Giving Thanks

Today is Thanksgiving in the United States. It is a time when we look back and reflect on what we are thankful for as far as family, friends, and…games are concerned. As I look back over 2005, these are the things that I thank my lucky stars about (in no particular order):

I’m thankful that a company like Sports Interactive exists. I cannot imagine a cold dark world where there is no Football Manager, Eastside Hockey Manager, or Out of the Park Baseball Manager. Thank you SI Games.

I’m thankful that Markus Heihnson and Shaun Sullivan develop games for people like me. They understand what baseball general manager joy is and spread it through the world with their wonderful products. Thank you Markus and Shaun.

I’m thankful that The Escapist exists and fills my inbox with the best writing about games on the planet. It is so good that I would break my long standing vow of never paying for a print game magazine ever again. But the good news is that it is free! The intelligent and topical writing is very entertaining. Thank you The Escapist.

I’m thankful that Blizzard developed World of Warcraft. Even though it has been a year, I still play it almost every day. To use Bill Abner’s term, World of Warcraft is gaming crack and I just can’t get enough. Thank you Blizzard.

I’m thankful for Microsoft and the Xbox 360 game developers. Thank you for concentrating on pretty pictures and graphics instead of game play in your launch titles. Because you did this, I had zero notions of buying an Xbox 360 at launch and saved myself a lot of money. This was the most unanticipated console launch in my gaming history. The Xbox and PS2 had interesting titles and took my hard earned cash from me. But not this year. Thank you Microsoft.

I’m thankful for EA Sports. You continue to develop crappy game after crappy game. It is fun to watch your lemming like fans buy everything you dish out to them regardless of how good the title is. While I did like Madden’s online playing ability, the rest of the game was pretty poorly done. Just as General Motors is finding out, you can continue to make bad products and eventually the consumers will stop buying. Plus folks that wouldn’t think about text games do so now thanks to your terrible sports offerings. Thank you EA Sports.

Finally, I’m thankful for the online sports gaming community. Most of us have been doing this for many years and nothing beats the fun and challenge of being in an online league. So a big thank you to my OOTP online buddies everywhere!