If 2007 was the year of first person, then 2009 was the year of third person. A simple, and accurate equation, but it is more complex than all that.

With the exception of retro-fuelled nostalgia, the games industry can rarely be accused of looking backwards. From time to time we certainly hold up anointed examples of videogame craft and skill above others, and we regularly pine for a return to our first experiences with Mario, Zelda, and other aged icons.

But it is unusual to see analysis of trends or innovation outside of the gaming canon; even more unusual to look at a year’s worth of games once we’ve wiped our hands of them with obligatory Game of the Year awards. These awards are often contentious and fiercely debated at the time, but rarely do we concern ourselves with the trends of a particular year after we’ve handed out our pats-on-the-back and shown the world just how thoroughly up with it we’ve been in the last 365 days. We rarely even return to the games of years past: unless they’re in the canon, we probably won’t revisit them.

I’d therefore like to return to just two years ago: the year 2007. This, as it was easy to see at the time, was the year of first person. Continue reading →