 2 and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 have a good chance at hitting 2009, but Mass Effect 2 is a bit more iffy (it is BioWare, after all, who won't let it go until they're happy with it).

What would you like to see in 2009? (keep in mind, I tried to avoid things I knew for sure would happen in 2009)

Xbox 360
Lord of the Rings: Conquest - Multiplayer demo
Rock Band: Various songs ("Space Truckin'" by Deep Purple, "Hymn 43" by Jethro Tull, "Funk #49" by James Gang, "Take Back the City'" by Snow Patrol) - 160 points each
Guitar Hero World Tour: Various songs ("Johnny" by Di-Rect, "Degenerated" by Backyard Babies, "Por La Boca Vive El Pez" by Fito & Fitipaldis) - 160 points each

PlayStation 3
Strangely, I haven't seen any downloads listed yet this week (usually, they show up on Thursday). I would assume it's mostly the same as the 360 stuff, but I can't promise that. I'll update this if I find out.

I've been playing The Last Remnant on Xbox 360. So far, I've enjoyed it a lot, and I haven't experienced any of the problems that others have complained about (frame rates, etc.). But then, I installed to my hard drive, and Square Enix has said it was meant to be installed, so that could be why.

Screenshot borrowed from GameSpot

Anyway, I did discover an interesting little "quirk" that nearly made me blow my fuse.

I'd started the game on my system and had downloaded the free downloadable content from Xbox Live Marketplace (some new formations, which show up as keys in your in-game inventory). Then I tried playing on a friend's system (with my profile and game save on a memory card). The save wouldn't load, saying something about a required update.

Well, I knew there wasn't a software update, or it would have done it automatically. So I went to Marketplace and redownloaded the free content on the new system. That fixed the problem. I guess maybe because the content is an inventory item, that made the save unloadable? I don't know.

It gets better, though. My friend had used the preorder code from GameStop, so that content was on his system. Apparently, because I had played on that system, my save now thought I had that content, even though it didn't actually let me use it. So when I went back to my system, I got the same update error.

The big problem: The preorder content was a one-time-use code. I couldn't redownload it under my name. I loaded his profile on my system and redownloaded it that way, but it still didn't work for my save because the content technically is profile specific!

So there I was, unable to play my game on my own system because of content I hadn't even used. To say I was upset is an understatement. My solution: I called GameStop, and luckily they had a pile of leftover preorder codes. Because the game had been out for more than a month, I was able to snag one. I inputted the code, and VOILA, suddenly my save was fine again.

This whole situation is ridiculous. I often go back and forth between systems and have never had a problem like this. I can't believe the content would be so tied to the save that it wouldn't work without it. Whatever happened to content just not being there in the game if you're on a different system? It's a stupid, stupid way of doing things, and it nearly cost me hours of gameplay.

I'm still playing the game because, frankly, I like it. But the whole situation never should have happened. I'm a bit peeved at you, Square Enix.

Here is my final list of top fives: Multiplatform games. I realize I could have just used these games in their respective platforms’ lists, but then I’d have a bunch of repeat games. Doing it this way lets me point out more great games.

Best multiplatform games of 2008:

Burnout Paradise (Electronic Arts, Xbox 360, PS3): I had a blast with this game, especially when my friends came along and we tore around Paradise City wreaking havoc. Overdramatic, slow-motion crashes are always fun, and Burnout Paradise nails it.

Fallout 3 (Bethesda Softworks, Xbox 360, PS3, PC): Right from the start, Fallout draws you into its story of a postapocalyptic Washington, D.C. There’s so much to do in addition to the main quest, and the world is fantastically bleak. Plus, I love the VATS combat system – nothing says bleak like shooting off someone’s arm or leg in slow motion.

Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar Games, Xbox 360, PS3, PC): People have complained about the heavy-handedness of the characters’ interactions in GTAIV: “I’m tired of answering my phone to talk to Roman every few minutes.” But GTAIV really expands the world and gives players a lot to do. Despite the complaints, it’s a fantastic game that deserves the accolades it got.

Prince of Persia (Ubisoft, Xbox 360, PS3, PC): I don’t care what people say about the difficulty of this game; I loved it. The prince is instantly likeable, and his platforming movements are smooth and fluid.

Rock Band 2 (MTV Games, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2): This sequel didn’t make a lot of huge changes to the formula, but it does make a good game even better. I especially like the constantly updated online challenges and the ability to merge my songs from the first Rock Band.

There you have it, my top picks for each system. For my overall top 10 list – including my game of the year -- regardless of platform, see Thursday’s The (402). Feel free to comment on your personal favorites for the year.