Another year has come to pass, and as the sun sets on 2009 it rises on 2010 and all the exiting possibilities it (hopefully) holds. While it is natural to look forward, especially with the likes of StarCraft 2, Bioshock 2 and Mass Effect 2 breaching the horizon, it is also important to look back.
2009 will be remembered by many as a controversial year. I think we have all heard enough on the Modern Warfare 2 fiasco, and most of us are happy to put it to bed. With that in mind, here are some of the biggest events which dominated gaming in 2009.
PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii all got price reductions
Sony ignited the process when it cut the price of the PS3 in August. Microsoft and Nintendo followed shortly by reducing the price of the Xbox 360 and Wii respectively.
StarCraft II will not feature LAN functionality
Blizzard dropped a bombshell in June when it announced that the highly anticipated StarCraft II will not feature LAN functionality.
Woolworths got into gaming
This year saw one of SA’s biggest retail brands enter the gaming market, offering competitive prices on consoles and a decent selection of games.
OnLive announced
In March the world was introduced to the concept of streaming gaming with OnLive. The device will supposedly allow users to play games that are being run on server machines using a broadband connection. This hypothetically means that it will be possible to play games like Crysis on low end machines.
The Duke Nuke Forever saga
The much publicised decent of Duke Nukem Forever into development hell was put to an end when the developer ran out of money in May. For now.
Incredible Connection shacked up with MSSA
Two of SA’s least liked organisations by gamers partnered in July when the retailer signed a sponsorship deal with SA’s official competitive gaming proprietor.
PSP Go! Launched in SA
SterKinekor announced the launch of the brand new PSP Go! As well as its local recommended retail price.
rAge 2009 broke records
This year SA’s biggest annual gaming event broke previous records and saw its highest attendance figures ever.
Microsoft banned one million Xbox Live users
Microsoft came down hard on “chipped” console users by banning them from its online service.
WebAfrica launched bandwidth free servers and announced Steam Mirror
PC gamers around the country celebrated when ISP WebAfrica announced that it would be running its own servers for a variety of games. Using WebAfrica accounts these servers use no bandwidth.
Furthermore, the ISP is currently running closed tests on a similar service which will allow its customers bandwidth free access to online game store Steam.
iBurst’s gaming drive
iGame announced an initiative which will allow its users to play on its servers without using bandwidth.
Vodacom also got into gaming
Telecoms giant Vodacom marked its entry into the gaming market by launching a website as well as servers for various games.
Gamestate goes live
Zoopy announced in November the launch of its dedicated gaming channel. Gamestate is currently showing videos of reviews, local gaming events and more.
iGame hosts Heroes of Newerth server
iBurst’s gaming subsidiary announced in August that it would be hosting a local server for the much hyped DOTA style PC game from S2 Games. The server has been up and running for a few months now.
IS launches local Quake Live server
ISP IS launched a series of local servers for the browser based Quake 3 reincarnation Quake Live.
Brazen dominated the CoD4 landscape
Team Brazen asserted its dominance in SA’s biggest competitive game; Call of Duty 4. Among others, Brazen won Battle of the Clans, all legs of the DoGaming league including the final at rAge and the iGame CoD 4 league.
New games on the horizon
2009 saw many games announced, along with release dates and sneak peeks. Some of these included Bioshock 2, RUSE, Max Payne 3, Mass Effect 2, Thief 4, Crysis 2, Mirror’s Edge 2, a new Mech Warrior, a new Sonic and a new Megaman, Dead Space 2, Epic Mickey, Star Trek Online got a release date, Command and Conquer 4, Supreme Commander 2, FarCry 3 and a new Medal of Honor.
AMD launched the HD 5800 series
AMD made a lone voyage into the world of DX 11 gaming with the launch of the HD 5800 series which includes the HD 5970, HD 5870, HD 5850, HD 5770 and HD 5750.
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