back to article 2012: A generation-spanning year for gaming

This year has been arguably the most important year for the videogames industry in a long time. Not only did we see Sony take a final punt at the handheld market with the PS Vita - a move it may well now be regretting - but 2012 also saw Nintendo usher in the next generation of gaming with the Wii U. Sure, the Wii U may not be a …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Fading
    WTF?

    Walking Dead? Game?

    Less game more Choose your own adventure..........

    Still enjoyed it though.....

    (spent too time with Fighting Fantasy books in my youth - damn you (thank you) Jackson and Livingstone)

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  2. IT Spanner
    Stop

    Why no mention of Elite 4!? shocking...

    1. Eddie Edwards

      Elite: Dangerous? It hasn't reached its funding goal yet. That's like vapourware squared. Ouya, GTA V and Occulus Rift are merely vapourware to the first power.

  3. NomNomNom

    so mainstream games have gone downhill even more this year

    For 2013 I predict

    -Battle Solider 7: War Combat

    -Combat War 5: Battle Assassin

    -Another Fucking Batman Game

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @NomNomNom

      Mainstream games tend not to stray too far from a standard formula. I'm finding more fun with some of the games to emerge from Steam's Greenlight process. (Example: Miasmata. Who would have thought that a game where you essentially wander around picking flowers could be so much fun?)

      1. kyza

        Re: @NomNomNom

        -Who would have thought that a game where you essentially wander around picking flowers could be so much fun?)-

        Anyone who has played as a gust of wind in the PS3 game Flower

        Which leads me to add...why isn't Journey on this list? Not everyone's cup of tea to be sure (especially 15 year old males if the forum comments I've read are anything to go by), but not only does it look astonishing (only bettered by Outlands 2 for having a distinctive aesthetic IMO), but for such a simple game mechanic it has a level of emotional involvement far beyond it's linear gameplay, not to mention providing some of the loveliest moments I've experienced in 32 years of gaming which bought actual joy to me while playing it.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      You forgot:

      - Drive Through These Checkpoints In An Invincible Car 12

      - Run Through These Checkpoints As A Cartoon Character 9

      - Shoot Through These Checkpoints As A OMFGLOLWTFSECREATNINJAR 72.

      But wow, the graphics are like, so amazing, so that makes up for the linear gameplay.

  4. Rob Hooley
    WTF?

    Omissions?

    I'm pretty sure Blizzard brought a game or 2 out this year...

    1. Avatar of They
      Devil

      Re: Omissions?

      Did they? What was that then? Ermmm.... No can't think of anything they released... was there another (yawn) world of warcraft thingy.... Erm.....

      Nope. No idea. :)

  5. Bush_rat
    Trollface

    Um

    "Valve will finally confirm Half-Life 3... as pigs circle Heathrow."

    HL3 wouldn't be released so soon.

  6. MJI Silver badge

    Wii U doesn't feel next generation

    No big leap like there was from PS2/XBox to PS3/X360.

    Vita is a nice piece of kit

    1. Mike Brown

      Re: Wii U doesn't feel next generation

      Vita is lovely. But they dont seem to be doing naything cool with the possible connection to the ps3. Which is a shame, as the possibilities are great.

      1. David Webb

        Re: Wii U doesn't feel next generation

        The PSV should take off in 2013 if Capcom release Monster Hunter Vita, it's pretty much a guaranteed sale of 2.4 billion Vita's. Maybe the PS4 will have lots of connectivity options with the Vita, maybe allowing it to be used as a controller in the style of the Wii U controller for certain games?

        If I were in charge at Sony, I would do the one thing that would improve PS Vita sales instantly, I would drop the price of the memory cards from £2/gb to £0.50/gb (or less). Lets face it, you buy a phone with a micro SD slot and shove in a 32Gb card for a tenner, then you look at the PS Vita and figure "well, I got a 32Gb for my phone, I should require at least that for my console.... what the fuck? £60 just for a memory card? No way am I paying that much and the console without it is useless so I'm not getting the console either!"

        I'm a PS+ member, downloading Uncharted pretty much filled my card up, the price of getting a larger card is dissuading me from getting a larger card, and next month I'll be faced with the choice of deleting Uncharted to stick another game on or getting a bigger card (or downloading it on my PS3 and doing some fiddling around). I don't want to fiddle around, I want to buy a bigger card but when a 32Gb card is more expensive than a 120Gb SSD you really don't feel like it.

        1. DJ 2

          Re: Wii U doesn't feel next generation

          That was exactly the same problem with the psp. Memory Sticks were very very ****ing expensive.

          Sony never learn.

  7. Jedit Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    Ouya is an onomatopoeic name

    It will be the sound made by industry journalists when they finally realise it's vapourware.

    1. The Indomitable Gall

      Re: Ouya is an onomatopoeic name

      Vapourware? How so? It's a marketing dream: commodity Chinese components (Android phone internals), in a box, minus the two most expensive components (screen and battery). The only actual work they have to do to release it is set up their own app store and convince a few devs to upload their games. 2: PROFIT.

      1. Jedit Silver badge
        Headmaster

        Re: Ouya is an onomatopoeic name

        Even at cost a Tegra 3 chipset alone costs $25. That's a quarter of the price gone already. I've seen industry experts stating that they think it will cost at least $77 for parts per unit, leaving $22 for manufacturing costs, staff wages, warehousing and shipping. And remember, this is not a Sony-sized company that can get rock bottom prices on everything or sell as a loss leader.

    2. NoneSuch Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: Ouya is an onomatopoeic name

      @ Jedit

      Thanks for reminding me about this. I just finished purchasing a unit and extra controller. Will be delivered in April 2013 according to the estimates. Dev units are going out now.

      I have no idea how good it will be, but for $150 including shipping I am willing to take a leap of faith.

  8. Z-Eden
    Go

    Dishonoured is a brilliant game. Loved playing it on extreme difficulty - reminded me of why I enjoyed the Thief series. Not too sure about the new DLC for it though...

  9. Sean Houlihane
    Megaphone

    EliteDangerous on Kickstarter is well on the way to meeting it's funding goal (£723,389, 57.9%).

    Funding closes on 4th January (22 days to go), and at the current trend is looking like it will take an average pledge from most of the backers of £50 to meet the goal. This is by no means guaranteed, but there are some good videos from Frontir Developments now, and surely the message will spread over Christmas...

    1. K

      I've currently pledged £25... I'll double it if other will :D

    2. Ben Holmes
      Happy

      I've got £40 pledged IIRC. Part of my motivation for funding it is so when it finally meets it's funding goal, people will stop whinging about Elite 4 being vapourware, and find something else to moan about.

      Like Elite 5, for example.

  10. BoldMan

    No mention of The Secret World?

  11. Flakey

    Oh Yeah?

    "only Dishonored and Far Cry 3 offered an experience fitting the billing ‘game of the year’, Talk sense man. Any so called "game review" that doesnt even MENTION Borderlands 2 isnt worth reading. Granted Dishonored is good but doesnt live up to the hype and as for Far Cry 3, that has been as dissapointing as No2 in the series. This discussion shouldnt even be happening. Borderlands 2 (and 1 for that matter) beats them all hands down. Next you'll be saying that the latest version of Need For Speed: Most Wanted is better than the original.

  12. Combustable Lemon
    FAIL

    Borderlands 2

    Which part of Borderlands 2 was great exactly?

    Story, average,

    Shooting, average.

    Abilities, OMG i can have ANOTHER 3% bullet damage.... Average (i'd say below average actually).

    The game was so repetative i didn't actually finish it and i doubt i'll bother, it'd be a travesty if a game like that was awarded game of the year by anyone.

    Still atleast it looked okay, sort of, ish.

    Quite enjoying Far Cry 3 currently but Game of the year i reckon should be Dishonored.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    PS Vita....

    Still early days, its only been out 10 months, which is like 2 days in Sony's time line line, just think of PSP and how long it was before the really great games came out.

    Agreed though, Sony need to get their act togeather with cross play/remote play and give us more access to our PS3 games via our Vita.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Expect more of the same. Most modern games require you to be on the Internet so they can monitor your play, where you go and what you do. They will crunch those numbers and produce pablum games that appeal to the majority.

    Just like the movies, you will see less originality and more corporate input into what we are supposed to like based on demographics and focus groups.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Dust

    Early 2013 - Dust 514. A revolution in console games or a damp squib. No-one really knows which way it will go.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Dust

      I played the beta, the controls were terrible. PC version would be fine, but it just doesn't work on a ps3 controller

  16. Lloyd
    Thumb Down

    PS3

    Sorry, I've not bought a single new game all year, I've played Skyrim but frankly there's been naff all new out that's enticed me, which is a sure sign that there's either something new on the horizon or that games companies are feeling the pinch and had decided to stick to the same tired formulaic games. Look at the top 30 of all time on Metacritic, how many of them came out in the last 12 months? And how many of those are sequels? Although I may buy Farcry 3 when it comes down to a reasonable price (sub £20).

  17. Scott 2
    FAIL

    The target audience doesn't want innovation - they want something to wave their epeen around in.

    And that's EA's/Activision's/Ubisoft's fault.

This topic is closed for new posts.