Debate of the Day: The Great Video Game Drought Begins?

I wrote about this last year when we had a great video game flood, where countless AAA titles were being released within a three month span in the fall, causing me and many other gamers to almost have too much awesomeness to choose from.

But now, it’s January, and we must contend with the other nine months of the year where publishers believe they don’t really need to do…anything.

Now, I know I’m generalizing. I know that last year the “other nine months” brought us fantastic titles like Portal 2 and LA Noire. This year we have Mass Effect 3 (which was pushed back from a fall release in 2011). But really, looking at what’s upcoming, it’s hard to say that there’s anything approaching equal distribution. Yes, Twisted Metal X, Soul Calibur V or Street Fighter X Tekken might be on some people’s most anticipated list, but it really does seem like there’s a big vast emptiness coming. Perhaps I’m misreading the charts, but it just feels that way to me. Guess I’ll have time to catch up on some of the fall titles that got washed away in the tidal wave, and old games I’ve missed over the years.

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14 Comments

  1. Since I don’t have as much time for video games as I use to. I am still playing Skyrim, which will probably still last me a while, and I still have Gears of War 3 and Arkham City to play after that. So I don’t mind a low period of good games being released. But I am looking forward to Twisted Metal and the new SSX.

  2. I have been feeling the same pangs, as i’ve now beaten saints row 3, and have put in enough time to have lost interest in skyrim for now. But lets not forget the giant that will be upon is in a few months, DIABLO 3.

  3. While I welcome the drought so I can play Fable 3 (Sorry, I know you hate it), Gears 3, Skyrim, Madden (online franchise), BF3 with friends and the occasional Gamefly game, I also know that the new UFC game is gonna be epic (2/14 release) & SSX is gonna be good fun as well.

    So basically I’ll get to catch up for a month before I start climbing the ranks again in UFC “My Fighter” mode…

  4. I got the new Star Wars MMO to keep me happy for a while. Also I still need to pick up skyward sword. Diablo 3 and Mass Effect 3 will make my 2012 very enjoyable. Also on my list is Silent Hill: Downpoor, Bioshock Infinite, Boaderlands II.

    Plenty to look forward too for my casual ass…

  5. My list of games I’m either only part way through or haven’t even started that I hope to finish in the coming months:

    Saint’s Row The Third (almost done)
    BioShock (maybe halfway done?)
    BioShock II
    Mass Effect 2
    Portal 2
    Dead Space
    Dead Space 2

    That’s just what I’ve already bought on Steam. There’s still:

    Batman: Arkham Asylum
    Batman: Arkham City
    Uncharted 3
    Assassin’s Creed Revelations
    Deus Ex: Human Revolution
    All of the God of War Games

    Yeah, I’m way behind…

  6. Think about it Paul. Last year there were a lot of sequels to popular franchises maybe this year a new IP, idea or concept can gain attention now that there isn’t THAT many BIG series competing to sell.

  7. I’ve still got more games than I can play on my list. New FF this month with UFC 3 coming out shortly after, The Witcher 2 and Mass Effect 3 coming out shortly after that, and I’m still trying to clear time for Fallout: New Vegas, Dead Island, Deus Ex, and any number of other less popular titles. And still I can’t stop playing Skyrim for long enough to even consider another game at this point. I want FEWER games this year. So much to catch up on.

  8. After the Steam Christmas sale I have enough unplayed games to last me two years so it’s not really a big deal. I’ll probably pick up whatever indies that Rock Paper Shotgun recommend.

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