End of the Year Forecast

Uh, hey hey Round_2 readers. We've been busy grinding away with games like The Evil Within, Destiny, Battlefield and the like (meanwhile Jordan is in Cuba neglecting Mario Kart 8), but when looking at the upcoming release calendar, it seems like we've already exhausted the majority of the GOTY contenders for 2014. We've got a new Assassin's Creed, a new Call of Duty, a re-release of GTA V, Far Cry 4 and Sunset Overdrive as far as "AAA" releases go. Notice how more than half of that list includes yearly release-cycled titles? Okay we won't open that can of worms right now and I think Jem will be livid if I trash talk Assassin's Creed....

He is probably stalking me right now...I take it back. 

So far the best experiences I've had gaming this year have probably been Dark Souls 2, The Evil Within and Destiny coming in a close third. As I mentioned, Watch Dogs was a huge letdown and most other titles this year haven't managed to be nearly as engrossing as some of last year's heavy hitters (The Last of Us and GTA V respectively). Has this year surpassed 2013 for gaming? It's not fair to judge yet per se, but as of right now- no. Sure, we had next-gen consoles get their first string of big releases, and I'm really enjoying my PS4 thus far, but none of the titles I listed required that I upgrade my gaming system. (Dark Souls 2 didn't even come out on next-gen systems!) Now again, I know that we've still got some strong titles to come. Far Cry 4 will most likely be a worthy successor to one of the best games for the last generation of consoles and hopefully Sunset Overdrive will be a great new IP for Microsoft...but these games have to stand up to GTA V and TLOU, arguably two of the best video games ever made. Remember how awesome 2013 was?

Tell me this wasn't you all year in 2013.

I've had enough of new COD games and new Assassin's games, and with games like Evolve and The Witcher being pushed into an early 2015 release, it doesn't seem like gamers are going to get very much new blood in the holiday season. 2014 had the chance to rival last year with titles like Watch Dogs and Destiny, but they still fell slightly below the expectations of the public. I hope that I'm proven wrong by December, but my wallet has been somewhat fatter this year than last. 

This sums up "what could have been".

Let us know what your GOTY predictions are on our Facebook and maybe we can duke it out on our next "Small-Talk". Rock onnnnnn!