Spring Releases: Are We Going To Need A Longer Year?

Gamers have the right to complain about one thing each year: Publishers overload the holiday season with game releases. With consumers out in full force, it's hard to argue against the logic of releasing games in November. For reasons I'll never grasp, I also find that I am willing to spend more money during this time of year than any other.

But even from my viewpoint where I play games for a living, I don't have the time or funds available to invest into all of the key holiday releases. From this, the holidays end up being the most exciting time of the year, and also the most frustrating time of the year.

In years past, the new year that dawns has been dedicated to catching up on the holiday releases. There always seems to be three of four games that couldn't be squeezed into the holiday rotation. This year, we don't have that luxury. I've jokingly started calling the first three months in 2010 "2009's bonus holiday."

The year kicked off with a resounding bang with two must-play games, Bayonetta and Darksiders, and almost every subsequent week brings another title I've been dying to play. Here's a list of the games I have my eye on. And yes, there are more games releasing during this period than I have listed.

• Bayonetta – January 5
• Darksiders – January 5
• Army of Two – January 12

• Dark Void – January 19
• Mass Effect 2 – January 26
• M.A.G. – January 26

• Star Trek Online – February 2

• White Knight Chronicles – February 2
• Tropico 3 – February 2

• BioShock 2 – February 9

• Dante’s Inferno – February 9 

• Aliens Vs. Predator – February 16
• Heavy Rain – February 23

• Napoleon: Total War – February 23
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 – March 2

• MLB 2K10 – March 2
• MLB 10: The Show – March 2
• Supreme Commander 2 – March 2
• Final Fantasy XIII – March 9
• Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition – March 9
• Resonance of Fate – March 9

• Command & Conquer 4 – March 16
• Pokémon Heart Gold/Soul Silver – March 16
• Dragon Age: Origins – Awakenings – March 16
• God of War III – March 16
• Infinite Space – March 16
• Ninety-Nine Nights II – March 16
• Just Cause 2 – March 23
• 
Red Steel 2 – March 23

• Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey – March 23

If you compare 2010 with previous years (listed below), the number of releases during this season is increasing. And this breakdown doesn’t take into account downloadable games, which are also growing in number. Another point of interest is the influx of major franchise releases represented during this period – such as Bioshock, Mass Effect, Battlefield: Bad Company, Pokémon, etc. With these games in place, the first three months in 2010 reads like a typical November release schedule. Is this a good thing? A bad thing? We'll have to wait until March concludes to find out what comes next. I'll just say this: I'm on my hands and knees praying that we have a slow summer.

Here were the games I thought I should play in 2009. Obviously, some of them ended up being duds, but I had to play them to figure that out. It was a busy three months, but it didn't consist of the heavy-hitters we're seeing lined up for the same three months in 2010.

• Skate 2 – January 21
• Afro Samurai – January 27
• F.E.A.R.: Project Origin – February 9
• Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon – February 17

• Street Fighter IV – February 17
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – February 17
• 
Star Ocean: The Last Hope – February 24

• 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand – February 24

• Puzzle Quest: Galactrix – February 24
• Halo Wars – February 27

• Killzone 2 – February 27
• Empire: Total War – March 3
• MLB 2K9 – March 3
• MLB 10: The Show – March 3
• H.A.W.X. – March 3

• Madworld – March 10
• Resident Evil 5 – March 12

• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars – March 17
• Resistance: Retribution – March 17

• Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume – March 17

• Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles – Echoes of Time – March 24
• WWE Legends of Wrestlemania – March 24

• Guitar Hero: Metallica – March 29

Here’s how 2008’s three month window looked.

• Advance Wars: Days of Ruin – January 21
• 
Burnout Paradise – January 21

• Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice – January 31
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl – January 31
• Sins of a Solar Empire – February 5

• Devil May Cry 4 – February 5

• Turok – February 5

• The Club – February 5
• 
Dark Messiah of Might & Magic – February12

• Need for Speed: Pro Street – February 18
• Frontlines: Fuel of War – February 26
• Lost: Via Domus – February 26
• MLB 2K8 – March 4

• MLB 10: The Show – March 4

• God of War: Chains of Olympus – March 4
• 
Army of Two – March 4

• Condemned 2: Bloodshot – March 11

• Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath – March 25

• Dark Sector – March 28

And here’s 2007.



• Lost Planet: Extreme Condition – January 12
• 
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All – January 12

• World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade – January 16

• Rogue Galaxy – January 30
• Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters – February 13

• Crackdown – February 20

• Supreme Commander – February 20

• Virtua Fighter 5 – February 20

• Major League Baseball 2K7 – February 27

• MLB 07: The Show – February 27
• Def Jam: Icon – March 6

• MotoStorm – March 6

• Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 – March 6

• God of War II – March 13

• The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles – March 27

• Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars – March 27