What will you remember 2007 for, in terms of gaming?

We asked some of the game admins and network staff to find out their thoughts, but I'll give you a quick recap first:
Australia got the PS3 in a bit of an anti-climactic launch, bringing with it a bit of resistance, as well as a stormy racer. We got a new Command & Conquer, another episode of Half-Life 2, a final Halo and didn't get the latest Grand Theft Auto. The world was thrown into "what-if?" with a little game from Massive, a motley crew of cartoons finally arrived, making up Team Fortress 2, and the Call of Duty was heard on a more modern battlefield. Ingame physics were turned on their head and flipped inside-out with Valve's puzzling Portal, our favourite four-fingered family arrived on almost every console known to man, first-person shooters got genetically-engineered, and the world was overrun by pocket monsters, both handheld and motion-sensitive. It's also been a big year for a little Italian plumber, who not only took over the soccer field, he also had a party or two and even headed into space, as well as turning somewhat more two-dimensional. Blizzard released their first MMO expansion, announced their second, revealed that 9 million people played World of Warcraft, took the covers off of StarCraft II, and still managed to keep tight-lipped on their new project.

The Games Network has done a whole bunch of work behind the scenes, making things a lot nicer and easier to work with, even if it looks pretty much the same. One of the major changes would be the upgrade to our file mirror, which now boasts 10 terabytes of space, so there's plenty of room for games, demos, screenshots, videos and patches. We also upgraded our staff, getting a whole new person to work for us, as well as a handful of new newsbots to bring you updates and good stories.

As a team, we tended to stay pretty close to home this year (other than sending representatives to eGames in Melbourne, GO3 in Perth, and BlizzCon in LA!), but we took the time to recognise the local guys with a big meetup for our Adelaide members, volunteers and gamers on the Australia Day long weekend last year. We had a whole pub to ourselves!

Overall, we must be doing something right, as every month, it seems we get bigger and bigger, with more visits, downloads and members! ...and, of course, you guys are the most important thing. Thanks for all your support, whether you're a regular visitor, someone who pops in from time to time, or just someone who keeps an eye out for interesting files in our library.

Bring on 2008 - but first, read on to find out what the admins, staff and volunteers have to say about 2007!

Firstly, we chatted to the admins, Emp being first off the block:

Favourite game of 2007: Multiplayer - Definately TF2, excellent fun game. Many hours gone to playing it now. Singleplayer - Portal, loved this game, although admittedly short, if it was any longer I don't think it'd have been as fun. Ending = great. Least favourite game of 2007: Older game - BF2 still rules this section, however for newer games either Crysis or ET:QW, neither of which did anything for me. Highlight of the year: Catch up at eGames Expo with Chienne, Uglypunk, Acaila and Max. However for a more personal, nothing to do with the internet life, finding out that next year I'll be an Uncle for the first time (niece due around April/May) Lowlight of the year: Really don't have one this year other than having my PhD take up increasing amounts of my time due to hitting my "final" year causing less time available for the games network. What are you most looking forward to in 2008? Finishing my PhD (if it happens in that time frame...bloody well hope so). Game wise: Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii or Mario Kart Wii (if on time).

Team Fortress 2

Then it was Slaine's turn:

Favourite game of 2007: Portal, no ifs or buts. Took a couple of maps to get past the vertigo, but once that was achieved, it was pretty much the best game I've ever played. I loved having to think through each map, placing each portal in the right spot to sling myself ever closer to cake-y goodness, and that closing song.... best song released in 2007! I even got my 60 something year old Dad playing it for a few hours. He's used to playing his logic puzzles in two dimensions, so it was amusing watching him try and logic himself out of problems gun in hand but still restricted to his 2 dimensions! Least favourite game of 2007: Peggle Extreme. Unicorns on LSD! Once I pre-ordered the Orange Box, I was a little excited that I could instantly access one part of it, so merrily fired up Peggle. About 5 seconds later my eyes started bleeding. Those colours! Whoever designed that artwork for the game needs to be strung up by their ankles and beaten with barbwire wrapped pool noodles by midgets in need of a piñata. Highlight of the year: Orange Box, Portal PLUS TF2? How could you go wrong? Sure, I've just ragged on Peggle, and to be honest, I still haven't gotten around to playing Episode 2, but Portal kicked too much ass for me to care. And FINALLY having TF2 after all these years waiting, well I didn't think it would EVER happen, and then for them to make such a well balanced version of the game, I was impressed. TF2 was a very close second for favourite game of the year. Hwguy for the win! Lowlight of the year: BF2142. Yeah, sure, it was released last year, but it still sucks so badly it must be referenced now. I can't understand why the game is still being played. There are so many bugs, so many people who want to do stupid things, and as I said last year, it's just a glorified version of BF2. I really hope it finally falls over and expires with a long wheezing, rattling breath sometime in, ohhhh, the first week of January. What are you most looking forward to in 2008? Finally purchasing CoD4. Been meaning to for weeks now. SAD PANDA! Stupid rules not letting admins enter stupid competitions to win stupid games. :( Every time I see more media about CoD4 I'm impressed, it looks so nice. I want to get my greedy little mitts on it soon. But alas, Christmas shopping, broken washing machines and bond payments are all conspiring to keep me from it. Oh but I will have you my precioussssss, oh yes, you shall be mineses....

Portal

We also heard from your friend and ours, holo`, who's helped us out with some news and content over the year (including the great Week in Conflict strategy guide). No surprises for his favourite game!

Favourite game of 2007: World in Conflict - completely changed me as a gamer, from someone who never ever touched strategy games to enlightening me in different types of game play. Least favourite game of 2007: Medal of Honor: Airborne - was dissapointing and to me ruined the franchise with poor gameplay in an overdone WW2 setting. Highlight of the year: Bioshock or Overlord, both titles which I enjoyed thoroughly; with Overlord being more unexpected. Bioshock was brilliant, and one of the best games I've played in a long time. Lowlight of the year: Crysis - My expectations where pretty low to begin with as I assumed it would be all graphics, and nothing in terms of innovative game play, and from what I experienced, I was right. :) What are you most looking forward to in 2008? Despite actually playing through The Witcher, NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer, at the moment there isn't much that seems to be out there of interest next year, and the upcoming titles pale in comparison to what we've seen on the PC this year. And begining my final year at Uni, before getting out into the "real world", a scary place, or so I'm told.

World in Conflict

While we're sure that if we gave him the opportunity, new newsbot Matt K could have filled this whole page himself, he concentrated really hard, and just picked one item for each category. We like restraint, in our newsbots.

Favourite game of 2007: Super Mario Galaxy Least favourite game of 2007: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Highlight of the year: StarCraft II revealed Lowlight of the year: The Jeff Gerstmann debacle over at C-Net What are you most looking forward to in 2008? Grand Theft Auto IV

Super Mario Galaxy

From a Matt to a Not_Matt, our resident reviewer shares his thoughts on what he liked and didn't like:

Favourite game of 2007: Even with all the AAA titles we've had this holiday season, one game managed to steal away my attention from start to finish. Dead Head Fred for PSP was, to me, the most enjoyable experience of the year. Honorable mentions got to Bioshock, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Uncharted... Least favourite game of 2007: Hmmm looking back on all of my reviews this year, Alien Syndrome for Wii sure scored the worst, so I'll go with that. As far as most disappointing release of 2007 goes, it's a tie between Guitar Hero 3 and Kane & Lynch. Highlight of the year: Graduating from Media. One degree down, one to go. Working in the Internode offices to contribute to my grades made it all the more sweeter. Lowlight of the year: Red Ringed. After a year and a half without a hitch I thought I was in the clear, but it seems no one is safe. What are you most looking forward to in 2008? Details on the next release by Team ICO. Hopefully then I'll be convinced to buy a PS3 of my own.

Dead Head Fred

While in a writerly mood, we also checked in with newsbot TheMeadow, to see what he had to say:

Favourite game of 2007: Tough one since there was so many good games to come out! Team Fortress 2? Portal? World in Conflict? WoW:Burning Crusade? (YES I said it!) S.T.A.L.K.E.R.? The Darkness? Final Fantasy XII? Guitar Hero 3? (High Def Judy nails!).... But I honestly don't think could pick a favourite, its been such a great year game wise! Least favourite game of 2007: Hands down. Guitar Hero Encore: Rock The 80s. I can get over all the other stuff from high anticipated games this year.. the dodgy multiplayer, the bugs, the realllllly short story taking a day to complete, the lack of players etc etc... But never have I felt more angry and annoyed at buying a game until I was 2 minutes into Rock the 80s and wanted to stab someone. Highlight of the year: Getting to write for node of course! However bad the game might be for some, the Fury launch party (Thanks to Captain Planet and 'Node) which I attended was an awesome experience and a real eye opener for me. Also checking out some of the up and coming games at Supanova Brisbane (and Chief Tyrol!) Lowlight of the year: I had the worst year of my life with friends and family of friends dying or getting quite ill. My best wishes goes out to all of them and their families. Bring on a healthy 2008! Gaming side thou... CPL Pulling from Supanova Sydney just days before. WiC competitively in Australia took a huge hit from this. What are you most looking forward to in 2008? The possibility of Duke Nukem Forever being released? haha! Seriously, SSBB (Might just make me get a wii), A decent Playstation 3 game (Fingers crossed for FFXIII + GT5), CoD4 taking over the competitive multiplayer scene, WiC getting Australian Comps (*looks at Holo*), Street Fighter 4! and all the awesome ideas Chienne and the gang have bubbling away in their creative minds! Going to be an awesome year!

Guitar Hero III

Leader of the newsbots, that Chienne character, piped up with what she thought, too (can't keep her quiet, y'know):

Favourite game of 2007: One of the only games I really, truly got excited about this year was Mass Effect. I gave it to myself for Christmas, and I'm hooked... don't expect much news to be done for a while! I also loved Drawn to Life, the fact that Viva Pinata made its way to PC (even though I haven't yet had a chance to play it), Rockstar Games Table Tennis, Elite Beat Agents... and I did love, and actually complete, a gruelling game of Bookworm Adventures Deluxe. See, I really am a gamer, despite the rumours! Least favourite game of 2007: Because I play so few games, the ones I do tend to be on the "good" side of the fence. I think my least favourite treatment of a game was the very poor handling of Fury. A lot of that whole issue could have been done a lot better, and I think the Australian industry's worse off, for it. Highlight of the year: Heading over to Melbourne to see the Pure Pwnage premiere, and again for eGames this year (and GCAP, which was attached to it). The expo for me was more about the people than the games, as I already knew most of the stuff on show, but it was still a great atmosphere. Lowlight of the year: Being left at home while UgLyPuNk and Ignant went to BlizzCon. Being left at home while Ignant and Rulke went to GO3. Being left at home while UgLyPuNk raced around with Intel. Are we detecting a theme? What are you most looking forward to in 2008? Let me see... the announcement of The Lost Rock and Roll World of DiabloCraft V (well, Blizzard are planning a new game, so it must be that!), more televised goodness with Good Game, the ongoing development of all the titles I've been lucky enough to have a sneaky peek at (Jumpgate Evolution being very high on that list), finally sitting down and learning about DS homebrew games and software, as well as lots of great new features, articles, real news, exciting stories, and late nights covering events held on the wrong side of the world. Overall, seeing where all of this can go next. Onward and upward, my friends.

Mass Effect

Then it was onto staff, with Acaila sharing his thoughts, in amongst doing server maintenance and upgrades.
Acaila:

Favourite game of 2007: Portal, with TF2 a close second Least favourite game of 2007: Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Highlight of the year: Guitar Hero 3 on the Wii Lowlight of the year: GH3 on the Wii only having Mono Sound. What are you most looking forward to in 2008? The new WoW Expansion and a fix for GH3

World of Warcraft: the Wrath of the Lich King

Ignant had to send in his answers via carrier pigeon, as he's currently in parts unknown - but he'll be home soon, ready and willing to break anything that needs breakin'.

Favourite game of 2007: My pick of games released in 2007 is definitely Portal. It's the only game I've seen in years that was fun from start to end, and didn't make me feel like the only reason I was finishing it was because of the time invested so far. You also can't pass up Geometry Wars or Rockstar Games presents Wii Table Tennis for the same reason, although Table Tennis was just a great game to play with mates. Having said that, the game I've played most this year, and enjoyed the most overall, is a game released last year... Company of Heroes. What can I say? I'm a late bloomer - read: upgraded PC this year! Least favourite game of 2007: Considering I watch nearly all the videos and try nearly all the demos added to our library, plus the occasional titles we receive for coverage, I could create a list longer than the news page would allow. However, the stand out for me at the moment though is Lost Planet: Extreme Condition for PC. As with so, so many games these days, in an attempt to cash in on all platforms, it became nothing more than a terrible port from console to PC. It could have been made so much nicer for PC, but unless you ran the equivalent of yesteryears' Cray computers, you would get 5 frames a second, and THEN you had to deal with the clunky UI... I HATE CONSOLE PORTS! Highlight of the year: The highlight of the year for me has to be the astonishing increase in users/readers we've had this year. This comes in part from our increased mirror network and network expansion, and is also a result of the content we've been pushing out. I'm very impressed with our members and writers alike! In terms of games, the number of "Indie" games that have been released this year is great. More often than not they are fun, enjoyable games that show the big boys how it's done. Lowlight of the year: The ridiculous amount of money we pay for games, plus the Steam "corrections" on pricing and locking out purchases from our region. Something has to be done, but what can we do really? We're not going to stop buying them, so the industry will keep doing what they are doing until something changes. What are you most looking forward to in 2008? I'm still waiting for Alone in the Dark. After a 2nd (or 3rd?) engine change, it's been pushed back to quarter 1 next year... Hurry up!!! Apart from that, I can't wait to see the new Golden Axe remake for Xbox 360 due next year. I would love too see just how much pocketmoney I spent on the original down the local fish and chip shop with my brother. Ah youth... I miss you so!

Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis

And finally, our illustrious leader, Mr. UgLyPuNk himself, with his definitive word on the matter.

Favourite game of 2007: World in Conflict Least favourite game of 2007: Sam and Max: Season 1 (what's with the damn cheese?) Highlight of the year: BlizzCon Lowlight of the year: E3 (what a way to kill an expo) What are you most looking forward to in 2008? Hehe you will have to wait and see.

BlizzCon

Sure, 2007 had its highlights, but roll on 2008. We all want to see what you've got in store.

...before we wave goodbye totally though, now it's your turn. What were your favourite bits of 2007? Your least favourite? What are you looking forward to in the next 12 months? Did we miss anything?