2012 was a terrible year for gaming if you ask me. There was nothing that came out that made me wet by undergarments and whatever games I was looking forward to finally getting my grubby little mits on disappointed me greatly. Without exception nothing met my expectations and few games bothered to try and surpass them.
There were new handhelds to rub our fingers and thumbs across and games that we could prance about in front of, but these were only mild distractions, and nothing worthy of our hard earned pennies. Kinect let us talk to it and it ignored us. 3D came and gave us headaches. Sony asked that we rub every part of their new handheld with every bit of surface area on our pale and ageing bodies. WiiU asked that look at the portable map in our hands. Smartglass asked the same.
This was the year of the bargin. Full price was only full price for a couple of weeks. Few games flew off the shelf; instead they were posted through our front doors days or weeks later but at a significant cost saving. Wait a month or two and you could pick up a new game at a fraction of the price if you looked hard enough. Was this a new trend? Did the prices spiral because new games weren't flying off the shelf? And, if so, why was that? Cause they were shit. Yup, no one was playing the new releases because they weren't the AAA releases they made themselves out to be. Well, maybe. BLOPS2 was snatched up by everyone's youngest child because, well, that's the only thing those kids were waiting for all year. They weren't enticed to pick up any new games because MW3 was so still so alluring. Ah, who knows. It was a dire shame that some quality games went into the bargin basement so quickly - probably Dishonoured most of all - but there was a lot of rubbish that sank without a trace and we won't bat an eyelid. Yes, you, Ninja Gaiden 3. You fucking sucked ass.
The trend for downloadable continues to pick up pace of course. There were some excellent releases but let's face it, the quality overall - boxed or zapped into your console - took a beating this year. The XBLA thread certainly slowed down, aye, as few releases caught our attention. There was a Summer of Games but it lacked the spark from previous years. Where was the Lara Croft, the LIMBO and the PACMAN DX? PSN of course had some corking little gems hidden away and it seemed the only place to go to get something new and exciting. It even changed its appearance to be slightly less horrible. I imagine Steam too asked that we purchase cheap games but this time there were massive saving on full price games an' all. There were a few gems on there apparently. Whodathunk it? I even played Hotline Miami. ON AN XBOX CONTROLLER. ON A SOFA. IN FRONT OF A TV! It confused me terribly, that set up. Perhaps it's perparing me for the Steambox. The game itself was bloody awesome mind.
Ultimately I did what, I imagine, many folk did and trawled the past for classic games I'd missed and knew couldn't miss. So 2012 was a time to catch up on gaming gone by as we painfully wait for the next generation. And it ain't coming this year either. I'd be amazed if a PS4 or the new slagbox are released in 2013. Instead it'll be the further winding down of new and exciting games. Or is it? Or IS it? OR IS IT? Yes. It is.
Or maybe not. Maybe this is the year that The Last Guardian is released. Shadow of the Collossus was one of the last PS2 games released so maybe there will be a Team ICO release on PS3 after all - except for, y'know, SOTC. Again. The Playstation has another God of War to show us that there is still life in the fat PS3. Then there's Beyond from nutcase David Cage. And The Last of Us from the Uncharted boys. Oh, the PS3 will be loved this year no doubt. There might even be some WiiU games that excite us *cough*Bayonetta*cough* or something that doesn't require a map screen on the controller. Pikmin! ... has a map screen on the contr... ah, nevermind. There might even be some Xbox games. GTAV will of course dominate. The 3DS and Vita will of course die a death. Tch.
Forkin' hell I've been rambling.
GOTY can only be decided using one method. Science.
...and RaptrThe "I've Played this the Most" Awards 1) COD BLOPS 2: 33 hours
2) Dragon's Dogma: 30 hours
3) Ghost Recon: Future Solider: 25 hours
4) Resident Evil 6: 13 hours
5) Max Payne 3: 12 hours
Honourable mentions: Sniper Elite v2/Halo 4/Hitman: 10 hours each
So, there you have it. BLOPS2 is the GOTY cause I've played it most and I'm still playing it. Despite being very angry with Dragon's Dogma it turns out that I was wrong all along and it was the 2nd best game I've played. Who knew, aye? Not me, that's for sure.
Now I'm getting older I'm losing my memory a bit, so if something sticks in my memory I tend to think it must be either very good or very bad. I've had a think about what memories are most powerful in gaming this year.
The Top 5 "I Remember You" Awards 1) Journey -
I even made a thread about it.2) Max Payne 3 -
I even took to the internet to say it was good3) Resident Evil 6 - Well, I took to the internet to tell people about this too, but let's not revisit that, aye...
4) Sniper Elite - I SHOT A MAN'S BOLLOCK OFF.
5) Dark Souls: Artoris of the Abyss - It was Dark Souls plus more Dark Souls. Incredible.
Honourable Mentions: Machinima, er, Machinera? That point and click one on PSN/Pixeljunk Shooter.
But what have I actually enjoyed playing in 2012 regardless of whether it came out in 2012 or not. Fuck it.
The Top 5 "My 2012" Awards 1) Dark Souls: Artoris of the Abyss - I allowed myself to get excited about a game. I knew I shouldn't after all the disappointment but I allowed myself to get excited. It was worth it. More of the same but newer and just as exciting. I've clocked over 100 hours in the main game and this was only 12 more, but what 12 hours they were. The best just got ever so slightly better.
2) Journey - I pushed forward for 3, 4, 5 minutes into the snow? 10 minutes even? I was just pushing forward on the controller. My thumb started to go numb. The storm of hail was slapping into the face of my character. I couldn't turn around now so I pushed forward on the controller and he climbed. Beside me there was my best friend for the last thirty minutes who had stuck beside me. He collapsed face first into the snow and I knew he would die soon after. My characters legs slowed as the snow storm became worse and I knew he would die too. The most memorable game of 2012.
3) Xenoblade Chronicles: Even the Wii controller could not ruin the immense fun and excitement of this epic story from the east. You are but a speck on a giant's dead corpse that you call home. But the giant has awoken... The second most memorable game I played this year.
4) Max Payne 3 - Gritty gunplay in the sun. It's fab. It's multiplayer was quite fab too. The Last Salmon Man liked it too but don't let that put you off.
5) COD BLOPS 2 - Look, love it or hate it, it's got a bloody good multiplayer. Play Hardcore, learn the maps, and a world of pleasure bursts out and sucks on your fleshy dangly bits. The campaign is still shit though.
All done. TL:DR etc.
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