Taking Stock: The Gibson-Goldstein Index

It's a great time to be a gamer. But to be a game-maker? Lot of competition out there, in an uncertain market. Let's see who's up and who's down.

2008

So far living up to its big brother 2007 in sheer amount of quality game releases. Now we just need to take off 2009 to play them all.

Rare

Says fixing tiny, unclear SDTV text in new Banjo Kazooie would be "too expensive." Gamers respond with large, very clear expletives.

Left 4 Dead

Demo release goes over pretty well. And after playing at Valve, we can say the rest of the game is sort of neat, too.

Company of Heroes

Fantastic RTS gets another expansion in Tales of Valor. But is it a full-featured expansion? Nervous fans debate.

Fallout 3

4.7 million units shipped, representing $300 million for a happy Bethesda.

Activision

Thinking about charging a subscription fee to download user-created Guitar Hero songs. Say what?

Stardock

Combines the old and the new with turn-based 4X fantasy strategy game that supported Spore-like modding.

Far Cry 2

Debuts on the PC charts at #1, beating EA heavyweight Spore, and eclipsing Her Interactive heavyweight Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Mallory. Oh, PC gaming.

"Please don't kill me."

Rare community manager George Kelion begging fans to understand why the company won't be fixing tiny SDTV text in Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.

"A beta is like hooking up with a girl just to say, 'Yeah, I fucked her.'"

Gears of War 2 lead designer Cliff Bleszinski arguing that open beta testing inevitably leads to disinterest.

"It's time to be amazing again people."

Mike "Gabe" Krahulik announcing the next push for Penny Arcade charity Child's Play.