Has anyone else realized this trend? I mean it seems like so many ips might be coming to a close, or at least dangerously close to becoming milked. I mean... Mass Effect 3, Gears of War 3, Uncharted 3, Killzone 3, resistance 3, MVC 3, Fear 3, Assassin's Creed 3,  hopefully Diablo 3, and probably a lot more. 
 
There are also in general and even larger amount of sequels coming out: Dragon age 2, dead space 2, little big planet 2... etc. I'm just worried cause for every new ip game coming out next year(bullet storm... I guess we can count the re-boots of deus ex and x-com) there seems to be like 3 times as many sequels. Now I understand that companies don't want to take risks on an unproven franchise, but going back to the whole trilogy thing, this seems to be the end of a lot of the major established franchises.  
 
Do you think 2012 will mean the dawn of new ips? Or will companies just take the safe route and start milking their games away?

As long as the games turn out good, I don't really care what they do :) 
 
MOAR MASS EFFECT

No, it makes me sad too, but with the costs of HD art and the money companies pour into promotion publicly traded companies would be fiscally irresponsible to develop too many new ips (given that you need to sell about half a million copies just to break even and sequels are cheaper).  More and more I think you are actually going to see companies give away betas and demos to existing franchises with games from a new ip (like Microsoft did with Crackdown and Halo and Epic is now doing with Bulletstorm and Gears) just to make releasing new ip seem more fiscally sound to investors/businessmen.  Also, maybe a few new Final Fantasy/Bioshock situations with a franchise being able to implement more new ideas into sequels that will probably sell way better than a new ip.

" As long as the games turn out good, I don't really care what they do :) "

There will always be more sequels than new IPs; its just how things work now. Development costs are too high to keep on making new IPs. A IP must guarantee a decent chance of profitability and be commercially viable enough to warrant a sequel. Not all new IPs are successful either, such as Mirror's Edge, EndWar and H.A.W.X. When publishers feel like there is room for a new IP, they'll do it. It won't always be sequels after sequels, publishers know that there is always room for expanding their range of games. This is especially true with EA with Mirror's Edge, Dead Space. Dante's Inferno, Army of Two, Dragon Age (technically a Bioware production but I'm not sure if EA has any say in their development) and Spore.

" @Eristocrat: Yeah, I mean I guess it is a little overly pessimistic to think that these companies will do what Activison did to tony hawk and guitar hero. I mean call of duty just had its 7th iteration and is still going strong. Its also definitely a lot for me to be asking for more original idea every year too. I dunno, I mean a love a majority of the existing franchises, but whenever a new ip comes out and is really good, it makes me wonder what other great ideas could've become games.  "

Mass Effect 3, Forza 4 and Gears of War 3 are the only games i'm planning on buying next year. I'm not sure if AC:3 is coming out next year but if it is i'll get that too.

Diablo 3 next year? HA! Good one.