As Santa filled his sleigh this year, he checked his list. Which video game companies were on his lists this Christmas? He moved his finger down the list, seeing who'd been naughty and who'd been nice…
Nice
Naughty
Sony, for releasing a game system that combines video games with DVD capability.
Nintendo, for creating a next-generation game system, the GameCube, which is developer-friendly.
Sega, for getting SegaNet up and running with Quake III, NFL2K1, and NBA2K1.
Konami, for all the games shown at Konami Gamers Day, especially Metal Gear Solid 2 and Silent Hill 2.
Capcom, not only for porting their Resident Evil and Dino Crisis games to the Sega Dreamcast, but pricing them affordably, too.
Enix, for reestablishing themselves in North America, and releasing Game Boy versions of Dragon Warrior, one of the best role-playing game series in video game history.
Rare, for great Nintendo 64 games such as Perfect Dark and Banjo-Tooie; who says the N64 is dead?
Square, for releasing so many RPG's this year, even if some of their sequels weren't as great as the originals.
Working Designs, for shipping Lunar 2 in time for Christmas.
Peter Moore, COO of Sega, for defending the video game industry after the FTC reported that violent video games are intentionally marketed to children.
Sony, for rushing the PS2 to market, making it difficult for developers to create games, releasing no "killer apps" in time for Christmas, and failing to ship as many hardware units as they promised. (how many lumps of coal IS that?)
Everyone on eBay who sold PlayStation 2's for more than $500.
Saddam Hussein, for taking 4,000 PlayStation 2's off American shelves and shipping them to Iraq.
Microsoft, for Xbox. From the people who brought us Windows? God save us all.
Paramount, Eidos, and Angelina Jolie, for the tragedy that is about to beTomb Raider: The Movie.
Square, for releasing handheld versions of the classic Final Fantasy games — for WonderSwan, not Game Boy.
LucasArts, for releasing the Nintendo 64 Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine as a Blockbuster rental exclusive.
Express.com, for shutting down the GameFan website and print magazine.
Quebec, for forcing video game companies to release game manuals in French.
Everyone who didn't buy Sega's A+ quality software, from Samba de Amigo to Shenmue; Sega reported hundreds of millions of dollars in losses this year. Sega got over their mistakes with the 32X and Saturn, why can't you?
This article is copyright (c) 2000, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.
