The lights are on
2010: The Greatest Gaming Year Of All Time
Based purely on quality and quantity, two years stand out as the greatest in video game history: 2004 and 2007. The former featured groundbreaking releases like World of Warcraft, Half-Life 2, Halo 2, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Far Cry, and Fable among a sea of amazing games. The latter shattered even that feat with the launches of Crackdown, God of War II, Assassin’s Creed, Mass Effect, Halo 3, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, BioShock, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Super Mario Galaxy, and Rock Band. To keep this paragraph from turning into an endless list, I left off some other amazing titles – further proof of how much these two years stand out in an industry spawned by Pong in 1972.
Pundits and naysayers say the video game industry is in decline based off the sales numbers from 2009. The year, quite frankly, lacked the variety and quantity needed to send gamers into cardiac arrest (though it did have some amazing high notes, which we will explore next month with our 2009 Game of the Year awards). Will the downward trend continue? No chance. This year will put any and all questions to rest with a lineup of games that shall strike down upon the world with great vengeance and furious anger. I can’t wait.
Perhaps it is a three-year cycle, or just plain dumb luck, but this year’s lineup is going to blow your mind (and assault your pocketbook). We already know a lot of the big names slated to appear in 2010: Final Fantasy XIII, BioShock 2, Gran Turismo 5, Halo: Reach, Crackdown 2, Epic Mickey, God of War III, Crysis 2, Bayonetta, StarCraft 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, and Red Dead Redemption. In addition, I have seen many other exciting unannounced games on the horizon.
Like our in-depth look at Dead Space 2 this month, we have a great lineup of surprises set for this year’s cover stories, many of which are scheduled for a 2010 release. I’ll be convicted under the penalty of death if I name drop any of these big announcements, but I know of at least six other games releasing this year that will make your blood boil in anticipation. When all is said and done, 2010 will be the greatest year in video game history. Cheers.
Email the author Andy McNamara, or follow on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, and Game Informer.
looking forward to ringing in the new year! let it begin!
aww, my first double post. sorry about that.
2010 is gonna rock, the games for 2010 all look to be some of the best of all time, and the three i'm looking forward to are the three final fantasy xiii games, what a trilogy this is gonna be!
Hmm, wonder what those six other titles are? Definatly looking forward to Bioshock 2, I even have my avatar on Xbox Live decked out in Bioshock 2 gear, complete with the big daddy doll and the big helmet!!! lol
Also looking forward to Dead Space 2 (will this be released in 2010 perhaps?) and Mafia 2 also looks intresting. Maybe FFXIII...
And by the way, the cover of issue #201 looks awesome! Nice work Andy :)
You didn't mention the game that I am most looking forward to: The Last Guardian. Hopefully it comes out next year.
What?? You mean you're doing covers on SMG2, Zelda Wii, and Metroid, as well as on PoP, Halo Reach and Red Dead Redemption?! This looks like a great year for you guys!
2010 will be an amazing year. And hopefully Heavy Rain will release in 2010 also making next year that much more amazing.
Great article Andy. :)
Need more money!! Andy is right. There will be some major titles released in 2010. When I'm at work looking through the games that people can reserve, I'm just like man, how am I going to afford all of this? It's going to be great!
I think two other years should also be remembered as greats: 1989 and 1998.
The former had the launches of the TurboGrafx, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy, along with great games like Mega Man 3, Super Mario Land, Dragon Quest, Super Mario Bros. 3 (in Japan, anyway), and of course, Tetris.
The latter had Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Resident Evil 2, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Final Fantasy VIII, Banjo-Kazooie, Spyro, Crash Bandicoot Warped, and Mega Man Legends.
I absolutely agree with you. The first 3 months are going to slaughter my bank account. I've been asking for gamestop gift cards for christmas because of the line up of games coming up. But, I still can't wait. Cheers.
I was saying this the other day...Lol.
And out of all the releases...You forgot Mass Effect 2.
Shame on you!
I'm guessing three of the other games are Wii exclusives, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Zelda Wii, and Metroid: Other M. Maybe Kingdom Hearts 3? KOTOR 3? Jade Empire 2? Rock Band 3? Gears of War 3? I can dream.
P.S. I know you can't confirm or deny any of these. I just like guessing out loud. :)
Mass Effect 2. nuff said.
does anyone else find it difficult to keep up with all the great games out there you want to play? i like to really explore a game rather than just a quick playthrough and i just can't keep up.
Yoncopin I feel your pain. If I'm spending 60 bucks on a game I'm going to seriously play the crap out of it. Hell I just wasted a month trying to get every trophy in Disgaea 3. So many games so little time. I shall indeed look forward to another great year in gaming. Heres to GI and the health of the industry. Cheers indeed old chap.
I'm excited to see what DS games are comming out new next year. I love how the finally decided to smarten up and put some hidden picture games out there....a girl needs some down time from killing zombies etc to relax and find some hidden apples....lol...
Never, 2007 was the greatest year in gaming. Why? Not because of CoD4. Bioshock. Best. Game. Ever. Everrrrrrr.
Yoncopin and ScruffytheJanitor, I feel both of your pain as well. I like to explore every nook and crany of a video game, and with the concept of earning acheivements in video games in this next-gen era, it makes exploration in a video game world feel that much more important, whether it's trying to find every audio diary in Bioshock to trying to find all the treasures in Re5.
Including the other games I mentioned in my earlier comment, I'm also keeping a close eye on Enslaved, I hope to get more news on that soon :)