What was the best game of the year? It’s something that gamers worldwide will argue over for the next several weeks. You have, and will continue to see, numerous ”Top 10″ lists plastered over every gaming blog on the internet.

This year, we at WingDamage.com wanted to take a little different approach. 2011 was a fantastic year for gaming. You could pick up nearly any new release (or digital only release for that matter) and come away pretty happy with your purchase. While this is a fantastic problem to have, it does make narrowing down and ordering a “Top 10″ list a harrowing endeavor.

Instead, this year we’ve decided to give you a quick rundown of a few of our favorite games in no particular order. If we missed your favorite game, please let us know in the comments.

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Video game narratives have so much potential. Through this interactive medium, we are often able to forge our own version of a story with the power of player choice. But despite so many games providing us with options, we are often left creating not the story we want, but the one that fits in line with predetermined binary extremes.

The moment a game rewards you with good or evil points, you start to decide which of the two moralities you want to base all future decisions on. This is because we have been trained to assume that there are far greater benefits from leaning to one side than finding a happy middle ground. Sadly, this assumption is usually correct.

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"A psychological thriller about relationships... and block pushing."

In an industry saturated with shooters and sandbox games, the best word to describe my feelings on Catherine is “refreshing.” Part puzzle game, part choice-based story game, Catherine is almost two separate entities. Yet somehow this odd mixture ends up working wonderfully together as each side enhances the other.

One of the great things about Catherine is that its story isn’t one you would typically find in this medium. I was reminded more of movies like Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue than anything I’d experienced in a video game. Like all good psychological thrillers, Catherine is hard to put down. Combine that with the addictive nature of the puzzle stages and I can tell you I had some pretty long sessions each time I sat down to play.

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On this, the one-hundred and ninth episode of the Barrel Roll podshow, Adam, Jonah and Jesse get together to discuss ghost mice. They may be small, but they are still spooky!

On to more video game related things, Jesse has completed his second playthrough of Catherine. He also experienced all the Final Fantasy Type-0 demo from Japan had to explore and was left craving more. Adam finally got around to the first Puzzle Agent game with mixed results, then went back in time to play the Game Boy classics (classics here meaning games Jonah didn’t know existed until last week), Mario’s Picross and Avenging Spirit, which brought even more ghosts to the table. Jonah spent a very brief amount of time with Age of Conan: Unchained and Pirates of the Black Cove. Finally, Jesse and Jonah discuss the strangeness that is Trauma.

The new releases for the week are covered, along with more Air Bud references than are healthy for a single podcast to make (unless it is some sort of Air Bud fancast). Then in the news we talk Borderlands 2, the next run of “Nintendo Selects” and the probably fake full list of 3DS Ambassador titles.

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Oooooooh yeeaaaaaaah!

Our one-hundred and twenty-seventh episode of the podcast sees the return of Adam #2. Milecki survived San Diego ComiCon and is back to give us the low-down on the insanity.

Starting with the new releases of the week, the guys realize the gaming industry accidentally released nothing but licensed games. Then in the news, they discuss the new 3DS price-drop and the Humble Indie Bundle #3.

The second half of the show has the guys discussing the games they’ve been playing, which includes more Bastion talk from Jesse as well as the full game of Catherine. Jonah is on a random old PC game kick with the excellent King’s Bounty: The Legend. Adam has played through the entirety of Rhythm Heaven Wii (aka Minna no Rhythm Tengoku) and seems to have enjoyed it quite a bit. Milecki has been playing a ton of stuff since his last time on the show, but focuses on the SpaceChem DLC and Dungeons of Dredmor. The preview build of Wyv & Keep is also discussed.

And before the guys wrap things up, they announce the latest giveaway for a copy of the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle.

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On the one-hundred and twenty-fifth episode of the Barrel Roll Podshow, the guys finally answer the eternal question: “Are you talking about the burger place or the hedgehog?”

Jesse and Adam talk a little more about Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, but since we covered that in depth last time, they try not to dwell on it for too long. Adam and Jonah gave the 2D Minecraft game Terraria a try, with mixed results. Jesse tries to explain the weirdness found in the Catherine demo, and goes on to tell us why mascot characters need to shut the hell up from his experience with the Ms. Splosion Man demo.

There is even more weirdness when Jonah tries to explain the punchtime explosion present in Zeno Clash and the genre blending of Hinterland. Adam also does his best to explain what is going on in Solar 2, then moves on to the not-Castlevania game Soul of Darkness.

So in other words, we actually played a lot of games this week. Oh yeah, and Monday Night Combat was in there somewhere.

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In a move that is sure to please Otakus across the country, Atlus announced a Summer 2011 release of Catherine for PS3 and Xbox360. Produced by Katsura Hashino, the acclaimed director of Persona 3 and Persona 4, Catherine explores the nature of relationships and the impact of the choices we make.

The game stars Vincent, a young man in a relationship with the successful and pretty Katherine, who wakes up after a night of drinking with his friends to discover he is in bed with the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen, the titular Catherine. (more…)