2012, Not that great of a year for video games?

I've had a fantastic time this year.

Darkness 2, Mass Effect 3, Skullgirls, FEZ, Diablo 3, Walking Dead, Max Payne 3, Penny Arcade 3, Persona 4 Arena, Darksiders 2, Dust: An Elysain Tail, and Borderlands 2.

That's 12 games I've had a great time with this year, And I still have Halo 4, Hitman, and Far Cry 3 to look forward too.

EDIT: Forgot about Assassin's Creed 3. Really liking it. So that's 13.

@insanejedi said:

2012 the year of the disappointing squeals?

-Mass Effect 3: I'm not one of those people who totally hated the ending of ME3, but even then the internet totally ruined my enjoyment of this game. Still it has to be up there for a disappointing game of 2012.

Darksiders II is my Most Disappointing Game of the Year 2012. I can't believe that shit came from the same people who had done Darksiders a couple years before...

And Borderlands 2 is amazing. I've put 113 hours on it since launch, which is quite a bit by my standards.

For me this year has been the biggest in terms of I forget what games I have played syndrome. It's a real condition, ask your doctor. Then I see these lists and I'm like, oh yeah I played that. Because they've been so forgettable, I don't even know how I would rank them at all. XCOM first I guess. I still have high hopes for Far Cry 3 and Hitman.

@insanejedi said:

2012 the year of the disappointing squeals?

-Serious Sam 3: Fails to live up to the original 2 games

Serious Sam 3: BFE was released in November of 2011. It was well received by the majority of the fans of the original games. In fact, the game did so well they decided to release it on XBLA along with the Jewel of the Nile DLC for 360/PC. I think you should do a little fact checking before posting information like this.

Yeah, pretty weak. The front end of the year was particularly disappointing, mostly because they'd seemed to be improving over the last few years.

I've played a lot of games this year that just made me think 'It's ok I guess'. Nothing has really grabbed me yet. New Star Soccer on iPad might still actually be the best game I've played this year.

It can definitely be said that 2012 hasn't been as good as 2011 was- at least as far as AAA titles are concerned. Then again, I think negative outlooks on 2012 may be more due to just how many titles have been pushed into 2013.

2012's not gonna go down as a hallmark year like 1998, 2004, or 2007 (Or 2011 for some people :D ). But its far from bad I'd say.

It's certainly better than 2010- which was the worst year we've had recently I'd say. That's not saying much against 2010 mind you- cause 2010 wasn't absolutely awful. It was just a middling year in some respects- not outrageously terrible.

So it could also be said that many internet users are very flexible with their definitions of 'bad year.' :P

I don't have as much time to play games as I once did, so it doesn't take a ton to keep me occupied. BL2, Darksiders II, XCOM, Dishonored, Dust have fit that bill. And I don't think its like a classic or a game that I see myself going back to for years to come, but I put quite a bit of time into SFxTekken. Still prefer UMvC3 and SSFIV way more, but it was a fun diversion.

@WarlockEngineerMoreDakka said:

It can be said that 2012 hasn't been as good as 2011 was- at least as far as AAA titles are concerned. Then again, I think negative outlooks on 2012 may be more due to just how many titles have been pushed into 2013.

2012's not gonna go down as a hallmark year like 1998, 2004, or 2007. But its far from bad I'd say.

It's certainly better than 2010- which was the worst year we've had recently I'd say. That's not saying much against 2010 mind you- cause 2010 wasn't absolutely awful. It was just a middling year in some respects- not outrageously terrible.

So it could also be said that many internet users are very flexible with their definitions of 'bad year.' :P

What was it about 2007 that you found so good? I personally thought that year was alright but 2010 was a fantastic year for games. Much better than 07. Not trying to cause a silly argument here just find it interesting how different opinions are on this stuff.

You are completely right this notion of a quality game year is totally subjective. I find hearing others thoughts on the matter interesting.

Every year is a good year for videogames as far as I'm concerned. I don't play as much as I used to, certainly not as much as most of you guys, but I can't remember the last year that the industry didn't provide more quality entertainment than I could consume. Honestly, I don't even know yet how 2012 measures up because each year I get further and further behind. I spent most of this year playing my backlog from 2010 and 2011.

I also think people's expectations continue to spiral up and out of control.

I haven't played many games that actually came out this year so I wouldn't know really.

That's just your opinion. I think that it has been and will continue to be a great year for games. Just looking at some of the games that I played this year were great games! Mass Effect 3 was great (although that ending is pretty bad), Trials Evolution, Max Payne 3 was pretty good (never played the first two so can't compare), Syndicate is great, Asura's Wraith and Binary Domain were fucking bananas, Persona 4 Arena was awesome, Darksiders 2, rock band blitz, mark of the ninja, XCOM, The FUCKING Walking Dead, Halo 4. Still looking forward to games that I haven't played yet and will later like DIshonored, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Assassin's Creed 3, CODBLop2, Hitman Absolution, even getting to play the Wii U will be interesting.

I would say that some of my least favorite games this year are the ones that everyone else seems to be losing their shit over like Journey (I just don't get it I guess, like I would honestly love to hear why someone likes Journey enough to say it was their GOTY), Fez is a fucking shit show and I regret buying that game, just awful and Borderlands 2 (as much as I have played it, I don't think it is as good as everyone makes it to be). 2012 was a great year!

Sleeping Dogs and Max Payne 3 are the only games I played and really enjoyed so far still waiting for Hitman AC3 and FarCry 3 on PC those are the only games left this year that I have interest in.But your right this year has been pretty week for gaming next year should be huge though.

Edit :Forget about about Alan wake though the PC version first game I played this year and really liked it alot although they need to add something new with the combat for the next game gets kinda stale but the story and characters are the best part of the game.

We've had plenty of great games this year and it's not even done. I am genuinely excited and have high hopes for Hitman Absolutions. Come on 47! Don't let me down!

Yeah if you're a negative nancy then sure you could make this thread every single year.

To be fair, it's because the last few years were as fantastic as they were that this one looks kinda underwhelming by comparison. There are still plenty of great games that have come out this year and I'm not going to have much trouble making a top 10 list.

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

@WarlockEngineerMoreDakka said:

It can be said that 2012 hasn't been as good as 2011 was- at least as far as AAA titles are concerned. Then again, I think negative outlooks on 2012 may be more due to just how many titles have been pushed into 2013.

2012's not gonna go down as a hallmark year like 1998, 2004, or 2007. But its far from bad I'd say.

It's certainly better than 2010- which was the worst year we've had recently I'd say. That's not saying much against 2010 mind you- cause 2010 wasn't absolutely awful. It was just a middling year in some respects- not outrageously terrible.

So it could also be said that many internet users are very flexible with their definitions of 'bad year.' :P

What was it about 2007 that you found so good? I personally thought that year was alright but 2010 was a fantastic year for games. Much better than 07. Not trying to cause a silly argument here just find it interesting how different opinions are on this stuff.

You are completely right this notion of a quality game year is totally subjective. I find hearing others thoughts on the matter interesting.

I could make lists- but I'll just say that there were more titles I really enjoyed and remember from 2007 than 2010. :)

That's not to say 2010's offerings weren't undeniably sharp in their own ways, they just weren't sharp in a way that interested me as much as 2007 did. :P

(I.E: Console preference has a huge role in which years are 'good' ones for some people as well. Which would be the case between 2007 and 2010 for me. 2007 was better for PC than 2010 was in my experience. >_> )

@Animasta said:

@Cloudenvy said:

@Ravenlight said:

@FluxWaveZ said:

Katawa Shoujo

Holy crap, that out this year, didn't it? Sorry Spec Ops, you're not my favorite game of the year this time.

I'm always dumbfounded when people say stuff like this about Katawa Shoujo, it's such a bleh VN.

Different strokes for different folks I suppose!

honestly the other "big" western made VN'[s were much better (Cinders and Analogue).

Also Binary Domain

Hell yes, Binary Domain.

2011 has been pretty sweet. It probably had more bigger titles, but this year has been no slouch overall.

I've had great times with quite a lot of games: Xcom, Mark of the Ninja, Borderlands 2, The Walking Dead, Diablo 3, Sleeping Dogs, The Darkness 2, Binary Domain, Dragons Dogma, Darksiders 2

And i'm still waiting for Farcry 3, Hitman Absolution, and the PC version of AC3

@AlexW00d: Well said. Exactly my thinking.

Your cup is completely empty.

This thread pops up every year. This year certainly had some real disappointments. However, I found myself very surprised at the amount of great games I played, Xenoblade, Asura's Wrath, X-Com, and Mark of the Ninja to name a few.

Every year someone says the same thing.

This is why you remember bad things more often then the good.

Whenever emotions are activated, especially strong emotions, the information or experience is entrenched into memory. Often times we tend to dwell on it, thereby rehearsing it and entrenching it even further. It is also easier to recall negative memories when we are in a bad mood. Why? Because we remember things in the state that we learned them so whenever you are feeling angry you will more easily recall other situations in which you were angry.

Diablo 3 is not debatable if you're comparing it to D2. If you're comparing it to Torchlight they're roughly the same quality with varying issues on either side (I guess I'd say D3's impressive compatibility with almost everything outdoes it, though the second Djinn quest is better than any single moment in D3)

2009-2011 were the good years for this generation of consoles, most games before and after have been poorer overall; of course the last generation had all sorts of awesome stuff come out in the last year or two so I'm not really sure why this is an issue other than rising development costs and maybe more consumers being idiots that love identical products.

I think this year has been a great year for games but not in the way that the year feels almost stuffed with great big budget games. With the dip in that respect a product of economics and the console cycle weirdness, we're just seeing more of the small downloadable segment than ever before in addition to the fact that it's been growing anyway. Taken all together I think 2012 is plenty good, maybe not crazy, but distinct in its own way given its place in gaming history and I think way more good came out of that than not.

This year could have been way better. Even this holiday season seems boring and played out with more boring sequels (Halo, Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed) so here's hoping for a better 2013. For me, Bioshock Infinite, SimCity, and the Wii U stuff that will likely come out next year will trump this year.

This year has pretty much just been mediocre. Most of the really amazing games have been downloadable, and XCOM is really the one big awesome release. Sleeping Dogs, Darksiders II, Borderlands 2, Mass Effect 3, Assassin's Creed 3, Halo 4, and anything else you want to put in there have been pretty good games, just not spectacular.

I really wish a few of these games would have aimed to appear on the next console. I think this console generation has just gotten stale. I can't wait for the inovation that comes along with new consoles.

I have been disappointed in ME 3, Darksiders 2, Diablo 3, and so far AC 3 in being good games but not being as great as previous ones. Surprisingly this year has been all about games I was never expecting to play or weren't really looking forward to like The Walking Dead, Journey, Spec Ops The Line

@FluxWaveZ said:

Games like Journey, Spec Ops, Asura's Wrath, Katawa Shoujo, Persona 4 Arena, Persona 4 Golden and Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward make 2012 far from a disappointment for me.

@TheSouthernDandy said:

XCOM, Mark of the Ninja, FTL, Journey, Halo 4, Dust, Spec-Ops, POSSIBLY CoD but that's still not a for sure, I think this year's been pretty good at least for me.

These two speak the truth. If you only saw dissapointing games, you weren't looking.

It really depends on what games you like to play whether it's AAA or Indie and how far they are spaced out in the year. The problem for me specifically is I lack the motivation to play some of those games because I keep getting caught up with older games as well. I will have to find the time to play Sleeping Dogs, Max Payne 3, Borderlands 2 and Torchlight 2 so as far as the quality of games this year it's been a great year.

I've been having a lot of fun with Borderlands 2, so I've no complaints for this year.

I've had a great time with games this year. Mostly $10-$20 PC games and XBL and XBLIndie stuff. Dishonored was pretty great for the 15mins I got with it. I'll probably pick that up this week or next. I even got some fun out of that mediocre Game of Thrones RPG - the dog was kind of fun and making really terrible story choices was fun.

Anyway Hitman and FarCry are still coming. I think they will be some pretty good fun. The WiiU is coming too which will at least be a kick to watch launch. It might even get some alright games. Not a bad year.

Next year will be much better : Ni No Kuni , GTA 5 ,Bioshock Infinite all in the first 4 months of 2013.   
 and The Last of us., ....maybe The Last guardian but i'm not holding my breath.     

@StarvingGamer said:

I've been having a blast, there were a ton of amazing games in 2012. Then again I'm not one of those people on the internet determined to be angry about everything.

Sure thing.

XCOM, Dragon's Dogma, FTL, Hotline Miami, Borderlands 2, Trials: Evolutions, Spelunky (Xbox), Dust, Spec-Ops, Sleeping Dogs, Primal Carnage, La-Mulana, Walking Dead, etc... doesn't exist????

I also happen to like Mass Effect 3 and Serious Sam 3. I'm waiting for Hitman, Halo 4 and haven't played Dishonored yet.

I would say that I'm having a pretty good year.

Edit: FEZ and Binary Domain!!!!

I've had a lot of fun with a good amount of games this year. Pretty sure they've all been mentioned already, and I'm too lazy to type them all out, so I'll just link the list I made.

max payne 3 was awesome shut up

Hey hey, Max Payne 3 is fucking awesome.

I also loved RE6 too.

There were also Spec Ops: The Line which took me and many people by surprise... so far, its been a pretty good year for me.

@CJduke said:

I have been disappointed in ME 3, Darksiders 2, Diablo 3, and so far AC 3 in being good games but not being as great as previous ones.

See that's just not right. You play as fucking death, what more do you want?

Overall I'd say this was actually a great year for gaming, just not as good as 2011. Skyrim, Saints Row The Third, The Witcher 2 Assassins of Kings, Portal 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It's really hard to beat that line up, and that's just off the top of my head.

But we've had Torchlight 2, Borderlands 2, Darksiders 2 (disregard the dude I quoted, he obviously knows NOTHING! jk), XCOM, Dishonored. And those are just the ones I played, and there's Hitman and Far Cry to look forward to. But again, really difficult to compete with last year's games.

2012: the year people liked to bitch. 
I have been having tons of fun with the new games of this year, it seems more people are just being jaded assholes on this site.

@insanejedi: Agreed man not an awesome year if I had to vote for game of the year I would just not vote. Not to say there were not some good games, but just not anything game changing but then again in the last year that does not come as much of a surprise really.

Dishonored, borderlands 2, xcom! and a fuckton of good xbla games, mark of the ninja, trials evolution, etc. etc. there's rarely a "bad year" for video games. There's always enough for me at least, I dunno about overall but I don't think there's been a year where there's just nothing good to play.

Also I really enjoyed max payne 3 and i played it right after playing 1 and 2 for the first time.

Also, are you really saying burnout crash was disappointing? It's an xbla spinoff.

@BaneFireLord said:

I dunno...if Far Cry 3 ends up being as good as it looks, this year will completely redeem itself.

Oh man. I keep forgetting about that game, I really hope it's good, because it looks fucking incredible.

Also sleeping dogs is super underrated. Especially great on PC.

From the MMO warfront (because I know these won't get a lot of love):

• Mists of Pandaria being the best WoW expansion thus far
• Guild Wars 2 moving the genre forward in some spectacular ways

@FluxWaveZ said:

Games like Journey, Spec Ops, Asura's Wrath, Katawa Shoujo, Persona 4 Arena, Persona 4 Golden and Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward make 2012 far from a disappointment for me.

Basically this for me. It wasn't a fantastic year like last year but this year has had some fantastic games none the less.

It hasn't been terrible, but some of the games I was looking forward to got pushed into 2013 or farther.

Journey is one of my favorite games of all time and pretty much makes this year for me.

I feel like I'm one of the few people that really enjoyed Max Payne 3. XCOM was also great, Dishonored was pretty good, The Walking Dead games have been great, Sleeping Dogs was great.

I thought The Darkness 2 was pretty fun (almost forgot that came out this year), same with Saints Row: The Third. Even with Mass Effect 3's ending, I think it was a great game also. It's been a pretty good year for games.

Excellent year for downloadables IMHO.

I honestly don't remember when it was the last time we had such a good year for quality titles. True, things didn't look so good for the first half of the year due to the shit sandwiches that were the business side of things of Diablo III and Mass Effect 3 (although I thought the games were good, the way they were deliverred was utterly disgusting). Usually for me, there is one or two titles that I would call must play games, but this year I would say that no one should miss Dishonored, XCOM, Sleeping Dogs, The Walking Dead, Forza Horizon, Spec Ops The Line and Tokyo Jungle.

Furthermore you have Dust, Legend of Grimrock, Need For Speed Most Wanted, Torchlight II, Hotline Miami, Mark of the Ninja, Borderlands 2, FTL and Guild Wars 2.

This year has been nothing short of phenomenal.

@TheDudeOfGaming said:

@CJduke said:

I have been disappointed in ME 3, Darksiders 2, Diablo 3, and so far AC 3 in being good games but not being as great as previous ones.

See that's just not right. You play as fucking death, what more do you want?

Overall I'd say this was actually a great year for gaming, just not as good as 2011. Skyrim, Saints Row The Third, The Witcher 2 Assassins of Kings, Portal 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It's really hard to beat that line up, and that's just off the top of my head.

But we've had Torchlight 2, Borderlands 2, Darksiders 2 (disregard the dude I quoted, he obviously knows NOTHING! jk), XCOM, Dishonored. And those are just the ones I played, and there's Hitman and Far Cry to look forward to. But again, really difficult to compete with last year's games.

Playing as death doesn't justify the entire story being pretty pointless and it being just not as fun to play as the first one