Are we being too hard on the games industry?
Stories of the Vita failing and a 13% fall in sales from all things games-related leave 2012 off to a bad start. Gamers everywhere are worrying if 2012 will be a good year for the video games industry or not.
Let’s back-track to last year when the 3DS was released. The sales were disappointing at first, many said the console was going to fail because of its gimmicky 3D and expensive price. There were even reports suggesting the 3D effects made users feel ill! It seems news sites everywhere wanted it to fail but look where it is now. It’s not unusual to see 3DS games in the top ten chart, especially since the release of Mario Kart 7. The 3DS has turned out to not be such a failure of a console that journalists thought it would be, could the same be said for the Vita?
It is of course, early days for the Vita and anything could happen but this bad press is not helping the industry. Last year was tough on all retailers, the foot-fall in every shop has gone down and that’s unlikely to improve this year. So of course the games industry is suffering a little bit, everyone is! This negative, we’re all doomed, attitude isn’t going to help anyone. We’ve got a lot to look forward to this year, here’s a reminder of what’s to come in 2012:
Soul Calibur V
The next series in the popular fighting game promises more sexy sword action, ridiculous character customisation abilities and some brand new special moves. Bring it on!
SSX
SSX finally comes to next-generation consoles, after years of waiting that lush HD show will soon be gracing our screens. It’s been too long, hope to see you on the slopes!
Tomb Raider
This much-needed reboot for Lady Croft looks to impress. Tomb Raider has turned into a survival game after a very young and vulnerable Lara is shipwrecked on a mysterious island. It’s a definite Uncharted competitor.
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Oh Final fantasy, you beautifully complicated piece of art. RPG fans rejoice as the next FF will be out very soon, this time with added time travel!
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
This Resi spin-off sees you playing as the bad guys this time. Ideal for anyone who’s ever wanted to kill the moody Leon S. Kennedy.
Mass Effect 3
The most epic space adventure to ever hit consoles is back for it’s third game. Expect plenty of explosions, shooting aliens and inter-galactic relationships.
Borderlands 2
Borderlands 2 vows to improve on it’s predecessors’ lacking story and improve on every aspect by listening to its fans feedback. The RPG/FPS with unique graphics style will (hopefully) launch this year.
The list goes on. Plus there’s a chance the new Xbox and PlayStation consoles will be announced, the PlayStation Vita launching in the UK and more details on the Wii U. Chin up gamers, it’s not all bad. I have a feeling 2012 will be good for gaming. So stop whining, stop worrying and enjoy the surprises to come.
It’s not that Vita has had a terrible start.
It’s just that it had a worse start than the 3DS, and that has some what of a stigma attached to it now…
2012 has a tough time keeping up with 2011 – only thing that can possinly topple the year that brought us Skyrim will be GTAV – but no firm release date set…
I think it’ll be a great year for games. Fantastic for me.
People want different things from their consoles. Skyrim looks great but with it’s problems it’s not high on my purchase list at the moment. 2012 offers a lot of titles that have incredible potential and I’m very excited to experience them come release.
The Vita to me looks amazing, it has a very good launch line up compared to pretty much every console I can remember and I expect it to get better, especially if the public show their support. The main reason it didn’t sell out instantly in Japan in my opinion is there is no Monster Hunter title. You can’t underestimate that game in the Japanese hand held market.
But that’s one market, there are other markets and personally I want it, I know a lot of people do. It looks like a lot of fun. Probably too much fun. Bring on it’s release in the rest of the world, we’ll see what happens.
It just saddens me that nothing on that list of anticipated games above is an original IP.
Original or not they are some big name, impressive titles. I’m not one for change and I like to stick with what I know. If some thing new catches my eye then all the better. Personally, a current gen SSX and Tomb Raider will make my year without any other releases.