Your most anticipated games of 2013?

STARCRAFT: Heart of the Swarm.

Probably Battlefield 4 and total war rome 2

Absolutely fuck all.

The most I can hope for is just news of anything planned from SNKP or CAVE.

I pretty much hate most FPS MMO etc etc modern games, even TPP - uncharted etc I hate, just can't seem to get into them.

I do like racing games, but there won't be another GT until 2015 (guess). I may force myself to get a Forza, but my 360 is Jpn, so its a hassle.

I did get Streetfighter x Tekken, because I was stupid and forgot that Capcom makes extremely ugly shitty games.

I recently got Dokuro (Vita) and that was pretty cool, so maybe something interesting will pop up for the Vita (or I could try the recent(ish) hacks for the system).

I may even get a new (old) Neo homecart - I fancied maybe Savage Reign perhaps.

If I get really desperate, I may even get that shit handheld ('X') - there's more chance of me getting that than the 3DS or WiiU.

kidpanda said:

DoDonPachi Saidaijou - 360

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This is pretty much it.

Maybe NG: DEV stuff, unless those get delayed to 2014.

Grand theft Auto v and Luigi's mansion are my only ones

bloodhokuto said:

Absolutely fuck all.

The most I can hope for is just news of anything planned from SNKP or CAVE.

I pretty much hate most FPS MMO etc etc modern games, even TPP - uncharted etc I hate, just can't seem to get into them.

I do like racing games, but there won't be another GT until 2015 (guess). I may force myself to get a Forza, but my 360 is Jpn, so its a hassle.

I did get Streetfighter x Tekken, because I was stupid and forgot that Capcom makes extremely ugly shitty games.

I recently got Dokuro (Vita) and that was pretty cool, so maybe something interesting will pop up for the Vita (or I could try the recent(ish) hacks for the system).

I may even get a new (old) Neo homecart - I fancied maybe Savage Reign perhaps.

If I get really desperate, I may even get that shit handheld ('X') - there's more chance of me getting that than the 3DS or WiiU.

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I know how you feel. If it wasn't for XBLA and my cool buddies who gave me some games for birthday, I probably would not have bought a single game in 2012.

The only place I still find interesting stuff is Xbox live and the indie games section. The main releases either are FPS, RPGs or combinations thereof, including massive online modes which I don't care for one bit.

That's no problem, though, as I have a decent games library that I can always get back to and have fun for hours on end.

I still wonder when this FPS/RPG in-thing will come to an end, I refuse to believe that this is going to be the be-all and end-all of gaming... I mean, who needs realistic graphics in games? I don't get it. If people want realism, they just have to walk outside.

Takumaji said:

I know how you feel. If it wasn't for XBLA and my cool buddies who gave me some games for birthday, I probably would not have bought a single game in 2012.

The only place I still find interesting stuff is Xbox live and the indie games section. The main releases either are FPS, RPGs or combinations thereof, including massive online modes which I don't care for one bit.

That's no problem, though, as I have a decent games library that I can always get back to and have fun for hours on end.

I still wonder when this FPS/RPG in-thing will come to an end, I refuse to believe that this is going to be the be-all and end-all of gaming... I mean, who needs realistic graphics in games? I don't get it. If people want realism, they just have to walk outside.

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Yeah, I still have a blast playing stuff from my library of retro games, and there is always the occasional game that I 'missed' and suddenly discover.

When I think back at the 'new' games that I've liked the most over the last year (and more) or so, they are stuff like Limbo, or the Ico re-release (welp that's 3d but I made an execption - even if the controls were janky).

So there is the odd game that appeals to me, but not much. I don't mind the photo realistic stuff in my driving games, but I prefer pixels to polygons.

One area where I felt the photo-realistic look ruined a game was in train driving sims - I kinda got into densha de go series, which is pretty much dead now, but on the PS3 they brought out a new type of game (railfan) and it used real footage that speeds up or slows down, so you do effectively get a real life experience ... however I preferred the CG look and the 'real' footage killed it for me.

At the ed of the day Tak, I think we are just getting old though.

bloodhokuto said:

At the ed of the day Tak, I think we are just getting old though.

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Yeah... that sure plays a role here. Maybe I shouldn't expect the market to cater to a 42 years old gamer like me.

Heh, I wonder what the youngsters of today will feel like in 20 or 30 years from now.

Takumaji said:

Heh, I wonder what the youngsters of today will feel like in 20 or 30 years from now.

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Gonna opine here, if'n ya don't mind.

I don't think they'll be as partial as our generation is.

Just my perception here. Today's 'youngsters' grew up in a different culture where information from many different avenues of life all come at them at the same time. Their brains are conditioned differently as a result and their levels of tolerance and acceptance are different.

I also think that the general majority of any group these days, including gamers, has a 'take it or leave it' mentality. They like what they like and really don't hardline their views much. Being voyeurs on the internet, we are simply more exposed to the vocal minorities.

Semi-tangential:

For my part, I'm glad that I can find joy in modern gaming. I like a lot of what's coming out now, but can also appreciate the classics that have stayed with me all this time (Zelda, Ninja Gaiden, etc.) The only trepidation I feel is that I look at so much of gaming today and there is so much corporate synergy and marketing strategy due to the monster the industry has grown into.

Resident Evil 6 is the perfect example of everything I find wrong with the development of a major franchise sequel, for example. A time tested and reliable franchise that once held a unique identity. But as time went on, production costs rose, stakes were raised and suddenly, it's not about letting the game hold on to its identity. It's about getting as many people to buy it as possible. It's about trying to be everything to everybody and jamming so much useless shit in there that it just junks up the end product. Jim Sterling at Destructoid said that the game is a 'cowardly production' and I have to agree with him. Capcom was just so afraid to let it be Resident Evil that they threw too many ingredients into it and as a result, the game is not good.

I know some respectable peeps, like Wes, really like the game, but I personally think its a tragic misstep. I see so many games today taking this approach to development: this is going to cost a lot. How do we get more people to buy it and secure their dollars for the sequel?

This is why, despite the constant scorn S-E gets for FF XIII, I really love FF XIII and FF XIII-2. I have criticized the games for having an arrogant development process, but at the same time, there's a beauty in them making the game THEY wanted to make, rather than fearing the public backlash. Whether or not it connected with the audience is another question, but S-E released those games with the big idea that they would just make something they really thought was good and let the chips fall where they may. That's why I find myself taking back some of my criticism for S-E for it: they developed FF XIII the way they used to develop FF. Just make the game and hope people like it.

Just read this nice article over at VG247

http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/04/welcome-to-2013-a-look-at-the-years-biggest-announcements/

Metal Gear Rising followed by Metal Gear Ground Zeroes.

Huge fan of the series, can't wait to play both.

Also hoping for a new worthwhile announcement from SNK (KOFXIV and/or a new re-drawn Metal Slug).

Taiso said:

Gonna opine here, if'n ya don't mind.

I don't think they'll be as partial as our generation is.

Just my perception here. Today's 'youngsters' grew up in a different culture where information from many different avenues of life all come at them at the same time. Their brains are conditioned differently as a result and their levels of tolerance and acceptance are different.

I also think that the general majority of any group these days, including gamers, has a 'take it or leave it' mentality. They like what they like and really don't hardline their views much. Being voyeurs on the internet, we are simply more exposed to the vocal minorities.

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Interesting thoughts.

Modern technology makes it possible to play games on mobiles and other handheld devices, then there are browser games and of course PC and console gaming. In the old days, you had to buy a console or visit an arcade to play games, now gaming has become almost ubiquitous and less expensive.

However, I've noticed quite a lot of unflexibility in modern gamers. My three nephews (aged between 19 and 23 years) are PC gamers who mostly stick to the tried and proven, they rarely try out something new, let alone a genre that isn't FPS. For them, consoles and all other means of playing games are for the kids, they rate themselves as hardcore. I can't feel any soul in them, though, they're pure consumers who always want more (but only more of the same, please).

This is what makes me a bit worried about vg diversity in the future.

Resident Evil 6 is the perfect example of everything I find wrong with the development of a major franchise sequel, for example. A time tested and reliable franchise that once held a unique identity. But as time went on, production costs rose, stakes were raised and suddenly, it's not about letting the game hold on to its identity. It's about getting as many people to buy it as possible. It's about trying to be everything to everybody and jamming so much useless shit in there that it just junks up the end product. Jim Sterling at Destructoid said that the game is a 'cowardly production' and I have to agree with him. Capcom was just so afraid to let it be Resident Evil that they threw too many ingredients into it and as a result, the game is not good.

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Agreed, Capcom didn't do the RE series a favor with the way RE6 turned out to be. The game itself isn't bad but there's even less RE atmosphere in it than in the prequel.

I hope this won't backfire at Capcom. Updating a series to meet the demands of new customers is one thing but raping it beyond recognition almost always leads to trouble.

I have absolutely no idea what games are slated for release in 2013.

I'm so out of touch anymore.

Takumaji said:

Modern technology makes it possible to play games on mobiles and other handheld devices, then there are browser games and of course PC and console gaming. In the old days, you had to buy a console or visit an arcade to play games, now gaming has become almost ubiquitous and less expensive.

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I recently bought an iPad and I have to say I really love it. I just bought The Bard's Tale for 2 dollars and it includes the recent Inixile game as well as the original Bard's Tale trilogy on PC. That is a great value. I also picked up Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition and it's a really good game, too. There are other games for it like Infinity Blade, Chaos Rings, Final Fantasy Dimensions and so forth, which are very good.

However, as much as I like the iPad, I still look at the majority of the app store offerings and it's mostly a shovelware wasteland. The Wii had the same type of culture about it: there were a billion games for the Wii that were just fucking garbage sold to a market that is undiscerning and can be tricked into buying just about anything. But at least with the Wii, a person had to at least surf Amazon to find something they wanted. With the 'download and play anywhere' model mobile devices offer, it's almost too easy and enabling to sell shit to the middle of the road market.

There are trends in game development and marketing now as a result of the advent of mobile gaming: minimal effort for maximum profit. Which, of course, is the proverbial road to mediocrity paved in greed. As the average consumer doesn't really demand excellence out of, well, ANYTHING, buying habits will only continue to feed this mentality. And the ultimate end result seems to be, unfortunately, a greater percentage of shitty games or AAA releases that are 'safe bets' such as Call of Duty and Madden.

Takumaji said:

However, I've noticed quite a lot of unflexibility in modern gamers. My three nephews (aged between 19 and 23 years) are PC gamers who mostly stick to the tried and proven, they rarely try out something new, let alone a genre that isn't FPS. For them, consoles and all other means of playing games are for the kids, they rate themselves as hardcore. I can't feel any soul in them, though, they're pure consumers who always want more (but only more of the same, please).

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One of my friends has children that are 13 and 11 years old, and the older one is really, really into Call of Duty. He doesn't care about any form of methodical gaming such as strategy or RPG because he has no patience, has no affinity for fighting games because it's too hard for him to master the nuances of a fighting engine and enjoys watching his father play Assassin's Creed but won't play it himself he doesn't want to get frustrated by failing at the parkour elements while giving chase or avoiding detection. Never mind classic gaming: he couldn't care less about the simple perfection of games like Pac-Man, Space Invaders or Donkey Kong. But whenever a new Call of Duty comes out, he's all over it and demands only the limited releases with all the extra content and the season passes for all the DLCs in advance.

The thing I find so bothersome about this is that my friend is a very cultured person, and an artist and a freelance website developer. He is very much a person about the components of a given thing and how much design strategy and conception of a project matter to the end result. He is also a gamer. I have no idea how the 13 year old, who is extremely bright and is an advanced student in school, could be a savant for fucking Call of Duty, of all things. I'm not saying there aren't reasons. I just don't understand them. I'll have to sit down with him at some point and ask him how this all came to be.

The boy has also developed an affection for realistic firearm replicas, likely as a result of his fixation on CoD and all things military. While this fixation is, in and of itself, not a big deal (everybody geeks about something, right?) it's a strange division between the boy and his parents, who have absolutely no interest in anything having to do with 'army-porn' fixations. It doesn't mean I'm worried about him or that he's going to become some kind of rooftop sniper or something, but it is certainly an interesting study in contrasts in the culture of hobby and how it forms people.

http://harebrained-schemes.com/shadowrun/

Original Creator of the IP got back the rights for this game.

I backed Shadowrun Returns, and can not wait for it to drop. Aside from that, I'm only really looking forward to: Anarchy Reigns, MGR:R, Etrian Odyssey IV and (assuming that it finally gets a US release date) Rune Factory 4.

I think 2013 in gaming, like many other things for me this year, is going to be all about the backlog and revisiting the classics.

Metal Gear Revengeance
DMC
Watch Dogs
DoDonPachi Saidaijou
Lords of Shadow 2
Injustice
Remember Me
The Last of Us

Metal Gear Rising and GTA V right now. Anarchy Reigns, too, which thankfully comes out soon. If MGS: Ground Zeroes is confirmed for a release this year, then that will definitely cause me to get hyped up. There are other titles like DmC that I am looking forward to, but I can wait on those.

Just Dragon Quest X

Bump. NIS just announced their upcoming localizations for Disgaea Dimension 2, The Guided Fate Paradox, and Time and Eternity (Tokitowa). The first makes my day 1 buys list and the other 2 I may pick up if reviews are good.

I'm probably gonna check out "Injustice: Gods Among Us"

Michael Yagami said:

I have absolutely no idea what games are slated for release in 2013.

I'm so out of touch anymore.

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Same.

But anything released in 2013 can be bought for $10 in 2014.

neojedi said:

Bump. NIS just announced their upcoming localizations for Disgaea Dimension 2, The Guided Fate Paradox, and Time and Eternity (Tokitowa). The first makes my day 1 buys list and the other 2 I may pick up if reviews are good.

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Disgaea games are like asking to forget the real world exists. So of course I'm interested.

The Guided Fate Paradox looks like it has potential in the JRPG ouevre.

Toki Towa looks like an attempt to recreate the same style of RPG as Ni No Kuni -an anime you can play- utilizing a different art style and systems. But 'immersion in a playable anime' seems to be what they're going for. I would give it a try if people I trusted told me it was the sort of thing I might enjoy, but I don't know if it's a day one for me just yet.

GTA V and Watch Dogs