I got to admit, Its not that big of a year for gaming, if
you compare it to last year. We were rocked by a bunch of major titles—ranging from
Portal 2 to Skyrim, and some titles I forgot about (and didn’t necessarily play)
like dead Space 2. So, I’m looking at this New Year, and I’m think: what is
there to really look forward to? Halo 4, which I’m really not going to get into,
I don’t really count a December release as part of 2012’s glamour, I’ll be into
2013 when I really like it. I can really only think of Bioshock: Infinite as
the main title that’s in October, but still that’s all I can really think of.
So, I’d like to speculate some titles which are wholly possible—and might be
announced at this year’s biggest game show.
For all of you who don’t know what the Electronic Entertainment
Expo (or E3) is, then you’re either a casual gamer, or maybe a new gamer; but
let me summarize it like this: it’s the biggest nerd-fest outside of Comic Con.
E3—which used to be a big, wide-open, sweaty gamer’s paradise is now closed to
the public. This however does not mean you can’t go (you can if you have $995
burning a big hole in your pocket) you can watch the events on G4 (the “video
game” channel) or via YouTube (Machinima streams it.) E3 is filled with wondrous
tables of the biggest gigs in gaming. Everyone goes to flaunt what they’ve got—from
Nintendo to Telltale Games to Valve. Companies like nVidia and IGN come out as
well; they’ve got a big pull in this market. The biggest events lay in the biggest
companies. The big 3 (Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo) hold a gigantic press conference,
showing what we can expect in the year to come, this is when consoles are unveiled
(like possibly the new Xbox this year) and some new flagship games (like Halo
games, Reach was announced a few years ago here).
Conferences are what make it—it’s not just the big 3.
Activision and EA come out to show their superiority. Last year, Valve was
slanted to make an appearance, but they canceled their conference at the last
moment (probably since Gabe Newell was already showing up at the Sony conference.)
but, this is what I’m predicting as the 3 biggest players of E3 this year.
3—Nintendo: I’m hoping to see something like Pikmin 3, or a
new Smash Bros., something that can make the Wii U look more impressive than it
already is.
2—Microsoft: This is the big year for Microsoft—announcing Halo
4 was big, but they need something bigger than that, Kinect kind of flopped
out, but that doesn’t mean they can’t build off of it. We’re going to see a
large ceremony, some pomp and circumstance, with a new console, maybe not a
release date, but a new face to put both Nintendo and Sony on edge.
1—Valve: Yes, they have released that they aren’t giving us
any games at E3, but there is still hope yet for our truly beloved. Valve’s
been giving cute little signs, like a photo in their employee handbook, the
joke of Half-Life 3D, the 7 years since Episode 2, its all coming up to this.
Valve is going to show us something so magnificent that everyone at whichever
game conference literally explodes with anticipation. I’m not expecting a
release date, if it comes with one, it’ll be in 2014, but I’m expecting a
little tiny tease. Gabe Newell controls the world of PCs with Steam, and since
new consoles are being slated for release, I think it’s logical to have the
most wanted game in all of recorded history there as a reminder.
Am I being a bit on the hopeful side? Oh yes, but why
shouldn’t I be. For me, this year will have something from Valve—they’re
changing their image from the company of few games to more and more. We’ve had
constant releases from them for a long time now: Alien Swarm, Dota 2, Portal 2,
left 4 Dead 2, Counterstrike: Global offense it’s been very constant, so why
stop now? I’ll be honest; I don’t care as much about the whole new consoles
business as I do care about the new Half-Life idea.
--Santa
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