2011: The Year That Was
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Shit went down in 2011, a recap of what was important and what was just meh.
September
Sony finally unveiled the PS Vita's release window for Japan and the west by announcing that the new handheld would be released in Japan in December and in February in the west. The handheld's launch line-up soon began to trickle out with Uncharted: Golden Abyss being the must-have title.
Epic Games' long awaited title Gears of War 3 was finally released and broke all sorts of sales records for an Xbox 360 exclusive. The third title in the storied franchise finally brought an end to everyone's favorite tough-talking teddy bear, Marcus Fenix and his saga.
Video game releases included Gears of War 3 but also brought us some unexpected surprises such as Dead Island, FIFA 12, Star Fox 64 3D, and X-Men Destiny. All in all, a relatively quite month in a year that was stamped "busy".
October
Finally, the year is winding down but that doesn't mean video games stop. Au contraire. Perhaps the most anticipated sequel in recent memory released this month, Batman: Arkham City. Arkham City was met to huge critical success and became the early front runner for Game of the Year.
EA and DICE would also have something to say about the early Game of the Year lead with the release of Battlefield 3 which saw some reviews panning the game's campaign mode for a lack of ingenuity but praised its multiplayer efforts for being the best in the business.
However, not everything in video games is good news. Apple co-founder and inventor extraordinaire Steve Jobs passed away at the age of 56. At the time it was not revealed as to how Jobs died but speculation had been that he had taken a leave of absence from the company to deal with health issues. Jobs was the mastermind behind Apple's quick climb to the top regarding personal/handheld technology. The iPod/iPhone refined how we as consumers play video games on the go. The App Store changed the way developers release video games and made the "Indie" genre something to marvel at rather than a wastebucket of pretenders. Apple has a hard road ahead trying to find innovation from someone else.
October saw some other relatively big name titles released, such as id Software's first new IP in nearly two decades in Rage. 2K Sports also released NBA 2K12 despite the NBA being in their own lockout and rosters being frozen until December. Spider-Man: Edge of Time, Just Dance 3, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, Forza MotorSport 4, Rachet & Clank: All 4 One, Rocksmith, Kirby's Return to Dreamland, Disney Universe were also released.
November
As video game months go in any year, November is typically the busiest. 2011 served no different as Sony and Naughty Dog started the month off right by releasing Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception to a great reception. Activision quickly followed suit with their release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The game quickly broke all sorts of sale records.
The month also marked the release of the most anticipated RPG, maybe of all-time, in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Skyrim would eventually become a mass majority winner of nearly every publications Game of the Year award. Bethesda hit it out of the park with this one.
November also marked the month in which Rockstar finally made Grand Theft Auto V (GTA5) official. Set in the storied city of San Andreas by the looks of everything Rockstar is set to wow us again with bigger and better. No release date was announced.
Other video game releases included Goldeneye 007: Reloaded, Saints Row: The Third, The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, Sonic Generations, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7, Super Mario 3D Land, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition, Need For Speed: The Run.
December
While the last month of the year is usually quiet regarding video game news, 2011 refuses to go out quietly. Reports quickly surfaced earlier in the month suggesting that long time Nintendo developer Shigeru Miyamoto would be retiring in 2012. Nintendo quickly suggested that the rumor was just that and Miyamoto was not retiring and then Miyamoto himself quelled the masses by stating that he was indeed not retiring but taking on a smaller role within the company.
Konami made headlines this month as well by announcing that Platinum Games would be in charge of developing Metal Gear Solid Rising, and that the title would be getting a new name, a made up name; Revengeance. It was also revealed that game was in dire straights with Kojima Productions and that it had nearly been canceled.
Video game releases included Mario Kart 7, The Adventures of Tintin: The Game, and Star Wars: The Old Republic.
2011 in video games was a pretty eventful year and we here at Hooked Gamers tried to bring you all the latest breaking news. In anticipation of a smoother 2012 we would like to thank ALL of our readers in cyber space land for dedicating time out of your day to reading our content.