2011: Hopes, Hype, and Expectations

[hisak]

2011 looks to be a very big year for all three video game companies, with hugely anticipated games on all three consoles, and a promising new handheld arriving early in the year. With so much to look forward to, there's plenty on which to speculate, so that's just what we'll do.


So what's supposed to happen this year?

Dead Space 2 will be released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on January 25. PlayStation 3 owners will be able to purchase a Limited Edition that comes with a Move-compatible port of Dead Space: Extraction.

Killzone 3 will be released on PlayStation 3 on February 22 in North America, and on February 28 in Europe. The first-person shooter will be compatible with Move and will feature 3D graphics.

de Blob 2 will be released on February 22 in North America, on February 24 in Australia, and on February 25 in Europe. Unlike its predecessor, de Blob 2 will be available on all three major consoles. A Nintendo 3DS installment is also in development.

Kirby's Epic Yarn will be released in Europe on February 25. The game, which has been available in North America and Europe since October 2010, is the first console platformer in the series since 2000's Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.

Dragon Age II will be released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on March 8 in North America and on March 11 in Europe. This sequel to the popular 2009 RPG Dragon Age: Origins takes place in the same world as the first game, with the option for the player to transfer decisions made in that game to this sequel.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution will be released on March 8 in North America. It is the third game in the series started by the massive critically successful PC game Deus Ex.

Ōkamiden, the seemingly miraculous sequel to 2005 PlayStation 2 adventure game Ōkami, will be released for Nintendo DS on March 15 in North America, and on March 18 in Europe.

Pokémon Black and White will be released in Europe and North America this spring. The fifth main installment of the series will likely be one of the last high-profile releases for the Nintendo DS.

Portal 2, the sequel to Valve's massively successful puzzle game, is scheduled for release on April 20 in North America and Australia, and on April 22 in Europe. It will be available for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. The PlayStation 3 release will also be accompanied by the debut of Steam on PSN.

Duke Nukem Forever will be released in 2011. Reportedly.

Batman: Arkham City, the sequel to 2009's Arkham Asylum, is scheduled for release on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC in Q3.

Gears of War 3, the third and final game in the series, will be released on Xbox 360 in Q4.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will be released in 2011. It will be a prequel to Ocarina of Time and be set partially in a world above Hyrule called Skyloft. Outside of that, details are sparse.

Mass Effect 3 is scheduled for release in late 2011. It will be available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC, and will be the final game in its series.

The Last Guardian, the spiritual successor to Ico and Shadow of the Colossus and this poster's number one reason for wanting a PS3, is scheduled for release on PlayStation 3 in late 2011.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is the third game in Naughty Dog's critically adored Uncharted series. It is scheduled for release for PlayStation 3 on November 1.

The Nintendo 3DS is scheduled for release in North America and Europe in March. None of the games announced for it have official release windows, so the following games may not be released in 2011 at all.

Kid Icarus: Uprising is the first game in its series in twenty years. The game is being developed by Project Sora, a new team being led by Masahiro Sakurai.

A new installment in the Mario Kart series.

I forget what this game is called.

A new Paper Mario game!

A meme generator.

...And a whole bunch of third-party support.


So are there any important events this year?

GDC is scheduled for February 28, and E3 will begin on June 7.


So that's what's coming in 2011. What are you excited for? And what do you think might happen?

[hisak]

Predictions!

I meant to post this last night, but the opening post took a really long time and I was too tired.

So here's what I'm predicting will happen in 2011:

- We know that the 3DS will be released in March. I'm going to put a date on it and say March 20 for North America. Seems like a good day.

- Kid Icarus and Star Fox will be launch titles. Ocarina of Time and Paper Mario will be released later in the year, and Mario Kart will be delayed until early 2012.

- Skyward Sword will be released in May.

- We'll finally get a trailer for Pikmin 3 at E3. It'll be out by the end of the year. Yes, it will be.

- Super Mario Bros. game announced for 3DS at E3. The "New" moniker will be dropped from the title.

- The Vitality Sensor won't be heard from for the entire year, but Nintendo won't confirm that it's been canceled.

- Miyamoto will talk more about his new IP, but we won't see anything from it in 2011.

- We'll start to hear real chatter going on about the Wii's successor, but there won't be any games announced or solid details until 2012.



Feel free to post your predictions.

[hupla]

Predictions!

Nintendo:

Zelda Will be an august title, with one final push at E3.

Pikmin will be a 3DS game.

Mario kart will feature a new headset for the 3DS for online play.

Pokemon Black and White will keep DS sales strong until the fall where the holiday season and the 3DS push will end the systems long and proud life.

Other companies:

Megaman legends will be delayed

Batman Arkham city will be off the fucking chain.

Del toros new game will NOT keep a 2013 realese date, either being shelved or moved up.

SSX: Deadly peaks will be as well recieved as Bomberman: Act Zero.

Microsoft and sony will learn from last years E3 and have really good ones this year

Portal 2 will come out in October and be avalible for download 2 hours late. It will also come with a special Team Fortress Item

Episode 3 will be talked about at the major gaming cons and given a 2012 launch date.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

Let's see what I can cobble together in five minutes. I think I hit so many right answers last year because I wasn't trying all that hard. So now I'm thinking about it, this is all likely to go wrong.

Wii Predictions
- Skyward Summer: As much as we'd love to get our hands on the next big Zelda adventure as soon as possible, I predict a July/August release for this one. But that's okay, as you'll see with my 3DS predictions.
- RIP Vitality Sensor: I'm edging towards hisak's side with this and Iwata has been shot down behind the scenes. Miyamoto's good, but I think even he's struggling to come up with a bright idea for this dongle.
- Pikmin 3: Will show at E3 and it will be the big Christmas release.

DS Predictions
- Ghost Trick, Okamiden and Pokemon will be the last three new releases I purchase for the dual-screen marvel. It's been a great few years.

3DS Predictions
- Europe Launch: March 25. I've booked a week off from Sunday 27th, so this would be the ideal launch day for me.
- Launch titles: Ocarina of Time will aim to pacify the fans after the delay of Skyward Sword. Kid Icarus will be Nintendo's big new release. MGS will be the biggest third-party launch title.
- Other Ninty releases: Mario Kart within three months of launch. Paper Mario and Star Fox by Christmas.
- E3DS: A new Smash Bros. New Mario game (possibly going under the long-lost Land moniker). Metroid Dread (A guy can dream).

The Other Guys
- Kinect will die a slow and painful death. An ambitious concept does not meet the hopes of gamers everywhere.
- Move will go from strength to strength. Sad, but true.

[hisak]

Pikmin will be a 3DS game.

Miyamoto confirmed at E3 that it's in development for Wii. I wouldn't be surprised to see Pikmin on 3DS, but it won't be Pikmin 3. I'd really like it though.

I don't see how a new Smash Bros. could happen when Sakurai's busy with Kid Icarus. Maybe after that's released.

I think Kinect will stay strong through 2011, but it'll fail to catch on with the main 360 base. Move will gather steam and eventually become a force to be reckoned with, but it won't be quite there by the end of 2011.

[Sheldon Cooper PhD]

Elder Scrolls V. Game of the Year. Calling it. At least in my book.

Expect Modern Warfare 3 with a halfassed story to end the trilogy. Same goes for Mass Effect.

Expect a new Halo announced by 343 Industries.

Ocarina I see as a launch title for 3DS. Later in the year would draw away too much attention from Skyward Sword.

Skyward Sword to be meh.

Kinnect and Playstation Move to both epic fail.

God willing Knights of the Old Republic 3. And not this MMO shit.

Apple to make more of a name in the handheld gaming market via the iPhone and iPad. (You have to admit for a dollar soem of those things are addicting. i.e Angry Birds)

Sony to release the PSP2 and nobody care. Again.

The Infinity Ward workers who left Activision make a new killer IP to distract from MW3.

Announcements:
Grand Theft Auto 5
Pikmin 3
Footage from Metal Gear Rising
Kingdom Heats 3(Probably not.)
A Somewhat solid looking Final Fantasy.

Unlike hisak though I expect solid details by the end of the year about the successor to the Wii. Microsoft and Sony wont announce anything until E3 2012 imo.

[LLR]

shouldn't this thread be in multi platform?

Awesome thread! 

A new Paper Mario game!

OOO I hope so!  But I bet it will only be on 3DS.

I predict Final Fantasy XIV will be horrible.  Portals 2 will be awesome in two player mode (hint hint, who else is getting it)  The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword will be good but lacking, players will claim they knock off too many drinks on the coffee table when throwing bombs.  The Ball and Chain will make a comback.  PS Move will kick Kinnects butt...  Micro$oft will begin using Kennect tech in PCs with web cams.  Sony will be pissed at the use of webcams.

I also predict that Nintendo will tempt us with a new Metroid title by November '11 and then retract the statements sometime in December. 

Hideo Kojima will announce Zone of the Enders 3... and then I'll feint. 

[hisak]

A new Paper Mario game!

OOO I hope so!  But I bet it will only be on 3DS.

I think you misunderstood my posts. First post is solid facts. Everything on that list has been announced, and all of the games have 2011 release dates (except for the 3DS games, which don't have release windows at all). Paper Mario was announced back at E3. It'll be the most well received 3DS game of 2011.

Expect Modern Warfare 3 with a halfassed story to end the trilogy. Same goes for Mass Effect.

Is MW3 supposed to be the last Modern Warfare game? That doesn't seem like something Activision would do.

[Bidet to you sir]

Mass effect 3 or Uncharted 3 will win game of the year for 2011, but neither will be huge deviations from the previous iterations.

There will be an iphone game for mass effect 3, and a book..

I do not make very ambitious predictions.

Arkham city will be good, but underwhelming in points much like the first.

[Sheldon Cooper PhD]

If Modern Warfare were to go beyond 3 installments I'd be sorely upset. This isnt a Treyarch franchise dont ruin it. It still has a legitimately decent story even after the plot hole bonanza that was MW2, and its ending sets it up perfectly for only one more title.

Once I get MW3 Im done with Call of Duty titles.

[hisak]

If Modern Warfare were to go beyond 3 installments I'd be sorely upset. This isnt a Treyarch franchise dont ruin it. It still has a legitimately decent story even after the plot hole bonanza that was MW2, and its ending sets it up perfectly for only one more title.

This is the company that owns Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero. They're going to ruin it eventually.

I wouldn't be surprised if Arkham City got the same reception as Bioshock 2. I have no real reason for thinking this.

[Be_yourself]

Don't forget the next elder scrolls, Skyrim...apparantly coming out in Nov 2011

I also think that Zelda will be pushed back to mid year...

Is it possible that it could be pushed back to coincide with a new Nintendo console? its getting near to that time.

Actually, i the time it took to write that sentence i realised (even more so) how unlikely that is, a new console Zelda would need much more bang for its visual presentation.  Also, it was a bad ploy to release TP on two consoles i don't think they would make the same mistake again...

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

Highlights from NGamer's 101 Reasons To Celebrate 2011:

# 4: Professor Layton and the Devil's Flute How did I forget this one? Blame the 3DS. The 2DS isn't going to go out quietly.
# 12-16: "Ninty says Japan-only DS games might appear in the UK." Their predictions? Ouendan, Death Note, Kaitou Rousseau, Tomodachi Collection and Puzzle Series.
# 62: Angry Birds Wii/DS WiiWare or DSiWare for 200 Points and I might care. It's 59p on the App Store and won't get my attention unless it's dirt cheap.
# 64: Cave Story Ahh, the curse of print media. This was released the Friday just gone.
# 72: The Return of Edgeworth Wait, my DS Last Hurrah List has another game I forgot? Shame on me.
# 90: Lego Pirates of the Caribbean Wait? What? No, really. It's been news for a while...
# 97: Wii Music "Miyamoto says: 'We're going to change it up, a new interface is coming.' It'll happen."

[hisak]

I didn't include Skyrim because it was announced a few hours before I made the post and I hadn't heard about it yet. I can add it if you want.

So Wii Music's going to be the big casual game of 2011? I guess I can live with that. I wasn't expecting anything that I'd be interested in anyway.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

So Wii Music's going to be the big casual game of 2011?

That and Wii Relax, silly.

[Shin Illuminated]

I predict Final Fantasy XIV will be horrible.

You don't have to predict that, just ask any PC player who already played the game. They'll agree with you.

Skyward Sword in August does seem optimistic, but who are we kidding? It's gonna be November and we all know it.

I'm most looking forward to Dragon Age II.

[hisak]

2011 is quickly drawing to a close, so it seems like a good time to look back at this eventful year. Too many games were released to list, but here are a few highlights from the year.

Successes and Surprises

To nobody's surprise, Pokémon Black and White provided the Nintendo DS with one last massive financial success. Reviewers also loved the games, as they currently hold the highest score for a Pokémon game on GameRankings since 2000's Gold and Silver.

Contrary to hupla's prediction, Portal 2 released a few hours earlier than expected. It received enormous acclaim and is almost universally seen as an improvement over its beloved predecessor. It is expected to be a Game of the Year contender, at least among publications that remember games that were released before October.

Batman: Arkham City, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Dark Souls all released to critical acclaim. While three of them had setbacks after release -- Skyward Sword received a few tepid reviews, Uncharted 3 was less well-received than its predecessor, and numerous complaints about bugs in Skyrim arose -- all five are considered major game of the year contenders.

While initial sales for the Nintendo 3DS were disappointing, leading to an $80 price drop, its fortunes have recently turned around with Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. Both have sold incredibly well, and the 3DS has since surpassed the first-year sales of the Nintendo DS.

Duds and Delays

As always, a number of aspects of this year disappointed. Much-hyped games received poor reviews, anticipated sequels bombed at retail, and a handful of games were delayed to 2012 (and beyond).

Dragon Age II initially released to positive reviews, but fans eventually voiced their discontent with the game, and EA openly acknowledged its shortcomings, promising that future iterations will address these problems.

de Blob 2 sold extremely poorly and its developer, Blue Tongue Entertainment, was closed down later in the year by its parent company, THQ.

Duke Nukem Forever was finally released in June, but critics were very unimpressed and the game currently holds Metacritic ratings of 49, 51, and 54.

As many had expected, The Last Guardian did not see release in 2011, but delays seem to be the least of this game's problems. An executive producer of the game has left the company, and rumors have been circulating involving Fumito Ueda's possible departure, although Sony has denied this and reiterates that he is under contract to complete the game.

Mass Effect 3 and Kid Icarus: Uprising have been delayed to 2012, although neither seems to be experiencing any sort of development difficulties. Both are scheduled for release early next year.

Oh, and something happened with Mega Man I think.

So how did we do with our predictions? Correct predictions will be highlighted in green, incorrect predictions will be red, and dubious predictions will be left alone.

Predictions!- We know that the 3DS will be released in March. I'm going to put a date on it and say March 20 for North America. Seems like a good day.

- Kid Icarus and Star Fox will be launch titles. Ocarina of Time and Paper Mario will be released later in the year, and Mario Kart will be delayed until early 2012.

- Skyward Sword will be released in May.

- We'll finally get a trailer for Pikmin 3 at E3. It'll be out by the end of the year. Yes, it will be.

- Super Mario Bros. game announced for 3DS at E3. The "New" moniker will be dropped from the title.

- The Vitality Sensor won't be heard from for the entire year, but Nintendo won't confirm that it's been canceled.

- Miyamoto will talk more about his new IP, but we won't see anything from it in 2011.

- We'll start to hear real chatter going on about the Wii's successor, but there won't be any games announced or solid details until 2012.

Predictions!

Nintendo:

Zelda Will be an august title, with one final push at E3.

Pikmin will be a 3DS game.

Mario kart will feature a new headset for the 3DS for online play.

Pokemon Black and White will keep DS sales strong until the fall where the holiday season and the 3DS push will end the systems long and proud life.

Other companies:

Megaman legends will be delayed

Batman Arkham city will be off the fucking chain.

Del toros new game will NOT keep a 2013 realese date, either being shelved or moved up.

SSX: Deadly peaks will be as well recieved as Bomberman: Act Zero.

Microsoft and sony will learn from last years E3 and have really good ones this year

Portal 2 will come out in October and be avalible for download 2 hours late. It will also come with a special Team Fortress Item

Episode 3 will be talked about at the major gaming cons and given a 2012 launch date.

Let's see what I can cobble together in five minutes. I think I hit so many right answers last year because I wasn't trying all that hard. So now I'm thinking about it, this is all likely to go wrong.

Wii Predictions
- Skyward Summer: As much as we'd love to get our hands on the next big Zelda adventure as soon as possible, I predict a July/August release for this one. But that's okay, as you'll see with my 3DS predictions.
- RIP Vitality Sensor: I'm edging towards hisak's side with this and Iwata has been shot down behind the scenes. Miyamoto's good, but I think even he's struggling to come up with a bright idea for this dongle.
- Pikmin 3: Will show at E3 and it will be the big Christmas release.

DS Predictions
- Ghost Trick, Okamiden and Pokemon will be the last three new releases I purchase for the dual-screen marvel. It's been a great few years.

3DS Predictions
- Europe Launch: March 25. I've booked a week off from Sunday 27th, so this would be the ideal launch day for me.
- Launch titles: Ocarina of Time will aim to pacify the fans after the delay of Skyward Sword. Kid Icarus will be Nintendo's big new release. MGS will be the biggest third-party launch title.
- Other Ninty releases: Mario Kart within three months of launch. Paper Mario and Star Fox by Christmas.
- E3DS: A new Smash Bros. New Mario game (possibly going under the long-lost Land moniker). Metroid Dread (A guy can dream).

The Other Guys
- Kinect will die a slow and painful death. An ambitious concept does not meet the hopes of gamers everywhere.
- Move will go from strength to strength. Sad, but true.

Hideo Kojima will announce Zone of the Enders 3... and then I'll feint. 

Elder Scrolls V. Game of the Year. Calling it. At least in my book.

Expect Modern Warfare 3 with a halfassed story to end the trilogy. Same goes for Mass Effect.

Expect a new Halo announced by 343 Industries.

Ocarina I see as a launch title for 3DS. Later in the year would draw away too much attention from Skyward Sword.

Skyward Sword to be meh.

Kinnect and Playstation Move to both epic fail.

God willing Knights of the Old Republic 3. And not this MMO shit.

Apple to make more of a name in the handheld gaming market via the iPhone and iPad. (You have to admit for a dollar soem of those things are addicting. i.e Angry Birds)

Sony to release the PSP2 and nobody care. Again.

The Infinity Ward workers who left Activision make a new killer IP to distract from MW3.

Announcements:
Grand Theft Auto 5
Pikmin 3
Footage from Metal Gear Rising
Kingdom Heats 3(Probably not.)
A Somewhat solid looking Final Fantasy.

Unlike hisak though I expect solid details by the end of the year about the successor to the Wii. Microsoft and Sony wont announce anything until E3 2012 imo.

By my records it looks like ZA won.

[hupla]

To be fair, for a time I was kinda right about MML!

Also Epsiode 3 reveal tonight. Believe

[hisak]

Oh right, you can also find out who's going to win the first game of the year award and see a bunch of new trailers AND be embarrassed to be a gamer all at the same time if you watch the Spike VGAs tonight.

I thought they were just revealing a PS3 exclusive.

[hupla]

I just want Geoff to post more animal gifs on GAF