Favorite Games of 2007...

Dice's Favorite 5 Video Games of 2007
(These are, in order, the 5 games I enjoyed, respected, desired, and loved the most that I played for the first time in 2007.)

Admission: For financial and nostalgic reasons I live in a Nintendo only home, though I did enjoy playing a little bit of guitar hero I did not experience it enough to qualify it for consideration. I would rebuff your cries of "FANBOY!!" except that it just might be true.

Also the fact that Zach and Wiki isn't on here should be a sign of just how many great games are coming out.

The list:

5. Picross DS (Nintendo DS) - I know everyone was on a Sudoku kick for a while, but this was the puzzle game that owned my attention this year. It is a puzzler that is perfect for the touch screen DS and it is immediately addicting. Like Sudoku it's a puzzle I played in my puzzle books as a kid, and getting back into it was a ton of fun. It also wins the "Wife o' Dice" award as the game she played the most this past year.

4. Dice Wars (Online) - Aside from the absolutely wonderful name, this game is flat out fun. It's an addictive game that I found on a website for playing online games through the Wii (Wiicade.com) and once I got the hang of it I couldn't stop playing. I guess it's similar to Risk (a board game that I absolutely had no interest in ever playing) but I love it because it is challenging and can be played against varied amounts of computer opponents. Plus when I conquer the world, it flashes YOU WIN! on the screen and that always makes me feel good.

3. Wario Ware: Smooth Moves (Wii) - The Wario Ware series has always been good, but with motion control the Wii notched the entire experience to another level. The silliness and animation styles might add to the idea that this is a "kids game", but underneath the cartoony shell is some real gameplay goodness especially for our A.D.D. generations.

2. Twilight Princess - I actually owned this game for the end of 2006, but I didn't start playing it until around this past spring. Once I did I couldn't stop until every last enemy was under my sword and my world was safe again. Twilight Princess remains to me the best example of how the new control styles of the Wii are suitable to any type of game. The sword swinging got old after a while, but using the IR to shoot and grab was a huge improvement and I found myself more and more immersed as the game went on. Though "Ocarina of Time" may still be on the throne, Twilight Princess manages to best even "Link to the Past" on my list of best Zelda games of all time.

1. Super Mario Galaxy - Galaxy is the Wii's coup de grace on old style game control. If Wario Ware showed how fun it was, and Twilight Princess showed how versatile it could be, SMG shows how motion control can work so seamlessly into a gaming mechanic that you can't imagine ever going back. This game is so visually engaging and so flat out fun that I hardly hesitate to say it's the most fun I've ever had playing a video game. Every new level feels like a revelation and the gameplay continues to evolve as you collect every last star. Not just my favorite game of this past year, but possibly my favorite game of all time.

BONUS LOOK INTO THE FUTURE:

Almost certain to make next year's list: