Can 2010 be the best year in video games ever?

Rashid Sayed in Editorials On December 31, 2009

Today is 31^st December, the last day in 2009. At 12 a.m., 2010 will come over. 2009 was one of the best years in Video Games Industry with a ton of stunning video games released. 2010 looks like a very strong year that might be as good as the year we had in 2009. But can it be the best year in video games ever?

Confirmed Releases:

Bayonetta is going to make your jaws drop!

2010 looks like it’s going to start with a bang! It already has The Darksiders and Bayonetta lined up in the first week of January! AAA experience just after the holiday season ends… I mean what else you want. Army of Two series makes a comeback with The 40^th Day. The first game was a disaster for me, I never got sucked in to the game. Hopefully the sequel will be a much better deal and won’t collect dust as my first game. Good news for PSP owners as well, Silent Hill Shattered Memories will be out on January 12^th, 2010. Phew! That’s already a ton of games. Capcom’s latest game Dark Void will hit the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on January 19^th, 2010. The last week will be a stunning with major exclusives for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. With Mass Effect 2 and MAG, gamers are sure to have a very busy January in 2010. January almost looks like a holiday season with some major games coming out.

Can Sam Fisher shine and rock on the Xbox 360?

Ok now get ready; if January was something to get your hands warm on your controller, February will keep you in your driving seat. The much awaited Gran Turismo will finally be released on the PlayStation 3 on February 2^nd, 2010. I hope it won’t be the mess that Gran Turismo Portable came out to be. Also White Knight Chronicles International Edition will be out on the same day as Gran Turismo 5. For strategy fans, Ubisoft’s RUSE should hold you for a couple of months. Hold on! We are not done yet, the list of great games just continues in this month with Dante’s Inferno and the 2k’s biggest franchise BioShock locking horns on February 9^th, 2010.

Will the wait be worth it?

If you are still thinking that we are done with February than hold on to your seat. Heavy Rain, one of the biggest PlayStation 3 exclusive will hit the console along with some good games like Blur. Good time for a PSP owner once again since the next game in the Socom’s series is due out on February 16^th, 2009. Splinter Cell Conviction, one of the biggest games on the Xbox 360, comes out on the 23^rd and the sequel to Lost Planet on the same day as well. It will really be interesting to how these AAA games perform in terms of sales and scores, since I have never seen so many AAA experiences colliding with each other within such a short span of time.

Can Bad Company 2 be the next Modern Warfare in terms of sales and scores?

March will begin with some gun shooting and multiplayer madness with DICE’s Bad Company followed by the highly hyped and anticipated Final Fantasy XIII on March 9^th 2010. Rico will head to the South Pacific island of Panau for his latest parachuting adventure in Just Cause 2 to be released on the PlayStation 3, 360 and PC. So what’s next? No prizes for guessing. Kratos’s last adventure in the final game of the series will take place sometime in March. I seriously hope the game will kick ass and fire at all cylinders. Another strong PlayStation3 exclusive in Yakuza 3 wraps up March.

April will probably see the release of the 360 exclusive Alan Wake. If the E3 demo is anything to go by than get ready to get scared and dazzled. This game will be followed by Red Dead Redemption due out on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Let’s jump to May. PSP fans rejoice again! Big Boss will be back again in Hideo Kojima’s next game in the Metal Gear Solid series: Peace Walker. The game will hit stores on May 25^th, 2010.

More Games:

In June we will probably see a cracking series of video games in Max Payne 3, Medal of Honor and Deus Ex 3. In July we might see the rumored Ghost Recon 3 on the PC, PlayStation3 and Xbox 360, but we have to wait and watch. Here is the complete list of notable games which will probably be released later in 2010:

Resonance of Fate
Brink
ModNation Racers
Resistance 3 (Not yet announced, but we all know it’s coming in 2010)
Fable 3
A new Call of Duty game
Need for Speed Online
Doom II
The Last Guardian
Halo Reach
Agent
Red Steel 2
Dead Rising 2
Dead Space 2
Super Mario Galaxy 2
StarCraft 2
No More Heroes 2
CrackDown 2
Metroid M
New Zelda Game (?)

New Hardware?

A new console will be extremely unlikely, but expect new features on all consoles.

This is a bit of a dicey subject to talk about. Sony is definitely not going to release any new hardware in 2010, since the PlayStation 3 has just recently started doing well and they have a ten year cycle for the console. We won’t even see a new portable version as well, since Sony took that step this year with the release of PSP Go! Nintendo are piling money after money as their sales for the Wii and DS grows day by day. So definitely they too are out of contention. That leaves us with Microsoft. Q4 2010 will mark five years for the Xbox 360. I am still pretty sure that Microsoft won’t release a new console but at least it will tease gamers with something at the E3 show this year.

In all, 2010 is looking like it’s going to be one hell of a year. With the year starting off so well with a stellar line up of games, I wonder what else the gaming industrty have more to deliver for the rest of the year. Judging by the above, 2010 could easily be the best year in video games ever.