Ok, so I just finished LA Noire after putting it down a few weeks ago. At that point, I had just started the second Ad Vice case, but had to give it back to a friend. I got it back again the other day, and finally finished it. It was a good game, but I couldn't help but feel it could have been so much better. my favourite case by far, was the last case on the Homicide desk. People kept on telling me how good the game got during and after the Ad Vice cases, but I honestly didn't see that much of an improvement (not enough to say that it ups the ante). I felt the ante was upped after the last Homicide case, and I am talking about the ACTUAL CASES and not the rest of the game, so I was expecting perhaps too much for the last half of LA Noire.
 
I am proud that Team Bondi made a game that has been and is so successful, and is great to see an Australian developer hit that sweet spot. I guess the point of this is, that the next game, whether it be LA Noire 2, or a spiritual successor, will be better for the run. The gaming industry is unique in that sort of way as the sequels are generally better and more highly polished than their predecessors. 
 
Yhe other thing is the amount of quality games that we can look forward to; some already released, but coming by the end of the year as I'm sure you all know, is Skyrim, Deus Ex, Saints Row the Third, Dark Souls, Tomb Raider, Uncharted 3, MW3, Battlefield 3, Arkham City... the list can go on and on. With all this quality to come, I expect a large whole in my wallet come December. 
 
And even now, right now, we have Dungeon Siege 3 (which some love, some hate), The Witcher 2, Shadows of the Damned, Dirt 3, and a host of decent games. I am actually looking to buy Alice Madness Returns next, and yes, I will trade Duke Nukem in for that. That's the other thing; the amount of vitriol and hate directed at Duke and Gearbox lately has been way over the top: their are worse games out there than Duke. Don't get me wrong, the game was far from perfect, but it wasn't all that bad either. Yes, it would have been great if it came out 5 years ago, but it didn't. Thing is, Gearbox would be crazy not to make another Duke game, especially after all the dollars they have made from DNF, and I expect them to make a better, more polished Duke game in the future... after they have finished rolling naked in bundles of cash that is.
 
So, in the end, 2011 has been a great year for game releases, and I trust the quality titles will keep on coming in the near, and distant future. 
 
Let's just not talk about that Kinect rubbish. Or that Move garbage.