2013 Game Releases
 

Lately I have become so jaded and cynical that when I see the list of upcoming game releases I usually just sigh and shake my head mumbling things like rehashed, tired, or just lame. Looking at the line up this year though I am actually quite enthused.

March 2013 Heart of the Swarm
March 2013 Sim City 5
Early 2013 Mechwarrior Online
Mid/Late 2013 Arma 3
Late 2013 Rome II: Total War
Late 2013 Elder Scrolls Online

Just thought I would make a thread about it since I haven't made a thread in a while, and this seemed like the forum in which to do it. Although it seems off to a bad starts since I've seen beta gameplay of both MWO and SimCity 5 and they don't look like a reboot of the series (SimCity 5 particularly may be a let down). HotS is just an expansion so although I am looking forward to it, I don't see a lot of gameplay or a reinvigoration for the multiplayer aspect of SCII. Elder Scrolls Online is being heralded by some as the second coming. I do have some faith in Bethesda but to be frank I see it as a possible hit or miss. However, I'm sure that Arma 3 and especially Rome II will be nothing less than amazing if these other titles fail to impress.

Anyone else looking forward to any of these releases or have anything to add?

I'm hoping HotS will be good, but I'll only play through the campaign most likely. I have high hopes for ESO.

No love for BioShock: Infinite?

Well if you're including expansions, Dragonborn comes out tomorrow for PC...

I don't think ESO will work out. Sure, they've got all the lore and flavor of the Elder Scrolls series behind it, but people will realize that it's not very "Skyrimy" (or "Morrowindy" or "Obliviony"); by necessity, the unrestrained character growth that's become a trademark of the series will be limited in the name of balance. People will platteu, get bored, and leave.

I'm looking forward to Arma 3. After I got through DayZ, I started playing just plain old Arma II online and it's amazing.

Not sure if serious...

Not sure if sarcastic or just douchbag... oh wait... it's K_A

ARMA II is probably one of the clunkiest FPS games I've ever played. The controls are terrible.

Ya but on scale and authenticity it is second to none. Arcade shooters have become tired and rehashed to the point of nausea. When I was a kid and games were getting bigger and better it was awesome, especially the transition to 3D. Then around 2005ish it really seems like ingenuitive development stopped, and most new games are recycled shit. The downside is that most people eat it up and the game budgets and profits have become unprecedented. In the last 5-10 years the only real change to MOST games have been graphics. After playing Arma and to a lesser degree Battlefield, I don't think I will be going back to corner shooters or simplified limited choice games in general.

The industry is headed into the direction of simplifying games to make them more accessible in order to increase their demographic. While that worked for the bottom dollar, I think they could have made games on a grand scale while also allowing simplifying options to allow accessibility alongside complexity and large scale. That or just release simplified games alongside larger ones. That really isn't the case and an unforeseen consequence has been that a lot of respectable developers have been bought out by behemoth producers [cough EA, cough] that have made obscene profits by capitalizing the larger demographics. They've turned respectable titles into watered down versions of their former selves, saturating the gaming market with a ubiquitous conglomeration of shit.

SimCity 5 is a good example and is why it should probably be struck from that list. What kind of a sequel is it when they downsize the scale of the game and take away tons of options. The only thing that is better is the simulation engine, but of course it's gonna be better when the size ambition is reduced to nothing. That and the DLC plague where they take away features on a sequel then launch them as DLC. They did that with Civ as well. Took away several of the playable factions and then just released them as DLC fluff later down the line.

/endunexpectedrant