Just a smattering of stuff, no real set topic.

• My.Debian. is a neat little site I recently discovered and intend to put the RSS feed on my site. Honestly, the content is all over the board, with some basic stuff most Linux users should already know mixed with some really neat obscure stuff that is useful to know (like this post on VirtualBox and vboxmanager.) Any Debian, Ubuntu, or Debian-based distro user should check it out.
• Game graphics during the 8-bit era. Stumbled on this yesterday, posted it to FGIJ with general applause. Definitely a nice trip down memory lane, I cut my graphical teeth on the old 8-bit Atari computers. Interesting stuff for anyone who was a part of that scene.
• I purchased Endless Ocean for the Wii a while back. I've really been impressed by this non-game, it's a unique and enjoyable experience, even if a lot of the general game reviewer community is panning it. It's so unique, in fact, that I will be very tempted to include it in this year's Sam's Video Game Awards.

2007 was a great year to be a gamer. In fact, it may have been the greatest year ever as we've managed to have hit after hit after hit.

But, in this sea of stellar titles, what games stand out from the rest? Well, I have the answers to that question as well as many others in this year's Sam's Video Game Awards.

Read on for the full poop...

Everything else that was great this year

Presented in no particular order...

• Call of Duty 4

  Xbox 360

  The COD franchise is a popular one, and COD4 was the grand return to fan-favorite developer "Infinity Ward". The problem with the COD series previously was that it was stuck in the now cliched World War II shooter genre, and thus, moderately predictable. COD4 shook things up by fast-fowarding the action to more of a modern setting, thus breathing new life in what had become a somewhat stale series.

One of the biggest problems I have with Nintendo is how formulaic most of their first party games can be. Take a look at the Zelda series, it's a fine series with many memorable and excellent titles. However, most Zelda games can be reduced to the same basic formula: Green clad boy works to save the Kingdom of Hyrule and the Princess Zelda from some evil (usually some variation of Ganandorf). Over the course of the game, Link will hit all of the following: a Lava area (usually accompanied by the Goron), a Water area (usually accompanied by the Zora), a Forest area, an area where he will need to use "heavy boots" to avoid being blown or knocked away, and every dungeon will have keys that unlock doors in them. He will also obtain the following weapons and items: One boomerang, one bow, one bomb bag, and tons of crystals. In the end, most Zelda games can become boring simply because once you've played one, you've played them all.

The Mario games also can become formulaic. Sometimes this is a good thing (like "New Super Mario Brothers" for the DS, which perfected the formula so well you can easily look past the lack of new concepts in it), other times it can be a bad thing. However, generally speaking, I'm someone who loves to see new things tried in tired series (like Windwaker in the Zelda series, or Metroid Prime in the Metroid series). Which is part of the reason I love Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii so much.

I realize it's not yet the end of the year, but I don't think it's too early to state that 2007 will likely be remembered as the Year of the Shooter. This year there will have been released some of the greatest (if not, the greatest) first person shooters of all time.

This past year we've simply had some incredible FPSes. Let's take a look at them (in no particular order)....

So last week my wife and I were lucky enough to find a Wii at a local video game store. We were already getting a lot of stuff, so we didn't actually get any games for it at the time. Thus, all we've been able to do with it is play the fun (if shallow) Wii Sports and goof around with the various free features of the Wii.

One of those features is the ability to create Miis. A Mii is a digital avatar you can create for use in various Wii games. For example, your Mii can be used in the Wii Sports games. When you box, you box with your Mii persona. If you have enough Miis defined, you can play the Wii Sports baseball game and all of your Miis will be on your team. Additionally, your Miis can leave your Wii and go out to visit other people's Wiis (so your little Mii can show up sometime in the future on someone else's Wii Sports baseball team). It's all pretty cool stuff.

Anyway, my wife and I proceeded to make our own Miis... and everything was good. At least, for a while...