Top Down Perspective

Every year, it happens. Games came out. We played them and decided which we liked and those perhaps we didn't care for. Now... now we remember the year as a whole and name some of the worst and absolute best gaming experiences we had in 2014.Along with you, the community, it's been a long and winding road we traveled this year and we were astounded to have almost 100 personal entries for each category to tally up. Now sit back, relax and let's wrap up 2014 the right way...

Not a lot going on this week due to the holidays coming up. Sean is taking care of some stuff before leaving for Canada for a couple weeks so it's up to Jon and Paul to hold the fort down. Jon plays Ultimate NES Remix and Paul dabbles here and there in World of Warcraft. In news, Ralph Baer has passed, Telltale is making a Minecraft game and a video game is pulled off Steam Greenlight.

Paul finally starts up Bayonetta 2 and is already loving it. Sean plays through Game of Thrones and a good chunk of Captain Toad while continuing with Crossy Road. Jon beats everyone by playing Picross DS, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Broforce and a good deal more.The Game Awards happened as well as the PlayStation Experience and a good chunk of announcements came out of that.

From the far east Jon joins us, but never too far from video games. He's been playing more Picross DS, The Jackbox Party Pack and Binding of Isaac as well as Halo The Master Chief Collection with Sean (who also played through the first episode of Tales from the Borderlands). Paul hasn't been playing too much. A 20th anniversary PS4 is being released to a limited supply, we also talk about Steam's new broadcasting options, the next Assassin's Creed and Team YP.

It's Turkey Day for a minority of this podcast, not really - he didn't have any turkey. Paul has been playing Far Cry 4, This War of Mine and Dragon Age: Inquisition. Jon goes back to Picross DS, starts up Smash WiiU and checks out The Master Chief Collection. Sean finishes Bayonetta 2, starts working through Pokemon and is excited about Geometry Wars 3.

Paul continues with the new Binding of Isaac and Jon joins in and plays through all of Picross e5. Sean and Paul both play through A Bird Story. Then Sean plays some Luftrausers, Sunset Overdrive, Smash WiiU and Bayonetta. There isn't much news, G4 is officially gone. 

Sean is away this week again, so in his memory Paul plays a lot of Binding of Isaac: Rebirth and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare while Jon parties it up playing Fibbage and Smash Bros on 3DS.In the news, Geoff Keighley hosts another video game award show, Amiibos from anywhere in the world will work on your console and BlizzCon announces a whack of updates for upcoming Blizzard products!News:Geoff Keighley has a new video game award showhttp://www.giantbomb.com/articles/geoff-keighley-launching-new-game-awards-show/1100-5084 Just Cause 3 announcedhttp://kotaku.com/square-enix-announces-just-cause-3-1657377684 LEGO Jurassic Park might be a thinghttp://www.giantbomb.com/articles/lego-jurassic-parks-probably-coming-next-year/1100-5090/ BlizzCon News:StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void Announced!Goblins vs Gnomes™—Explosive New Cards to Debut This DecemberHEROES CLOSED BETA ANNOUNCEDStarCraft II: Legacy of the Void Announced!Overwatch™ Unveiled at BlizzConGeometry Wars 3 out Nov 25:http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/11/13/geometry-wars-3-dimensions-launches-on-ps4-ps3-1125/#sf5760821 Amiibos are not region locked:http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/11/11/nintendo-amiibos-are-not-region-locked See through 2DSs are coming state-sidehttp://kotaku.com/remember-those-cool-transparent-2ds-consoles-nintendo-1657269054?utm_campaign=Socialflow_Kotaku_Twitter&utm_source=Kotaku_Twitter&utm_medium=Socialflow Another silly Nintendo peripheral:http://kotaku.com/you-can-buy-a-250-drum-controller-for-wii-u-if-you-li-1657262585?utm_campaign=Socialflow_Kotaku_Twitter&utm_source=Kotaku_Twitter&utm_medium=Socialflow

Sean rejoins this week to talk about Project Spark, Sunset Overdrive and Disney Fantasia. Jon played through all of Okami and Paul checked out Evolve's Big Alpha.This was a new Nintendo Direct this week and we break down what's interesting (and dumb) from that. We also talk about shaving gel and sweet upcoming Mii apps.

Sean is busy this week but the show doesn't stop. Paul is playing around with Arma 3 and a lot of The Evil Within. Jon continues with Hyrule Warriors and Smash 3DS.I put a lot of news in the doc but I haven't listened to the full episode yet so I don't know what exactly they talked about from there. There is a news section though.

Back from Portland, Jon tells us about checking out Killer Queen and yet another convention. Sean finished Hyrule Warriors and tries out Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel along with Paul. Paul is continuing with Alien: Isolation.Hearthstone is making its way to Android and phone platforms and Nintendo releases a huge Smash Bros WiiU Direct.

Jon is back from his second trip before heading off to number three. He's been playing the new Hyrule Warriors DLC and more 3DS Smash. Sean finishes up Hitman Go, Layton/Wright, Forza Horizon 2 and starts up Hyrule Warriors. Paul tries out Alien: Isolation, A City Sleeps and The Evil Within.There's a big free weekend on Steam happening, Nintendo will now let you download and purchase games from their website and the PS TV is out and PS Now starts the beta for it and the Vita.

Sometimes just not a lot is happening. Unless you're Jon in which you take random weekend trips to Jamaica and then come back and leave for Halifax and then come back and leave for Portland. Sean and Paul haven't been playing much new. Jon played some Smash 3DS.

We have a special guest join us this week and he's here to talk about Spirit Tracks, Sonic 2, purchasing Deadly Creatures and the book Console Wars. Jon and Paul have been playing Hyrule Warriors. Paul is also checking out The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and Fenix Rage. Sean continues with Layton/Wright, finishes D4 and starts up Smash for 3DS.News is short, we talk about what the future of Wipeout is looking like and the list of freebies that PS+ and Games with Gold are.

We join Sean as he explains just how much he is loving Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright. Paul talks a lot about Korean MMOs and Jon brings up more Lethal League and 100% Orange Juice.Tokyo Game Show is happening as we speak. We get a release date for D4 and Onechanbara is super weird. Microsoft's purchase of Minecraft is confirmed and the Dream Team Miiverse get silly.

We try out streaming on Twitch again this week so things are a little weird. Jon continues to play so many games including Hotline Miami, Lethal League and the beta for Might No. 9. Paul played Garry's Mod with our community. Sean checks out a bunch of Vita PS+ games and finally starts Layton/Wright.We discuss a few new release date announcement and the rumor about Microsoft wanting to buy Minecraft.

Jon played a record breaking number of games this time, he honestly just doesn't stop bringing them up. As much as we try he keeps going. Paul tries out Super Time Force Ultra, Hitman GO and more Dark Souls 2. Sean plays the Walking Dead season two finale and Halo Spartan Assault. There was a major 3DS Nintendo Direct that included the announcement of a new hardware model. We also discuss Super Meat Boy Forever, Run Sackboy! Run!'s announcement and Minecraft coming to the Xbox One.

We lose Jon to yet another convention since PAX is this weekend. Sean and Paul are left to reminisce. Paul goes back to DayZ and gets freaked out from Five Nights at Freddy's. Sean continues his necrodancing, gets quite confused with Invisible Inc and really enjoys Hitman Go.For news we talk about Amazon's purchase of Twitch, September's PS+ offers and interesting Mario Kart 8 DLC is revealed.

This week Sean's been playing more Crypt of the Necrodancer, the third Kentucky Route Zero episode and Tiny Wings got updated. Paul is wrapping up all the new Hearthstone content, trying out Invisible Inc. and reminding us who developed N+. Jon has mixed feelings on P.T. and starts playing Counter-Spy.In the news section we discuss how Super Time Force is coming to steam soon, Team Meat's teaser trailer and The Behemoth's fourth game.

It's Wacky Wednesdays on this episode and we make sure that it is a success. Jon has been playing Broforce, Super Time Force and Waluigi of Time. Paul isn't really playing anything. Sean finishes Strider, falls in love with Crypt of the Necrodancer and has mixed feelings on Rymdkapsel.Gamescom is happening this week so there is just a ton of news in general.

This week, Sean plays the "I moved and have no internet game" so Paul got to play the "nothing is working right game" while Jon resumed his "I feel sleepy" game.In reality, Jon revisits some gems of the past such as Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie, Contra: The Alien Wars and Time Slip. Paul, in the meantime, enjoys some Abyss Odyssey, starts a descent into madness trying a Dark Souls 2 "Deathless" run and enjoys some free-to-play business in Firefall, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Phantoms and Velvet Sundown.In news, Resident Evil REmake gets a... REmake? Twitch pisses their userbase off and a bunch of cool games are announced (including a port of Bioshock to iOS devices!). We answer a bunch of questions, ramble on about random talking points and slowly show our true colors. All this, and more, on this episode of the Top Down Perspective!