Oscar results

So here is a run down of how I did with my Oscar predictions:

Best picture

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Nebraska

Philomena

The Wolf of Wall Street

WRONG: 12 Years a Slave

It really did look like it was going Graviy's way... Oh well! I'm sure in years to come Gravity is likely to be the film which is better remembered.

Best director

Alfonso Cuarón - Gravity

Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave

Alexander Payne - Nebraska

David O. Russell - American Hustle

Martin Scorsese - The Wolf of Wall Street

RIGHT

Best lead actor

Christian Bale - American Hustle

Bruce Dern - Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave

Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club

Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street

RIGHT

Best lead actress

Amy Adams - American Hustle

Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine

Judi Dench - Philomena

Meryl Streep - August: Osage County

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

WRONG: Cate Blanchett

Amy Adams was a bit of a long shot for me.

Best performance by an actor in a supporting role

Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips

Bradley Cooper - American Hustle

Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave

Jonah Hill - The Wolf of Wall Street

Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club

RIGHT

Best performance by an actress in a supporting role

Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine

Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle

Lupita Nyong’o - 12 Years a Slave

Julia Roberts - August: Osage County

June Squibb – Nebraska

RIGHT

Best animated feature film of the year

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Ernest & Celestine

Frozen

The Wind Rises

RIGHT

Achievement in cinematography

The Grandmaster - Philippe Le Sourd

Gravity - Emmanuel Lubezki

Inside Llewyn Davis - Bruno Delbonnel

Nebraska - Phedon Papamichael

Prisoners - Roger A. Deakins

RIGHT

Achievement in costume design

American Hustle - Michael Wilkinson

The Grandmaster - William Chang Suk Ping

The Great Gatsby - Catherine Martin

The Invisible Woman - Michael O’Connor

12 Years a Slave - Patricia Norris

WRONG: The Great Gatsby

I guess that I was misguided by the revealing outfits of Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence... 

Achievement in film editing

American Hustle - Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten

Captain Phillips - Christopher Rouse

Dallas Buyers Club - John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa

Gravity - Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger

12 Years a Slave - Joe Walker

RIGHT

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

Dallas Buyers Club - Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa - Stephen Prouty

The Lone Ranger - Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny

RIGHT

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

The Book Thief - John Williams

Gravity - Steven Price

Her - William Butler and Owen Pallett

Philomena - Alexandre Desplat

Saving Mr. Banks - Thomas Newman

RIGHT

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

Happy from Despicable Me 2

Let It Go from Frozen

The Moon Song from “Her

Ordinary Love from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

RIGHT

Achievement in production design

American Hustle -  Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Heather Loeffler

Gravity - Production Design: Andy Nicholson; Set Decoration: Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard

The Great Gatsby - Production Design: Catherine Martin; Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn

Her - Production Design: K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena

12 Years a Slave - Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Alice Baker

RIGHT

Best animated short film

Feral

Get a Horse!

Mr. Hublot

Possessions

Room on the Broom

WRONG: Mr. Hublot

:(

Achievement in sound editing

All Is Lost - Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns

Captain Phillips - Oliver Tarney

Gravity - Glenn Freemantle

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Brent Burge

Lone Survivor - Wylie Stateman

RIGHT

Achievement in sound mixing

Captain Phillips - Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith and Chris Munro

Gravity - Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson

Inside Llewyn Davis - Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Lone Survivor - Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow

RIGHT

Achievement in visual effects

Gravity - Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug -Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds

Iron Man 3 - Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick

The Lone Ranger - Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier

Star Trek Into Darkness - Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton

RIGHT

Best adapted screenplay

Before Midnight - written by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke

Captain Phillips - screenplay by Billy Ray

Philomena - screenplay by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope

12 Years a Slave - screenplay by John Ridley

The Wolf of Wall Street - screenplay by Terence Winter

RIGHT

Best original screenplay

American Hustle - Written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell

Blue Jasmine - Written by Woody Allen

Dallas Buyers Club - Written by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack

Her - Written by Spike Jonze

Nebraska - Written by Bob Nelson

WRONG - Her

So, counting these up, I got 15 right out of 20 predictions, or 75%. A pretty good score in my book and much better than last years predictions.

Although I have to say that I'm disappointed that Gravity didn't win best picture, even though it managed to snag most awards during the night.

2014 Oscar Predictions

Here are my predictions:

Best picture

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Nebraska

Philomena

The Wolf of Wall Street

I believe that this is mainly a two horse race between 12 Years a Slave and Gravity, with American Hustle as an outside possibility.

I did not feel that 12 Years a Slave resonated with me a great deal, whereas Gravity blew me away and was by far my favorite film of last year. I think that the weighting is likely with 12 Years a Slave and Gravity, but I’m going to go with my gut and say that Gravity will win.

Best director

Alfonso Cuarón - Gravity

Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave

Alexander Payne - Nebraska

David O. Russell - American Hustle

Martin Scorsese - The Wolf of Wall Street

I can’t see anyone over Alfonso Cuarón taking this one home.

Best lead actor

Christian Bale - American Hustle

Bruce Dern - Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave

Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club

Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street

I would love to see this go to Leonardo DiCaprio, who I thought was brilliant in The Wolf of Wall Street, but believe that this is likely between Chiwetel Ejiofor and Matthew McConaughey.

I wasn’t really sold by Chiwetel Ejiofor’s performance in 12 Years a Slave (which is one of the reasons that the film didn’t win me over), as such I’m saying Matthew McConaughey.

Best lead actress

Amy Adams - American Hustle

Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine

Judi Dench - Philomena

Meryl Streep - August: Osage County

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

My choice would be Sandra Bullock, but the favorite is currently Cate Blanchett (and I can’t comment because I haven’t seen Blue Jasmine). Everyone on this list with the exception of Amy Adams has won an Oscar in the past and as such, she may stand a chance due to this (and her great performance in American Hustle.

I think that any other year this would be Cate Blanchett, but her hopes may have been tarred by the current controversy associated with Woody Allen and as such I’m going with Amy Adams.

Best performance by an actor in a supporting role

Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips

Bradley Cooper - American Hustle

Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave

Jonah Hill - The Wolf of Wall Street

Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club

Although I haven’t seen the film, based on the part that has been played by him (and also based on the other nominees), I going with Jared Leto for this one.

Best performance by an actress in a supporting role

Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine

Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle

Lupita Nyong’o - 12 Years a Slave

Julia Roberts - August: Osage County

June Squibb – Nebraska

I would really like this to go to Jennifer Lawrence and in any other year it probably would, but seeing as she won best actress last year I’m think that this is unlikely. As such I believe that Lupita Nyong’o will win this.

Best animated feature film of the year

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Ernest & Celestine

Frozen

The Wind Rises

I’d be surprised if it were anything else.

Achievement in cinematography

The Grandmaster - Philippe Le Sourd

Gravity - Emmanuel Lubezki

Inside Llewyn Davis - Bruno Delbonnel

Nebraska - Phedon Papamichael

Prisoners - Roger A. Deakins

Gravity again – It was a remarkable achievement i cinematography.

Achievement in costume design

American Hustle - Michael Wilkinson

The Grandmaster - William Chang Suk Ping

The Great Gatsby - Catherine Martin

The Invisible Woman - Michael O’Connor

12 Years a Slave - Patricia Norris

A tough call between American Hustle and The Great Gatsby, but in view of the fact that The Great Gatsby isn’t up for Best Picture (and also because I selfishly loved the outfits on both Jenifer Lawrence and Amy Adams), I’m going with American Hustle.

Best documentary feature

The Act of Killing

Cutie and the Boxer

Dirty Wars

The Square

20 Feet from Stardom

No prediction made – I don’t know enough about each film to comment.

Best documentary short subject

CaveDigger

Facing Fear

Karama Has No Walls

The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life

Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall

No prediction made – I don’t know enough about each film to comment.

Achievement in film editing

American Hustle - Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten

Captain Phillips - Christopher Rouse

Dallas Buyers Club - John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa

Gravity - Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger

12 Years a Slave - Joe Walker

Gravity - Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger

Best foreign language film of the year

The Broken Circle Breakdown, Belgium

The Great Beauty, Italy

The Hunt, Denmark

The Missing Picture, Cambodia

Omar, Palestine

No prediction made – I don’t know enough about each film to comment.

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

Dallas Buyers Club - Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa - Stephen Prouty

The Lone Ranger - Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

The Book Thief - John Williams

Gravity - Steven Price

Her - William Butler and Owen Pallett

Philomena - Alexandre Desplat

Saving Mr. Banks - Thomas Newman

Not too sure about this one, but I’m hoping that this will share the Gravity love.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

Happy from Despicable Me 2

Let It Go from Frozen

The Moon Song from “Her

Ordinary Love from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

A great song... I’d be disappointed if this didn’t win.

Achievement in production design

American Hustle -  Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Heather Loeffler

Gravity - Production Design: Andy Nicholson; Set Decoration: Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard

The Great Gatsby - Production Design: Catherine Martin; Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn

Her - Production Design: K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena

12 Years a Slave - Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Alice Baker

Best animated short film

Feral

Get a Horse!

Mr. Hublot

Possessions

Room on the Broom

I’ll probably be wrong on this one, but I have to put down Room on the Broom.

Best live action short film

Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)

Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything)

Helium

Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)

The Voorman Problem

No prediction made – I don’t know enough about each film to comment.

Achievement in sound editing

All Is Lost - Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns

Captain Phillips - Oliver Tarney

Gravity - Glenn Freemantle

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Brent Burge

Lone Survivor - Wylie Stateman

The sound awards are always hard to judge, but I’m going with Gravity.

Achievement in sound mixing

Captain Phillips - Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith and Chris Munro

Gravity - Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson

Inside Llewyn Davis - Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Lone Survivor - Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow

The sound awards are always hard to judge, but I’m going with Gravity.

Achievement in visual effects

Gravity - Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug -Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds

Iron Man 3 - Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick

The Lone Ranger - Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier

Star Trek Into Darkness - Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton

Best adapted screenplay

Before Midnight - written by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke

Captain Phillips - screenplay by Billy Ray

Philomena - screenplay by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope

12 Years a Slave - screenplay by John Ridley

The Wolf of Wall Street - screenplay by Terence Winter

Best original screenplay

American Hustle - Written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell

Blue Jasmine - Written by Woody Allen

Dallas Buyers Club - Written by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack

Her - Written by Spike Jonze

Nebraska - Written by Bob Nelson

This is a tough one to call. Spike Jonze has one in the past, but Her certainly is original (if you ignore Electric Dreams), Dallas Buyers Club also has a lot of momentum. Ultimately, I believe that voters will want this to go to David O. Russell for American Hustle.

Overall, I’m slightly concerned that my judgement may have been slightly biased by my love of Gravity (especially since for the current Oscar’s favourite I have only predicted 2 awards), but I guess that we will see come Oscar night (in about 2 ½ weeks).

As always, I will post the results, together with how I have done on this blog.

Oscar nominations 2014

Below is a list of the Oscar nominations for 2014:

BEST PICTURE
"12 Years a Slave"
"American Hustle"
"Captain Phillips"
"Dallas Buyers Club"
"Gravity"
"Her"
"Nebraska"
"Philomena"
"The Wolf of Wall Street"

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Christian Bale for "American Hustle"
Bruce Dern for "Nebraska"
Leonardo DiCaprio for "The Wolf of Wall Street"
Chiwetel Ejiofer for "12 Years a Slave"
Matthew McConaughey for "Dallas Buyers Club"

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Amy Adams for "American Hustle"
Cate Blanchett for "Blue Jasmine"
Sandra Bullock for "Gravity"
Judi Dench for "Philomena"
Meryl Streep for "August: Osage County"

DIRECTING
Alfonso Cuarón for "Gravity"
Steve McQueen for "12 Years a Slave"
Alexander Payne for "Nebraska"
David O. Russell for "American Hustle"
Martin Scorsese for "The Wolf of Wall Street"

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Barkhad Abdi for "Captain Phillips"
Bradley Cooper for "American Hustle"
Michael Fassbender for "12 Years a Slave"
Jonah Hill for "The Wolf of Wall Street"
Jared Leto for "Dallas Buyers Club"

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Sally Hawkins for "Blue Jasmine"
Jennifer Lawrence for "American Hustle"
Lupita Nyong'o for "12 Years a Slave"
Julia Roberts for "August: Osage County"
June Squibb for "Nebraska"

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"The Broken Circle Breakdown" - Belgium
"The Great Beauty" - Italy
"The Hunt" - Denmark
"The Missing Picture" - Cambodia
"Omar" - Palestine

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
"The Croods"
"Despicable Me 2"
"Ernest and Celestine"
"Frozen"
"The Wind Rises"

SCREENPLAY (Adapted)
"12 Years a Slave" by John Ridley
"Before Midnight" by Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater
"Captain Phillips" by Billy Ray
"Philomena" by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope
"The Wolf of Wall Street" by Terence Winter

SCREENPLAY (Original)
"American Hustle" by David O. Russell and Eric Singer
"Blue Jasmine" by Woody Allen
"Dallas Buyers Club" by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack
"Her" by Spike Jonze
"Nebraska" by Bob Nelson

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Bruno Delbonnel for "Inside Llewyn Davis"
Philippe Le Sourd for "The Grandmaster"
Emmanuel Lubezki for "Gravity"
Phedon Papamichael for "Nebraska"
Roger Deakins for "Prisoners"

COSTUME DESIGN
William Chang Suk Ping for "The Grandmaster"
Catherine Martin for "The Great Gatsby"
Michael O'Connor for "The Invisible Woman"
Patricia Norris for "12 Years a Slave"
Michael Wilkinson for "American Hustle"

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"20 Feet from Stardom"
"The Act of Killing"
"Cutie and the Boxer"
"Dirty Wars"
"The Square"

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
"Cavedigger"
"Facing Fear"
"Karama Has No Walls"
"The Lady in Number 6"
"Prison Terminal"

FILM EDITING
"12 Years a Slave"
"American Hustle"
"Captain Phillips"
"Dallas Buyers Club"
"Gravity"

MAKEUP
"Dallas Buyers Club"
"Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa"
"The Lone Ranger"

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
John Williams for "The Book Thief"
Steven Price for "Gravity"
William Butler and Owen Pallett for "Her"
Alexandre Desplat for "Philomena"
Thomas Newman for "Saving Mr. Banks"

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
'Alone Yet Not Alone' from "Alone Yet Not Alone"
'Happy' from "Despicable Me 2"
'Let It Go' from "Frozen"
'The Moon Song' from "Her"
'Ordinary Love' from "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom"

PRODUCTION DESIGN
"12 Years a Slave"
"American Hustle"
"Gravity"
"The Great Gatsby"
"Her"

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
"Feral"
"Get a Horse"
"Mr. Hublot"
"Possessions"
"Room on the Broom"

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
"Aquel No Era Yo" (That Wasn't Me)
"Avant Que De Tout Perde" (Just Before Losing Everything)
"Helium"
"Pitaako Mun Kaikki Hoitaa?" (Do I Have To Take Care of Everything)
"The Voorman Problem"

SOUND EDITING
"All is Lost"
"Captain Phillips"
"Gravity"
"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"
"Lone Survivor"

SOUND MIXING
"Captain Phillips"
"Gravity"
"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"
"Inside Llewyn Davis"
"Lone Survivor"

VISUAL EFFECTS
"Gravity"
"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"
"Iron Man 3"
"The Lone Ranger"
"Star Trek Into Darkness"

As is my normal practice, I shall post my predictions shortly before the awards and then rank the results idc.

2013 Review

 2013 Review

This is well, WELL, overdue. I normally finish this by the end of the year, but partially due to internet issues this has been delayed. I have also slightly shortened his to just cover my top films and games of the year will little else in the way of details... anyway...

Another year and another yearly review. So without further introductions:

Films

Top 3 films of 2013

Gravity

This is my top film of the year and I’m hoping that it is also recognized come the Oscars in 2014, as it certainly deserves all the awards that can be thrown at it.

In the past I have been very wary of 3D films, but some film have recently (whilst not completely) slightly converted me, and Gravity is one of the very best uses of 3D in cinema. It is a very simple and short film, but watching it in the cinema (even our pitiful local cinema) was breathtaking.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

This seems to be a bit of a surprising entry into my top 3 films of the year, especially in view of the fact that I had a lukewarm response to the first film. This second film was, in my opinion, head and shoulders above the original.

It was an extremely dark film for a 12a rated film, prompting me to ask my son (age 10) on several occasions if he was ok during the first half of the film. It also tackled my very current issues surprisingly well, whilst still remaining a very entertaining film.

Django Unchained

It took me an age to watch this, after numerous failed attempts to watch it. In the end it was worth the wait, and is not only a great Tarantino film, but also a great Western as well. I just hope that Tarantino directs yet another western next (as he has recently indicated), as Hollywood needs more westerns of this calibre.

Games

Top 3 games on 2012

Persona 4: Golden

This was my first introduction to the Persona series and since playing this I have also now played Persona 3 portable (PSP) and also have Persona 2 to play at some point. Persona 5 (when eventually released) is also now one of my most anticipated games, despite knowing next to anything at all about it. That probably gives and indication of how much I am now taken by the series.

The fact that the series is based in a Japanese High School during a standard school year and not the typical Fantasy/Sci-Fi setting sets this apart from most RPG's. I also think that the mixture between the persona collection (which has similarities to Pokemon) and typical JRPG gameplay is genius and compelling.

A fantastic game the gripped me from beginning to end.

Fire Emblem: Awakening

I love the Advance Wars games (also from Intelligence Systems), but had never played any of the Fire Emblem games prior to this. I am now a convert. This is now my most played game on the 3DS (ignoring Animal Crossing – but that has been played more by Roz than me), with over 80 hours put into this.

A fantastic strategy game with a surprising marriage mechanic, which ensure that you do not want to let any characters die under any circumstances, and also due to the fact that time travel is involved, means that you get to see how the offspring of your characters turns out, who can also be called into the scenario.

The Last of Us

The Uncharted games from Naughty Dog have always been great, but it is good to see an original property from this game developer.

It could be easy to quickly consider this as an average post apocalyptic adventure that you see so often in games, but it is the relationships in the game and the bleak and desperate management of resources, together with the scrabble to survive which elevates this.

The best game on the PS3 during the year and very possible the best game overall during the year.

I really need to find some time to play through this another time before the first story DLC is released (which is a must buy)

Notable mentions:

Super Mario 3D World

A joy to play, and very almost made it into my top 3.

Assassins Creed 4: Black Flag

I didn’t like AC3, but this is a completely different kettle of fish (and whales and sharks). The best game so far on my PS4.

Remember Me

A game from my PS+ subscription which really surprised me.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

A great throwback to A Link to the Past

Note: Posted as 31/12/13 - but finalised much later than this

Most anticipated games of 2014 (and beyond)

Most anticipated games of 2014 (and beyond)

So here we are again, at this time of year I like to think ahead to the coming year (and perhaps beyond), to games which are on the horizon which I am looking forward to and then list these in order to determine my most anticipated games.

Starting from 10 to 1:

10. Watch Dogs (Multi)

I like many others was amazed by the demonstration of this back in E3 of 2012, and for me this was the reason for a next-gen system. It was somewhat of a disappointment that this was pushed back at the last minute from the launch of the next-gen systems.

I’m hoping that the delay allows them to shine up a good game into a truly great game.

9. Final Fantasy XV (Multi)

The game previously known as Final Fantasy XIII Versus.

This looks to be quite the departure from the Final Fantasy formula, not that I think that this is a bad thing. My feelings are that Final Fantasy has lost its touch since Final Fantasy IX (with Final Fantasy XII being the exception to this – but I know that many people feel differently to me on this).

I just hope that the gameplay is on par with the striking cinematics!

8. Bayonetta 2 (Wii U)

This is still a bright spark in the announced games for the Wii U and it can’t come out soon enough. I’m just hoping that Nintendo can be persuaded to arrange for the original Bayonetta to also be released for the Wii U, a double bundle would be especially nice.

7. Infamous: Second Son (PS4)

Two of my favourite games from the previous generation were Infamous and its sequel and as such, I am excited to see how the next game shapes up on the PS4. The brief snippets shown so far have been very promising and seeing as it is due out in March 2014, there isn’t too much of a wait.

6. Monolith X game (WiiU)

I was a huge fan of Xenoblade and firmly believe that it was the best RPG of the prior generation and also one of the best games on the Wii. It’s one failing was that the graphics of the Wii did not meet the scope of the game, and this looks to be rectified by the next game by Monolith which is due out on the Wii U and as such can benefit from HD resolution.

From what has been shown so far, this looks to have similar elements to Xenoblade, but also involve mechs that you can control (rather than them being solely the antagonists of the previous game).

5. Uncharted 4 (PS4)

So far very little has been shown of this game, but every game that has come out of Naughty Dog the last 7 years has been absolute genius and I’m really looking forward to next-gen entry into this fantastic series.

Based solely on the previous output, this has made it to number 5.

4. Persona 5 (PS3)

Next to nothing has been shown of this game and it has in fact only just been officially announced, with a release date (in Japan at least) of the end of 2014.

During 2013 I have just started to get into the Persona games, having played both Persona 3 and Persona 4: Golden during the year, and it has to be said that they are now amongst my favourite JRPG’s going.

It’s a bit of a shame that they are being released solely on PS3 and not next gen systems, as there is a fear that by the time that it is released that it may be ignored because of this (which is effectively what happened to Persona 4 on release).

3. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain (Multi)

The fact that this has been split between The Phantom Pain and Ground Zero’s has meant that my anticipation of this game has dropped slightly (I hate it when they purposely split films in half to make more money, e.g. Kill Bill Volumes 1 & 2, and the same applies to games).

As a fan of the series, I’m still looking forward to this coming out on PS4 and will likely (price dependant) end up buying both entries. There is no doubt in my mind, that this is looking to be a fantastic game (or 2 games)

2. Mario Kart 8 (WiiU)

I have always been a very big fan of the Mario Kart series and Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS is the pinnacle so far. There may have been numerous other kart racers released, but nothing has ever matched the precision and the playability of the Mario Kart series.

I’m also proud of the fact that this is the one game that I can put my hand on heart and state that I am truly good at. There may be other players out there that are better than me, but I think that in general, this is one game series where I am amongst the better players.

What I have seen so far of Mario Kart 8 seems to suggest a slight blend with the F-Zero series, which is fine with me considering that Nintendo seems to have otherwise ignored this series since the Gamecube days. Overall, this looks cracking so far and I’m really looking forward to this.

1. The Last Guardian (PS4 - probably)

This game has been on my list of most anticipated games for 4 years previous to this (at times at the very top of the list). Recent hints have suggested that this may be moving to the PS4, which makes sense as I believe that the game was likely too ambitious for the PS3.

The sense of mystery as to what the hell is happening to this game has only heightened my interest. Surely this has to come out by the end of 2014!

I have nagging doubt that the end result may not live up to the anticipation of this game, but considering the fact that both ICO and Shadow of the Colossus were two of the finest games ever conceived (in my opinion) this has a lot riding on it.

Other games which I am interested in, which did not make the list:

Fire Emblem Vs Shin Megami Tensei (WiiU)

Mirror’s Edge (Multi)

Disgaea 4 Vita (PSVita)

Half Life 2: Episode 3 / Half Life 3 (Multi – hopefully)

Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright (3DS)

The Division (Multi)

The Order:1886 (PS4)