While there are a few good looking titles announced for this year (as well as a bunch that have not yet been announced I am guessing), the idea that this might be a very disappointing year for gamers is constantly sitting in the back of my head.
2008 has just blasted past with some of the most incredible titles that we could have ever hoped for. GTA IV, Gears of War 2, MGS4, Fallout 3, Fable 2, Left 4 Dead, Dead Space, LittleBigPlanet, the list goes on and on (and on).
Gamers have been spoiled so rotten that you have to start wondering how many of us are going to adjust to the idea that this year may be nothing more than “average”.
So what’s looking good?
I have already mentioned that 2008 was an amazing year for gaming but let’s not forget to take note of what 2007 had to offer. Halo 3, Forza 2, Call of Duty 4, Uncharted, Crysis, Bioshock, Mass Effect, The Orange Box, Super Mario Galaxy and a ton more.
This years line-up is still quite far from being set in stone, there are a lot of fans hoping that their favorite upcoming titles will release this year ( God of War 3 for example) but there is still no clear indication of whether or not the games will see the light of day before 2010.
At the moment we have some real gems that are sure to shine such as Resident Evil 5, Killzone 2, Uncharted 2, Skate 2 and that new Halo thing that has a lot of letters in it’s name. Halo Wars is coming too and the excitement levels are so high that when I think about it, I want to fall asleep. Who knows, maybe they pull it off?
While I am sure that you guys can think of a bunch of other games looking good for this year (let us know in the comments) the point I want to make is the following:
I’m not saying that this year is going to suck for gaming but do yourself a favor and read through those lists of 2007 and 2008’s games again and you will really start to realise that we were getting hugely anticipated and massively popular triple-A titles almost back to back for nearly 2 years now and we may have to come to the realisation that the good times are over.
When great games are not being released every couple if minutes, we usually fall back on months of multiplayer bliss over Xbox Live and PSN. While I think that Killzone 2 is going to set PSN on fire with it’s multiplayer, I have to wonder what games Xbox Live users will be turning to (especially all the locals).
Gears of War 2 seems to lack some of the magic of it’s older brother and coupled together with glitches, issues and the lack of local map pack codes, it’s no wonder that it isn’t getting the same amount of local playtime as the original did over the last two years. COD:WAW is fantastic but hasn’t been that well received locally and while Left 4 Dead is making waves all over the world, poor local interest and the inability to host peer-to-peer games means that the experience is laggy and not quite what it should be for South Africans Xbox 360 gamers.
What are you looking forward to the most this year and what game do you think will be getting most of your multiplayer playtime? Let us know in the comments.
Last Updated: January 6, 2009
Scotty777
January 6, 2009 at 12:26
honestly, last year was a K A K year for gaming!!! the price of game shot up, so while amazing games were being released, I couldn’t play! sigh…
koldFU5iON
January 6, 2009 at 12:29
I’m excited for this year, I think it’s going to be perfect especially since the game price shot through the roof on certain titles, it’ll give us a chance to really appreciate certain titles, and gives me a chance to start creating some interesting tournaments :D, Last year was Manic and I think a lot of gamers didn’t really know what to do with themselves… for me this year is going to be filled with opportunities and it’s going to be a great chance to expand gaming communities
Fred
January 6, 2009 at 13:02
I’m still trying to finish the games of 2008 , so it’s all good.
janrik
January 6, 2009 at 13:17
Also still working through all the new stuff that was release at the crazy end of 2008.
Halo Wars, Halo 3 ODST, Prototype, Star Craft 2, COD6?, etc… there is still thousands of rands worth of games on the way for 2009.
Looks like I will be importing most of them however, due to the crazy new prices.
Roland Browning
January 6, 2009 at 13:31
I’m looking forward to that Tom Clancy H.A.W.X game.
Mac
January 6, 2009 at 14:00
For a PS3 owner its looking good…Bioshock 2, God of war 3!!!! Uncharted 2, infamous all look great, thats all we need really and isnt gran turismo been realised at the end of the year? Hoepfully LBP DLC will come
Is left 4 dead and dead space that great, i havent seen them?
Also with regards to price wont they come down because the Rand has strengthened…thats the reason they went up in the first place
Someone
January 6, 2009 at 14:30
In this country the price never comes back down.
I hope I’m wrong.
Shodan
January 6, 2009 at 14:31
Resident Evil 5
DarthPenguin
January 6, 2009 at 15:21
The rand going down wasn’t the main reason for prices going up… it was a world wide price cut.
And with England on the brink of recession… I have no idea what is happeing. My brother walked into a shop in the UK that was selling all their pc games and hardware at 80% last week.. thinks might change unexpectedly this year…
Milesh Bhana ZA
January 6, 2009 at 15:38
I agree with Kold, less good games actually gives us time to enjoy ’em. I missed most of the awesomeness that was the end of 2008 because they hit us hard and fast.
There’s still lots of unanswered questions.
– I’m curious to see how Activision re-invents the Tony Hawk franchise.
– Will Alan Wake, God of War 3, Gran Tourismo 5 and FF13 (PS3 version, we know 360 version will probably not make 2009) come out this year
– Duke Nukem forever ? (ok probably not)
In the rhythm/music game side of things, Activision are busy with GH:Metalica and MTV/Harmonix are busy with “a Beatles game”.
And there’s the $10m GTA4 expansion…
So all in all i think it’s going to be interesting.
skate 2 is out soon 🙂
onelargeprawn
January 6, 2009 at 22:29
I opened up lazygamer and ps3blog at the same time; one’s forecasting a disappointing yes, the other declaring 2009 will be an awesome year.
http://www.ps3blog.co.za/2009/01/06/2009-get-your-game-on/
onelargeprawn
January 6, 2009 at 22:30
Sorry I meant disappointing year. Clean up on isle 2 please.
Karl
January 6, 2009 at 22:37
Isn’t Assassins Creed 2 coming in 09?
LazySAGamer
January 7, 2009 at 00:02
Don’t you love how we all think alike 😉
But we did put a question mark on the subject which saves us from being wrong…
V@mp
January 7, 2009 at 09:35
Well,actually there’s a couple
I’m quite curious as to how Batman:Arkham Asylum will
turn out.
H.A.W.X.
Alien: Colonial Marines
Prototype
Project Origin
Bionic commando looks fun
Postal 3 hahaha! (Altho i think that’s only in 2010)
And when’s Mass Effect 2 coming out?
But for now,I’m just looking forward to finaly giving
Mirror’s Edge a spin this weekend if they don’t push
the PC release date back…AGAIN.
Dark
January 7, 2009 at 14:09
NEW WOLFENSTEIN OMFGRZZZ