Starting this September, the gaming world is about to experience an unprecedented event of unprecedented proportions, and some other unprecedented stuff. Cue the dramatic intro music.
The period of time between September 2011 and October 2012 is an interesting one. It’s not technically the Gregorian year that we know – January to December – nor is it the fiscal year that starts around the time most people are just getting settled into the former.
In essence, the period between September 2011 and October 2012 can be given a name that aptly describes it, at least according to the gaming world, for what it entails.
I’m going to dub it; The Gaming Three-son.
A season of threes.
Okay; it’s a terrible name, but I challenge you to come up with something better. “Challenge Accepted?”
The Gaming Three-son plays host to around about ten games that bare the number “3” or some form of it in their title. Today dear reader, I will take you through those games to look forward to in the coming year, more or less in chronological order.
Resistance 3
PS3 exclusive in Resistance 3 follows the series’ first title, Resistance: Fall of Man, which debuted to our local markets in March 2007.
Out now – Check out MyGaming’s Resistance 3 review.
Saints Row: The Third
Saints Row: The Third is the, uhm, third game in the series which debuted in September 2006 for the Xbox 360 and showed us just how much over-the-top fun we were missing in a sandbox games. This three-quel is coming out for the PS3 and PC as well, you lucky sods.
Launching 18 November 2011.
Gears of War 3
An Xbox 360 exclusive, Gears of War 3 attempts to conclude the story so expertly crafted over the previous two titles, where crazy, over-the-top things happened in order to prevent crazy, over-the-top things from happening. Marcus Fenix and his Delta Squad first rolled out in Gears of War for Xbox 360 in August 2006, and then a year later on PC in September 2007.
Launching 20 September 2011.
The Sims 3 Pets
Just kidding.
Battlefield 3
This is the game that the PC master-race has been eagerly awaiting since that first Fault Line video released to the public and showed us just what DICE have been working on while they kept us distracted with Bad Company 2.
Launching 28 October 2011.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
For some, the game appeared to be a bit on the extreme side of underwhelming based on the demos at E3 and the various trailers released since. Some have even called it nothing more than Modern Warfare 2 with new perks and a few changes. Nevertheless, it has an enticing premise, asking gamers to fight in a modern-day World War 3 brought about by an epic stuff-up by none other than the CIA (or a fictional representation of the CIA anyway).
Launching 8 November 2011
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
Before you say “Cavie, you omnipotent stallion, where is the ‘3’ in this game?”, allow me to point out that Revelations is essentially Assassin’s Creed 2: Part Three. Continuing the story of Ezio Auditore Da Ferrari (or something like that – I prefer my version) for a third outing, following on from Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed 2, which follows on from Altair and his adventures in Assassin’s Creed.
Launching 15 November 2011.
Mass Effect 3
This is the one I get all ‘fanboy’ about every time I get to talk about it. Mass Effect 3 concludes Shepard’s role in the story thus far, which includes a lot of Reapers and Ashley Williams whom I totally should have not (spoilers) in the (spoilers) during the first game. The first Mass Effect game was released in November 2007.
Launching 6 March 2012.
Diablo 3
Another for the PC master-race to enjoy when Blizzard eventually decide to release it. The game takes a decidedly less dark and broody turn, this time around, while still keeping things relatively neat and simple. When it eventually does release, you can bet your meagre gaming budget that every PC gamer and their mother will eagerly get their hands on this game and play it for years to come.
Max Payne 3
Now with a release window! The third Max Payne game has been a while coming, and nothing has done mature, often psychedelic storylines quite like this series.
Sure it gets a bit emo at times and the gaming world as we know it has shifted emphasis a bit, but everyone knows that the second Max Payne 3 starts and the familiar comic-styled story presentation rolls on, we’ll be in love with the series yet again. Like riding a bike, except only Max gets scarred from falls; badly.
Launching March 2012.
BioShock: Infinite
BioShock: Infinite, the next in a series of poster-children for “games as art”, follows on from BioShock, which was released in August 2007 for Xbox 360 and PC, and a year later for PS3.
BioShock: Infinite may well be seen as BioShock 3. Some might refute that and claim that it is the “actual”, spiritual sequel to the first BioShock, but let’s ignore those people because I actually enjoyed BioShock 2 and Eleanor is now one of my favourite names as a result.
Launches sometime in 2012.
Far Cry 3
Far Cry 3 has so far shown us some pretty interesting gameplay, with the original trailer a memorable ode to Einstein’s favourite saying; “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result”.
I’m not sure then what to make of the game’s choice of returning to a tropical jungle setting, departing from the vast savannahs of Far Cry 2. You could see Far Cry 3 certainly as a three-quel in its own right, but if you were to replace Far Cry 2 with Crysis you get a clearer idea of the three tropical jungle games that matter here. Or you could just see it the way everyone else does, you sheep.
Launch TBC Q4 2012
The Point
Now, at this point, assuming you’re still with us, you might be wondering why I’m making mention of all the upcoming games and getting you so excited that you can barely contain yourself any longer. For the observant, it should be pretty clear what I’m trying to get at here.
There is no point.
But if I were to contrive one, it’s pretty clear that five (six if you count Gears of War PC) out of the eleven (twelve if you count The Sims 3 Pets) games featured here had their origins with a game released in 2007.
2007 was in fact widely considered to be the best year in gaming, ever. Gametrailers certainly thought so.
We would be remiss if we didn’t take a second to stop and think about the incredible year that 2007 was, and how in this year of three-quels, the gaming three-son, there are so many triple-A titles that will likely be great gaming experiences, that bear the number “3” or some form of it, having started out as brand new IPs in 2007.
The Gaming Three-son << Comments and views
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