2013 is shaping up to be an interesting year for video games; we're just over half way into January and we already have a surprisingly active start to the year. We have the announcement of the 6th Generation of Pokemon, a controversial collectors edition that just makes you ask 'why', the unfortunate collapse of a publisher in addition to two major retail outlets going into administration, a new game reveal from Suda51, new console efforts on the way from Nvidia and Valve and of course; the next generation arms race from Sony and Microsoft is now officially under way with countdowns and pre-E3 events in a match of one-upmanship.
There is so much left to be revealed but already we have a great line up of titles and this year is just going to keep hitting us with new titles, new IPs and news stories.
I originally tried putting together a top 13 but there was many unknowns and such a good range of titles that it became so hard to choose so instead I have put together this article of what I'm looking forward to seeing more of in 2013.
2013 is already off to a great start with Platinum's multiplayer brawler Anarchy Reigns (PS3/X360) which came out last week at a bargain price which I would recommend checking out (- I'll have a review up for it soon in the near future). Traditionally January is a little on the slow side but there are some quality releases lined up for digital downloads such as Double Fine and Ron Gilbert's The Cave (PS3/X360/WiiU/PC); an adventure-platform game with a varied cast of characters, solving a variety of unique puzzles that encourages multiple playthroughs, as well as November's fantastic Sonic A.S.Racing Transformed (PC) coming to Steam so now even more people can enjoy the thrill of S-Rank racing in one of the finest kart racing games in recent years (-again, I'll have a review up in the near future!).
And it doesn't stop there! The next few months bring a barrage of intriguing titles such as Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (PS3); A collaborative effort from Level 5 and Studio Ghibli with a fully orchestrated soundtrack from Joe Hisaishi? Sign me up! February also brings us Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (PS3/X360); a collaboration between action gurus Platinum Games and Kojima Productions that lets gamers control Raiden in ways previously only handled in Metal Gear through cutscenes. I got to try this at Eurogamer Expo and I have been playing the demo included with Zone of the Enders HD since and I simply can't wait to play the full game; fighting LQ-84i was a blast and if the future bosses can match him we are in for a treat. Hopefully the demo will be available soon for everyone to try.
March brings CyberConnect2's Naruto Shippuden: U.N.Storm 3 (PS3/X360); I gave up following the anime a while back simply because this series simply got it right; high quality, no filler, big scale visual combat. Set during the 4th Ninja War this entry promises some of the best battles yet including Naruto fighting the Nine Tails for control and some fights from the supporting cast against some familiar names and faces. March also brings Bioshock Infinite (PS3/X360/PC) - I can't really say a lot as I have tried to avoid details, but from what I have seen this brings the Bioshock atmosphere and powers to the sky, zipping along skylines in a flying city - on that alone I'm sold.
And of course there is Grand Theft Auto V (PS3/X360). Do I really need to add anything? Only GTA has the power to have my local supermarkets set up in store displays for pre-orders with the release of a single trailer and a vague 'spring' release date. Rockstar has the attention of everyone and I look forward to seeing what they have come up with for their flagship franchise.
Despite new consoles on the horizon PS3 owners have a great range of titles to look forward to, including the return of Sly Cooper in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (PS3), A new platformer from SCE Japan called Puppeteer (PS3) which has already shown off a lot of creativity and a great art direction. There is also Beyond: Two Souls (PS3); a psychological thriller in the 'interactive movie' genre from Heavy Rain creator Quantic Dreams, starring Ellen Page and Jodie Holmes; a mysterious girl on the run from the FBI and followed by a spirit we only know as 'Idan'. With the promise of possessing and manipulating other characters and objects in addition to psychic powers, this game has my attention. Of course you can't mention the PS3 without Naughty Dog's The Last of Us (PS3) which just looks stunning with each showing; from clever AI behaviour to make the actions of the survivors different with each play and scenario, to the stories and interactions between the cast of characters - I look forward to seeing how the adventure of Joel and Ellie pans out come May 7th.
Handhelds have a promising start with titles such as Luigi's Mansion (3DS) and Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS) and more on the way such as Pokemon X & Y (3DS) and Tearaway (PSV) which uses all the features of the Vita in a great looking title. I'm also hopeful we will hear of an official localisation announcement for Ace Attorney vs Phoenix Wright (3DS) which I have been looking forward to for years now, doing my best to avoid spoilers from Japanese fans and importers.
If details haven't leaked before hand E3 2013 may be our first real look at the PS4 and New Xbox and the games to go with it. Will we be seeing established IP such as Infamous, Uncharted or Halo to sell us on the next generation? Or how about a brand new IP such as last years WatchDogs (PS3/X360/PC) which got a lot of attention - or an IP revival; it would be nice to see Microsoft do something with all those Rare IPs they are sitting on for a change. Nintendo also has a lot to prove with the Wii U - as usual there is a good line up of exclusives including Rayman Legends, Monster Hunter Tri, Pikmin 3 and The Wonderful 101 all due within the next few months, but what about the future - when will we see a sign of some of the usual suspects such as Zelda or Mario - or better yet Metroid? StarFox? F-Zero? And what about the big titles we actually know about. Will E3 be the debut of Super Smash Bros 4 or last-years-controversial-exclusive-announcement; Bayonetta 2 (Wii U). Regardless E3 will hopefully give us a good look at titles we know about but have seen very little of such as Cyberpunk 2077 (TBA) and Destiny (X360/PS3).
Oh and speaking of usual suspects; will 2013 show signs of life for long awaited titles The Last Guardian (PS3) and Final Fantasy XIII: Versus (PS3)...which I really hope will receive a name change given the abundance of FFXIII titles as of late.
And that is a (brief) overview of what's in store for video games in 2013. This is one year I'm really looking forward to; I have only just started but I hope to be talking more about games soon and I hope to enjoy this year from start to finish - and I hope you do to!
What games are you looking forward to this year? Feel free to leave a comment and thank you for reading!
_____
Article was originally posted 17/01/2013 - prior to the recent Nintendo Direct conference; What a fantastic display that was! Really looking forward to seeing more of Bayonetta 2 and The Wonderful 101 but also seeing the Wind Waker HD and Smash Bros 4 at E3 2013. Monolith Soft's 'X'(enoblade2) stole the show though!
There is so much left to be revealed but already we have a great line up of titles and this year is just going to keep hitting us with new titles, new IPs and news stories.
I originally tried putting together a top 13 but there was many unknowns and such a good range of titles that it became so hard to choose so instead I have put together this article of what I'm looking forward to seeing more of in 2013.
2013 is already off to a great start with Platinum's multiplayer brawler Anarchy Reigns (PS3/X360) which came out last week at a bargain price which I would recommend checking out (- I'll have a review up for it soon in the near future). Traditionally January is a little on the slow side but there are some quality releases lined up for digital downloads such as Double Fine and Ron Gilbert's The Cave (PS3/X360/WiiU/PC); an adventure-platform game with a varied cast of characters, solving a variety of unique puzzles that encourages multiple playthroughs, as well as November's fantastic Sonic A.S.Racing Transformed (PC) coming to Steam so now even more people can enjoy the thrill of S-Rank racing in one of the finest kart racing games in recent years (-again, I'll have a review up in the near future!).
And it doesn't stop there! The next few months bring a barrage of intriguing titles such as Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (PS3); A collaborative effort from Level 5 and Studio Ghibli with a fully orchestrated soundtrack from Joe Hisaishi? Sign me up! February also brings us Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (PS3/X360); a collaboration between action gurus Platinum Games and Kojima Productions that lets gamers control Raiden in ways previously only handled in Metal Gear through cutscenes. I got to try this at Eurogamer Expo and I have been playing the demo included with Zone of the Enders HD since and I simply can't wait to play the full game; fighting LQ-84i was a blast and if the future bosses can match him we are in for a treat. Hopefully the demo will be available soon for everyone to try.
March brings CyberConnect2's Naruto Shippuden: U.N.Storm 3 (PS3/X360); I gave up following the anime a while back simply because this series simply got it right; high quality, no filler, big scale visual combat. Set during the 4th Ninja War this entry promises some of the best battles yet including Naruto fighting the Nine Tails for control and some fights from the supporting cast against some familiar names and faces. March also brings Bioshock Infinite (PS3/X360/PC) - I can't really say a lot as I have tried to avoid details, but from what I have seen this brings the Bioshock atmosphere and powers to the sky, zipping along skylines in a flying city - on that alone I'm sold.
And of course there is Grand Theft Auto V (PS3/X360). Do I really need to add anything? Only GTA has the power to have my local supermarkets set up in store displays for pre-orders with the release of a single trailer and a vague 'spring' release date. Rockstar has the attention of everyone and I look forward to seeing what they have come up with for their flagship franchise.
Despite new consoles on the horizon PS3 owners have a great range of titles to look forward to, including the return of Sly Cooper in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (PS3), A new platformer from SCE Japan called Puppeteer (PS3) which has already shown off a lot of creativity and a great art direction. There is also Beyond: Two Souls (PS3); a psychological thriller in the 'interactive movie' genre from Heavy Rain creator Quantic Dreams, starring Ellen Page and Jodie Holmes; a mysterious girl on the run from the FBI and followed by a spirit we only know as 'Idan'. With the promise of possessing and manipulating other characters and objects in addition to psychic powers, this game has my attention. Of course you can't mention the PS3 without Naughty Dog's The Last of Us (PS3) which just looks stunning with each showing; from clever AI behaviour to make the actions of the survivors different with each play and scenario, to the stories and interactions between the cast of characters - I look forward to seeing how the adventure of Joel and Ellie pans out come May 7th.
Handhelds have a promising start with titles such as Luigi's Mansion (3DS) and Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS) and more on the way such as Pokemon X & Y (3DS) and Tearaway (PSV) which uses all the features of the Vita in a great looking title. I'm also hopeful we will hear of an official localisation announcement for Ace Attorney vs Phoenix Wright (3DS) which I have been looking forward to for years now, doing my best to avoid spoilers from Japanese fans and importers.
If details haven't leaked before hand E3 2013 may be our first real look at the PS4 and New Xbox and the games to go with it. Will we be seeing established IP such as Infamous, Uncharted or Halo to sell us on the next generation? Or how about a brand new IP such as last years WatchDogs (PS3/X360/PC) which got a lot of attention - or an IP revival; it would be nice to see Microsoft do something with all those Rare IPs they are sitting on for a change. Nintendo also has a lot to prove with the Wii U - as usual there is a good line up of exclusives including Rayman Legends, Monster Hunter Tri, Pikmin 3 and The Wonderful 101 all due within the next few months, but what about the future - when will we see a sign of some of the usual suspects such as Zelda or Mario - or better yet Metroid? StarFox? F-Zero? And what about the big titles we actually know about. Will E3 be the debut of Super Smash Bros 4 or last-years-controversial-exclusive-announcement; Bayonetta 2 (Wii U). Regardless E3 will hopefully give us a good look at titles we know about but have seen very little of such as Cyberpunk 2077 (TBA) and Destiny (X360/PS3).
Oh and speaking of usual suspects; will 2013 show signs of life for long awaited titles The Last Guardian (PS3) and Final Fantasy XIII: Versus (PS3)...which I really hope will receive a name change given the abundance of FFXIII titles as of late.
And that is a (brief) overview of what's in store for video games in 2013. This is one year I'm really looking forward to; I have only just started but I hope to be talking more about games soon and I hope to enjoy this year from start to finish - and I hope you do to!
What games are you looking forward to this year? Feel free to leave a comment and thank you for reading!
_____
Article was originally posted 17/01/2013 - prior to the recent Nintendo Direct conference; What a fantastic display that was! Really looking forward to seeing more of Bayonetta 2 and The Wonderful 101 but also seeing the Wind Waker HD and Smash Bros 4 at E3 2013. Monolith Soft's 'X'(enoblade2) stole the show though!
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