1UP was conceived as a community-focused site from the beginning, and we're always grateful for our members' daily involvement. The 1UP community's excellence is perfectly embodied in the steady stream of blogs that populate the site, and throughout 2011 you've tackled topics ranging from how you've been personally affected by games to detailed photo blogs that chronicle some of the coolest events in the industry. Our members are dedicated individuals, and we're thrilled that you've chosen 1UP as a forum for voicing your thoughts and opinions on games. Listed below are 10 member blogs that stood out to us in 2011 as the best of the best. Check them out, and thanks for being a part of the site! We look forward to reading more of your work in 2012.
Jump to: Best of News | Best of Podcasts | Best of Blogs | Best of Previews
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Best of Reviews | Best of Retrospectives
Festivus Airing of Grievances
We here at 1UP try
to remain professional as often as possible. It wouldn't look good if we pulled a Network and walked to our windows yelling "We're as mad as hell, and we're not going to take this anymore!" That's why it's nice to see a user blog that bundles up so many of
the rants we hold back into a neat little package that fits nicely under any Festivus Pole. Few companies manage to escape the wrath of Epic Greenman as he airs his grievances towards all of the ridiculous decisions that make you want to slap your forehead
in disbelief.
My Journey Through Hyrule
While we all have
some personal connections of gaming, 1UP user Jesse Miller's attachment to The Legend of Zelda runs very deep. His of story of tragedy, frustration, and rediscovery shows how deeply gaming memories can resonate within us.
Those RPGs From Way Back
Blogger Sam Torres
takes a trip in the Wayback Machine (actually a 1994 Miata) to revisit the role-playing games of this youth. From big names like Final Fantasy to the obscure (does anyone remember Miracle Warriors?), this is a neat, compact survey of the console RPG landscape
of the late '80s.
Impaired Gamers Aim for the Head
In one of the year's
most inspirational blog posts, 1UP member Chris Abbott told the story of his friend Andrew L'Italien who plays games with one hand -- and in many games, does so better than Abbott himself. "I never get pissed off at my situation because I could have easily
not been alive," said L'Italien. "So I really try to make the best of it? it adds more to my character. That being said, I do sometimes get discouraged and play the 'what if' game, but then I look and say 'this is who I am, I could live in sorrow or I can
make the best of it' and try different approaches to things."
Why Ico is More Important Than Ever
1UP user deep_search
wrote a ton of great blogs this year (seriously, check them out), but none were as compelling as his analysis of Ico as a piece of minimalist art. In a season filled with AAA titles which he aptly describes as busy, this entry helps explain why games like
Ico, even a decade after its launch, are more important than ever. Fumito Ueda's freshman title as a designer is one deserving of mature and articulate commentary, and deep_search's blog is about as good as they come.
Naked Bob's 6th 1UP Anniversary
Naked BoB joined 1UP
six years ago, and in this post, he takes a look back at what changed in that time. He even wins the 1UP superfan crown for showing off his 6-year old 1UP user registration email.
A PAX East 2011 Photoblog
1UP user and photoblogger
extraordinaire David Ngo covers his second PAX East in this detailed post and takes you through the lively halls of the Boston Convention Center from top to bottom.
The Fake Cary Woodham TV Show
Long-time 1UP member
Cary Woodham describes a surprisingly convincing fake game-oriented TV show (seriously, "Boxer the Unboxer" sounds like something we'd actually see on G4) in this April Fool's blog post. The hoax actually had a few people going in large part because everyone
who reads 1UP knows Cary is so darned sincere
that him pulling one over on everybody caught them all by surprise.
Clever Difficulty Settings
You, dear reader who
actively reads and blogs on this site, are part of a clever bunch. That's why we like to have a featured user blog, to show off fellow games from the community who offer scintillating thoughts and insights. Here, Jostein "nipsen" Johnsen writes about the topic
of interesting or clever difficulty settings -- with citations to specific examples from Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Shadow of the Colossus. We applaud you, fine sir, for writing this rather than another screed about cheating in Modern Warfare 3.
Creative Culture, Final Part
User BigMex set out
"to remind the community of lessons long forgotten or simply overlooked in the pages of video game history." His five part series digs deep into the origins of Capcom characters both famous and obscure. In this final entry examines just why these characters
look, act, and feel the way they do.
