The End of a Decade

This year was a curious one, and I don’t mean to refer to the VG industry alone: 2009 was, after all, the first full year of The Slowdown for us three, and boy, it sure went past real fast. For various reasons, this year has also been a very trying one for each of us, yet we were still able to find the time and enthusiasm to write and post together. Taking up writing, I’m certain, has only worked to enhance our enthusiasm and interest in the medium. As if to commemorate the very end of the decade, though, my relatively recent motherboard had to be shipped over to Germany for replacement recently.

You’ve probably also noted how we’ve yet not engaged ourselves in the “best of” discourse, at all; we enjoy making lists just as much as the other guy, sure, but perhaps unsurprisingly also tend to get over-analytical and –intellectual with the concept.

Slowdown Boys

Therefore, as our final post of the year, the three of us have jotted down our personal lists of the decade. The simple rule was not to make it too difficult for ourselves. Therefore, I have sought to paint an impression of the zeitgeist, warts and all. Very subjective. Nabeel wanted to paint a portrait of himself as gamer, and Richard hoped to be accurate and inclusive. The games listed below have not been included based on their perceived merits or qualities; instead, we selected them with the aforementioned focuses in mind.

All three free-form lists after the jump. Here’s to a new gaming decade, everyone!

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Hitman 2, Hitman 5

In an interesting turn of events, MTV Movies Blog reports that Fox has hired Kane & Lynch screenwriter Kyle Ward to pen the next film adaptation of the Hitman game series.

Hitman MovieWhile some cried foul in conjecture to the first adaptation, I wasn’t too disappointed with it personally; In my mind, and from a gamer’s stance, it was far more faithful an adaptation than last year’s Max Payne, for example, and the cinematic approach was largely true to the source material as well.

The more crucial bit of information sprinkled within the news post, however, is that it finally confirms IO Interactive is working on a proper sequel to 2006’s Blood Money after an unfortunate digression in the form of Kane & Lynch.

Richard aptly points out that there remains some confusion as to the series’ numbering in the MTV post: Contracts, after all, hardly counts for number 3 in the series, and we were subsequently unable to decide whether we’d number the game Hitman 1v2 or 2.5; Blood Money, while obviously a clear-cut continuation in the series – including a follow-up to Contracts – is thus harder to position as number 4. Our point is that the 1-4 numbering only works if you exclude the in-game narrative and focus solely on release dates.

…then again, are there really any long-running game series with clear-cut sequels and numbering?

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