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The 2007 Boysie Awards

Actors get Oscars, singers get Grammys and video games get awards from Boys’ Life: THE BOYSIES. The Boysies are dedicated to the age-old proverb that video games don’t have to be gross to be cool.

CATEGORY ONE: Best Console

The best video game console doesn’t need to be the most powerful. For this category, we’re closing in on what we think matters most: which console has the best games.

wii.jpgWinner: Wii

(Nintendo of America)

Nintendo’s goal has been to take gaming into a new world, and Wii has been a success. Having come out a year later than Xbox 360, Wii has overtaken the Microsoft console in sales, while leaving PS3 in the dust. Wii’s lead over the competition is especially notable, however, when it comes to family-friendly games.


CATEGORY TWO: Best Portable Game System

Games for cell phones have really improved, but they still can’t compete with dedicated portable game systems like DS and PSP. Like the race for best console, this is a battle between a powerful system and an innovative, less-expensive rival designed with the family in mind.

nintendods.jpgWinner: Nintendo DS

(Nintendo of America)

DS just keeps on rolling: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, Mario Party DS, Brain Age 2 and a really excellent version of Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older).

Nintendo’s portable boy’s screens are considerably lower resolution than the screen on PSP and the processor is weaker, yet somehow Nintendo makes the whole thing work. The truth is that it’s in the games. Too many PSP games feel like smaller versions of console games—and too many are made for adults.


CATEGORY THREE: Best Sports Game

madden1.jpgWinner: Madden NFL 08

(Electronic Arts for GameCube, PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, DS, PSP, Mac, PC)

Year in and year out, the Madden NFL series continues as the best of the best: great graphics, realistic action, a wide variety of plays, sharp controls, and enough levels of difficulty for both beginners and hardcore players.

Not all versions of Madden NFL are created equal. The Wii and DS versions are disappointing; the PS3 version had problems. When we say Madden NFL 08 is the sports game of the year, we mean Madden NFL on Xbox 360.

bigs.jpgRunner-up: The Bigs

(2K Sports for PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP)

2K Sports has breathed a little extra life into baseball by picking up the pace of the game and adding a ton of mini games, making The Bigs a bit more entertaining than the more realistic baseball games of 2007. The Bigs isn’t bad on any platform, but it really is most fun on Xbox 360.

fifa08.jpgRunner-up: FIFA 08

(EA for PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, PSP, PC)

Electronic Arts is the biggest publisher of games and the overall champ when it comes to sports, and FIFA 08 shows why. This soccer game is not easy, but it’s worth the trouble to learn it. It looks great and plays better than it looks. Just don’t expect to win any championships on your first try.


CATEGORY FOUR: Best Party Game/Collection

rayman.jpgWinner: Rayman Raving Rabbids 2

(Ubisoft for Wii, DS; Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older)

This collection of 60+ mini games delivers on action and humor. The rabbids, which look like cartoon rabbits and act like zany maniacs, are the funniest characters in gaming today. It’s worth pointing out that this game is much more satisfying on Wii than DS.

mariopartyds.jpgRunner-up: Mario Party DS

(Nintendo for DS)

Overall, Mario Party DS probably has slightly better games than Raving Rabbids 2, but the sense of humor in Raving Rabbids was the decision maker. What Mario Party DS brings to the party is a story mode and a puzzle mode along with a collection of mini games.

namcomuseumremix.jpgRunner-up: Namco Museum Remix

(Bandai Namco for Wii)

Namco has taken nine classic arcade games and dressed them up with new graphics and altered gameplay to create a fun collection.

vivapinata.jpgRunner-up: Viva Piñata Party Animals (Microsoft for Xbox 360)

Packed with 40 mini games — some good, some great, a few a bit disappointing — Viva Piñata Party Animals is a good package overall. Many of the mini games in this collection are not all that miniature, such as the cart racing game.


CATEGORY FIVE: Best Games of the Year

It’s been a good year, but not an especially great year for games. That said, the top two games of 2007 would make the “best of” list no matter what year they came out.

supermariogalaxy.jpgConsole Winner: Super Mario Galaxy

(Nintendo for Wii)

If you’re looking for a game that reminds you why you started playing video games in the first place, here it is.

In Super Mario Galaxy, the powerful plumber chases bad boy Bowser across not just one galaxy but dozens. Mario transforms into a boo (ghost), a bee and his old two-dimensional self. The graphics are beautiful, the challenges endless, the fun nonstop.

zeldaphantomhourglass.jpgPortable Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

(Nintendo for DS)

Great Wind Waker-style cel-shaded graphics and a storyline that picks up where Wind Waker left off make this the portable game of the year.

legostarwars.jpgRunner-up: LEGO Star Wars: The Compete Saga

(LucasArts Entertainment for PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, DS; Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older)

First of all, a word to LucasArts: Why isn’t this game on PS2, Xbox and PC?

LucasArts took all the deep gameplay goodness that made the previous two LEGO Star Wars games so great and combined them into one huge title. If you don’t already have LEGO Star Wars I or II, here’s your chance to relive all six Star Wars movies through the eyes of blocky little LEGO characters.

50 Comments on The 2007 Boysie Awards

  1. meerkat and booboo // January 23, 2008 at 7:53 pm // Reply

    The WII is awesome.

  2. wow this is esey

  3. unkown kid 2000000 // January 23, 2008 at 8:31 am // Reply

    I BEAT MARIO PARTY DS (TRUE)

  4. Madden 08 baby!!!!!!!!!!

  5. Hi guys Your great See Yah

  6. Yes! i agree 100% with this review. wii has the most family oriented game play and games. and mario galaxy…i think Mario and sonic at the olympics should have gotten runner up.

  7. Super luigi912 // January 20, 2008 at 2:38 pm // Reply

    Super Mario Galaxy was the right choise for best game of the year, but how did LSTCS get runner up?

  8. the wii is awesome and super mario galaxy is a good match with the wii its easy its fun and actiony the ending is sad were the lumas (the yellow thing on the case that looks like a star) gets sucked into a giant blackhole and make a non evil universe then mario awakens on the new planet were mushroom kingdom sits

  9. nintendo producus r da best!!

  10. Jesus follower // January 17, 2008 at 8:41 pm // Reply

    I agree, I have a DS, PS2, PSP, and have played the Wii. All great game consoles.

  11. I was scrolling along the website and I found this, turns out, it’s great!

  12. I agree with all of the votes, but I think the sports winner should be a tie between The Bigs and Madden 08. Other than that, it’s all great.

  13. I agree that the Nintendo Wii is the best game console, but the PSP should be the best portable game system.

  14. MADDEN 08 IS THE BEST

  15. i hav a wii. it rules!

  16. A wii could be entresting for my family.

  17. A wii could win becouse its a powerful game sestem.

  18. the WII outsold all the other systems because it is cheaper. o ya kahu…blue-ray games do not exist. The ps3 plays games on a totaly different type of CD. It has a blue-ray disc reader for blue-ray dvd’s.

  19. i want to win a will. how can i win that????????????

  20. I’m glad the Wii won because I have a Wii myself.I got one for christmas and my friend Aron’s mom won a PSP and gave it to him. I’ve seen the PSP graphics before. There not that bad as the XBOX. I’m already a pro at Wii bowling and Wii tennis!

  21. all i wanted for my birth day was a wii and for xmas.

  22. video game guy // January 5, 2008 at 1:27 pm // Reply

    I agree with slash why isn’t guitar hero 3 on there

  23. I can’t believe the DS beat the PSP (play station portable.) in the handheld category. But I think it’s good because I have a DS and not a PSP

  24. I like Wei! :mrgreen:

  25. I think RRR2 is better than RRR1 because it’s much easier.

    and yet it’s still challenging

  26. the wii is awsome but i think they should have called it somthing diffrent. sony stinks go nintendo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  27. The Wii entertains my family(except my little brother).

  28. Well, I almost thought that the PS3 would win because it is powerful but I’m glad to say that the Wii won. I have a Wii myself.

  29. What, is this thing rigged?!? Nintindo won for every thing, just becuse the games are more family oreintated. If you ask me PS3 and XBOX360 should of won for best graphics and PSP should of won for biggest screen. Oh and by the way just to show my support for SONY i typed this whole thing on my PSP.

    KND563

    RS PLAYER

  30. I definitely do not agree w/ the Boysie awards. The PlayStation 3 is the best system in the world. Just think, Blu-Ray Games! Oh, yeah. A thing about the Wii? Well, I got a Zapper for the Wii, and I have to aim really high to get the target on the screen. So, get a Wii if you want, but I recommend a more expensive PS3 for your dream system. I can see it now. Actually, I have a PS3 80-gig. It is awesome!

  31. That is awsome that the Wii won.But I want one and this will make it harder to get one probably.

  32. WHY ISN’T GUITAR HREO III ON HERE?!?!?!?!?!

  33. waddyathinkamiaboyscout // December 27, 2007 at 4:19 pm // Reply

    Great awards and good words to LucasArts, BL.

  34. this is true the best party game is rayman raving rabids i know i have it

  35. I want a wii

  36. I do not have a wii but its exelent I would a score of an 1,00000000,00000

  37. The Wii is the best console ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever. Unless they make a newer Wii 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7or…

  38. why did they not put the complete saga on ps2?

  39. I am going to tell you my votes for each game.Madden 08**,The bigs*****,fifa -08****,raman raving rabbies 2 *,mario party ds *****,Namco muesim remix****,via pinata*,supper mario gulziky ***,zelda (no stars),star wars ****.p.s the bigs and mario party wins!!!

  40. NINTENDO WII IS THE BEST THERE WILL EVER BE FOREVER (even though i dont have one but play at friends house) 🙂

  41. Nintendo D.S.’s rock!!!

  42. The-Forgotten-One // December 22, 2007 at 12:00 pm // Reply

    Go Super Smash Bros Brawl!!!

  43. RRR! and RRR2 are really fun and funny games to play.I have RRR1 for the PC and its lol funny. I’m stuck on a super hard level that really fustrates me. Other than that Rayman Raving Rabbids ROCK!!!!!

  44. RRR1 and RRR2 are fun and funny games. I have the first one for the PC and its lol funny. But i’m stuck on the bunnies don’t shear sheep level. Go Rayman raving rabbids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  45. xbox 360 are for real gamers

  46. Where’s Warioware:Smooth moves? It is a better party game than RRR2.

  47. ROK ON Q-TIP!!

  48. Nintendo Wii and DS ROCK!!!

  49. Madden08 is the best game for PSP.

  50. cool!

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