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.