Back at this years' E3 I was confronted with such a glut of games to make anyone think that perhaps this year would resemble the gaming nirvana of old. Back in 2007, we had such a year. But those days are gone people. Really, they are. When I saw all these titles my first thought was; all most none of these games are ACTUALLY coming out this year. Probably more like beginning to middle of next year. Just the idea of getting Rock Band Beatles, Guitar Hero 5, Modern Warfare 2, Bioshock 2, Dragon Age Origins, Mass Effect 2, HALO ODST, Left for Dead 2, Brutal Legend, Uncharted 2 Den of Thieves, Forza 3, Borderlands, and the HUGE AMOUNT of PC only titles supposedly on the slate. Like Champions Online and Starcraft 2. The feeling I had was pure skepticism and the fact that everyone kept saying end of the year or fall made me feel this even more. I figured they were probably shooting for this; but game development is a little too fluid to all ways hit their mark; and marketing even more so.
The cold hard facts are that the history of game releases has proved to just about every game developer that even though Christmas is a great time to release games; but it isn't the ONLY time to release games. In some cases, coming out with too many games at once creates a shortage of money, drains the market and we end with one or two HUGE titles and everything else gets the shaft. Anyone remember the Christmases of Beyond Good and Evil, Prince of Persia, and Psychonauts? I'm sure the publishers do.
There have been a raft of delays rolling through the gaming news in the past two months. One of the biggest being the pulling of the rumor carpet out from under us with Blizzard saying that Starcraft 2 is coming out in the first half of 2010 rather than this fall or Christmas. According to Blizzard this is due to problems with Battle.net which there have been but I think they could have probably sewed all of this up; but why? They can just come out after all the hubbub and get a nice clean launch. I think they probably preferred that anyway. Its not as though they are going to lose money by waiting. Everyone loves Starcraft and will probably buy this game if it comes out on December 1st or June 1st. As for all the other games NOT coming out. Well, there are a few big ones being delayed. But really guys, this just gives the developers time to make the games better...
Yeah I know, it doesn't seem to make much difference. If the game is great it could launch a month early and be great and if its bad it could come out a year late and it not matter too much. I know this seems contrary to logic; but history seems to show this happening WAY TOO OFTEN! The big games that ARE STILL hitting before 2010 that you probably want to check out are:
1. Batman Arkum Asylum (August 25th)
2. Dragon Age Origins (11/3)
3. Brutal Legend (10/13)
4. Dirt 2 (9/10)
5. Wet (9/15)
6. Halo ODST (9/22)
7. Modern Warfare 2 (11/10)
"Wait!" You say, that can't be all! No, it probably isn't but these games are coming out in the near enough future that they PROBABLY won't be delayed. I'm going for safe bets here. I'm looking at you Assassin's Creed 2 and Splinter Cell Conviction! Just remember that this isn't exactly the best economy for games to come out to HUGE day one sales. So don't be surprised if one of those games you haven't heard too much about lately, all of a sudden gets delayed. Also, if you REALLY want a game make sure you pre-order because this is the ONLY way that the developers and publishers get a CLEAR idea of what the interest in their game REALLY IS.
On a side note, I know I haven't been around as much lately; and for that I apologize. But you should be looking for a Call of Jaurez Bound in Blood review shortly and also a preview of a secret game that will also be launched before 2010. Its for the PC.... It might even be a positive preview, wouldn't that be nice for a change. But I make no promises, I'm not done yet....
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