The New Year's Eve hangover has finally subsided and most of us are back in the sunlight-starved rat race.
So has the chilly return to the working week put a freeze on UK gamers' enthusiasm for a verbal dust up? Of course not.
And if there's one subject that's getting you lot more wound up than Zac Efron's personal Red Ring cheerleader, it's those predictable (and premature) 'gaming's best of 2010' forecasts.
Oddly, there seems to be two clear winners: Microsoft's Halo Reach and Sony's God Of War III.
If I were 18, I'd write '*sigh*' here. But I'm too old for that. So I'll just write, erm, 'sigh'.
I don't know about you, but aren't these choices just a little, I don't know... unambitious?
Don't get me wrong, both games are fantastic adverts for their respective machines.
Halo, after all, was the biggest FPS on the planet until Infinity Ward starting fiddling about with Al Quaeda's least favourite gadgetry. It's a Bona Fide classic; enduring and endearing in equal measure. Reach looks like it's going to tear Xbox Live a new one.
Likewise, the God Of War series has taken a Blade Of Olympus to traditional notions of what a third-person action title can offer; its gargantuan foes and beautiful environments causing many a half-munched corn snack to hit carpet in disbelief.
Each GoW installment has stood the test so time so well, they'd probably still be playable if they were developed in Ancient Greece. And the third iteration is drop dead gorgeous (shame the same can't be said for the pricetag).
But gaming's MOST anticipated releases of 2010? Do me a favour.
Let's look at what we know is coming already - and that's not even taking into account what E3 has in store for us June...
Project Natal and PS3's Motion Controller revolutionising what the words 'games console' even mean. That do for starters?
Then there's APB, which, if it comes off, could be like a grown-up GTA MMO - minus the spliff-suckling, Fiddy-worshipping rude boys.
You want more? How about the dawn of 3D gaming (more on that to come folks - trust us)?
Do I hear Red Dead Redemption, Heavy Rain, a Natal-utilising Fable, Agent, Aliens vs. Predator, Alan Wake, Medal Of Honor? Diva Girls: Princess On Ice 2? Anyone? Anyone? Oh, sorry, got carried away there...
Look, I'm not decreeing what should or shouldn't be popular - so if you're an offended Halo hound or GoW groupie, please wind your neck in.
I'm just sticking up for the unknown and the enterprising; the 'Tomorrow's World' contingent of 2010's interactive entertainment smorgasbord.
Sure, they might fail - heck, some of them might end up falling apart. But doesn't the sheer thrill of discovering them stimulate your gaming antennae a little more than Kratos and The Covenant's familiar faces?
Maybe the best thing to do is to not offer these lists too much in the way of credence.
They're meaningless popularity contests, after all - and making the public emotionally invest in popularity contests is only beneficial to one group: Those that create them.
Besides, as Simon Cowell found out to his cost at Christmas, you lot don't always... what was it again now? Ah, yes, 'do what they tell you'.
I could not agree more with the writer, I really look forward to the new and innovative, in particular Alan Wake is a shining spot of new on the old franchise encrusted horizon. Already Bayonetta has proved to me this year will provide a breath of fresh air.
A sensible and good read. Reach and GOW3 are going to be the two biggest Games (Sales/Marketing/Scores probably) on both Sony and MS's consoles but the beauty of 2010 is that their is something there for everyone.
Were getting sequels to big Franchises, new exciting IP's, new ways to play (motion), possibly 3D Gaming along with all the unnanounced Games, Services and Apps that are sure to be announced at the big confereneces.
If you can look at the year ahead and not get a little bit giddy then Gaming isnt for you. Now how do I control time and find a way to have limitless amounts of cash ?
I could not agree more with the writer, I really look forward to the new and innovative, in particular Alan Wake is a shining spot of new on the old franchise encrusted horizon. Already Bayonetta has proved to me this year will provide a breath of fresh air.
Those were the two games I'd have mentioned, so I'll throw Red Dead Redemption and Heavy Rain in the mix!
I could not agree more with the writer, I really look forward to the new and innovative, in particular Alan Wake is a shining spot of new on the old franchise encrusted horizon. Already Bayonetta has proved to me this year will provide a breath of fresh air.
Those were the two games I'd have mentioned, so I'll throw Red Dead Redemption and Heavy Rain in the mix!
I see your Heavy Rain and Red Dead Redemption and raise you Fez ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y00P1hta4yo&feature=related )and Mod Nation Racers. This could go on some time , Happy Days.
1. Starcraft II 2. God of War 3 3. Gran Turismo 5 4. The Last Guardian 5. RAGE
Surely one of the best line-ups for one man since time immemorial, all bases covered, those 5 games are the only 5 you need in 2010, sod the rest of the crap!
Well judging by the examples you mentioned then GoW should win without even trying. If you said ME2, last guardian (if it is released as I can see this being pushed) and GT5 and stayed out of the stupid wii imitations tht natal and gem (or jem??) are then maybe you would have a point.
Natal / PS3 wand... will get all the shovelware crap we see on the Wii. Does anybody here actually want to wave their legs around to play a game? I can do that on a Wii, which as we all know, is only fun if there's a huge group of people playing for 2 minutes each. If you play it on your own, the novelty of waving your arounds around wears off after a few minutes.
Honestly what games do you expect to be playing? FIFA, God of War, Call of Duty, Halo, Gran Turismo, Grand Theft Auto etc. by waving your limbs and dancing around the room? Who the hell does that? You sit on a damn sofa. It'll be Natal Sports, Natal Music, Sony Wand Sports, Sony Wand Winter Olympics etc.
And why are you talking about 3D gaming now? 3D tvs aren't going to leak out until the end of the year, will be astronomically expensive, and nobody will buy one because there are no 3D tv channels (unless Sky actually do manage to get their ONE 3d channel out by the end of the year). Given that, what 3d games do we have? A lackluster demo of 1 track from Gran Turismo, and Wipeout. Not this year....
Heavy Rain and Alan Wake, look pretty, but will sell 7 copies.
Medal of Honor is well past it and will be forgotten a few weeks after it's release.
Of course Halo Reach will sell s**tloads as it's a Halo game and Microsoft have no other big holiday game. It will sell no matter what it's like.
I don't know what to say about this article really, other than it's a easy way to get a few cheap hits. Take the two biggest games of the year, then go all emo on them and say their unambitious. Easy way to wind up the younger gamers who frequent this place. You could say that all these gaming sites do is exploit their readers with bad articles like this. There seems to be a lack of respect for the readers here. You can do better than this obvious attempt to wind up gamers.
Poor show all round, but typical of todays gaming sites.
MAG is the one which has truly pickled my interest, and is the game for which I will most probably invest in a Slim. It will either epicly fail or be awesome.
I completely agree with the article, the undiscovered country is the real thrill. Franchises are great but you know what to expect. Who knows what new titles and indie games might rock the internet? No one. Except maybe Nostradamus, he's dead though.
Pretty sure 'Milo & Kate' will be a disaster and I look forward to watching as the laymans press call it a peado sim, as will undoubtably happen.
The PS3 will be gaining new ground and I might even get one this year. Woot for 2010.
Aye, "Mass Effect 2" is the game I expect will be my personal GOTY 2010. Sure, there are many other games coming out ("Red Dead Redemption" does look beautiful; let's hope the game play can keep up and hopefully "Alan Wake" won't drop the torch - pun intended) and thus it's not an automatic given, yet knowing myself the way I do, I expect "ME2" will take home that title for me at any rate. Others may differ.
As for "APB" I suspect it's going to fall quite a bit short of the massive potential it seems to hold.
I expect that the new "MOH" game will become my first choice in the FPS genre when it's released. Here's to hoping at any rate.
"Dead Space 2" will likely cinch the horror/survival genre for me in 2010. Heck, even if they simply expanded the story and levels yet kept everything else the same it would be an instant hit in my book (but improvements are certainly welcomed nonetheless).
Depending on your tastes the (lengthy yet humorous) article linked above will elicit different reactions. For me it, coupled with some hands-on comments from users who imported the Japanese version, is a "no-go". If I'm going to buy "FF XIII" it will have to be after a good sized price drop, otherwise I'll probably just buy "Magna Carta 2" instead.
The Last Guardian has to be my mosted anticipated game by quite some margin... Just thinking about that makes me want to go and play Ico and Shadow of the Colussus though again. Red Dead Redemption hot on the heels of that, wouldn't be surprised if that is a lot of peoples GOTY. Really looking forward to seeing how Splinter Cell: Conviction turns out too, I see awesomeness on the horizon...
Others that have my interest well and truly piqued... Brink, Catlevania: Lords of Shadow, Metro 2033 and Dead Space 2.
Halo: Reach I am definitely looking forward to, but it's nowhere near 'most anticipated'. I love Halo, but I know what I will be getting, top quality FPS action. Anticipation for me is seeing how unknown quantities turn in i.e. Alan Wake. Will it have been worth the wait?
GoW... Don't get me wrong, I love the GoW games, but in this post Bayonetta era Kratos is going to need to pull out something pretty special, more than just being able to spill a centaurs entrails at least. Although that does sound pretty cool
Alan Wake Bioshock 2 possibly Deus Ex 3 HL 2, ep. 3 APB Fable 3 F XIII versus.
God of War are relativetly boring games, and have avoided failure because of gore and other (im)mature content. i have both ps2 versions, and the chains of olympus, so its not just bias.
GT5 is incredibly boring as well, and its not a simulator, its a game, and a boring one at that. did i mention its boring? GT has gone downhill since GT3 A-Spec.
Alan Wake Bioshock 2 possibly Deus Ex 3 HL 2, ep. 3 APB Fable 3 F XIII versus.
God of War are relativetly boring games, and have avoided failure because of gore and other (im)mature content. i have both ps2 versions, and the chains of olympus, so its not just bias.
GT5 is incredibly boring as well, and its not a simulator, its a game, and a boring one at that. did i mention its boring? GT has gone downhill since GT3 A-Spec.
This post made me laugh.
So let me get this right...
...You own all 3 GOW games, yet you find them boring?
Alan Wake Bioshock 2 possibly Deus Ex 3 HL 2, ep. 3 APB Fable 3 F XIII versus.
God of War are relativetly boring games, and have avoided failure because of gore and other (im)mature content. i have both ps2 versions, and the chains of olympus, so its not just bias.
GT5 is incredibly boring as well, and its not a simulator, its a game, and a boring one at that. did i mention its boring? GT has gone downhill since GT3 A-Spec.
This post made me laugh.
So let me get this right...
...You own all 3 GOW games, yet you find them boring?
Do you often dabble in self torture?
Also, you know for a fact that GT5 is boring too.
Absolutely astounding stuff. Well done.
Just for the record, Cod 7 is toss.
i own all 3 GoW games for their (then) gratifying gore, and my fascination with greek mythology (though they keep botching it). Chains of Olympus i bought simply because it was technically astounding that it was on PSP. ive bought many games i never expected to like in the first place, just for the hell of it, like TH's Wasteland.
yes, i know for a fact that GT5 is boring. because i had prolouge even though GT4 was s**t. and the full retail of GT5 wont be drastically different from prolouge, just some more details, tracks and cars.
a bit of self torture never goes amiss, one of the reasons i love ninja gaiden.
CoD7 wont be s**t, it will most likely be mediocre. still not going to stop me from buying it, maybe from playing, but not buying. even though i dont expect much from certain games they could still surprise, and playing them for yourself is usually the only way to know for sure.
I agree with the article writer as well, we need originality within this wave of sequels. There's a lot of games to look forward to, I'm intrigued about Agent, Red Dead Redemption and a few others so far.
No 360 exclusive will ever win GOTY, history has told us that 360 exclusives aren't good enough to win those awards. Probably due to the lack of power in the 360 however, of the last 2 GOTY winners, one has been PS3 exclusive, the other has been multi - platform.
Games like GOW 3, WKC, TLG, Heavy Rain or Final Fantasy XIII all have a chance. However Halo: Reach is just another bland, boring, unimaginative spin - off like Wars or ODST before it. Splinter Cell has gone downhill ever since it became a 360 exclusive, ME 2 isn't near the quality of proper RPG's like Final Fantasy or White Knight Chronicles.
Whoever wins GOTY, one thing will be for certain, it won't be a 360 exclusive, 360 exclusive games just aren't good enough. Facts are facts.
there isnt much difference in terms of review scores, so your statement is just an opinion. personally i much prefer Mass Effect and Halo over watching MGS4 and playing a stupid kiddie platformer that is much shallower than percieved.
I'd love to say that all these new exciting games will get a look in to GOTY, however chances are they won't. The majority of GOTY contests are internet polls, so are aren't really anything more than popularity contests.
Take SpikeTV VGA's for instance; their GOTY of '09 was Uncharted 2. Whilst I played the game and absolutely loved it, I reckon Batman: AA was easily more deserving of the title. Chances are it only got GOTY because it was the PS3's first undisputed killer app.
Mind you, Gamespot surprised me with Demon Souls for their GOTY '09, and I have to say it rightfully got the title. That game was amazingly original whilst still seeming to be an absolute classic.
My anticipated GOTY for 2010 has to be ME2, but I'll wait until I can play it before I make my decision (something which an alarming number of internet users don't know how to).
No 360 exclusive will ever win GOTY, history has told us that 360 exclusives aren't good enough to win those awards. Probably due to the lack of power in the 360 however, of the last 2 GOTY winners, one has been PS3 exclusive, the other has been multi - platform.
I'm really looking forwward to GoWIII and Halo Reach, GOWIII is impressive from what i've played off the game and Reach is going to tie Halo up with a nice little bow, but lets be honest, you've got Mass Effect 2 a game that most people are already accepting as the new ARPG standard, Bioshock 2, an amazing looking follow up to a killer game, Alien V Predator, one of the greatest franchise rebirths ever and not to mention splinter cell, white knight chronicles, new fallout, etc etc, it just seems like the market is doing what people tell it to do.........
White Knight Chronicles Heavy Rain The Last Guardian Yakuza Final Fantasy Verses And please oplease D Souls for a Euro release
... all great contenders
Alan Wake and Mass Effect 2 also should do well
I think Grand Turismo 5 should set the world alight, it looks immense and the features its incorporating (Indy, Nascar, Rally, damage, day night cycles, 1000+ vehicles etc etc) looks to send the series into the stratosphere on PS3 considering the series was maxed after A-Spec on PS2
Haha its the 15th of Jan and you lot are already talking about GOTY lol, well all I know is this is going to be a fantastic year (and very expensive) for games. When exactly is this award handed out? will Natal be released before this award is decided maybe there will be a game using this that inspires the GOTY award? If i had to list 5 games I was most looking forward too though would probably be as follows... 1. Mass Effect 2 2. Dantes Inferno 3. Heavy Rain 4. Rage 5. Dust 514 6. Brink 7. Splinter cell Opps sorry that was 7(lol) so many to choose from this list could just go on and on
i hope both games flop as to be really honest they are just last gen hero's trying to compete for this gen. halo 3 is pants plain and simple, and dam i rented HALO ODST because it didnt play like halo
hoping that BRINK blows halo away with its mirrors edge/cod feel. as for gow3 its just hack and slash that lets be fair is only good for arcade games and thats it.
goty at jan is kinda bull when you look at what blew people away last year,with surprise games like batman AA and AC2 thats lets be honest nobody thought would be anywere near as great as they were untill release.
I know no body cares about the PSP anymore but i'm looking forward to the new metal gear on it. I'm not saying it will be GOTY (my predictions are bioshock 2 and GOW 3, in case your wondering) but it's probably the best reason to get the PSP since GOW:CoO!
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, Happy Days.
