DIGITALTACO.COM'S 1ST ANNUAL "BEST THING EVER AWARDS" PART I

as you well know, 2003 has come and gone. the coming of a new year brings many things: plenty of good-hearted resolutions, one night of absolute drunkenness, and everybody's best of the year awards. i realized something earlier today... i like stuff too! so... why not throw up my top choices for 2003? why not, indeed...

anybody who's known me for any length of time will tell you that i can be a rather annoying critic of stuff, in general. i either flat out hate this "thing" or downright love it. to get to the point, i think i've named probably around 1000 things the "best thing ever," over the course of my life... so now, i thought it appropriate to gather a list of recent things that have been deemed "best thing ever." you know, like stuff that came out in 2003, for example.

my friends, without further adieu, i present to you part I of...

THE 1ST ANNUAL DIGITALTACO.COM "BEST THING EVER AWARDS" - 2003

VIDEOGAMES:

• warioware inc., mega microgames (GBA): what can be said about warioware that hasn't already been said? very little. it's simply the most innovative title of 2003. (eyetoy: play being the only possible exception... and also one of the best releases this year) but most importantly, it is nearly completely accessible to everybody, gamer or otherwise. i remember reading ben's review and being completely intrigued by his enthusiasm. needless to say, it was warranted.

  i just love the energy... the speed... the action! believe me, you may not know what to make of warioware if you're simply watching someone else play, but once you wrap your hands around that GBASP, you'll realize you're playing a game every bit as action-packed as a run-of-the-mill shooter... only it's completely new and completely addicting. and besides, any game that convinces oli, a good friend and non-gamer, that she needs a GBASP is a winner in my book.

• the legend of zelda: wind waker (GCN): my time with wind waker was interesting. i played through it just slightly more swiftly than carlos and matt who were playing in tandem. during my adventure, i absolutely adored the game... the dungeons and weapons we're so fresh yet so "zelda" all the same. and while some found the ocean boring and unmanageable, i found it wondrous and enchanting. during my quest for the triforce shards, i realized that i knew, and had visited, every nook and cranny of that vast, rolling sea... and goddamnit, i was it's master. and let's not even speak about the graphics and sound... nintendo must have been channeling miyazaki... and i loved it.

  yet, as i watched my friends finish up the game, i started to see its flaws... the gameplay is very similar to that in the ocarina of time and majora's mask. and any other zelda title would've had at least 2-3 more dungeons, at least. and the ocean, while vast, could've been a bit more densely packed with interesting stuff to explore. for example, wouldn't it have been great to have found an island as impressive as windfall or outset that was not a requirement to complete the game? sure, there are several really fleshed out locales in wind waker, but you are forced to visit all of them. i kept wishing i'd find some other gigantic place to explore whilst searching for hidden treasure... but it never happened... and finally, the glimpse of hyrule near the end of the game left me thirsting for more... hyrule rules, no?

  while i wasn't completely bummed on the game, i was sore as i felt that it could've been so much more. i later realized i was wrong. after allowing it to sit for many months, i returned to the wind waker and remembered just how wonderful it is... the beauty, the life... it is like a living miyazaki film... sure, the gameplay may be a bit derivative... but, that doesn't means it's not totally fun. i will never doubt the power of wind waker ever again. "why?" because, it's the best thing ever... doi!

• star wars: knights of the old republic (Xbox/PC): i didn't care about kotor at all until i watched kasavin's video review. this is because i hate star wars. star wars sucks more than it ever has and george lucas should probably die... but kotor rules... mostly because it's canadian, i'd wager.

  i'd gotten through taris before my adventure was interrupted by a family vacation to america's own midwest. it sucked, as you can imagine, but at least i had packed my xbox and my copy kotor. i spent the next six days slowly progressing through the epic despite the endless nagging my relatives (you all rock, by the way) forced me to endure. and i enjoyed nearly every last second.

  the game is clearly not without flaw. the graphics kinda suck, (though it can look quite good on the PC) the control is of questionable quality, there aren't enough alien models or voices, etc. and though it doesn't bother me much, carlos has convinced me that the dark side game contains far less intriguing dialogue than the light side game. regardless, kotor kept me busy for a week while i would have otherwise been toasting in the hot sun in the middle of nowhere. bioware, i thank you. with any luck, jade empire will be equally entertaining.

and that, my friends, concludes part I of the awards. be sure to tune in tomorrow for part II... best. films. ever... of 2003. whatever.

until then.