As 2007 draws to a close, we say our goodbyes to what has arguably been one of the greatest years for videogames ever. With so many amazing releases, this year has been absolutely stunning, and we can now definitely say that the new generation of games has finally arrived.
FromBioShocktoSuper Mario Galaxy, the hobby we love has given us so very much to latch onto, and latch we did. The online gamer community made memes, injokes and even obsessions of so very much in 2007 as iconic moments, characters and people surfaced. This is Destructoid’s first ever icons of the year showcase, where we celebrate those things that the gamer community has embraced with a passion and a vengeance.
This is it, the grand finale’, our third and final list of 2007 honors. You can recap withpart oneorpart two, or just hit the jump to see what rounds out our showcase of this year’s most iconic. The choice is yours!
“I am Andrew Ryan, and I’m here to ask you a question. Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? ‘No!’ says the man in Washington, ‘It belongs to the poor.’ ‘No!’ says the man in the Vatican, ‘It belongs to God.’ ‘No!’ says the man in Moscow, ‘It belongs to everyone.’ I rejected those answers; instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose… Rapture, a city where the artist would not fear the censor, where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality, Where the great would not be constrained by the small! And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city as well.”
The above speech is perhaps the most famous in-game quote of the year, and is sure to be fondly remembered over the years to come. In fact, the “sweat of his brow” comment has become something of a meme, and with good reason, as it’s an utter classic. Yes, despite the original plan for this series being not to have multiple entries from a single game, the charms of Rapture’s creator, the self-made manAndrew Ryan, just couldn’t be denied. Your antagonistic enemy for much of your time spent playingBioShock, Ryan is both a compelling villain and, in some ways, a flawed hero, one of the most iconic nemesi of 2007.
Andrew Ryan, perhaps the ultimate Libertarian, built Rapture as a place far from what he deemed the “parasites” of society, an Ayn Rand-esque “perfect” city where people could benefit from their own hard work without being demonized for their intelligence or taxed for their earnings. While his ideals were beautiful, they were perhaps too unrealistic to ever work, and it is this failed vision of impossible perfection that leads to your adventures in the collapsed utopia of Rapture.
Without spoiling the game, it must be said that Andrew Ryan is an amazingly crafted character. A man who worked so hard to distance himself from the crowd, you get to learn through audio diaries and your own experiences just how badly Ryan violated every single one of his principals just to protect his vision. It begs the question; are ideals worth fighting for if you have to betray them in the process? Andrew seemed to think so, but perhaps he changed his mind before one incredible cutscene that will stick in the mind of all who have had the pleasure of playing. If you are one of those people, you know what we mean. If not, you are poorer for it. Andrew Ryan is going to go down in videogame history as one of the industry’s finest creations, and is deserving of his place as a 2007 icon.
A man chooses, a slave obeys.
The Internet rewards the stupid, and very few come as stupid asChad Warden. A PS3 lover with a videocamera, too much time on his hands, and the belief that he is some kind of 50 Cent-like thug, Chad Warden’s hilarious Youtube posts in which he mocks the Wii remote for looking like a dildo and the Xbox 360 for having no games (a brilliant irony) quickly drew attention from the gaming community, who took his stupidity and phrases like “PSTriple” to heart.
