2007 is leaving us, or rather we are leaving it behind in the dust of a brighter future. Luckily we have no need to get too worked up over the things to come. There will be much to cheer and surely plenty for jeers. However, that’s all speculation.

We can, however, look back at all things worthy of all exclamations…

“glorious!”

“ugh…”

“what the!?”

“scrumtrilecent”

“no comment”

“…”

Here are our picks for the 2007 Winners and Losers are:

• Big Daddy – This year, Big Daddy wins. His battled inner self lends to so much love and yet so much distaste. Hey, all of us who experienced Bioshock know that the Big Daddy is easier to identify with than we thought at the beginning of the game, right? Status: WINNER
• Political Correctness - The world collectively sighed this past year when Santa Claus briefly lost a bit of cheer and started to chuckle with his “Ha, Ha, Ha”. Status:LOSER
• Cosplay – We probably covered more cosplay than anything else since the blog has begun. We have written cosplay articles over and over and over, again and again and again. Cosplay, being just another reason to get costumed, brought us some great homemade costumes, new entries to the excitement, and all around generally fresh entries to the fun. Look out for big cosplay events in ‘08. Status: WINNER
• Autobots and Deceptecons – This year, Michael Bay brought childish nostalgia and fanboyism faster than Timberlake brought sexy back. The Transformers movie was a tribute to all things awesome in the 80’s. What’s more is that it inspired the most fanatical of do-it-yourselfers to make some classy costumes. Status: WINNER
• Cosplay, again – Yeah, there were some not so good moments too. Status: LOSER
• Homebrewed goods – Likely a winner every year, we found some classics this year and can’t help but applaud the ceaseless creativity out in the community. Status: WINNER
• Elven Fantasies Come True – This has to be my favorite story of the year. I showed this to every person I know. The response from the community??? Some people actually would do it! Hey, I can’t make fun, it’s just not on my list of operations to get in my lifetime. Status: WINNER and LOSER, depending on how much humor matters over prudence and good sense.

OVERALL WINNER – This year it goes to Bioshock and the Big Daddy. Nothing captivated our attention and brought such a positive, yet eerie, light on the costuming scene. We expect to hear more from 2K games on this title and would be absolutely tickled to find more amazing Bioshock cosplay for the pages of MyDisguises.

“Uhh, I’d like to thank Andrew Ryan and Frank Fontaine for artificially creating me. I’d like to thank my fellow Big Daddies. I’d like to thank my mom and dad for teaching me to be nice to my friends and always look out for them… oh man I’m embarrassed… this is all so new to me…”

We can’t list them all, but there are surely more. Put your picks for 2007’s winners and losers in the comments section and let us know what we missed.

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You would have to be more than half insane to somehow justify mixing politics and video games. Just ask any gamer what they think of Jack Thompson, Hilary Clinton, or any of their anti-couch vegging cohorts. Personally, I can’t imagine a game with gameplay that mixes politics in. Good for my short-sighted mind, there’s a game like Hail to the Chimp that does it for me. Being a major in Political Science, maybe I should take a look at this one.

Kotaku reports that 2 characters from the upcoming title plan on skating the political rink at the Iowa Caucus on Thursday. Is it purely for promotion, or do they have an agenda? Who cares, really? It’s a new entry into the cosplay arena that no one would have seen coming.

Image via Kotaku

I scoured a bit to find out really what this game is about. Here’s a small blip from IGN:

Hail to the Chimp begins after the Lion is deposed as King following a series of embarrassing scandals. The rest of the animals decide it’s time to give democracy a try and hold an election for the next King giving even the lowliest of animals (the Clams) a say in things. The election quickly becomes a chaotic multiplayer free-for-all, with each candidate using a combination of brute force and dirty tricks to turn out the Clam vote. Ten animals will compete to become the next King. During the game, all ten candidates will need to form, and break, alliances with their rivals to gain the upper hand. Multiple game types and hazard-filled arenas keep the action flowing nonstop as the shifting loyalties, truces and vendettas build up to epic proportions.

Can Democracy save the world? Well our video games may seem to think so now. Doesn’t everyone want to inject their ideals into things these days? I say “excellent!” Bring it on. As long as it promotes someone getting in a monkey suit and casting their opinions about, I’m game.

I would love to see the reaction on McCain or Edward’s face when “Woodchuck Chumley and Crackers the Chimp” come in for a handshake.

Check the vid below for a preview of the game, which looks eerily unpolitical in most of its gameplay.

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Just on the brink of doing another world costumes article, I noticed that the Rose Parade this year was about that very subject.

Foreign visitors may not know much about the Tournament of Roses. This is the 119th parade in the history of it’s existence. Each year on New Years the City of Pasadena, California hosts this epic procession of floats. What makes it remarkable is that the floats are sculpted, decorated, and colored with flowers. It’s decadence has led to some serious quality in float building.

The theme this year is Passport to the World’s Celebrations. So far, costumes of countries ranging from Mexico to Russia have made appearances. They represent multiple eras of costuming and classic traditional wear. The parade opened with dance and singing, typical of an opening ceremony. I tried counting on at least 10 fingers and 10 toes the different countries and culutures represented with flags and costumes… I lost count.

Although we love the costumes, and would normally give our attention there, today we’re giving it up for the floats. They’re unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Each boasts thousands of flowers and likely hours of work. We leave you with a few photos we’ve found highlighting the event as it has progressed thus far.

If you’re up a bit early and are just waiting for the Rose Bowl, it’s well worth a look for an hour or two.

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