15 Things I'm Exited For.

I am really excited right now. 2010 as a gaming year is about to begin, starting with the release of the much anticipated Mass Effect 2, and in two weeks from that, BioShock 2. And in a month from that we have a new Final Fantasy and the Game Developers Conference. Like I said, I'm excited. What exactly am I excited for this year? Well, I've made a convenient list for your reading pleasure. Enjoy.

Year of the...I have no idea.
Who knows who will reign supreme this year. It's anyone's game. So far every year has been dominated by a console, in my opinion. 2007 was the Wii's year, as it's phenominal release in November of the previous year and it's several first-party release titles were great. 2008 was definitely Microsoft's year. After the gigantic lift it got from Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 at the end of the previous year, MS had the best variety and number of games. That, and both the Wii and PS3 were at weak points. 2009 was finally a Sony year. After the long sought after price cut and the number of exclusives they had last year, Sony did it for '09. Not to mention they had an exclusive be awarded Game of the Year. This year is open for any of them, as they all have advantages and weaknesses that could determine their year. Nintendo will finally get some first party titles out this year, which will please the hardcore. Microsoft will also have many exclusives and big games come out, namely Halo: Reach, and they will have the launch of Natal. Sony will be riding of the tail of their previous year success, and also have a motion control and big games come out. I for sure will be watching this battle.

E3
2009 brought back something gamers have been missing for a while: a good E3. Ever since the incredible downsizing in 2007, E3 sucked. It just wasn't the spectacle and amazing show it should have been. 2009 fixed that. E3 was back in full force, and was probably one of the best shows of all time. Many of the companies that dropped out of the show came back for this show, and the convention was brought back to full glamour and size. And even though the show looked amazing, what really made it good was the amount of announcements. The quality of E3 has always been determined by how good and how plentiful the announcements were. This show had it's share of surprises. Of note were the announcements of Natal and the PS3 Wand, which were not shocking but definitely interesting. Earth shaking gameplay like Halo 3:ODST and God of War III were awesome. E3 in 2010 can only be better. Over 100 companies will be showing stuff at the show, and most of those will be revealing never before seen games. E3 is back, bitches.

The Return of Sony
I am so happy for Sony. Finally they get what they deserve. The last console generation was dominated by Sony. By far, the PS2 was the leader of the gaming consoles of the last generation. This was because Sony was dedicated to created a console that's primary purpose was to play great games. The best games were on the PS2. Always. Fast forward to the present, however, and you'll see a company that was not fully prepared for the next generation. Sony did not have a good start. The PS3 was too expensive, was too unnaproachable, and did not have any good games. Nintendo and Microsoft dominated. 2009 brought back Sony from the edge of darkness. They proved that they can have a good console with great games for a great price. 2010 will be the rise of Sony, and will see Sony become a true competitor like it should be, and not a loser as it seemed. The PS3 is positioned to make a dent in the Wii and the 360 with many of it's exclusives. Top that with the fact that it is now affordable (same price as a 360, and only $100 more than a Wii), and you have a true successor to the PS2.

Bring on the Blizzard
2010 will see the return of one of the great companies today: Blizzard. Blizzard has always had weird development cycles. They always take such a long time to make games. There are many explanations to this, but it all leads to the same thing: people getting pissed because they have to wait longer for their next game. Blizzard has created such a craving with gamers. Even though they do take a while, everything they release is of the best quality. All of their games are of the highest caliber. 2010 will see the release of not just one title, but two. The first and most notable is that of StarCraft II. It's been ten years since the release of StarCraft. Gamers will be picking this game up in hordes. The final expansion to World of Warcraft will be released also, which will also be popular. Blizzard will finally show what they have been working on as a development company this year. Not to mention the tons of rumors that their next unrevealed project will be unveiled this year. Will it be another MMO? A console game? Only this year will answer that.

Sequels!
2010 will be another year for the sequels. Face it: gamers like sequels and buy more sequels than they do original IP's. It's the security. Gamers know what to expect to an extent when buying a sequel. They'll know if they will like it or not, or if they should stay away, something that is much tougher with a new IP. Think of the biggest selling games. Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3, God of War 2, Uncharted 2...all sequels. It is no surprise developers like to make sequels more than IP's. It's almost guaranteed money. 2009 saw many successful sequels, and this year is no different. Mass Effect 2, BioShock 2, Final Fantasy XIII, God of War 3, Halo: Reach, Call of Duty 6, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Dead Space 2, Army of Two: The 40th Day, StarCraft II, and Medal of Honor, just to name a few. Get ready to go back to your favorites. Because 2010 is full of them, and conferences are sure to announce more. My guess? How about Mirror's Edge 2, Uncharted 3, Borderlands 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 3, and Infamous 2?

Changing of the Seasons
2010 is bringing something new to gaming. Normally, gaming has relese seasons. Usual the routine starts with a big number of releases in the beginning of the year. This slowly trickles down until July, where releases come to a dead stop. They start picking up around August, and by November, there's a release every week. 2009 stopped this somewhat, partially due to Modern Warfare 2. So many people were scared of losing money to MW2 (rightly so) that they pushed their games to earlier or later dates. This created a interesting side-effect. Many games that released in August sold very well, and many games that were pushed to later this year are now getting more mainstream coverage. Publishers have noticed that there are unused parts of the year. They have seen that these places could potentially be the perfect place to release their game. 2010 should see many games getting spread to different parts of the year. Although this won't be drastically different (I'm pretty sure Summer will still suck for releases), games seem to be spreading out a bit. It's good news to, because it gives the gamer longer periods of time to enjoy games.

Modern Warfare 2, Suck my balls.
Modern Warfare 2 shook the gaming world. It showed that games have the potential to make tons of money, more than films. It also showed that it's possible to live up to hype. Finally, it showed that the gaming world has tons of potential to go even bigger and better than MW2. 2010 will see developers trying to make even better games with even bigger budgets, just so that they can prove they can stick it out with the tough guys. Specifically, MW2 has created a competition storm in the modern warfare genre. MW2 has supremacy here. For now. Games like Medal of Honor, Spec Ops: The Line, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 are directly and blatantly aimed at taking down the giant. In fact, the developer of Bad Company 2 had stated one of his team's goals is to knock MW2 out of the top. It's cool to see developers directly aiming at doing better than another game. It makes the games better and gives gamers more choices. Will any of them succeed? Who knows. But there is a case to be made for strength in numbers. Unfortunately, MW2 has 6 million of them.

Bungie's Curtain Call
2010 will see the final Halo game from Halo's creators, Bungie. Halo is without a doubt one of the greatest and most recognizable franchises not just in gaming, but in the entertainment industry. To see it's original creators leaving it for bigger and better things is both sad and happy. Bungie is a great company, and they have always been dedicated to making amazing games. The Halo franchise has seen it's ups and downs, but at the forefront was its creator. The dedication they have to their community and to their games is amazing, and to see them make a final Halo is wonderful. And since it is the last Halo by Bungie, its sure to be a great one. Halo: Reach looks phenominal, and many suprises and reveals are left this year leading up to its eventual release at the end of the year. Have no fear however. Bungie isn't gone. They are working on a completely new IP, hopefully to be announced soon, and Halo isn't gone either. The franchise has been handed over to Microsoft's internal studio 343 Industries, made up of former Bungie employees. Still, it is a somber moment to see the year when Bungie's Halo takes it's final bow.

Natal
2010 will see the attempt by Microsoft and Sony to level the playing field with Nintendo with their motion controlling technology. I am most excited for Natal. Microsoft seems to have planned their foray in motion very carefully. The 360 has been established as a great medium for the hardcore, and Natal will be aimed at the casual, for sure. Doing this ensures that MS gets appeal from all sides. But Natal is also being implemented by many hardcore studios, such as Lionhead Studios and even Epic Games. Natal could have a chance to be implemented in hardcore games, something that has not been done by Nintendo. By giving Natal the ability to work as a platform by itself or as an add-on to other games, Natal is aimed at hardcore and casual at the same time. Even if Natal ends up being a tool for menu navigation, it becomes that much closer to doing something no one has done before.

Indie Games
2010 will surely be a great year for independent developers. 2009 showed that indie devs can fit in with the bigger devs, they just have to approach it differently. Indie devs are finding homes in the small community based gaming circles, such as Steam, Xbox Live, and to an extent, the PSN. The best indie games of this year have come from these arcades, and show that indie devs can afford to make a high quality game with profit through digital distribution. I expect many other companies will announce new games for XBL and PSN, and many non-indie devs will make smaller games to compete too. Of note is the fact that digital distribution has become almost entirely dominated by indie devs. The future of digital distribution will first be decided by indie devs, and not by the big companies. Score one for the underdog.

Disagree or agree with my excitement? Or are you excited for something else? Leave your comments!