It's the year of the sequel -- the second in the series -- as company after company drops a big number two on the gaming public. Anticipated within the next twelve months are such titles as Assassins Creed 2, Bioshock 2, Left 4 Dead 2, possibly Crackdown 2, Dead Rising 2, DiRT 2, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, Mass Effect 2, ARMA II, The BIGS 2, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Red Steel 2, Lost Planet 2, and Modern Warfare 2 (which might secretly be a 6 disguised as a 2) . Already released are games I loved like Skate 2, Fable II, and -- breaking news -- Worms 2: Armageddon.

I'm sure a lot of it has to do with where we are in the console cycle. A bunch of new games were released when the Xbox 360 (also a second in the series), Playstation 3,  and Wii first came out, and we're hitting the point a few years later where the developers could turn around a sequel for the games that seemed to warrant them. Personally, I think it's a great thing as the second game has a chance to iron out any problems found in the first, while still delivering more of the same game play I loved before.

I'm excited. Who else is ready to go number 2?