It’s the final day of 2010! We’ve seen some fantastic content this year. But as of tomorrow, everything will be SO last year! 2011 holds a lot for us. Big titles like Little Big Planet 2, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Sword, Gears of War 3, and most likely another Call of Duty will grace store shelves! Nintendo 3DS will also be launching.Hey guys, it’s December 31st, the last day of 2010! The year has come and gone with great titles (that I never played) like Super Mario Galaxy 2, Red Dead Redemption, Sonic Colors (oh, I played that one), Mass Effect 2, Kirby’s Epic Yarn and much much more. As of right now, it looks like the great games won’t be slowing down either with titles like Dead Space 2, Little Big Planet 2, and Mario Sports Mix, hitting early next year. But what kind of surprises will 2011 hold for us? Of course, we all know that the biggest surprise of 2011 will be if we get another Call of Duty game! Those only launch once in a blue moon! But as exciting as that might sound, there are other other titles and areas to be watching.
Kinect’s launch has been almost entirely aimed at a casual audience. Honestly, it looks about the same for early 2011 as well, but later in the year looks much more promising. One of the first core games announced for the platform, Star Wars Kinect, is set for 2011. While not many details have been released, the title has been promising to put the light saber in the player’s hand, as has pretty much every Star Wars game has promised since motion controls have taken off. Forza Motorsports 4 is also one of the first titles shown for Kinect that is set for 2011, but hopefully Joyride isn’t an indication of how that will turn out. And while not confirmed for next year, Microsoft announced five Kinect titles being developed by notable Japanese developers, like Grasshopper Manufacture’s Codename D, Capcom’s Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor, and SEGA’s Rise of Nightmares that we might just see next year.
While Nintendo’s 2011 Wii line-up seems a bit light right now, they have a heavy hitter up their sleeve. Unless it is delayed, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is bound to make a splash in the market, and give Wii owners a reason to use Wii Motion + again. As mentioned before, Mario Sports fans are going to get five sports to sink their teeth into this upcoming February, complete with online play! And just in case you guys forgot, Nintendo is pushing out 3DS next year as well. While we don’t know much about the launch yet (check back on the blog January 19th!), 2011 is bound to show us what sort of future the handheld, and 3D gaming, are set to have. Unfortunately a launch line up of titles hasn’t been announced, but we can probably expect Resident Evil, Super Monkey Ball, Nintendogs and possibly Kid Icarus and Zelda somewhat early in the lifespan.
Of course, I wouldn’t forget Sony! With all the rumors floating around about the PlayStation Phone and PlayStation Portable 2, it is almost impossible to deny their existence at this point, with some publishers even coming out claiming to have seen both platforms. The PlayStation Phone is exactly what it sounds like. The more exciting of the two, the PSP2 is set to be a direct competitor to the 3DS. It will be interesting to see if Sony can finally topple Nintendo’s firm grip on the market in terms of a dedicated handheld gaming device. Unless they pull a Wii approach, the visuals are bound to push beyond what the 3DS is capable of doing. Of course, visuals aren’t everything. It will be interesting to see what Sony does with the touch pad on the back of the system. Hopefully Sony will officially unveil both platforms soon. But of course, we can’t forget Sony’s home console market with titles like Kill Zone 3 and SOCOM 4 supporting MOVE, plus huge releases like Mass Effect 2 and Uncharted 3.
2011 is looking to be a fine year, but who knows what will make the biggest impression. And while I’m putting my money on 3DS, I want to hear what you guys are most excited for in 2011, or what platform/genre/title you hope sees great success either critically or financially on the market . I look forward to reading all of your comments on our stories in 2011! Happy New Year!
