Disturbances During 2011's Holiday Season

These days, if my eyes are open, they are likely fixated on a game that I have to complete before the end of 2011. When it comes to must-play games, 2011 is one of the best for our beloved industry. While I find myself stressing over the thought of not being able to get every major release, I cannot deny that I am having the time of my life. Games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Batman: Arkham City have ruled my life like few games have before. I can't stop thinking about either of them.

During my extensive gaming, I've found myself drifting off into thought about some of the strange things I'm seeing in this holiday's games. Since I'm in a bad mood today, I decided to focus on the disturbances I've observed rather than the noteworthy trends. As always, feel free to list your own in the comments below.

I Spent Far Too Much Time Trying To Log Into Call Of Duty: Elite

Seriously, I just want to see what this service has to offer. If it isn't working at all, don't give me the option of trying to log into something that is broken! You're wasting my time for no reason, Activision. Just turn it off and launch it when it works.

I Fear Bears More Than Dragons

In Skyrim, I was killed more by angry bears than dragons. The dragon fights are way too easy. When I confront them, I'm not thinking about tactics, just the loot they could potentially drop.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations Reminds Me Of The Tony Hawk Games

Back in the day, I used to look forward to the new gameplay additions added to the Tony Hawk games each year. That was, until Neversoft ran out of interesting ideas and decided to add stupid things (like extreme shopping carts) to the mix. I'm getting the same feeling from Assassin's Creed: Revelations' additions. I could live without "the claw" and bombs.

Escapism Broken Up By The Need To Manually Save

In both Deus Ex: Human Revolution, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Rage, I found myself saving religiously. These games need to come packaged with specially designed controllers with gigantic red "SAVE" buttons on them. Entering a series of menus to to make sure progress is cataloged is something I didn't expect to encounter in 2011.

Nathan Drake Can't Stop Touching Stuff

Naughty Dog's new animation system is amazing, but one side effect is Nathan Drake touching every object near him. He looks like an ecstasy junkie who is amazed by every texture he touches.

Dan Ryckert Doesn't Know The Difference Between Cheetahs And Hyenas

Here's a little behind the scenes story for you: When Dan was reviewing Modern Warfare 3, he sent me a text that said "there's a scripted moment involving shooting a cheetah point blank in the face in a church." This tidbit obviously brought much laughter to the Game Informer offices. Jeff Cork even set up a fake twitter account for Church Cheetah. Turns out, the attack was made my a hyena, and Dan is an idiot.

Xbox Live Friends Lists Are Still Limited To 100 People

Each holiday season, I keep hearing that Microsoft is going to expand upon the number of friends people can have. Once again, I'm let down.

Wii Motion Plus Might Have a Future

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword may end up being the last great Wii game. This is the game that is turning people into Wii Motion Plus believers.

HD Remakes At The Wrong Time

My list of new games that I have to get through by the end of the year is gigantic. How in the world am I going to find the time to play all of the HD Metal Gears and Halo Anniversary, as well? Any HD remake released in the last few months automatically has a "will be played in 2012" tag for me.

I Can't Find My Wii

I guess this shouldn't be a surprise. After Super Mario Galaxy 2, I haven't played much of it. The machine will now be played more than it ever has, thanks to The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. 

My Kinect Is Collecting Dust

I thought Kelly (my wife) would play the living hell out of Dance Central 2. She played it for no more than 20 minutes, stating "It's more of the same. I wanted something better." The last game I played on it was The Gunstringer, a brilliant and wacky shooter. I don't see myself using my Kinect any time soon.

I Haven't Downloaded A Game In A Loooong Time

Our industry is a strange place. Most major retail releases come out during the fall. Most major downloadable games are during the summer. Can't we just use the entire year for everything? I don't have any Xbox Live or PSN titles on my radar at this point. The last great downloadable game I played was Bastion.

I Don't Mind Dying

Death in a video game is usually something that doesn't sit well with me. It means failure. It means I wasn't good enough. After playing Dark Souls, death is just part of the process.

People Are Starting To Care About 3D

Don't pretend to be shocked by this. We all made fun of 3D at one point this year. It was easy to pick on. Shadow of the Colossus, Sony's 3D TV bundle, and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception are turning people's heads. Will 3D catch on after this holiday?

The Jurassic Park Game Isn't Worth Playing

This squashes my theory that all games featuring dinosaurs are worth playing. As bad as Dino Crisis 3 and Jurassic: The Hunted were, I still played them extensively. For shame, Telltale. For shame!